News

From left, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton of the European Union, Omani foreign Minister Yusaf bin Alawi and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at three-way negotiations about the future of Iran's nuclear program in Muscat, Oman, Nov. 9, 2014. (U.S. State Department)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — With the Nov. 24 deadline for an Iran deal looming, there’s no guarantee that the Obama administration will achieve its long-sought goal of an agreement over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. But there’s at least one outcome that is a virtual certainty: Obama will face a… Read more »

PARIS (JTA) — Shadowed by two bodyguards, Hassen Chalghoumi — a target of numerous anti-Semitic attacks in recent years — mingled with friends and colleagues at the fifth national convention of France’s Jewish community umbrella group, CRIF. But Chalghoumi is not a member of the Jewish community. Rather he… Read more »

Aftermath of deadly attack on the Bnei Torah Kehillat Yaakov synagogue

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Four Israelis were killed in a terror attack during morning prayers at a Jerusalem synagogue. Two Palestinian assailants entered the synagogue and rabbinical seminary in the Har Nof neighborhood of western Jerusalem and attacked worshippers on Tuesday with a gun, axes and knives. Three of those… Read more »

A U.S. Marine in Vietnam featuring a Magen David on his helmet, circa 1968 (Courtesy National Museum of American Jewish Military History)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Mementos of Jacob Goldstein slide across the 3-foot-by-4-foot horizontal screen like cards being dealt at a casino: his photograph, his name, an Operation Urgent Fury headline denoting the 1983 military campaign in Grenada, Goldstein’s explanatory text summarizing his role during the invasion. Even more striking than… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Devorah Brous’ San Fernando Valley home is shaded by green trees, studded with 19 fruit trees and patrolled by a pair of affable chickens that strut around the backyard. But at the moment, she is eager to show a visitor her dying lawn. Comparing the… Read more »

Some of the hundreds of Palestinians who work at SodaStream's West Bank factory that will be shit down. They could be put out of work with the facility's relocation to southern Israel. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — SodaStream, the Israeli at-home seltzer machine company, announced last month that it would be closing its West Bank factory and moving the facility’s operations to southern Israel next year. Here’s what you need to know about SodaStream, the controversy that has bubbled up in its… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Members of the American Studies Association gathered last year for their annual meeting and a vociferous debate on the wisdom of initiating an academic boycott of Israel. One year later, the debate is over and the boycott resolution has long since passed — but the… Read more »

Israel and Kenya signed an agreement today, pledging to strengthen ties and increase cooperation between the two countries. Representatives from Kenya’s National Assembly met with their counterparts in the Knesset to sign the agreement in Israel. The agreement stated that Israel and Kenya’s “shared belief in the values of… Read more »

Hélène Berr

In commemoration of Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass), which for many marks the beginning of the Holocaust in 1938, the Jewish History Museum will host an opening reception of an exhibit entitled “Hélène Berr, A Stolen Life” on Sunday, Nov. 9 from 3 to 5… Read more »

A concrete security barrier at a light rail station in Jerusalem, Nov. 6, 2014. Four people have been killed at light rail stations in two separate attacks in recent weeks. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — It’s 3 p.m. on a Thursday and the Jerusalem light rail is packed with secular and religious, Jew and Arab, as it heads east from the city’s Central Bus Station. From there it passes some of the city’s most crowded venues, stopping at the Mahane Yehuda… Read more »

IsraAid psychosocial trauma specialists Hela Yaniv, left, and Sheri Oz leading a counseling and training session for service providers in Sierra Leone, Oct. 27, 2014. (Courtesy IsraAid)

(JTA) – Even amid the unceasing horrors of Sierra Leone’s Ebola epidemic, it was a case that stood out. A 5-year-old boy had been found in his home in a remote village, the lone survivor in a house riddled with the corpses of family members. He needed to be… Read more »

Since its opening almost 17 years ago, Pastiche Modern Eatery has donated almost $200,000 to local nonprofit organizations through programs such as “Philanthropy with Phlavor,” “Dine Out for Safety” and “Chicken Soup for Tucson’s Soul.” Pastiche now holds monthly fundraisers in place of Philanthropy with Phlavor, in addition… Read more »

Anna Gendler with a student at The Symphony Women’s Association

For Alexander Tent­ser, music was as much a right of passage as his Bar Mitzvah. His father was a klezmer musician and entertainer with a conservatory education in Kiev, Ukraine, and since Tentser had been playing piano since the age of four, it was only natural that he began… Read more »

Tracy Salkowitz

When we were little, my friends and I put our coins in a pushke, a little metal box with a slit in the top, to raise funds for the Jewish National Fund. I remember thinking that I was personally helping to plant trees in Israel. It filled me… Read more »

Joyce A. Schroeder

“There isn’t anyone who isn’t touched by cancer,” says Anita Kellman, who founded the Kellman Beat Cancer Boot Camp more than 10 years ago. The boot camp, offering twice-weekly exercise classes and monthly dinners with educational speakers, is now available at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The program is… Read more »

Rabbi Laibl Wolf (Cinemachines)

Rabbi Laibl Wolf aims “to reroute your life back on the original track” with his lecture, “Be Strong In the Face of Crisis: Five Powerful Tools to Spiritual, Mental and Emotional Survival,” which he’ll present for Chabad Tucson on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at Congregation Young Israel.… Read more »

Bob Harris

Bob Harris, a former policy and management expert with the federal government, will lead a four-part, non-partisan government discussion series cosponsored by Hadassah Southern Arizona and the Tucson Jewish Community Center, beginning Thursday, Nov. 13. The topics will be “The State of the U.S. Economy Today” (Nov. 13); “Social… Read more »

Garden of Eden bowl - cut paper collage by Carolee Asia

Tucsonan Carolee Asia will be the featured artist at the Tohono Chul Park Welcome Gallery Nov. 14 through Feb. 15. In her colorful cut paper collages, “I enjoy the play of images on all kinds of structures such as cubes and vases, platters and gourds,” Asia says in her… Read more »

Lee Zeldin, pictured, defeated Democrat Tim Bishop in New York's 3rd District to become the sole Jewish Republican in Congress.

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Results late Tuesday showed Republicans winning control of the United States Senate as well as wins for fresh faces with close Jewish and pro-Israel ties. In Long Island, Lee Zeldin, a state senator, was set to become the sole Jewish Republican in Congress, ending a short… Read more »

Shoshana Elkins

Hadassah Southern Arizona will hold a luncheon meeting on Sunday, Nov. 16 at noon at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. Saint Andrews Drive. Shoshana Elkins, MSW, LCSW, vice president of clinical services at Jewish Family & Children’s Services, will speak on “Understanding the True Impact of Domestic Violence and… Read more »