News

10 years after the Mumbai massacre, a murdered Chabad couple’s son flourishes in Israel

Moshe Holtzberg with his nanny Sandra Samuel in 2010. She rescued the boy from the Chabad House attack in Mumbai and followed him to Israel. (Abir Sultan/Flash 90)
November 16, 2018 / Marcy Oster, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — “Everything is good.” Sandra Samuel is riding on a bus from Afula in northern Israel to the city apartment in Jerusalem that she shares with four other women from India and has agreed to talk to a reporter. She is coming from a weekly visit with… Read more »

A Jewish lawyer is Steve Bannon’s main ally in uniting Europe’s right

Mischael Modrikamen at his home near Brussels holds up an anti-Semitic caricature favored by anti-Israel circles in Belgium, Oct. 26, 2018. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
November 16, 2018 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

BRUSSELS (JTA) — Europe has pro-Trump populists far more powerful and better known than Mischael Modrikamen, the leader of Belgium’s small People’s Party. There is Marine Le Pen of France’s National Front, who clinched more than a third of the votes – about 10 million of them — in the 2017 presidential elections with… Read more »

The Reform movement’s rabbinical group appoints its first female leader
November 16, 2018 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA
Rabbi Hara Person says "it's hugely historic, and also it's time" for a woman to be heading the Central Conference of American Rabbis. (Courtesy of CCAR)

NEW YORK (JTA) — The Reform movement’s rabbinical wing has appointed Rabbi Hara Person as its first female chief executive. The Central Conference of American Rabbis, which represents 2,100 Reform rabbis around the world, made the announcement on Thursday. Person succeeds Rabbi Steven Fox, who is retiring in June after… Read more »

In Holland, one of the world’s most expensive Hanukkah menorahs hides in plain sight

Despite its humble appearance, The Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum's Nieuwenhuys menorah costs more than many of the city's houses. (Courtesy of the the Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum)
November 13, 2018 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

  AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Nothing about the appearance of object MB02280 at this city’s Jewish Historical Museum suggests it is the capital’s priciest Hanukkah menorah, worth more than the average local price of a duplex home. Shaped like the body of a violin, it is only 16 inches tall.… Read more »

Here’s what it costs to put your synagogue under armed guard

A police officer stands guard outside Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh, Nov. 2, 2018. The synagogue is a half mile away from the Tree of Life Congregation, which was attacked by a lone gunman less than a week earlier. (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)
November 13, 2018 / Ben Sales, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — After a mass shooting in a heavily Jewish area shocked the nation, Rabbi Yakov Saacks felt like his Long Island congregation was at risk. So the rabbi installed 17 cameras on the synagogue’s exterior that can zoom in to read numbers on license plates, as… Read more »

Palestinian terror groups say they will observe cease-fire
November 13, 2018 /

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian terror groups in Gaza reportedly have agreed to commit to a cease-fire of hostilities that have seen more than 400 rockets bombard southern Israel and Israeli retaliation in a 25-hour period. Four mediators — Egypt, the United Nations, Norway and Switzerland — helped achieve the… Read more »

How a rabbi saved 4 Torah scrolls from being destroyed in the California wildfires

Firefighters battle a blaze at the Salvation Army Camp on November in Malibu, Calif., Nov. 10, 2018. (Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
November 12, 2018 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — The death toll and damage continue to rise in California in the wildfires ravaging the state. More than 6,400 homes have been damaged and at least 31 people have been killed, according to CNN. Like other Californians, Jewish residents are evacuating their homes and dealing with the… Read more »

Beauty of Shabbat transcends fear
November 9, 2018 / Barbara Russek

On Friday night, Nov. 2, I entered a local synagogue with a feeling of trepidation. Could a copycat of the recent tragedy in Pittsburgh take place in Tucson? I wondered what I would do if the unthinkable happened again. Remembering how we were taught in elementary school to crouch… Read more »

At the Vigil for Tree of Life Temple (Tucson JCC)
November 9, 2018 / Joy Nelson

We sang Shalom and we almost believed it We proclaimed Love stronger than Hate and we tried to believe it We stressed Solidarity and we thought we believed it We shouted Never Again but we could not believe it. — Joy Nelson… Read more »

