News

  An early June evening, Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem.  Approximately 60 people sit on a garden patio under an awning, waiting for the sun to disappear over the western mountains before breaking the day-long Ramadan fast with dates and water, to be followed by a larger meal of… Read more »

  TEL AVIV (JTA) —  Israel has one of the highest life expectancies in the world — 82.5 years, on average. But a surprising increase in smoking rates may threaten that status. In line with with global trends, the smoking rate in Israel fell from about 45 percent in… Read more »

  Mt. Kisco, N.Y. (JTA) — Michael Steinhardt has poured millions of dollars into ventures for American Jews. But he’s no fan of American Judaism. The hedge-fund billionaire turned mega-philanthropist is best known as the founder of Birthright Israel, the 10-day free trip to Israel for Jewish young adults.… Read more »

                    La Contessa Boutique Thirty-two years ago, father–daughter team Bob Couchman and Kara Moeller opened La Contessa Boutique in Plaza Palomino, offering a wide selection of women’s casual and formal wear and accessories. The pair credit their longstanding success not… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center will present a book launch party and signing by local author Jillian Cantor for her new historical novel, “The Lost Letter,” on Tuesday, June 13 at 7 p.m. The event will include a question and answer period with the author. Inspired by World War… Read more »

The Youth of 1948 Project is seeking stories of American Jews who helped in the creation of the State of Israel. Noémi Schlosser, a Belgian actress, playwright and theater producer, is the artistic director of the project, which will include a film archive and documentary series. She has been… Read more »

JPride will sponsor a Celebration of Love, Family, and Community at the Jewish History Museum on Sunday, June 25, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. This is the group’s second annual event commemorating the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage on June 26, 2015. Weather permitting, the… Read more »

What did American newspapers report about Nazi persecution during the 1930s and ’40s? The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., has launched the History Unfolded project to seek answers to that question. The project asks students, teachers and history buffs throughout the United States what was possible… Read more »

Caring for a child or young adult with physical or mental challenges means negotiating a world geared primarily for a differently-abled majority. So where do you start in locating a therapist, a school for a child with learning disabilities, a supervised social environment, or simply a salon to give… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is willing to suspend his demand that Israel freeze West Bank settlement construction as a condition for restarting peace talks, a top adviser said. Abbas is also willing to mute his campaign to single Israel out for condemnation at the United… Read more »

  NOVOGRUDOK, Belarus (JTA) — People in Jared Kushner’s ancestral town tend to speak very highly of President Donald Trump. That’s generally the norm in the former Soviet Union. After all, Trump’s style goes over well in this part of the world — a survey conducted in November in… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Five Arab nations cut ties with Qatar on Monday, escalating a long-simmering competition for preeminence in the region into actions that could set the stage for war. Saudi Arabia, which is leading the charge, has cut off Qatar’s only land crossing – and what one Saudi-friendly… Read more »

  BOCA RATON, Florida (JTA) — In popular myth, South Florida was ground zero of the Great Email Explosion of 2008. That was the year your great-uncle or long-lost cousin couldn’t resist passing on rumors, hoaxes and conspiracy theories about Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, the true causes… Read more »

(JTA) — Relations between British Jewry and the country’s Labour Party, which used to be their political home, appear to be at a historic low point. Ahead of the June 8 general elections in the United Kingdom, a Jewish Chronicle poll from last week put support for the center-left… Read more »

(JTA) — One of Israel’s strongest condemnations of Donald Trump wasn’t about the peace process. It didn’t concern Trump’s broken promise to relocate the U.S. embassy, or his reported leak of Israeli intelligence. It was about climate change. After President Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris… Read more »

  SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — A San Francisco teacher hired to translate into Hebrew President Trump’s “not very eloquent” (as she puts it) speeches last week in Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem said she isn’t proud to be working for this administration and… Read more »

  TEL AVIV (JTA) — Middle East peace may remain out of reach, but at least the Hebrew and Arabic languages have found a compromise. Israeli typography designer Liron Lavi Turkenich has created a stylized writing system that merges the two ancient alphabets, allowing Hebrew and Arabic speakers to… Read more »

(JTA) — Until this year, Rod Rosenstein was an unassuming U.S. attorney with a reputation for fairness. Now he’s at the center of the controversy over President Donald Trump’s snap firing of James Comey, the FBI director. Rosenstein, 52, whose appointment by Trump as deputy attorney general was confirmed… Read more »

  (JTA) — Jared Kushner was once hailed as the key to Donald Trump’s surprise election victory. Now Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser is at the center of the biggest controversy plaguing the administration: its ties to Russia. Kushner is facing heat following reports of two meetings with figures… Read more »

On June 6, Jewish communities across the country will hold candlelight vigils to commemorate the anniversary of the day that the MS St. Louis began its return journey to Europe, with over 900 Jewish refugees on board after being denied entry to the United States. The Jewish History Museum will… Read more »