News

Jewish studies conference celebrates 50 years of explosive growth in the field

A stunning new facsimile of the 14th-century Sarajevo Hagaddah was on display, and for sale, by the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina,in the exhibit hall at the Association of Jewish Studies convention. ( Penny Schwartz)

BOSTON (JTA) — Diversity and inclusion were among the hot topics at the 50th annual convention of the Association of Jewish Studies, where some 1,200 Jewish studies scholars gathered for a three-day conference that began here Sunday. Fifty years to the month after a handful of scholars in the… Read more »

American Federations of Teachers building defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. (Courtesy Professional Staff Congress)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The American Federation of Teachers said vandals defaced its headquarters in Washington D.C. with anti-Semitic graffiti. A number of areas around the building, including a wall, were yellow spray-painted on Tuesday and Wednesday with “I want Jexit!” an apparent anti-Semitic play on “Brexit,” Britain’s planned pullout… Read more »

Trump is looking at Jared Kushner as chief of staff, report says

(JTA) — Jared Kushner is being considered for White House chief of staff, according to a CBS News report. Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, would replace John Kelly, who is set to leave the post at the beginning of next year. A real estate developer who had… Read more »

Baby born prematurely to mother shot in West Bank attack dies in hospital

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A baby born prematurely after his mother was shot during a drive-by terror attack in the West Bank died on Wednesday. The statement from Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Hospital announcing the boy’s passing said the parents met their son earlier Wednesday morning. The baby had been delivered… Read more »

2 Israelis killed in West Bank shooting

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Israelis were killed and two seriously injured in a second shooting attack near a bus stop in the West Bank. The attack on Thursday morning occurred at a bus stop outside of the Givat Asaf settlement, about a mile down the same road from the… Read more »

Local woman seeks acts for all-female talent showcase at Tucson J

Sara Lopez

Sara Lopez, a local wife, mother and opera singer, is curating a Jewish women’s performance showcase, by and for women, at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. Having an all-female audience “allows women across the spectrum of Jewish practice and belief to participate,”… Read more »

British play about anti-Semitism is target of anti-Semites

<p>(<a href=”http://jta.org”>JTA</a>) &#8212; A play opening in London about rising anti-Semitism in Britain has become the target of anti-Semites.</p><p>(<a href=”http://jta.org”>JTA</a>) &#8212; A play opening in London about rising anti-Semitism in Britain has become the target of anti-Semites.</p><p>The play, “One Jewish Boy,” by Stephen Laughton, looks at the hatred and… Read more »

The latest poll on anti-Semitism in Europe looks bad. Trust me: It’s true.

Danish soldiers guard the Jewish Synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept. 29, 2017. (Mads Claus Rasmussen/AFP/Getty Images)

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — The last time that a stranger directed an anti-Semitic insult at me, I was carrying supplies for my son’s birthday party. It was on a Sunday afternoon on Dam Square. Carrying Star of David party decorations in a see-through bag, I paused to snap some pictures… Read more »

Soviet immigration, once a bane of Germany’s Jews, has become their salvation

Children stick white roses into a Star of David sculpture at the construction site of a new synagogue in Potsdam, Germany, Nov. 9, 2018, the 80th anniversary of the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom. (Bernd Settnik/AFP/Getty Images)

MUNICH (JTA) — Weeks after they emigrated from Russia and moved to Germany, the Nedlin family sought to join the local Jewish community. Registering for membership in a Jewish community — a practice common in European countries — was a significant step for the Nedlins, who before emigrating in 1992… Read more »

Ohio man arrested for planning deadly attack on synagogue

(JTA) — A 21-year-old Ohio man was arrested for planning an attack on a Toledo-area synagogue. Damon Joseph of Holland was charged Monday in U.S. District Court in Toledo with attempting to provide material support to ISIS. He told an undercover FBI agent that he was inspired by the… Read more »

A history of the radical Jewish feminists and the one subject they never talked about

Naomi Weisstein, a neuroscientist as well as a stand-up comedian, graces the cover of Joyce Antler’s new book. Weisstein died in 2015. (NYU Press)

BROOKLINE, Mass. (JTA) — Heather Booth, Amy Kesselman, Vivian Rothstein and Naomi Weisstein. The names of these bold and influential radical feminists may have faded in recent years, but they remain icons to students of the women’s liberation movement of the early 1960s and to generations of women activists since.… Read more »

JFSA-NW rebrands program to honor Ruth and Irving Olson

Ruth and Irving Olson

In 2019 the Northwest Division will organize its activities as The Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest,” says Alan Kendal, advisory council chair for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Northwest Division. Stuart Mellan, JFSA president and CEO, made the formal announcement during the… Read more »

Tucson firefighters see counterparts in action on Israel mission

Members of the November 2018 Firefighters Without Borders mission pose with soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces 118th Division Tank Battalion in the Golan Heights, (L-R): Eliot Anderson, Scott Peru, Ted Geare, K. Paul Maxwell, Kris Blume, Steve Lunde. (Courtesy Firefighters Beyond Borders)

Tucson Firefighters Beyond Borders completed its third mission to Israel last month under an unexpected hail of missiles. That only added a new dimension to the multi-faceted, cross-cultural and cross-technology educational exchanges that began in 2013, according to the six participants. The delegation left Tucson on Nov. 6, spending… Read more »