UA holds vigil for victims of Pittsburgh tragedy

University of Arizona senior and Hillel student leader Calli Bagshaw lights a candle at the UA Hillel Foundation vigil for victims of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, Oct. 29. (John de Dios /UA News)
November 9, 2018 / Micheal Romero, Intern

The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation, Chabad, and Jewish Arizonans on Campus held a vigil on the UA Mall Monday, Oct. 29 for the 11 victims of the Oct. 27 shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Participants observed a moment of silence, sang prayers and lit… Read more »

Tucson’s two oldest synagogues plan Kristallnacht anniversary pulpit exchange
November 9, 2018 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
Rabbi Robert Eisen, left, and Rabbi Batsheva Appel

Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel and Rabbi Batsheva Appel of Temple Emanu-El will exchange pulpits this weekend for “Unity in the Faceof Brokenness,” a commemoration of the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht, which is German for “Crystal Night,” is also known as “The Night of Broken Glass.”… Read more »

Multifaith WIC trip brings travelers closer to Israel, one another

Weintraub Israel 2018 multifaith mission group in the Old City of Jerusalem, Oct. 20. Front row (L-R): Ricki Shore, Mary Cochran, Jill Feldhausen, Dawn Gunter, Oshrat Barel, Michael Solan, Susan McMahon, Debe Campbell, Steve Wool, Jarrod Rulney (University of Arizona graduate student at Hebrew University), Gil Alvidrez; middle row: Andrea Crane, Debby Shore, Sara Ross, Bonnie Shore-Dombrowski, Dina Rosengarten, Grace Hartman, Theresa Dulgov, Florence Solan, Gayle Marrett, Pam Sorock, Michele Canney, Jacquelyn Feller, Ron Feller, Wendy Weinberg; back row: Harry Crane, Janice Brundage, Robert Wolk, Marshall Humphrey, Richard Hartman, Muki Jankelowitz (tour educator), Jeff Weinberg, Britt Feldhausen, David Zeinfeld, Lawrence Kinet, Todd Rockoff, Marsha Kinet, Jim Dever, Vicky Lunday, Michelle Kroeger, Richard Canney. (courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)
November 9, 2018 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

Weintraub Israel Center hosted its second annual multifaith mission to Israel in mid-October. A group of 43 participated in the nine-day journey from Tucson to Tel Aviv and around the nation’s interior. “We believe the most effective way to fulfill our mission to build living bridges is for participants… Read more »

JFCS counselor: No group immune from domestic abuse
November 9, 2018 / Micheal Romero, Intern
Joan-e Rapine

Let’s End Abusive Households, a program of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona,  hosted an interactive discussion with mental health counselor Joan-e Rapine on Oct. 28 to help engage the community on domestic abuse awareness. Rapine talked to the audience about red flags that might indicate abuse… Read more »

Hadassah brunch to focus on nursing history
November 9, 2018 /

Hadassah Southern Arizona will present “Glimpses from 100 years of the Henrietta Szold – Hadassah School of Nursing Through the Eyes of Nursing Graduates” at a brunch on Sunday, Nov. 11. Gilat Yihye, a graduate of the Henrietta Szold Hadassah Hebrew University School of Nursing, will speak and screen… Read more »

Violinist is always learning, even when he is teaching
November 9, 2018 / Micheal Romero, Intern
Immanuel Abraham (courtesy The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre)

It was a Jewish adaptation of “Sesame Street” called “Shalom Sesame” that inspired Immanuel Abraham to pick up the instrument that would shape his life and career. Filmed in Tel Aviv, “Shalom Sesame” regularly featured renowned violinist Itzak Perlman performing and Abraham was amazed by his craft. “I thought… Read more »

Jewish background part of mix for pub owner, manager
November 9, 2018 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
Firefighter and co-owner of Sentinel Peak Brewing Company, left, with Samantha Berkson, Sentinel Peak general manager (Courtesy Sentinel Peak Brewing Company)

Quite a few firefighters open restaurants. But how many can say they’ve also celebrated a bar mitzvah at the Kotel? Matt Gordon of Sentinel Peak Brewing Company can. Gordon is a Tucson native who graduated from Catalina Foothills High School in 2001 and joined the Golder Ranch Fire District… Read more »