The town of Yurburg, Lithuania, dedicated a new Synagogue Square Memorial on July 19. Tucson genealogist and author Joel Alpert and his wife, Nancy Lefkowitz along with 10 of his relatives from Israel, Canada, and the United States, represented the descendants of emigres from the once-thriving Jewish community. “It… Read more »
Israel
Synagogues, Hillel will join multi-faith pack-a-thon
Congregation Or Chadash, Temple Emanu-El and the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation are participating in this year’s Pack-a-Thon on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2-4 p.m. at the Muslim Community Center, 5100 N. Kevy Place. This is a multi-faith program involving these Jewish organizations, churches and the Muslim community of Tucson… Read more »
Finkel to lead teens on March of the Living
Tucson Holocaust survivor Sidney Finkel will lead Southern Arizona teens on the 2020 March of the Living. Participants will retrace his steps through his childhood home of Piotrkow, Poland, including the first Nazi decreed ghetto in occupied Poland, where he and his family were forced to live. Finkel is… Read more »
Four gorgeous Rosh Hashanah recipes from some of Israel’s top chefs
Rosh Hashanah menus, while traditional and delicious, can also get a little stale year after year. With Israeli food trending across the globe, now is a perfect time to add some authentic Israeli flavors to your holiday. We have gathered four exclusive recipes from some of Israel’s top chefs:… Read more »
Israeli minister: Promoters of the Israel boycott movement are anti-Semitic
Israel’s public security minister presented a report at a conference in Brussels on Wednesday that includes 80 examples of what he called anti-Semitism by key European promoters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. In one example from April, Jenny Tonge, a lawmaker in the upper chamber… Read more »
Israeli woman goes to the emergency room after confusing wasabi for avocado
(JTA) — Just a teaspoon of the green stuff was enough to make her feel like she was having a heart attack. A 60-year old Israeli woman checked herself into the Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba after a night of “unexpected chest pressure that spread to her arms… Read more »
Netanyahu nominated to form Israel’s government
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will get his second try this year to form Israel’s government after talks aimed at creating a unity government broke down. President Reuven Rivlin tasked Netanyahu with forming a government on Wednesday evening even though his Likud party did not finish first… Read more »
Israel’s crackdown on foreign workers is driving some families into hiding
TEL AVIV (JTA) — The woman approached with trepidation, fidgeting and glancing nervously over her shoulder as she sat down in a coffee shop here. A Filipino caregiver who has been living in Israel without a visa for years, the woman said her home had been raided by Israeli… Read more »
Israel’s national baseball team is going to the 2020 Olympics
(JTA) — In a first, Israel’s national baseball team has qualified for a spot in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The squad of mostly Jewish-American college players and some pros team defeated South Africa on Sunday in the Europe/Africa Qualifier tournament in Italy and finished the tournament with a record… Read more »
Woman injured by Gaza rocket fire nearly one year ago dies
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A woman has died nearly a year after suffering injuries in a rocket attack into southern Israel from Gaza. Nina Gisdenanova, 74, died last week at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, The Times of Israel reported Sunday. She was in an apartment building in… Read more »
Arab parties recommend Benny Gantz to form the next government
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Arab Joint List recommended to Israel’s president that Blue and White head Benny Gantz be tapped to form the next government in order to end the political career of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ayman Odeh, who heads the coalition of four Arab parties, explained its… Read more »
Benny Gantz meets with peace envoy Jason Greenblatt at US Embassy in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Blue and White head Benny Gantz met with outgoing White House Middle East peace envoy Jason Greenblatt at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem. The meeting on Monday afternoon also included the U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman. Gantz’s party was the top vote-getter in Israel’s national… Read more »
Film about Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin is Israel’s entry for Academy Awards
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A film about the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin as seen through the eyes of his killer will be the country’s nomination for an Oscar. “Incitement” took the Ophir Award in Israel for best picture on Sunday night. The top prize at the Ophirs of… Read more »
Netanyahu and Gantz agree to hold negotiations for a unity government
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Benny Gantz have agreed to hold negotiations to form a unity government. The heads, respectively, of the Likud and Blue and White parties announced the negotiations late Monday night following a two-hour meeting at the Jerusalem residence of President Reuven Rivlin.… Read more »
The first exit polls for Israel’s Election Day are in. It’s close.
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party and the Blue and White were again locked in a virtual dead heat at the close of voting in Israel, exit polls on Tuesday showed. Both Blue and White, which is led by Benny Gantz, a former military chief of… Read more »
7 things to look for in Israel’s elections on Tuesday
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israelis head to the polls for the second time this year on Tuesday. Exit polls from the country are notoriously fickle, so the real results of the election may leave onlookers in suspense for a bit. Here are some of the more important things to look… Read more »
Israeli elections and analysis available online in English
Almost 6 million voters, over 11,000 ballots. Sept. 17 is national Elections Day for the 22nd Knesset. This is the second time in 2019 that the Israeli public is called to actively participate in the democratic process. First results of this 2nd round are expected to be published tomorrow… Read more »
Men connect through ChaiLife gathering
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona ChaiLife members gathered Saturday, Aug. 24 to reconnect. ChaiLife was created for those men who have graduated from the Young Men’s Group and want to remain connected to the Federation and their chevra (group).… Read more »
In Israel’s south, English classes give kids a leg up
Leaving home is difficult, especially since I had lived nowhere else besides Tucson, except for sleepaway camp and teaching in Israel for short stints during the summers. A year ago, however, I traded in the Arizona desert for Mitzpe Ramon, a small southern Israeli desert town in the middle… Read more »
Israeli cannabis researcher to speak at UA symposium
Professor David “Dedi” Meiri of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming University of Arizona Inaugural Interdisciplinary Cannabis Symposium. The symposium, sponsored by the UA’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, BIO5 Institute, College of Medicine-Tucson, and College of Science,… Read more »