Israeli soldiers guard near where Jewish settlers hitchhike at the Gush Etzion junction in the West Bank, June 16, 2014/ (Flash 90) EFRAT, West Bank (JTA) — At a shopping center in the middle of Efrat, families eat pizza, a deliveryman unloads a cart and a barista serves coffee. On a passing bus, a banner reads “Gush Etzion — an Israeli home.” In many respects it’s a normal, quiet Monday in… Read more »
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, addressing the General Assembly of the Presbyterian church (U.S.A.) to urge the denomination to reject divestment, June 19, 2014. (Courtesy of Union for Reform Judaism) WASHINGTON (JTA) – There were amendments and amendments to amendments in a debate lasting for more than four hours. There were dueling T-shirts. There was a last-minute appeal for a joint pilgrimage to speak hard truths to Benjamin Netanyahu. And there was a plea to emulate Jesus and speak… Read more »
Six Reform rabbis pose for a photo outside the jail in St. Augustine, Fla., where they spent a nigth after being arrested protesting for civil rights 50 years earlier. From left to right, are Allen Secher, Israel Dresner, Jerrold Goldstein and Richard Levy. Sitting are Daniel Fogel, left, and Hanan Sills. (Dina Weinstein) ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (JTA) — For Rabbi Richard Levy, it was an emotional return to this historic northeastern Florida city. The first time Levy came to St. Augustine 50 years ago, he and 15 other rabbis and a Reform Jewish leader endured taunts from segregationists armed with broken bottles… Read more »
Bride Katka Reszke and groom Slawomir Grunberg, made their wedding a celebration of Polish Jewish revival, June 22, 2014. (Ruth Ellen Gruber) WROCLAW, Poland (JTA) — When Katka Reszke and Slawomir Grunberg tied the knot at the historic White Stork synagogue in this southwestern Polish city, they were determined that the occasion would be more than just a wedding. They wanted it to be a symbol of how thousands of Polish… Read more »
Jordan Elgrably is executive director of the Levantine Cultural Center in Los Angeles. (Anthony Weiss/JTA) LOS ANGELES (JTA) – It’s Friday night, and patrons are sitting and chatting over plates of tajine and hummus waiting for the evening’s main event, a stand-up comedy show. It could be any nightspot in this city. But a closer look reveals a bolder agenda than just good food… Read more »
TEL AVIV (JTA) — At 3:30 Shavuot morning, more than 100 people are seated on folding chairs singing in Yiddish as men walk around with shots of vodka and cups of coffee. Up front, a man in a black frock coat and black hat is belting out the notes,… Read more »
“The Storyteller,” life-size bronze sculpture by David Unger Tucson sculptor David Unger will have a one-man show July 4-31 at Bill Hester Fine Art in Santa Fe, N.M. The show will feature more than 30 of his bronze sculptures, and Unger is particularly excited about his life-size piece, “The Storyteller.” “The Storyteller” can hold children in its… Read more »
Trip members on the promenade at the port at Tel Aviv. Back row (L-R): Howard Peck, Meir Eisenman, Claire Peck, Carolyn Crowder, Esther Becker, Rabbi Israel Becker; front row: Howard Toff, Cheryl Toff, Renee Geffen, Carol Zuckert, Marcia Winick, Alayne Greenberg, Bruce Greenberg; seated: Lyn Lewis, Clifford Altfeld, Ruth Swedarsky My wife, Lyn, and I recently returned from the Congregation Chofetz Chayim/Southwest Torah Institute 2014 Israel Experience, filled with enthusiasm for the trip and the many unique experiences we shared with a group of 13 led by… Read more »
People gather for a vigil for three kidnapped Israeli teens outside the Israeli consulate in New York City on June 16. According to the Israeli defense Forces (IDF), Gilad Shaar (16) Naftali Frenkel, (16) and Eyal Yifrach (19) have been missing since late Thursday or Friday and were last seen around Gush Etzion. Israeli soldiers have detained over 150 Palestinian suspects in the search for the three teens. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Since the three teenagers were abducted last week, Israel’s goals have been simple: Find them and punish their kidnappers. Realizing those goals, though, is far from a simple task. The international community has condemned the kidnappings, and Israel has spread its forces across the West Bank to search for… Read more »
