Columns

We live at a turning point in the history of Jewish philanthropy. Over the next few decades, more than $30 trillion will be passed down from the baby boomer generation to their children. As these considerable assets change hands, so too will the power to shape the philanthropic sector.… Read more »

Rabbi Hazzan Avraham Alpert

Do you get frustrated from reading the news? If you are like me, you find it difficult to restrain yourself from posting and reposting on social media in response to the stories that upset you. It’s good, though, to have other ways to answer the irritations that come with… Read more »

On a cold and windy day in February, I drove an hour and a half from Haifa to Jerusalem in search of my great-great-grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Yehudah Franco. I had learned about him from stories my mother told me and a family tree carefully constructed by relatives who were… Read more »

With a name like Batsheva, I also have a Starbucks name, “Beth,” for ordering in person. I know that the name Batsheva is not easy for people. It might be the first time that they encounter the name and that it is hard to spell if you are not… Read more »

Way to go, Maya! Maya Levy was elected 2019-20 North American Federation of Temple Youth president at the NFTY convention, held Feb. 15-18 in Dallas. She was NFTY Southwest regional president before attaining this role as head of the North American board. Maya, a University High School senior, was… Read more »

Not too long ago I was at Tucson Hebrew Academy doing a couple of guest presentations for the third, fourth, and fifth graders, and what unfolded while doing so was rather exciting. The topic was the Jewish view regarding the Moshiach (Messiah) and the Messianic era. Essentially, my goal… Read more »

Newly-minted septuagenarian When Andy Kunsberg turned 70 in mid-December, his wife, Linda, planned a late December celebration. The party wasn’t a surprise but the guest list was. Relatives — daughter Rebecca Goodman, her husband Ted and their three children, plus Andy’s brother, brothers-in-law, nieces, great niece and nephews, from… Read more »

Rabbi Helen T. Cohn

Tzedakah is usually translated as “charity” but a distinction is often made between the meanings of these two words. “Tzedakah” comes from the Hebrew root that means righteousness or justice.  “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof” — “Justice, justice you shall pursue” — is often quoted in support of financial contributions that… Read more »

Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon

It was the greatest moment in our people’s entire history. But what the heck actually happened? This week we read the Torah portion of Yitro, including the revelation at Mount Sinai. This climactic section includes the enormous experience of receiving the Ten Commandments through the theophany at Sinai, the… Read more »

A mojito toast from Young Women’s Cabinet members (L-R) Simone Krame, Jennifer Selco, Kathy Gerst, Jenny Rothschild, Katie Stellitano-Rosen, Rachel Jarrett

Mah jongg, the centuries-old tile game of Chinese origin, is a favorite pastime for American Jewish women. A fad in the United States in the 1920s, it regained popularity in 1937 when a group of Jewish women formed the National Mah Jongg League based in New York City. Each… Read more »

NEW ORLEANS (JTA) — Ela Weissberger, though tiny and elderly when I met her, was the strongest woman I have ever known. Her energy was indefatigable, her personality vibrant and sunny, her wit sharp and charming. Her magical rapport with children was undeniable. Ela was a Holocaust survivor, sent… Read more »

Many years ago, after serving in the Israel Defense Forces, I moved to live on a kibbutz in the beautiful Israel Valley. My father, who lived as a teen in the 1950s in Hulata, a kibbutz in the shadow of the Golan Heights, inspired me (a city boy) to… Read more »

Amir Eden

Some of our community members and lay leaders are involved in the Nov. 6 elections. As an American citizen, I plan to cast my ballot, as voting, in my eyes, is one of our important civic duties. I had my first political experience in the Israeli general elections campaign… Read more »

A special Israel visitor From Aug. 9-Sept. 3, Linda and Shelby Silverman traveled to Europe and Israel. They saved the best for last, spending two weeks with their four Israeli grandchildren and their parents. Three generations of the Silverman-Levin family enjoyed a delightful surprise when they visited Rishon LeZion,… Read more »

Some people believe we live in a world where everything can be seen and touched. They buy into scientific explanations and find it hard to believe we live in a complex world where there’s much we can’t explain. Here is a true story of divine providence or in Hebrew,… Read more »

This summer my son Boaz and I traveled to Poland for the great pleasure and privilege of participating in the Ride for the Living, a 55-mile bicycle ride from Auschwitz-Birkenau to the Jewish Community Center of Krakow, Poland, from the scene of the greatest destruction of our people to… 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 »

In 1966, when I was just 13 years old, my parents surprised me by taking me to New York City to see Zero Mostel star as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.” I was enchanted by Shalom Aleichem’s inspiration, “Tevye the Dairyman,” which was written in Yiddish in 1894.… Read more »

A couple of years ago I was standing in the lobby of a Jewish Community Center in California, admiring the artwork of Shlomo Katz. The JCC had just opened an unusual display of hand-knotted Persian rugs featuring Jewish and biblical themes, and I found myself entirely lost in the rug… Read more »

This summer season marked the 18th anniversary of Birthright Israel, the program that brings Diaspora Jews, ages 18-26, on a free trip to Israel. From May 24-June 4, Bus #1545 carried University of Arizona students along with participants from the University of Southern California, Arizona State University, and San… Read more »