I recently completed the reading of all 15 volumes of “The Cambridge History of English Literature” by A.W. Ward and A.R. Waller. It took me several years. When it came to the history of religious writing having to do with Christianity and its various forms and manifestations, the… Read more »
First Person
FIRST PERSON Fear and loathing, but mostly loathing, on the campaign trail
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton during the second presidential debate, at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 9, 2016. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Some of us are voting for Trump. Most of us are voting for Clinton. But we Jews are all afraid. There are the scandals, yes. There are emails and sexual assault allegations and emails and fraud and racism and anti-Semitism and emails. There are issues… Read more »
FIRST PERSON When my synagogue banned my baby on Yom Kippur
JTA staff writer Ben Sales and his son relaxing at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in September 2016. (Courtesy of Sales)
CHICAGO (JTA) — Why did my synagogue ban my baby? It had been more than a decade since I attended my hometown synagogue for Yom Kippur, and it was my first time as a father, so I didn’t know what to expect. But I never imagined standing… Read more »
FIRST PERSON Why I’m going to High Holiday services for the first time in 25 years
Paul Golin NEW YORK (JTA) — I just bought Rosh Hashanah tickets for the first time ever. The last time I attended services for the High Holidays was on my parents’ dime. That was back before the World Wide Web, when Ross Perot heard a giant sucking sound and… Read more »
With U.S.-Cuba ties restored, family joins Tucson man on long-awaited homecoming visit
Tucsonan Billie Kozolchyk, right, with Adela Dworin, vice president of the Patronato de la casa de la comunidad Hebrea de Cuba in Havana, the equivalent of a Jewish federation in the United States. (Courtesy Billie Kozolchyk)
So we went to Cuba. Big deal, you say? Everybody’s going to Cuba. It seems not a single U.S. institution, big or small, isn’t arranging tours and oh yes, cruises, too. But our trip was different. My husband, Boris, had left his native Cuba pre-Fidel in 1956, to continue… Read more »
Yom HaShoah service sparks tears — and hope
Tucsonan Wolfgang Hellpap, a Holocaust survivor from Berlin, Germany, lights the sixth candle at the Yom Ha- Shoah Commemoration held Sunday, May 1 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Jasmin Rendon, a student at Pima Community College, served as his escort. (Courtesy Christians United for Israel-Arizona)
They killed us — just because we were Jews. It didn’t matter if we were babies, or children, mothers or fathers; it didn’t matter if we were secular or religious, observant or not; they killed us — in camps, in forced labor, in resistance. They killed us because we… Read more »
FIRST PERSON At Passover, cherishing the freedom to help others
Shelly Silverman As we finish up the week of Passover, I feel especially aware of what freedom means. Freedom is a word that encompasses so much. But for me, the freedom to have choices in so many arenas in my life is almost overwhelming. I can CHOOSE to do almost anything.… Read more »
FIRST PERSON: When Brussels meant freedom from fear for an Israeli
A man walks in an empty tunnel of the closed subway central station
in Brussels, Belgium, Nov. 21, 2015. (Nicolas Maeterlinck/AFP/Getty
Images)
(JTA) — Growing up, trips to stay with my Jewish family in Brussels were a taste of freedom. In my native Israel, waves of Palestinian terrorist attacks kept me under constant maternal surveillance. Fear of regular bus bombings limited my excursions to biking distance. On the tranquil streets of… Read more »
REMEMBRANCE The Supreme Court’s Jewish gentile: My memories of Justice Scalia
From left, Nathan Lewin, Sima Soumekhian, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and Marc Zweben at the Char Bar in Washington, D.C., the kosher restaurant owned by Soumekhian and Zweben, May 2015. (Alyza Lewin)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – “When there was no Jewish justice on the Supreme Court,” Antonin “Nino”Scalia told me, “I considered myself the Jewish justice.” After Abe Fortas resigned in May 1969, there would be no Jewish justice on the court for nearly a quarter of a century, until… Read more »
Growing up Madoff: Raising a family with a notorious name
Bernie Madoff arriving at Manhattan federal court, March 12, 2009. (Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — True story: Back in 2008, one of my son’s favorite games was one we called “Bernie Madoff.” It was basically cops and robbers — I played a police officer and Elie, 3, was Bernie. The object of the game was that I chased him until… Read more »
