Yesh Atid chief Yair Lapid addressing party supporters in Tel Aviv following the release of exit poll results from the Israeli elections, Jan. 22, 2013. (Avishag Shaar Yashuv/Flash 90/JTA) (JTA) — This week’s election in Israel was a watershed — but not in the ways one might think. In almost every election cycle, the campaign has been about one thing. To adapt James Carville’s famous adage: It’s about security, stupid. Except this time, it wasn’t. The reason is… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Preaching to a preacher man — or woman — doesn’t always play out as planned. That’s the lesson learned this week by officials at the National Cathedral after several clergy, including three rabbis, made impromptu changes to the readings they were given to deliver at a… Read more »
The American-born Rabbi Dov Lipman of the Yesh Atid party says there is no contradiction between working, serving the country and being haredi Orthodox. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90/JTA) TEL AVIV (JTA) – Last week’s Israeli election saw a major shakeup in the country’s government, with 53 new members elected to its parliament, the Knesset. Some already have received wide attention, including Yair Lapid, the middle class-focused chairman of Yesh Atid; Naftali Bennett, the high-tech entrepreneur who chairs… Read more »
Ron Prosor, Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN, speaks at a special event on “Children and the Holocaust”, held to mark the annual International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, on Jan. 27, 2012.(UN Photo/Devra Berkowitz) NEW YORK—Speaking in a voice fraught with emotion at the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor proclaimed, “The loss is unimaginable… the riches lost to the world untold. But, their spirit lives on, their dreams never died… Nothing can break the… Read more »
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma in Moscow. Amid reports of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal falling within Hezbollah's reach, Assad reportedly remains "calm," perhaps due to Russia's deployment of a sizable naval force for an exercise off the Syrian coast. (Rakkar/Wikimedia Commons) Israel is continuing to warn the world of the potentially devastating outcome if Syria’s chemical arsenal falls into the hands of rebels, or worse, Hezbollah, as Lebanese media outlets reported that the Lebanese terror group had already obtained some chemical weapons and long-range missiles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who… Read more »
Henry and Madeleine Cornet in their home near Brussels in the 1940s (Jan Maes) As the sister of Belgium’s most powerful Nazi, Madeleine Cornet knew better than to inquire about the ethnicity of the three women she hired as housemaids in October 1942. Cornet did not want to further implicate herself by hearing what she already knew: Her new hires were Jews who… Read more »
Omri Boneh, the Jewish National Fund’s northern Israel regional director, in the area destroyed by the 2010 Carmel Fire, January 2013. (Ben Sales/JTA) The rabbi’s yarmulke fluttered in the wind, his hand holding it to his head, as he recited El Malei Rachamim, the traditional prayer for the deceased. In front of him were 50 guards from a nearby prison. Behind him, a wall displayed the names of 44 prison service cadets,… Read more »
Scott Edmiston The Brandeis National Committee will host its annual University on Wheels event on Thursday, Feb. 7, at 9 a.m. at Skyline Country Club. Scott Edmiston, director of the Office of the Arts at Brandeis University, will speak on: “Truth or Beauty: The Need for Art in the 21st Century.”… Read more »
Bryan Pisetsky Bryan Pisetsky will join the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona as campaign manager full time beginning April 3. He will relocate to Tucson from California with his wife, Kira, and two children. Pisetsky’s professional career has included an outreach fellowship with the Las Vegas Hillel Center for Jewish Student… Read more »
Temple Emanu-El will host the annual Jewish Camp Fair on Sunday, Feb. 3, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Camp directors from more than 15 Jewish camps will be on hand to meet with parents and children from the entire Jewish community. Camps from across the United States will… Read more »
The Weintraub Israel Center and Temple Emanu-El will present “Israel: Past and Present,” a five-week adult education series beginning Feb. 4. Classes will meet at Temple Emanu-El on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. The topics are: Feb. 4: “Israel’s Cultures, Past and Present” with Ken Miller, University of Arizona staff… Read more »
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is sponsoring a Birthright Israel trip for young professionals, graduate students and upperclassmen in June 2013. If you are 20-26 years old, grew up in Tucson or live here now (including attending the University of Arizona), and have never been to Israel on… Read more »
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold a reception for winter residents on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. at the home of Randee and Myron Jacobs. Casual attire is suggested. The guest speaker will be Amy Hirshberg Lederman, who will present “Every Family Has a Story to… Read more »
The Young Women’s Cabinet will kick off a healthy new year with its winter event on Wednesday, Feb. 6 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The evening will include a cardio-kickboxing class and a discussion of heart health with Claudine Messing, vice president of… Read more »
Rabbi Arthur Green Rabbi Arthur Green has forged his own spiritual path for a half-century. A preeminent authority on neo-Hasidism, mysticism and Jewish spirituality, Green will be in residence at Temple Emanu-El from Feb. 7 to 9 as the distinguished scholar for its 2013 Arthur T. Bilgray lecture series. Recognized as one… Read more »
Matisyahu Matisyahu, the no-longer-Hasidic reggae superstar, will bring his first acoustic tour to Tucson on Wednesday, Jan. 30, performing at the Rialto Theatre. The concert will feature acoustic renditions of tracks from his latest album, “Spark Seeker,” in addition to some fan favorites. While in Santa Monica earlier this month… Read more »
Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz Congregation Bet Shalom will celebrate its 30th year by honoring Rabbi Philip (“Billy”) Lewkowicz and his wife, Ada, at a gala dinner on March 3. “Rabbi Billy has been associated with our congregation as a guest speaker, participant in study groups and panel discussions and especially as our religious… Read more »
Rabbi Jason Holtz It has been a bit more than one month since the Newtown tragedy, where 26 people, including 20 children, were killed. It has been a bit more than two years since the tragic shooting here in Tucson. The sad reality is that the amount of violence involving guns in… Read more »
TEL AVIV (JTA) — One day after the election, all of the Israeli news sites show an even pie chart: 60 Knesset seats for the left and 60 for the right. But the Knesset isn’t actually divided 60-60. It’s split four ways — 42 for the right, 48 for… Read more »
President Obama speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following their meetings on May 20, 2011. (White House /Pete Souza) WASHINGTON (JTA) — With the Israeli election results split evenly between the right-wing bloc and everyone else, no one in Washington is ready to stake their reputation on what the outcome means for the U.S.-Israel relationship and the Middle East. Except for this: The next Israeli government likely will… Read more »
