Pastor Piet van Veldhuizen has lunch inside his congregation's sukkah in the Netherlands, Sept. 18, 2018. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
HENDRIK-IDO-AMBACHT, Netherlands (JTA) — From its exterior, the massive building known as The Ark in this Dutch town looks like a typical Reform synagogue. On the Hebrew month of Tishrei, the ancient olive tree that dominates the yard of this large worship space is dwarfed by a reed sukkah,… Read more »
David Maxa delivers a sermon during Shabbat services at Prague's Spanish Synagogue during the European Union of Progressive Judaism's biennial, April 2018. (Courtesy of Maxa)
PRAGUE (JTA) — A new Torah scroll is being used in this historic city by one of its two Reform Jewish congregations to welcome the High Holidays and the series of solemn and joyous celebrations that conclude with, what else, Simchat Torah — the rejoicing of the Torah. But it’s… Read more »
Etrogim can come with a hefty price tag, such as this one that retailed for $345 in Brooklyn. (David Moster)
NEW YORK (JTA) — The holiday of Sukkot isn’t is complete without a lulav and an etrog, the four species that Jews are commanded to wave on the harvest holiday. But according to a new book, it wasn’t until the Second Temple period that Jews started using the lemon-like… Read more »
Ari Fuld, shown at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, worked at a nonprofit that provides food and supplies to Israeli soldiers. (Facebook)
(JTA) — When Ari Fuld first approached him, Josh Weixelbaum was a 20-year-old soldier visiting friends in the West Bank settlement of Efrat. Fuld had heard Weixelbaum speaking English, so he introduced himself and asked Weixelbaum about his time in the army. Fuld soon learned that Weixelbaum, an American… Read more »
The Multi-faith Pride Inclusion Project and the Colby Olsen Foundation will present the 10th Annual Multi-faith Pride Service, “Our Brighter Future,” on Thursday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. at Rincon Community Church, 122 N. Craycroft Road. Guest speakers will include Kelly Fryer, gubernatorial candidate in the Democratic primary and… Read more »
Sarah Shulkind, Ph.D., will speak at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Annual Welcome on Oct. 4.
Sarah Shulkind, Ph.D., head of the Alice and Nahum Lainer School in Los Angeles, will be the guest speaker at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Annual Welcome next month. Entitled “Many Voices Impacting as One,” the event will celebrate 10 years of the Mitzvah Magic program… Read more »
Tucsonan Jeffrey H. Jacobson speaks at Alpha Epsilon Pi's 105th International Convention Banquet in Phoenix, Aug. 11.
Jeffrey H. Jacobson, a Tucson attorney, became the 74th supreme master at Alpha Epsilon Pi’s 105th International Convention in Phoenix in August. “AEPi has been everything to me. From my Jewish identity to friendships and relationships to my leadership skills and my desire to give back to the community.… Read more »
Tucsonan Cody Blumenthal heads for the basket in a tied match at the Maccabi Games in Los Angeles in August.
Cody Blumenthal and Gabe Green were among 2,600 athletes at the largest annual JCC Maccabi Games this summer, representing the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Blumenthal participated in 16 and under basketball while Green vied in 14 and under soccer at the Aug. 5-10 games in Orange County, California. Josh… Read more »
Models for Hadassah Southern Arizona’s fashion show on Oct. 21 will include Tucsonan Talya Simha Fanger-Vexler.
Hadassah Southern Arizona is hosting a luncheon fashion show called “Walkin’ and Rollin’ Down the Runway” next month. It will be held on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 11:15 a.m. at the Country Club of La Cholla, 8700 N. La Cholla Blvd. Committee member Anne Lowe says the fashion show… Read more »
Raisa Moroz, Holocaust survivors program manager at Jewish Family & Children's Services of Southern Arizona (left), talks with Yulia Genina, a survivor from Ukraine, in 2014. (Nancy Ben-Asher, AJP)
There are over 400,000 Jewish Holocaust survivors worldwide, but the survivor population is rapidly diminishing. As we celebrate the High Holidays and mark the beginning of another year, each of us needs to reflect on what we have done in the past year to support this shrinking community and… Read more »
I am a Holocaust concentration camp survivor. I am one of a rapidly dwindling number of eyewitnesses to the Nazi Holocaust, the most systematic genocide of all time. I regularly speak at high schools, universities and community events, sharing my eyewitness account with newer generations of Americans who have no… Read more »
Iris reticulata ‘Harmony’ (Courtesy Colorblends)
Arizona and Israel have some climatic and botanic similarities. Israel is lovely in spring — the hillsides covered with a plethora of bright flowers. Israel has a Mediterranean climate, with rains in the cooler winter months, followed by months of no rain, similar to Arizona. While some of the… Read more »
Vox Urbana (www.voxurbanatucson.com)
The Jewish History Museum and the Consulado de México en Tucson will host the fourth annual Stone Avenue Block Party, featuring live music, food trucks and local beers, on Saturday, Sept. 22. The Mexican consulate was located on Stone Avenue, across from the museum building, for more than 70… Read more »
Yellow is a lively hue that represents youthfulness and joy. (Family Features)
(Family Features) Just as filling your plate with colorful foods is typically good for your body, filling your kitchen with color can be good for the soul. In fact, color is an important element in interior design not only for its aesthetic value, but also because it can shape… Read more »
Shahar Avnet has designed dresses for Beyoncé and Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai in her studio in Tel Aviv. (Kobi Richter/TPS)
Walk into Shahar Avnet’s south Tel Aviv studio and a cacophony of colors hits the senses. Sparkling rainbow-hued tulle dresses, Swarovski crystals, and colorful sketches adorn the walls of the atelier. Two years ago the 30-year-old designer was a student at the Shenkar College of Engineering, Design, and Art;… Read more »
The email was waiting in my inbox. My column was due. “What column?” I asked myself. I did not remember that it was my turn. What could I possibly write about on short notice at this time of year with four funerals over the next few days, and the… Read more »
The Trump administration ordered the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington D.C. “We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous waiver in November 2017,”… Read more »
Molly Shenitzer, 95, died Sept. 4, 2018. Mrs. Shenitzer was born and raised in Chicago, the youngest of four children of Abe and Rose Slutsky. She married Hyman Shenitzer in 1944 and together they ran Hy’s Food Market on Chicago’s Westside. In 1953, they packed up their two young… Read more »
Eleanor Gellman, 91, died Thurs., Aug. 16, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. Mrs. Gellman was a native of St. Louis. She was a founding member of the Central Reform Synagogue. Survivors include her son, Larry (Kristen) Gellman of Tucson and Aspen, Colorado. Services and interment were in St. Louis.… Read more »
Robert J. Palles, 77, died on Sept. 5, 2018. Mr. Palles, the son of Maurice and Mildred Palles, was born in Chicago. He moved to Tucson in 1978, where he was the owner of Palles Insurance Agency. Survivors include his wife, Eileen Tucker Palles; children, Lawrence (Darcy Renfro) Palles… Read more »
