News

These rabbis have no idea why they’re on the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s ‘blacklist’

Morris Allen, the rabbi of the Conservative Beth Jacob Congregation in Minnesota, believes he was included on the list because of his opposition to the Chief Rabbinate. (Courtesy of the Masorti Foundation)
July 13, 2017 / Ben Sales, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — In 2012, Rabbi Jason Herman wrote a letter to Israel’s Chief Rabbinate certifying that a friend of his who wished to get married was Jewish and single. The letter was declared invalid. But several months later Herman, spiritual leader of the Orthodox West Side Jewish… Read more »

Avi Gabbay, ‘Israel’s Macron,’ wants to lead Labor party from the center

Avi Gabbay attending a press conference after winning the Labor Party primary in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 11, 2017. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
July 13, 2017 / Andrew Tobin, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — He’s charismatic. He’s an outsider. And he’s a political centrist. Some have hailed Avi Gabbay, the telecom exec who was elected Monday to lead the center-left Labor Party, as Israel’s version of French President Emmanuel Macron, the banker who recently swept to power with an… Read more »

Trump’s lack of State Department appointments can hurt Israel, experts say

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley testifying during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., June 28, 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
July 12, 2017 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Carmel Shama HaCohen, Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO, is second to none in his admiration for the Trump administration’s United Nations envoy, Nikki Haley. In fact, he’d like to clone her. Shama HaCohen appreciated Haley’s efforts in trying to head off last week’s vote by UNESCO’s Heritage… Read more »

Chief Rabbinate says list of rabbis is not a blacklist

David Lau, Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, speaking to children about the Kristallnacht pogroms at the Or Avner Jewish school in Berlin, Nov. 8, 2013. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
July 12, 2017 / Ben Sales, JTA

(JTA) — The Israeli Chief Rabbinate says that its list of foreign rabbis has been misconstrued, and that the list does not imply that those rabbis cannot be trusted to vouch for the Jewish identities of their followers. On Saturday, JTA reported on a list of some 160 rabbis… Read more »

American Orthodox rabbis are ambivalent about Western Wall controversy

Haredi Orthodox men praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Jan. 12, 2017. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
July 12, 2017 / Ben Sales, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — American Orthodox leaders have a message for their non-Orthodox friends: Take a deep breath. When Israel’s cabinet voted twice to further empower the country’s haredi Orthodox religious establishment last month, Reform, Conservative and non-Orthodox Zionist leaders were outraged. They cancelled meetings with Israel’s prime minister.… Read more »

The billionaire who founded Birthright has a private zoo

Michael Steinhardt, who takes regular 90-minute strolls around his 55-acre private zoo, enjoys interacting with his tortoises. (Ben Sales)
July 11, 2017 / Ben Sales, JTA

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. (JTA) – When Michael Steinhardt strolls around his 55-acre backyard for 90 minutes every morning, one of his favorite animals to see is the scimitar-horned oryx, whose antlers sweep back from its head like the swords for which they are named. But Steinhardt didn’t much like… Read more »

These American Jews are looking beyond the Western Wall – to prayer on the Temple Mount

A group of Jewish worshippers visiting the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem, Nov. 7, 2016. (Sebi Berens/Flash90)
July 10, 2017 / Andrew Tobin, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Liberal American Jews are feeling thwarted in their years-long campaign for the right to pray as they wish at the Western Wall. Long frustrated that the plaza in front of the wall is run as an Orthodox synagogue, they were doubly incensed when Israel’s political establishment scrapped an… Read more »

This 400-year-old Jewish library survived Hitler and the Inquisition

Staff preparing the Ets Haim Jewish library in Amsterdam for a tour, May 17, 2017. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
July 9, 2017 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

  AMSTERDAM (JTA) —  Livraria Ets Haim is the world’s oldest functioning Jewish library. As such, it is no stranger to the prospect of imminent destruction. Founded in 1616 by Jews who fled Catholic persecution in Spain and Portugal, the three-room library is adjacent to Amsterdam’s majestic Portuguese Synagogue… Read more »

