Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva Religious ideas can be used both constructively and destructively, says Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva, Ph.D., the upcoming Rabbi Albert T. Bilgray scholar-in-residence at Temple Emanu-El. Mikva aims to encourage critical thinking about “Dangerous Religious Ideas” in the 29th Bilgray Memorial Lectureship series from Feb. 5 to 7, in collaboration… Read more »
KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — Holocaust survivors gathered in Krakow on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz amid unease regarding the safety of Jews in Europe. Some 100 survivors from 19 countries — each with a child, grandchild or companion — are expected to attend official ceremonies on… Read more »
Stav Shaffir makes a point at a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee in Jerusalem, Sept. 3, 2014. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — Stav Shaffir was angry. The 29-year-old firebrand is known for her outbursts, which have gotten her kicked out of multiple Knesset hearings in the past year. But when she rose in the Knesset on Jan. 21 to answer Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett’s charge… Read more »
The conservation laboratory at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, which was established two years after the German army's retreat in 1945. (Katarzyna Markusz) OSWIECIM, Poland (JTA) — Seventy years ago this month, Germany evacuated 58,000 prisoners from the concentration camps at Auschwitz and Birkenau, burning documents and blowing up gas chambers and crematoria. On Jan. 27 — the day now celebrated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day — the Soviet Red Army arrived,… Read more »
WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — For the second year running, a bid to pass a bill intensifying sanctions against Iran appears to be foundering on threat of a presidential veto. In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama vowed to veto further sanctions legislation, saying it would… Read more »
International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced a preliminary examination concerning the "situation in Palestine." (Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) WASHINGTON (JTA) — On Jan. 16, the International Criminal Court prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, launched a “preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine.” Here is a review of what that means based on interviews with experts on international law and statements by the ICC and Israeli and U.S. officials. Has… Read more »
The Institute for the Study of Religion and Culture at the University of Arizona College of Humanities will present the first of a series of conversations entitled “The Abrahamic Family Reunion: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Perspectives on Moses, Jesus and Muhammad”on Tuesday, Jan. 27 from 4 to 6 p.m.… Read more »
Hadassah Southern Arizona will sponsor a mah jongg tournament on Sunday, Feb. 15, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive. The entry fee of $40 includes lunch. There will be cash prizes for the top three scorers, plus each round winner will receive… Read more »
Limmud, a day of learning for the Jewish community, will be held at Arizona State University in Tempe on Sunday, Feb. 8. Limmud (Hebrew for “to learn”) is part of a worldwide movement that began in Great Britain in 1980. The Arizona program will feature over 40 presenters with… Read more »
‘Carlo Giantomassi, Lead Curator of the 1997 San Xavier Del Bac Mission Restoration,’ platinum photograph by Gary Auerbach The Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery is showing “A Retrospective of Photography by Gary Auerbach” through Feb. 9. More than 60 prints spanning 25 years are on display. Auerbach, a doctor of chiropractic, is most widely known for his photographs of Native American. His works are in… Read more »
Avraham Infeld “Together: A Community Event” is an appropriate title for Avraham Infeld’s presentation next month at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s free event. Infeld, president emeritus of Hillel International, will focus on “connecting the Jewish people in Israel to the Jewish people in America” in his talk on Tuesday,… Read more »
Daniel Katzen Daniel Katzen blows a mean shofar. As a professional French horn player, you might expect he’d be a natural on the ram’s horn. But that’s not the case, says Katzen, associate professor of horn at the University of Arizona. “Brass players find it particularly challenging to play the shofar,”… Read more »
Yaakov Lehman A former Tucsonan is the mastermind behind a multimedia Israeli tour book app (see www.theisraelapp.com). Yaakov Lehman, 29, made aliyah in 2008, after a spiritual, philosophical and physical journey that took him from California to Europe to yeshiva. Lehman grew up as Jake in Tucson and graduated from Catalina… Read more »
Sara, Katie and Dylan Bluth (Courtesy Jeff Bluth) For two local families, the Bluths and the Smiths, the summer camps at Tucson’s Jewish Community Center, fondly known as Camp J, mean much more than just fun for the kids. Their stories reveal the profound impact camp can make. For Jeff Bluth, it is exciting to see the… Read more »
Beth Alexander and her twin boys, Benjamin and Samuel. (Times of Israel) VIENNA (JTA) — In an apartment in the Austrian capital, Beth Alexander is deleting hundreds of photos of her 5-year-old twin boys from Facebook. In one picture, Benjamin and Samuel are laughing as they hold a toy. In another they are waiting to be served lunch in their native… Read more »
WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — The key consideration for Jewish Republicans in what appears to be a burgeoning race for the party’s presidential nod is electability, top party donors said. Whereas in the past, a donor’s closeness to a particular candidate or his embrace of a favored policy may… Read more »
Demonstrators at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires protesting the death of federal prosecutor Alberto Nisman. The banner at left reads "I am Nisman. I am the Republic," Jan. 19, 2015. (Movimiento Argentino de Fotografxs Independientes Autoconvocadxs Facebook page) (JTA) – The mysterious death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman seems ripped straight out of a crime thriller. Nisman — the indefatigable prosecutor collecting evidence of culpability in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people — was found dead in his… Read more »
Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (second from right), marches at Selma with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Bunche, Rep. John Lewis, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and Rev. C.T. Vivian. (Courtesy of Susanna Heschel) HANOVER, N.H. (JTA) — The 50th anniversary of the 1965 march at Selma is being commemorated this year with the release of the film “Selma.” Regrettably, the film represents the march as many see it today, only as an act of political protest. But for my father Abraham Joshua… Read more »
Anett Haskia fared poorly in the Jewish Home primary but said party voters embraced her despite her background. (Ben Sales) PETACH TIKVAH, Israel (JTA) — Outside the Moriah Synagogue in this central Israeli city, boys in ritual fringes and girls in long skirts handed out fliers for the dozens of candidates running in the Jan. 14 primary for the Jewish Home party, a right-wing, modern Orthodox faction. Religious voters… Read more »
BRUSSELS (JTA) — Seventy-two hours after a deadly attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris, dozens of Jewish community officials from across Europe were operating a hectic situation room at a hotel in the Belgian capital. But crisis managers and community leaders were not dealing with the horror unfolding… Read more »