This year, the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona combined multiple grant programs into one, the 2014 Community Impact Grants. Through the new, aligned grants program, the JCF and the JFSA awarded more than $410,000, which includes $268,472 to Jewish organizations in… Read more »
When people in their 70s or 80s walk into a hospital emergency room with no obvious physical symptoms, medical residents often think their problem must be brain impairment. But that’s “nonsense,” said Ole J. Thienhaus, M.D., of the University of Arizona department of psychiatry, speaking at the “Aging and… Read more »
Gladys Hanfling holds a Torah with a needlepoint mantle she created in 2003 for Temple Emanu-El. Gladys Hanfling, 87, isn’t afraid of anything. “I’m chutzpahdik,” she says, smiling. Life is full of experiences so why should anything stop her? As for her age, “I don’t look it. I don’t act it. I don’t think it,” Hanfling told the AJP. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., she… Read more »
Deborah Kalar-Crowder, emergency financial assistance manager at Jewish Family & Children’s Services, receives packages for Mitzvah Magic. For a family struggling to make ends meet, the gifts and holiday items provided by Tucson’s Mitzvah Magic program are “a godsend,” one recipient recently told the AJP. We’ll call her “Rachel.” Mitzvah Magic, a program of Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy and Jewish Family & Children’s… Read more »
Seth Galena and Hindy Poupko, at his right shoulder, celebrate the birth of their son Akiva at his bris, June 15, 2014. (Piha Studio) NEW YORK (JTA) – Even before their daughter, Ayelet Galena, was diagnosed with a rare bone marrow disease called dyskeratosis congenita around her first birthday, parents Hindy Poupko and Seth Galena knew they wanted to have more children. But once the diagnosis arrived, the couple had a dilemma: There… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — A special panel tasked with examining the governance and strategic vision of the Claims Conference is recommending that the organization shift its long-term focus to Holocaust education and remembrance, JTA has learned. The panel was appointed last year following a scandal involving the Claims Conference’s… Read more »
Misha Gurbachov, deputy director of the Jewish Community of Chisinau, and Limmud Maldova co-organizer Julia Seinman in Chisinau, May 23, 2014. (George Omen/Limmud FSU( CHISINAU, Moldova (JTA) — Standing opposite the house at Romana Street 13 in the Moldovan capital, a group of tourists is struggling to hear Irina Shihova’s account of the horrors that transpired here more than a century ago, but her voice is drowned out by a pop song playing… Read more »
In response to the kidnapping of three boys last week, some Israelis have prayed. Some have voiced support on social media. And some have done what they do best: they made an app. Prompted by the kidnapping and set to launch in the near future, the SOS Israel app will allow anyone in… Read more »
Demonstrators rally outside the Israeli consulate in Manhattan to express solidarity with three Israeli teens who were abducted in the West Bank, June 16, 2014. (Miriam Moster/JTA) NEW YORK (JTA) – The Reform movement posted a prayer. Chabad asked followers to pledge to do a mitzvah. The Jewish Federations of North America set up a Web page to express solidarity. The disappearance of three Israeli teens in the West Bank last week is being taken as a call to action uniting… Read more »
Racheli Frenkel, center, mother of kidnapped teenager Naftali Frenkel, stands with the mothers of the other abducted teens, Eyal Yifrah and Gilad Shaar, outside her home in Nof Ayalon in central Israel, June 17, 2014. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash 90) KARNEI SHOMRON, West Bank (JTA) — Four days into the search for three kidnapped Israeli teens, I attended a group prayer session dedicated to their safe return. Dozens of women gathered together to read responsively psalms seeking God’s mercy and intervention before the start of our morning Jewish studies… Read more »
Left to right, Mariano Schlez and Paola Salem, with Damian Beker and Maxi Klein, organized efforts to bring together Jewish Soccer fans at the World Cup's seven sites in Brazil. (Courtesy Paola Salem) (JTA) – When Argentina plays its opening-round matches in the World Cup, Mariano Schlez of Buenos Aires will be screaming his support from the stands. But taking in his home country’s matches in Brazil isn’t all that will be occupying Schlez for the first fortnight of the monthlong soccer… Read more »