At Thanksgiving, joy and terror in Israel
Jacob Ezra Schwartz Last week, I celebrated Thanksgiving in Israel in the most unusual yet meaningful way. We had a regular day filled with Gemara and Torah learning, but in the evening, I had the honor of attending both an azkara (memorial service) for American yeshiva student Ezra Schwartz (no relation) and… Read more »
In Vienna, bearing witness on the frontlines of Europe’s refugee crisis
Roberta Elliott, a Tucson winter resident volunteering to help refugees in Vienna, Austria, last month, sorts through piles of donated shoes. (Courtesy Roberta Elliott)
The U.S. Passport Control agent greeted me with uncustomary warmth as I returned to Newark Liberty Airport on Nov. 2. “Was your trip business or vacation?” he asked. For a split second I hesitated, but answered firmly “vacation.” How could I tell him that the time I had just… Read more »
Cycling crosstown through a traumatized Paris
Sara Lieberman is a New York native who moved to Paris a year ago. (Krystal Kenney)
PARIS (JTA) — They say not to take the bikes with the seat turned around. But I take the bike with the seat turned around. Before I know it, I am riding fiercely across town on Rue Saint-Lazare with a loose pedal. This can’t be good, I… Read more »
Talking about the end of life takes courage, commitment
The Days of Awe are a pivotal time of year, a time of introspection, of remembrance, and a time to dream anew. We stand on the ground of the entirety of our lives, looking back at the variegated landscape of our past experiences, and forward into the misty mystery… Read more »
Finding Germany’s bright side amid a tide of refugees
Refugee children visit a fire station in Berlin, September 2015. (Judith Kessler)
BERLIN (JTA) — When supporters of the anti-immigrant PEGIDA movement and right-wing extremists in the former East Germany started demonstrating by the tens of thousands this year against foreigners and “American Zionist” policies, I got mad. When the first refugee homes in Germany were set on fire, I was… Read more »
Talking to my son about what happens after we die
Jenn Book Haselwerdt (Courtesy of the author) My 4-year-old son can’t get enough of dragons and monsters, and — as is appropriate for his age — asking questions about dragons and monsters. Books about the topic have completely taken over our library shelf. He loves reading legends and contemporary stories about them, from luck dragons to… Read more »
5 ways living in Israel has changed my toddlers (mostly) for the better
(Kveller via JTA) — In less than four months my two mini-humans, Aviv, 4, and Maya, 2, have gone through some incredible changes. Four months ago they thought they lived with Elsa and Anna in Arendelle, everything covered in white as far as the eye could see. In just… Read more »
Going ‘Inside Out’ on Tisha b’Av
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Does the hit Pixar movie “Inside Out” hold a clue as to why many Jews find it so difficult to engage with Tisha b’Av? Could its cast of characters — Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust, who are anthropomorphized in the animated film — help… Read more »
On Migrant Trail, connecting Jewish history with modern desert crossers
Eve Rosenberg at the Bureau of Land Management campsite at Ajo Way and San Joaquin Road, before setting out for the final day of the Migrant Trail, May 31. (Deborah Mayaan)
When I joined the Migrant Trail for the last day of its 12th annual week-long solidarity walk from El Sásabe, Sonora, Mexico, to Tucson, we stepped single-file along Ajo Highway in a walking meditation. Periodically, we called out names of those who had died crossing our Sonoran Desert. Some… Read more »
Supporting worshippers at Phoenix mosque, local Jews met with gratitude
Sarah Johnston, center, a Jewish woman from Tucson, with other proponents of religious tolerance who gathered May 29 outside a Phoenix mosque to counter an anti-Muslim protest. The photo includes representatives of the three Abrahamic faiths, Islam, Judaism and Christianity, says Johnston. (Marty Johnston)
Recently, Jon Ritzheimer, a former Marine and self-described “patriot” announced on Facebook that he was holding a “protest” and a “draw Muhammed” contest at the Islamic Community Center of Phoenix during their May 29 Friday night prayers. He invited bikers whom he encouraged to come armed. My husband heard… Read more »
MORE HEADLINES
- Bat Mitzvah: Jordyn Bailey
- Of Blessed Memory: Boris Kozolchyk
- High Holiday Memories
- Sukkot Celebrations Abound in Southern Arizona
- Jewish Early Childhood Centers as a Gateway into Jewish Life
- UA Hillel Kicks Off Fall Semester
- Annual Project Isaiah Food and Fund Drive Begins on Sept. 4
- Handmaker and Congregation Eshel Avraham – a Timeless Collaboration
- Youth Group Scene Thriving in Tucson
