News

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Reports of rollbacks in Palestinian aid projects are emerging as massive cuts in U.S. aid to the Palestinians kick in. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that up to 90,000 Palestinians will not get food aid in programs that are administered by nongovernmental organizations funded by U.S.… Read more »

(JTA) — The longtime editor in chief of Belgium’s largest Jewish newspaper has announced he is resigning and running for parliament, partly in a bid to reverse recent bans in the country on the slaughter of conscious animals for meat. Michael Freilich, 38, who has edited the Antwerp-based Joods… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Kirsten Gillibrand who just joined a soon-to-be crowded field for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 would seem familiar as well as alien to the Kirsten Gillibrand who won an upset campaign for Congress in 2006. Like Kirsten Gillibrand 1.0, the latest model was earthy… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — My dad, who grew up in a time and place where his Judaism only marked him as an outsider, never really got my professional fascination with all things Jewish. That all changed when nearly 20 years ago I got a job with the Forward, the… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — To the degree that you know anything about Yiddish anarchism, it probably boils down to one name: Emma Goldman. And even then you are probably more familiar with Goldman as an immigrant firebrand and ur-“nasty woman” than for the truly radical content of her political… Read more »

(JTA) — A rabbi was appointed to serve in the Illinois legislature, a first for the state. Rabbi Yehiel Kalish, 43 and a father of six, was sworn in to the state’s House of Representatives on Sunday night. The Orthodox spiritual leader will be representing a district that is… Read more »

(JTA) — The number of terrorist attacks against Israelis dropped by 75 percent last month over November, but it was also the deadliest month since March with three people killed. The downturn in attacks was mostly due to Hamas inactivity along the border with Gaza, the Israel Security Agency… Read more »

(JTA) — For many Jewish organizations, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a time to talk about the current state of black-Jewish relations. There’s a lot to talk about this year, from the controversy over ties between Women’s March organizer Tamika Mallory and Louis Farrakhan, to common cause over… Read more »

(JTA) — In May 1943, after years of killings and deportations, the Nazis declared Berlin “judenfrei,” or free of Jews. What they didn’t know was that approximately 7,000 Jews remained in hiding in the city, and not only in attics and basements — often in plain sight. “The Invisibles,”… Read more »

(JTA) – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin honored an American-Jewish academic for her efforts to help Syrian refugees. Rivlin praised the actions of Georgette Bennett at an awards ceremony Thursday in Tel Aviv for eight groups or individuals deemed to have made a positive impact in the developing world. Bennett, 72,… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Kamala Harris, the junior senator from California, is reportedly set to announce her bid for the Democratic presidential nod. Harris, 54, is a progressive on most issues who draws some ire from the left for her tough-on-crime posture when she was California’s attorney general. She pleased… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — April Baskin, one of three Jewish women newly appointed to the Women’s March Inc. steering committee, says it is unrealistic to expect co-founder Tamika Mallory to explicitly condemn Louis Farrakhan for his anti-Semitism. There is “a long history of asking black leaders to condemn each… Read more »

The Jewish History Museum and Holocaust History Center will hold a free screening of “Who Will Write Our History” on Sunday, Jan. 27 at noon at The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway Blvd., joining hundreds of partners in a global screening event for International Hololocaust Remembrance Day. The 90-minute… Read more »

Glioblastoma is a deadly brain cancer that grabbed headlines for claiming the lives of Sens. Edward Kennedy and John McCain. Michael Hammer, Ph.D., and a team of University of Arizona researchers have discovered that the disease could be “tricked” into sparing more of its victims. The researchers looked for… Read more »

Lida Maxwell

The Jewish History Museum’s “States of Rightlessness” series will culminate with a keynote lecture by Lida Maxwell on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 24. The museum coordinated “States of Rightlessness” to mark 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly,… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is gearing up for its annual Super Sunday phone-a-thon on Jan. 27 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, when volunteers will call members of the Tucson Jewish community seeking donations to the Federation’s 2019 Community Campaign. Super Sunday signals that the end of… Read more »

One of the world’s leading flamenco and classical guitarists and composers, Adam del Monte, will present scenes from the flamenco opera “Llantos 1492” during the 2019 Tucson Desert Song Festival, Jan. 15-Feb. 5. “Llantos 1492,” the world’s first flamenco opera, is in keeping with this year’s festival theme of Latin… Read more »

The dawn of a new year is a great time to refresh our personal safety toolboxes and begin looking at our world with new eyes. How often do you discuss your personal safety with your family members? What happens if your home is robbed, you are attacked on the… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s PJ Library program is launching “My Shabbat Adventure with Friends,” a new program to help PJ Library families to reach out to other families in the local Jewish community. Host families will commit to holding three Shabbat dinners for two to four families,… Read more »

A skill Carol Sack attained as a young girl of 10 has become a lifelong treasure that brings pleasure to many. Carol Sack has crocheted a Noah’s ark-full of animals and dolls over her lifetime, an activity she now practices daily as a meditation. She gives her creations, large and… Read more »