NEW YORK (JTA) — The campers wake up in their cabins on Friday morning, dress and go to breakfast. Next comes a range of activities — arts and crafts, archery, kickball. Then, after an hour of primping and preening for Shabbat, they gather as the sun sets and head… Read more »
News
Chef Michael Solomonov goes ‘In Search of Israeli Cuisine’ in new film
(JTA) — “I thought it was just going to be about falafel and hummus.” That was the perception of Israeli cuisine that filmmaker Roger Sherman had when he reluctantly decided to accompany his friend, the acclaimed Jewish cookbook writer Joan Nathan, on a food tour of Israel in 2010. But the reality exceeded… Read more »
Trump era prompts Jewish donors to step up giving to liberal causes
ATLANTA (JTA) — For decades, the Lippman Kanfer family has focused its philanthropy on local Jewish communities and national initiatives to teach Torah — funding causes from the Anshe Sfard Congregation in Akron, Ohio, to a Jewish day school network. But since Nov. 8, Election Day, the family has… Read more »
Groundbreaking TV comedy introduces Israelis to their Ethiopian neighbors
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Last week, Israelis for the first time saw a black lead character on a homegrown, primetime television show. “Nebsu,” a half-hour comedy, focuses on an Ethiopian man who is married to an Ashkenazi Jewish woman. Misunderstanding ensues. “There is definitely a lot of cultural confusion in the… Read more »
In bid to defeat Le Pen, French right-wing candidate cozies up to Jews
PARIS (JTA) — Even to his supporters, France’s center-right presidential hopeful Francois Fillon is a flawed candidate. Dogged by corruption scandals Fillon, who represents The Republicans party of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, was indicted Tuesday for allegedly funneling public funds illicitly to his children and wife. Fillon, a career… Read more »
Journalist David Gregory to speak on spiritual path at JFCS event
David Gregory, political analyst for CNN and author, says reconnecting with Judaism centered his life in the right way. Gregory’s book, “How’s Your Faith? An Unlikely Spiritual Journey,” is an autobiographical tale about his return to faith in adulthood. Simon & Schuster published the book in September 2015. “The… Read more »
In face of bomb threats to Tucson J, locals respond with love
On the evening of Monday, Feb. 27, the Tucson Jewish Community Center received a bomb threat phone call, making Tucson part of the disturbing trend of more than 100 bomb threats targeting JCCs and other Jewish institutions across the country since mid-January. Last Friday, March 10, as the AJP… Read more »
With emotional link to new musical, Tucsonans become Broadway producers
Dick and Sherri Belkin, known for their dedicated energy and philanthropy in the Tucson Jewish community, recently donned new hats as Broadway producers. The couple attended the New York premiere of “Come From Away,” a musical about 9/11, at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre last week. A musical about 9/11? … Read more »
In Tucson talk, author details how modern Germans helped, hindered quest for lost legacy
In December 1990, Dina Gold marched into a government building at Krausenstrasse 17/18 in the formerly Soviet-controlled East Berlin, and announced that she had come to claim her family’s property. She was bluffing. At that point in her quest for justice, she had no evidence. Gold showed an official,… Read more »
Shoah survivor on global healing mission to speak here
Holocaust survivor Leslie Schwartz will speak about his experiences as a teenager in Auschwitz, Dachau and Mühldorf and show a film titled “The Mühldorf Death Train” on Wednesday, April 5 at 6 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The event is sponsored by the German studies department at… Read more »
UA Hillel students plan for 26th annual Holocaust vigil
The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation will hold its 26th annual Holocaust vigil later this month, a 24-hour program dedicated to the remembrance of the Holocaust as well as to promoting tolerance and understanding on campus and in Tucson. A student committee designed and organized the vigil. This year’s… Read more »
Local sobriety group blends recovery, Yiddishkeit
The Jewish sobriety support group just entered in its third year as a regular weekly group. Although we are quite eclectic, with participants from all ages and backgrounds, we do have a few things in common. We are all Jewish, we are all in recovery and we all love… Read more »
ANALYSIS The false choice between Zionism and feminism
NEW YORK (JTA) — Two weeks ago the Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour started a fundraising campaign to help restore the graves at a St. Louis-area Jewish cemetery damaged by vandalism. The Jewish community there and across the country generally welcomed the effort — wildly successful, as it turned… Read more »
UA experts help bring medicines, inventions to market
How does an invention get from “there” to “here”? The University of Arizona is at the cutting edge in science, medicine, optical sciences, engineering, agriculture and other areas — but bringing inventions from the lab to the marketplace is a complex process, calling for talented experts with extensive technical,… Read more »
THA adding art component to annual STEM festival
Tucson Hebrew Academy will host its third annual free community STEM ((Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Festival on Sunday, March 26 from 10 am.-2 p.m. At last year’s event, more than 1,500 visitors enjoyed more than 75 interactive exhibits and activities. This year, an art element is being added… Read more »
Nepal focus of Tucson J photography exhibit
Tucson artist Aryen Hart’s photos capture distant Nepal, a land of monasteries, monks and the Himalayas. The Tucson Jewish Community Center will present Hart’s photography exhibit, “Inner Yatra: Meeting Nepal’s High Spirit on the LightSeed Path” through April 19 in the Fine Art Gallery. “Yatra” is a Sanskrit word… Read more »
Team Israel baseball gear a home run with kvelling American Jewish fans
TEL AVIV (JTA) — A couple weeks ago, Adam Atkins didn’t know Israel had a baseball team. But since the squad started winning games last week in the World Baseball Classic, he has become a fan. Atkins and his friends wanted team caps, but were frustrated to discover they were… Read more »
Trump the change agent looks positively traditional on Mideast peace
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Trump administration rhetoric about Israeli-Palestinian peace is typical of a president who would make everything great: President Donald Trump is going to bring about a “historic” deal, the White House has said, one that would “reverberate positively throughout the region and the world.” What isn’t typical, at… Read more »
In Turkey-Netherlands row, a foreboding sign for Jews
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (JTA) — The thousands of people who gathered outside the Turkish consulate of this port city on Saturday patiently waited for hours, chatting with friends and relatives. Waving Turkish flags, they had gathered on a chilly evening to listen to a Cabinet minister from Turkey arguing in… Read more »
How Israeli women turned this Purim into a feminist holiday
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Wonder Woman, Rosie the Riveter and a female Israeli fighter pilot walked into a bar. They were just a few of the heroines out in Tel Aviv Saturday for the night of Purim. With International Women’s Day falling a day before the holiday weekend this… Read more »