Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include information about a Tucson Hebrew Academy memorial service. NEW YORK (JTA) — Students at Jewish day schools offered prayers, lit candles and demanded change as part of a nationwide student walkout calling for gun reform in the wake of last… Read more »
Posts By Sara Harelson
No-Bake Strawberry Coconut Pie for Passover
(The Nosher via JTA) — I first tried raw vegan coconut cream pie years ago at Café Gratitude, one of the popular plant-based restaurants in Los Angeles. Café Gratitude is a quintessential healthy L.A. eatery. The menu features dishes with titles like “I am bountiful” and “I am cosmic”… Read more »
A new study for cancer risk in Ashkenazi Jews aims to be a model for genetic testing
NEW YORK (JTA) — A new study will provide free testing for three mutations that substantially increase the risk for developing breast, ovarian and prostate cancer among people with Eastern European Jewish ancestry. The BRCA Founder Outreach Study (BFOR), which was launched last week, will test 4,000 men and women in… Read more »
A refreshing romantic comedy about an autistic couple who meet at a Jewish community center
(JTA) — On the surface, the indie comedy “Keep the Change” tells a conventional love story: A snooty rich boy meets a poor girl. They start dating, despite the objections of his parents, who assume that she’s a gold digger. The two argue. They part. Ultimately the snooty rich… Read more »
Netta Barzilai is ready to ‘Toy’ with Eurovision viewers
(JTA) — Israel has a new musical secret weapon and her name is Netta Barzilai. Barzilai, 24, won its “The Next Star” reality singing contest last month and the right to represent the country at the 2018 Eurovision song contest in May. She won the hearts of the judges… Read more »
What does Mike Pompeo as secretary of state mean for Israel and the Jews?
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Like the rest of the world, Rex Tillerson got the news of his firing on Twitter. “Thank you to Rex Tillerson for his service!” was the only reference to the now-outgoing secretary of state in a tweet President Donald Trump posted at 8:44 a.m. that also… Read more »
This teen had a gender neutral b’nei mitzvah
(JTA) — When Esther Thorpe came out as non-binary a year ago, identifying neither as male nor female, Miriam Taylor Thorpe was worried. Esther’s mother already had a child come out as gay and feared that Esther, 14, would have trouble finding a Jewish community that would be accepting… Read more »
What is AIPAC’s role in the age of Trump?
WASHINGTON (JTA) — When candidate Donald Trump spoke at AIPAC’s Policy Conference in 2016 and said Barack Obama may be the worst thing that ever happened to Israel, many cheered, many choked and the organization apologized. The fallout from that event will haunt the proceedings when 18,000 activists, including… Read more »
Austria just hosted Europe’s largest conference on anti-Semitism. It was challenging with a far-right party in the government
VIENNA (JTA) — Until December, Milli Segal’s main challenge as a producer of Jewish-themed events in Austria was balancing her duties at work with her hands-on approach to being a Jewish grandmother of four. As an organizer of prestigious Holocaust commemoration projects, Segal, 63, is on a first-name basis… Read more »
The Night I Learned No One Is Immune to School Violence
(Kveller via JTA) — The phone rang at midnight, jolting me awake. I smacked my husband in his sleep, annoyed that it was probably his office again, calling with some major network outage. Only it wasn’t his company; it was the local township’s police department, informing me, as a parent,… Read more »
The Indian-Jewish chicken recipe you’re going to crave
(The Nosher via JTA) — There is no substitute for eating a dish in its place of origin, preferably made in a home kitchen by hands that hold the muscle memory of thousands of meals. For me, a close second is stumbling across a recipe, trying it out, and… Read more »
Meet the Jewish teenager from Maryland running to be governor of Kansas
(JTA) — Ilan Cohen loves Kansas. He knows a couple of people in Kansas. He’s currently, officially, running to be governor of Kansas. And one day he hopes to visit Kansas. And turn 18. And be able to vote. And graduate from high school. Right now, Cohen is a… Read more »
OP-ED: Why Wayne LaPierre’s CPAC speech freaked out Jews and heartened anti-Semites
(JTA) — I don’t know if Wayne LaPierre is anti-Semitic. In many ways, I don’t care if Wayne LaPierre is anti-Semitic. But the executive vice president of the NRA gave a speech this week that was heard as anti-Semitic by two kinds of people: left-leaning Jews and hard-right anti-Semites.… Read more »
For women in Jewish fundraising, harassment is an occupational hazard
NEW YORK (JTA) — She was young, Jewish and the founder of a nonprofit organization that aids deprived children in Southeast Asia. He was a potential funder more than twice her age, promising donations and introductions to influential people. “He dangled a lot of carrots,” she said in retrospect.… Read more »
Parkland students begin to heal at Jewish conference in New York
(JTA) — Seven survivors of the Parkland school shooting were among thousands of Jewish high school students who attended the annual conference of the Chabad movement’s youth group. Responding to the Feb. 14 shooting became an impromptu theme of the conference, which was hosted in New York City by… Read more »
Eva Schloss, playmate of Anne Frank, shares story of survival
One of 10 films on the March 4 Academy Awards shortlist for best short documentary is “116 Cameras.” It is a behind-the-scenes look at how filmmakers preserve Holocaust survivors’ memories in testimony. Featuring Eva Schloss, it uses “New Dimensions in Testimony” technology and interactive, 3-D, holographic imagery. It wasn’t… Read more »
Social activist among writers for BNC Book & Author events
Talia Carner’s psychological suspense novels always revolve around long-ignored social issues, indignities and atrocities. “Knowledge is so valuable,” she says. “When people start looking at those issues and start sharing them, the feeling you get when you change someone’s life, it is magic.” Carner is one of four nationally… Read more »
Special abilities coordinator’s vocational placement is ‘home run’ for all
David Tofield, a 35-year-old member of Tucson’s Jewish community, has an intellectual disability. He can often be found volunteering at the Tucson Jewish Community Center and at Congregation Young Israel services. Tofield finds his volunteer experiences rewarding, but what he was really looking for was a “real paying job,”… Read more »
Annual awards will shine on more stars
This year’s Jewish Community Awards Celebration will take an expanded approach to recognizing outstanding service. Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona President and CEO Stuart Mellan largely credits Federation board chair Shelly Silverman with the impetus for the new concept. “Our slogan, ‘Stronger Together,’ is what we try to actualize… Read more »
In Memphis, opposing congressmen teach colleagues about getting along
When the two congressmen representing Memphis meet on the plane going home from the nation’s capital, the lawmakers catch up on what they have in common: the NCAA Division I basketball team at the University of Memphis; mutual friends in the legal communities; and what’s up at Temple Israel.… Read more »