Rabbi Sara Metz
Rabbi Sara Metz will be only the fourth rabbi to lead Congregation Anshei Israel in its 90-year history when she takes up the reins July 1. “That’s so very exciting,” she says, acknowledging it is also challenging. “The community, and rightfully so, holds Rabbi Eisen in such high esteem.… Read more »
Drew Messing (Courtesy Messing)
As the coronavirus pandemic got underway, 16-year-old Drew Messing became the designated take-out food runner for his parents, Claudine and Andrew Messing, and grandparents, Paulette and Joe Gootter. “My mom is a great cook but a little while into quarantine my family was eager to order takeout food. I would… Read more »
The Jewish History Museum has launched a summer film club, with Zoom discussion groups twice a month on Sundays at 2 p.m. Participants can watch the films on their own in advance of the discussions. “We know that this is a moment where connection is vital, as the need for… Read more »
A driver from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona senior transportation program prepares to deliver packages from Jewish Family & Children’s Services to Holocaust survivors living in Southern Arizona. (Courtesy Jewish Family & Children’s Services)
Through an emergency grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, also known as the Claims Conference, Jewish Family & Children’s Services has extended its assistance to Holocaust survivors living in Southern Arizona during the coronavirus pandemic. With the $17,000 grant from Claims Conference’s Holocaust Survivor COVID-19 Urgent… Read more »
“It has been another tumultuous week in our community,” Graham Hoffman, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, wrote in his June 17 “Stronger Together — This Week in Our Community” email. Along with the ongoing challenges of the coronavirus pandemic,… Read more »
Kendall, with his advocate Barb Otrovsky, made a boat that won a recent Taglit regatta. (Courtesy Congregation Or Chadash)
Khylie Gardner, communications director at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, says that when the Jewish community comes together, “something amazing happens. Our collective values guide us to uplift one another, helping us to create relationships that are deeply cherished and that work for the good of our entire community… Read more »
(JTA) — Several large companies have joined a campaign to boycott Facebook advertising until the social media giant changes its policies regarding hate speech and targeted harassment. The clothing retailers Patagonia and The North Face; outdoor gear company REI; and Upwork, a freelancing platform, will not be posting ads… Read more »
Kylie Unell in front of a depiction of New York's Washington Square Park (Courtesy Unell)
NEW YORK (JTA) — As a biracial Jew, there is an expectation that I must have something to say in this historic moment. Unlike at any other time in my life, people are treating my opinion as though it deserves a stage, or a glass case for passersby to take… Read more »
In an economy hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, impacts to the housing market aren’t cut-and-dried. Demand for homes appeared to drop along with sales in March, but home prices have risen. What does this mean for the average homebuyer or seller? Gary Pivo, a professor of real estate… Read more »
Satya Zamudio, 15, urged Oakland's school board to eliminate its police force. (Rucha Chitnis)
(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — The school board in Oakland, California, has unanimously voted to abolish the district’s police force in the wake of the nationwide protests against police brutality — with some urging by teens at a city synagogue. A large contingent of young people… Read more »
(JTA) — Actress Mayim Bialik will channel the DC Comics character the Flash to turn kids on to science. DC Comics announced Thursday that “Flash Facts,” a collection of stories featuring DC characters such as the Flash, Batman and Superman, will be published in February. The anthology curated by… Read more »
Seo Yoon Yang (Courtesy)
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (JTA) — As a Korean-American teenage immigrant living in a predominantly white city and attending a school with a predominantly white student body, racial slurs and insensitive comments have unfortunately become a normalized part of my life. Before living in Tennessee, I grew up in Palm Beach… Read more »
Omer Yankelevich with three of her five children at the Knesset in Jerusalem, April 30, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Omer Yankelevich is the new minister of Diaspora affairs in Israel, meaning she’s in charge of managing the Jewish state’s relations with Jewish communities abroad. It has never been an easy task, but tensions in recent years between Israel and the United States, as well as… Read more »
(JTA) — The Georgia legislature approved a hate crimes bill that allows a longer sentence for crimes deemed to be based on a particular bias. The effort was led in part by the Hate Free Georgia Coalition, a group of 35 nonprofit groups organized by the Anti-Defamation League, the… Read more »
As senior vice president at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Gamal Palmer is in charge of professional development for the federation’s staff and does leadership development for its board. (Courtesy of Gamal Palmer)
Gamal Palmer has spent virtually his entire professional career working to advance racial diversity, equity and justice. As a Jew of color in charge of leadership and professional development at the Los Angeles Jewish federation, he’s spent years running diversity workshops and pushing for conversations about race within the… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that helps North Americans immigrate to Israel, said it has received the highest number of applications since its founding nearly two decades ago. In the first half of June, over 900 applications have been submitted to the group for making the move… Read more »
(JTA) — Some 28 Jewish gravestones dating from the 17th century were discovered in the foundation of a wall built to protect a castle in Austria. They were discovered during restoration work earlier this year on the Ebenfurth Castle in the state of Lower Austria, according to Jewish Heritage Europe.… Read more »
The ropes course at Camp Modin, which has seen immense interest from parents since announcing last month that it was opening this summer. (Courtesy of Camp Modin)
(JTA) — This week, as he prepares to open Camp Modin and administer coronavirus tests to its hundreds of campers and staff, Howard Salzberg is still fielding 50 calls a day from parents who want to send their kids. That’s because Modin, a small, unaffiliated Jewish camp in Maine,… Read more »
New York Democratic House candidate Jamaal Bowman greets supporters in Yonkers, N.Y., June 23. 2020. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Left-wing candidates appeared to be surging in Democratic congressional primaries in New York, although results were preliminary into Wednesday as mail-in votes necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic were still being counted. Jamaal Bowman, who challenged longtime incumbent Eliot Engel in the 16th District, covering parts of… Read more »
(JTA) — Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, will be recognized with a monument at a site in Lisbon that recognizes the country’s greatest figures. The parliament decreed the honor unanimously earlier this month at the National Assembly in Portugal’s… Read more »