Grants from Foundation and Federation connect Tucson to Israel

Members of the student-led ‘Puzzle’ youth program in Kiryat Malachi (Courtesy Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona)
July 6, 2017 /

Leah Avuno has spent the last year in Tucson as one of Tucson’s first pair of shinshinim, teen emissaries from Israel. Three years ago, Avuno was a 15-year-old immigrant to Israel from Ethiopia living with her mother, aunt and siblings in Kiryat Malachi, a city known for its diversity.… Read more »

Tucson J’s program variety is boon for seniors

‘Chair Yoga’ is an ongoing class at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. (Courtesy Tucson Jewish Community Center)
July 6, 2017 /

From “Painting the World Jewish” to “Senior Shimmy Belly Dancing” to kosher cooking, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Arts & Culture, Fitness & Wellness, and Jewish Life & Learning departments will offer a wide array of programs for seniors this fall. The Tucson J will partner with Ballet Tucson… Read more »

Southwest Torah Institute’s Spirit study program returns

Rabbinical student Harry Kleinerman, left, and Robert Nye of Green Valley study together at Congregation Chofetz Chayim in 2016. (Courtesy Southwest Torah Institute)
July 6, 2017 /

“In the Driver’s Seat” is this year’s theme for the Southwest Torah Institute’s Dr. Paul W. Hoffert Spirit Program, which begins Wednesday, July 26 and runs through Tuesday, Aug. 8. Begun in 2000, the program offers two weeks of free learning for Jewish men and boys ages eight and… Read more »

Beckers seek small group for Israel ‘soul’ trip in October

Bernadette Donfeld (left) and Esther Becker on a hill overlooking Shilo, where the Tabernacle was located for 369 years until destroyed by the Philistines. The photo was taken on a 2011 Southwest Torah Institute Israel trip. (Bob Donfeld).
July 6, 2017 /

Rabbi Israel and Esther Becker will hold an informational meeting about Southwest Torah Institute’s “Israel: Where the Past Shapes Your Soul” trip planned for October on Sunday, July 23 at 11 a.m. An Israeli-style brunch will be served. “Even if you have been to Israel before, every trip presents… Read more »

JFSA helping synagogues boost youth engagement

Cantorial soloist Marjorie Hochberg guides Temple Emanu-El religious school students in singing the Four Questions at a second night Passover seder in 2015. (Steve Shawl)
July 6, 2017 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

Declining youth engagement has been a problem facing synagogues across the country for a decade or more.  To help local synagogues reverse this trend, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is providing them with new allocations for religious schools and family education programs. Each synagogue will decide how to… Read more »

Esther Becker plans women’s book brunch
July 6, 2017 /

The Women’s Academy of Jewish Studies will hold its annual Women’s Summer Reading and Brunch event with Esther Becker on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 10:45 a.m. at Congregation Chofetz Chayim. For nearly two decades, this event has been held during the High Holiday season. “This event has become a… Read more »

Darkaynu adds staff, toddler program
July 6, 2017 /

Darkaynu Tucson Jewish Montessori is making changes for the new school year, adding a new covered playground, new staff members and a toddler program. The preschool now accepts children ages 1-6. Darkaynu will become the first preschool in the area with Imagination Playground Blue Blocks (as seen at the… Read more »

Free Taste of Judaism celebrates 18th year
July 6, 2017 /

This year marks the 18th anniversary — the chai year — of Temple Emanu-El’s outreach and education program, Taste of Judaism. The free course offers an introduction to Jewish spirituality, values and community in three two-hour sessions. Rabbis Samuel M. Cohon and Batsheva Appel lead interactive explorations of Jewish… Read more »

Temple Emanu-El celebrates b’nai mitzvah with a difference

Grey Schwartzberg (left) and his father, Gary, carry Torahs at their b’nai mitzvah ceremony on May 6 at Temple Emanu-El. (Courtesy Gary Schwartzman)
July 6, 2017 / Kaye Patchett, Special to the AJP

A bar or bat mitzvah brings families together in a special way. In recent months, three Temple Emanu-El members with interfaith backgrounds created new family traditions as they demonstrated their commitment through this age-old rite of passage. A father and son celebrated a joint b’nai mitzvah, and the son of… Read more »