News

Krakow JCC’s new preschool signals hope for a community’s rebirth

Sara Zielinski, with her mother Elizabeth, center, and a volunteer at a pre-Shabbat program at the Jewish Community Center of Krakow. Sara is part of the inaugural class of Frajda, the first pluralistic Jewish nursery and preschool in Krakow since World War II. (Courtesy of Jewish Community Center of Krakow)
September 1, 2017 / Penny Schwartz, JTA

KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — Michal Zielinski, a 47-year-old from this city, grew up unaware of his Jewish roots. Thirty years after discovering that his paternal family is Jewish, following the death of his grandmother, Zielinski and his wife, Elizabeth are active members of the Jewish Community Center of Krakow,… Read more »

Arizona Jewish Post and Jewish Federation move dates set
August 31, 2017 /

The Arizona Jewish Post and Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will be relocating to our new home at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy. We will share this new site with the Jewish Community Foundation. The move is scheduled  for Sept.  & and 8. We will resume… Read more »

This haredi medic pioneered psychological first aid in Israel — now she’s helping Houston

Miriam Ballin, holding her baby daughter, at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. (Courtesy of Ballin)
August 30, 2017 / Andrew Tobin, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Jerusalem therapist Miriam Ballin is the kind of person who takes the initiative. Despite resistance from her haredi Orthodox community, she became a medic. Then she launched a pacesetting psychological first aid unit. Clearly she was not just going to stand idly by while Tropical Storm… Read more »

UA panel to address significance of controversial monuments
August 29, 2017 /

What: “White Supremacy, Monuments and Memory: Charlottesville in Historical Context,” a panel discussion with experts from the University of Arizona history department When: 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30 Where: Integrated Learning Center, 1500 E. University Blvd., Room 120 TUCSON, Ariz. — In light of recent events, cities across the… Read more »

Jewish Federations respond to Hurricane Harvey
August 28, 2017 /

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has joined with the Jewish Federations of North America to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey, now a tropical storm. In an email to the community today, Stuart Mellan, JFSA president and CEO, and Shelly Silverman, JFSA chair, wrote: “Over the past few… Read more »

Medals and memories for teens at Maccabi Games

Tucssonans Gabe Green (front row, fourth from left) and Gabe Friedman (back row, third from left) were part of a multi-city team that won gold for 14U soccer. (Denise Wolf)
August 24, 2017 / Korene Charnofsky Cohen, Special to the AJP

Ten teen-aged athletes from Tucson teamed up with other Jewish athletes from across the United States, Israel and Ukraine for the 2017 Maccabi Games in Birmingham, Ala., this summer.  And they’re already looking forward to next summer’s games — not just for the sports or the fun, but for… Read more »

In Kiryat Malachi, Tucson teacher boosts kids’ self-confidence — and her own

Aimee Katz (bottom left) with co-teacher Mali Geva (center) and students at the Eli Cohen Elementary School in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. (Courtesy Aimee Katz)
August 24, 2017 / Aimee Katz, Special to the AJP

Not everyone gets the opportunity to follow their passions, so when I happened upon a program that would enable me to pursue my two greatest loves – travel and teaching – it was an easy decision to apply. TALMA, a teaching fellowship sponsored by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman… Read more »

Project Isaiah to help the hungry
August 24, 2017 /

Project Isaiah, the Jewish community’s annual High Holidays food drive benefiting the Community Food Bank, begins Sept. 1 and runs through Oct. 2. The project is named for the Prophet Isaiah, who when asked why we fast on Yom Kippur, responded, “Is it not to share your bread with… Read more »

Hollywood funny man will bring Jewish insights to Tucson J
August 24, 2017 /

The Tucson Jewish Community Center and Chabad Tucson will present “Tales of a Hollywood Screenwriter” at the Tucson J on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 7 p.m. David Weiss will share stories of his wild ride to success and spirituality as screenwriter of the Academy Award-nominated “Shrek 2,” “Jimmy Neutron:… Read more »

