A representative of Jewish Voice for Peace speaking with a student at the Open Hillel conference at Harvard University, Oct. 12, 2014. (Gili Getz) CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (JTA) — Harvard senior Rachel Sandalow-Ash scanned the exuberant crowd that packed a campus auditorium on Saturday night. “Wow,” she said, speaking to an audience of some 350 composed primarily of American college students. “This is amazing. This is really cool.” Sandalow-Ash, 21, went on to discuss… Read more »
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — Loading a newly released video of a beheading in Syria on his smartphone, Nabil Abuznaid, the Palestinians’ ambassador here, shakes his head in disbelief. “Look at those animals,” he says, referring to the fighters from the ISIS jihadist group who carried out the decapitation.… Read more »
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Having coffee with Stav Shaffir is little different from meeting up with other 20-somethings in Tel Aviv. She rushes into the cafe a few minutes late, glances repeatedly at her phone and complains about high rents and an out-of-touch government. It’s hard, she says, being… Read more »
Ibrahim Barzak with his sons before leaving Gaza. (Courtesy Ibrahim Barzak) WASHINGTON (JTA) — Ibrahim Barzak spent his childhood counting the days to weekends, when he would travel with his father to see friends in Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Ashdod and Jerusalem. For Barzak’s young sons, by contrast, the names of those cities conjure malevolent exotica. Barzak, 38, has worked for… Read more »
Andrew Romanoff (JTA) — With midterm elections just around the corner, four races for the House of Representatives in particular are catching our Jewish eyes. In California, succeeding Waxman: Ted Lieu vs. Elan Carr California’s 33rd Congressional District, stretching along the Pacific Coast and extending into the west side of Los… Read more »
Rabbi Gil Steinlauf LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Gil Steinlauf, a nationally prominent Conservative rabbi, made headlines this month when he announced to his large Washington, D.C., synagogue that he is gay, and that he and his wife of 20 years would divorce. As surprised as his congregants at Adas Israel may have… Read more »
Stanley Feldman (Athol Cline) Stanley G. Feldman, 82, retired as an Arizona Supreme Court justice in 2002, but he hasn’t retired from the legal profession. Now in his sixth decade of fighting for the rights of all, Feldman will receive the Jewish Heritage Award at the Tucson Jewish History Museum’s annual benefit on… Read more »
The small cardboard box in Elyashiv Drori’s palm looks like it’s full of black pebbles. Closing the box quickly, he explains that it cannot be open for long. The pebble-like pieces, which were uncovered in an archaeological dig near Jerusalem’s Old City, are in fact remains of a kilo… Read more »
Ingredients are set out for a mega challah bake. (Courtesy Chabad Tucson) The Shabbos Project, a global movement to celebrate the Jewish day of rest on the weekend of Oct. 24-25, will be marked in Tucson with a Mega Challah Bake for women and girls (ages 9 and up) at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Thursday, Oct. 23, from 7… Read more »
Tucson’s 6th annual multifaith pride service in support of Southern Arizona’s LGBTQ community, “Weaving a Common Sacredness,” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 14, from 7-9 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El. Rev. Debra Peevey, faith outreach director from Why Marriage Matters Arizona, will be one of the key speakers. Rabbi Batsheva… Read more »
The local BBYO chapters of Abba Godol AZA and Kadimah BBG are participating in “Can-Tribute,” a food drive partnership between BBYO and DoSome thing.org. The local chapters are working with chapters from around the world to help fight poverty by collecting canned food to donate to local food banks.… Read more »
Shirley Christie (Photo: Gloria Christie-Bishop) Healing from the trauma of domestic violence and sexual assault can be elusive. For Shirley Christie, bicycling from Boston to Seattle, then South to her hometown of Pasadena, Calif. — covering 4,000 miles over 105 days — was the right route. Christie will discuss her journey, “Cycling to End… Read more »
Rabbi Gary Zola Rabbi Gary Phillip Zola, Ph.D. will be the Mitch Dorson scholar-in-residence at Congregation Or Chadash on Oct. 24 and 25. Zola is executive director of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, professor of the American Jewish Experience at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in… Read more »
Pinchas (Paul) and Rita Zohav Deciding to leave their home in Seattle, Pinchas (Paul) and Rita Zohav narrowed their search to Albuquerque or Tucson. “Without a doubt,” Rita says, “it was the Jewish community in Tucson which made our decision so easy.” After 10 years in Seattle, the couple agreed it was “too grey,… Read more »
“Zero Motivation,” a new film by Israeli filmmaker Talya Lavie, will have its Southwest premiere at the Loft Cinema on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 2:15 p.m. The film is described as a “zany, dark comedic portrait of everyday life for a unit of young, female Israeli soldiers” who work… Read more »
Auguste Rodin's "Adam" The Tucson Museum of Art will host one of its most prestigious exhibitions, “The Figure Examined: Masterworks from the Kasser Mochary Art Foundation,” Oct. 18 through Feb. 22, 2015. The exhibit will include some 120 works of art by more than 70 noted artists from the 19th and 20th… Read more »
At Camp Be’chol Lashon, which provides a space for racially and ethnically diverse Jews, discussion about appearance is the norm. (Courtesy of Be'chol Lashon) SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — Earlier this year, the Jewish overnight camp Eden Village garnered a great deal of attention for its “no body talk” policy, which camp leaders described as providing a “break from mentioning physical appearance, including clothing.” The policy, which aims to lessen the stress children feel about appearance, certainly has merit. But… Read more »
Israel Border Police confront a Palestinian man in the Silwan neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem where Jews moved into 25 apartments in the middle of the night, Sept. 30, 2014. (Silman Khader/Flash90) JERUSALEM (JTA) — Jewish- and Arab-Israeli residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan disagree on whether the neighborhood is historically Jewish or Arab. They disagree about whether Israeli Jews should be living there. They even disagree on what to call one of the main streets in the neighborhood, a… Read more »
Fabrice Schomberg outside his home in The Hague. (Cnaan Lihpshiz) THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — For the tour guides that lead visitors through the Van Ostade Housing Project, Fabrice Schomberg’s sukkah is one of the few signs of the neighborhood’s Jewish roots. Built in the 19th century for impoverished Jews, the enclave today is surrounded by the largely Muslim… Read more »
Penthouse guests at the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel get to custom design their private sukkah in the suite, complete with full-service meals and a space to relax. (Ben Sales) (JTA) — With its panoramic views of Jerusalem, plush seating area and decorative elements, this could be almost any other room at the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel. Except the floor is made of AstroTurf, the walls are made of transparent cloth and the roof is a bamboo mat. Welcome to… Read more »
