The Bregmans — Phil, Charlotte, Breanna, Emily, Lady and Dani — in their family sukkah Sukkot 5772 Sukkot, Judaism’s weeklong season of rejoicing, celebrates life, community and autumn’s bounty. Originally an agricultural holiday, this festival also commemorates the 40-year trek of the Israelites through the desert to the Promised Land. One builds a sukkah (plural, sukkot) — a temporary dwelling with a roof made… Read more »
Israel is right,” “Israel is wrong,” Israel should do this or that … wherever I go, whatever I do, it seems many American Jews try to keep their engagement with Israel on a political basis. Sometimes it feels as if the only connection to Israel is through the Israeli-Arab… Read more »
Hebrew High Care-A-Van participants (L-R) Michelle Jafee, Hila Lamdan, Emma Goldblatt and Sarah Robins in downtown Denver. This summer I took part in the 10th annual Care-A-Van trip organized by Hebrew High in Phoenix. I heard about the Care-A-Van opportunity from Sharon Glassberg, director of Tucson’s Hebrew High. From June 13 to 29, we visited 18 different cities in seven different states: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado,… Read more »
I am writing this several days after Gilad Shalit was released, Muammar Gadhafi was killed and the Jewish people worldwide have celebrated Simchat Torah, which marks the end of Torah readings for one year and the start of Torah readings for the new year. First there was darkness, the… Read more »
Nancy Mellan As Jewish women, we come from a tradition that honors our role in home, family and community. In the Eshet Chayil Shabbat blessing recited by husbands to their wives, we are honored: “A good woman, who can find. She reaches her hand out to those in need. She is… Read more »
MONTCLAIR, N.J. (JTA) — We land at Ben Gurion Airport in the heat of winter, on the first day of Chanukah. At 11 a.m. Dec. 2, already it is 82 degrees in Tel Aviv — unusual weather for the rainy season in Israel. And it will get hotter. Much… Read more »
Eric Groner says he revoked his U.S. citizenship with a "heavy heart" when he became Israel's minister for economic affairs to the United States. TEL AVIV (JTA) — After being named Israel’s minister for economic affairs to the United States, Eli Groner was required by U.S. law to revoke his U.S. citizenship. The following is the statement he submitted to the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv upon his renunciation. Because I love America,… Read more »
Bonnie Sedlmayr-Emerson at Melanoma Walk ’11 Aged to perfection This title describes newly minted centenarian Ruth Protas. Over Labor Day weekend, Ruth’s family and friends from near and far feted her on this milestone occasion. Official greetings from the White House congratulated her for a century of memories representing an important part of the American… Read more »
Shoshana Hebshi TOLEDO, Ohio (j. weekly) — When I wrote an article nine years ago about going on a press trip to Israel, I was just beginning to explore the implications of my Arab-Jewish heritage on my life. The trip was eye opening for me in many ways, chiefly because it… Read more »
Lt. Lipaz Ela, Shelly Silverman and 1st Sgt. Tomer Bucher at the Birthright Israel reception
In my 20 years of writing this monthly column from September through May, the Rosh Hashanah issue has traditionally highlighted Israel summer travel. This article is no exception. Enjoy! • • • • • Another year, another Tucson Hebrew Academy eighth-grade Israel Discovery trip before middle school graduation. This… Read more »
Audrey Brooks with a child at the Mevaseret Zion Absorption Center near Jerusalem. (Courtesy JFSA) The story is in the stories. That’s what I learned with 100 others from 37 other communities on the Jewish Federations of North America’s Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission to Moscow and Israel this summer. I heard stories of inspiration, intrigue, courage and hope. I learned that just as… Read more »
“Mr. Prime Minister, I know you are watching us now — I recommend you take a good look: What you see now, this enormous crowd, here and all across Israel, is not the public you know. This is no longer the public that agreed with any decision the governments… Read more »
Amy Hirshberg Lederman Exactly 10 years ago this month, I wrote my first column for the Arizona Jewish Post. “Running to Catch Up with Myself” was an attempt to address the confusion, pain and fear I felt after 9/11. I had no idea a decade ago that writing would become such an… Read more »
I am suffering from Periodic Missile Stress Disorder (PMSD), which is being aggravated by the world’s indifference to my situation. Once again sirens sounded last night in our sleepy town of Meitar and the non-stop booms of missiles falling in nearby Beersheva could clearly be heard and yet we… Read more »
When presented with the opportunity to A) go on a summer trip to Europe, or B) go to a Jewish leadership camp, you could only imagine the look on my parents’ faces when I chose option B! Priceless! This summer I ventured across the country to upstate New York… Read more »
As a child, I grew up listening to music on my father’s prized possession, our stereo system, which consisted of a record player nestled deep within a richly oiled mahogany cabinet and two huge speakers that dominated the living room. Sunday mornings were dedicated to classical music, the afternoons… Read more »
Rabbi Robert J. Marx, with glasses, is pictured with the Rev. Martin Luther King in the 1960s. CHICAGO (JTA) — Time affirms what heroism discerns. The dedication of a statue in memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is a belated yet significant tribute to a man who did so much to redefine the meaning of our democracy. Make no mistake about it, there was… Read more »
In the last several weeks Israel has been going through one of the biggest waves of protest ever. The people in the street are calling for social justice. Most protestors define themselves as middle class. They’re raising a cry over the high cost of living and the unequally spread… Read more »
Amy Hirshberg Lederman The route from Arizona to Montana was mapped out, the car packed with a week’s worth of clothes and gear, and the cooler filled with snacks and water bottles. As we buckled up for the first leg of our trip, I felt the kind of excitement I had known… Read more »
I usually think of hand-washing, germaphobe that I am, as a necessary part of my daily routine. I will admit to washing my hands or using hand sanitizer probably more often than most, but nonetheless it is not something I give much attention as part of creating a space… Read more »