These Jewish high school students performed at the world’s largest arts festival

Students from San Francisco’s Jewish Community High School perform their original play “Alice and the Black Hole Blues.” (Brian Dean Photography)
August 24, 2017 / Rob Oster, J. the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California, via JTA

Fifteen thespians from San Francisco’s Jewish high school have taken their original play to the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The students arrived in the United Kingdom earlier this month to perform the show, “Alice and the Black Hole Blues,” at the world’s largest arts festival four times during a… Read more »

New Holocaust History Center exhibit explores past, present of persecution of gays

Gay rights activists organizing against state-sponsored anti-gay pogroms in the Russian republic of Chechnya are detained by police in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 1, 2017. (David Frenkel)
August 24, 2017 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

A new exhibit, “Invisibility & Resistance: Violence Against LGBTQIA+ People” will occupy the Contemporary Human Rights space of the Holocaust History Center on the campus of the Jewish History Museum when the museum opens for a new season Sept. 1. The exhibit, which will be on display through May 31,… Read more »

How Rabbi Shai Held is shaping the conversation around love and politics

Rabbi Shai Held, a co-founder of Mechon Hadar, a traditional egalitarian yeshiva, has just released a book of Torah commentaries. (Courtesy of Mechon Hadar)
August 23, 2017 / Ben Sales, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — After the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, voices abounded calling the demonstration an affront to American values. Rabbi Shai Held called it an attack on God. “One of the most fundamental claims Judaism makes about the world is that every human being on the face… Read more »

Palestinian Authority wants two-state commitment from Trump administration by end of August

Husam Zomlot, the PLO envoy to Washington, speaks to reporters in Washington, D.C., Aug. 17, 2017. (Ron Kampeas)
August 22, 2017 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Palestinian Authority expects the Trump administration to commit to a peace deal endgame before the close of this month and prefers it would be the two-state solution. “We need them to tell us where the hell they are going,” Husam Zomlot, the Palestine Liberation Organization… Read more »

A century ago, Jewish Salonica burned. It was rebuilt, only to be destroyed anew.

Destruction after the great fire in Salonica, Greece, Sept. 4, 1917. (Photo 12/ UIG via Getty Images)
August 22, 2017 / Devin E. Naar, JTA

(JTA) — Exactly a century ago, on Aug. 18, 1917, a massive fire roared through the Mediterranean port city of Salonica, Greece, then home to the largest and most dynamic Ladino-speaking Sephardi Jewish community in the world. According to local legend, the fire erupted one Sabbath afternoon amid World… Read more »

FIRST PERSON I talked to the ‘anti-Semitic’ Swiss hotel owner. It’s more complicated than you think.

The Paradise Apartments hotel in Arosa, near Zurich, Switzerland. (Courtesy of Paradise Apartments hotel)
August 22, 2017 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — A chuckle tickled my throat as Ruth Thomann, a Swiss hotelier who posted signs urging her “Jewish guests” to shower before entering the pool, assured me that she has “nothing against Jews.” To be clear, I don’t find racism particularly amusing, especially not these days. But there… Read more »

New York’s Orthodox Jews are expanding into these towns, and some residents aren’t happy

A synagogue in Airmont, N.Y., a town that has seen its haredi population boom in recent months as families seek larger houses at a more affordable price. (Ben Sales)
August 22, 2017 / Ben Sales, JTA

AIRMONT, N.Y. (JTA) — When Moshe Pinkasovits walks with his kids down the street on Saturdays in his new town, he has to watch out for drivers shouting anti-Semitic slurs. The Pinkasovits family didn’t face this problem in the neighboring town of Monsey, a heavily haredi Orthodox enclave in… Read more »

Following terrorist attack, Barcelona’s chief rabbi says his community is doomed

Police officers patrol Las Ramblas avenue in Barcelona a day after the car-ramming terrorist attack in the Spanish city, Aug. 18, 2017. (Carl Court/Getty Images)
August 19, 2017 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — Commenting on deadly attacks in Catalonia, the chief rabbi of that region in Spain said his community is doomed, partly because of radical Islam and the alleged reluctance of authorities to confront it. Rabbi Meir Bar-Hen has been encouraging his congregants to leave Spain, which he called… Read more »