Jewish House members, present and past, clockwise from left, John Yarmuth, Nita Lowey, Jerrold Nadler, Henry Waxman, Brad Sherman and Howard Berman. (house.gov) WASHINGTON (JTA) – From 31 in 2009 to a likely 19 in January, the unofficial Jewish caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives is shrinking fast. Jewish lawmakers have traditionally been the first stop for Jewish lobbyists seeking inroads for their issues, including Israel, preserving the social safety net,… Read more »
A Thai worker picking decorative flower leaves on the Kibbutz Sde Nitzan flower farm, near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, July 20, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Rosh Hashanah comes later this month, Israel’s Jewish farmers won’t just be celebrating the start of a new year. They’ll be marking a year in which they are prohibited from doing their jobs. Called Shmita, the Torah-mandated, yearlong farming hiatus is felt across Israel,… Read more »
Chloe Valdary called her AIPAC-sponsored trip to Israel "life changing." (Lauren Clarice Cross) (JTA) — Growing up in New Orleans, Chloe Valdary kept kosher, studied the Jewish Bible and celebrated Jewish holidays with festive meals. In recent years she has become an outspoken pro-Israel campus activist, contributing regularly to the Jewish press, and speaking and posting widely about the merits of the… Read more »
Iraqi families who fled ISIS fighters near the Iraqi city of Mosul prepare to sleep on the ground near the Khazair temporary displacement camp in a Kurdish-controlled part of Iraq, July 3, 2014. (Spencer Platt/Getty) (JTA) – Between this summer’s war in Gaza and gains by Islamic militants in Iraq, Syria and Libya, there’s still plenty of cause these days for pessimism about the Middle East. But there’s also some good news for Israel. If it wasn’t obvious before, the conflagrations have driven home… Read more »
(JTA) – A prominent rabbi whose outspoken criticism of Israel became too divisive for his congregation announced this week that he is resigning his pulpit. Brant Rosen, rabbi at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Ill., made the announcement Tuesday. Aside from his pulpit position, which he has held… Read more »
University of Central Florida student Melissa Catalanotto (L.), president of the UCF Society of Professional Journalists attends a candlelight vigil held for journalist Steven Sotloff on Sept. 3, 2014 at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. (Gerardo Mora/Getty Images) WASHINGTON (JTA) – Don’t bring it up. If it comes up, change the subject. If you can’t change the subject, consider an outright denial. Those are some of the strategies used by Jewish reporters working in the Arab and Muslim Middle East to conceal their religious heritage. The dangers… Read more »
Rafat Ayasha, 20, was one of the approximately 1,500 Arab-Israelis arrested for involvement in protests against Israel's operation in Gaza. (Ben Sales/JTA) BEERSHEBA, Israel (JTA) — Handcuffed to a wooden chair in the middle of the night, Rafat Awaysha still wasn’t sure what crime he had committed. He had announced a demonstration against the war in Gaza in a July 11 Facebook post. Soon afterward, he received a call from the… Read more »
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Barack Obama meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., March 3, 2014. (Andrew Harper-Pool/Getty Images) (JTA) – All is not well in the U.S.-Israel relationship. Somehow, the 50 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas frayed ties between Washington and Jerusalem. How did this happen? In part, the contretemps stems from the divergent ways that the Israeli and U.S. administrations view the Gaza war.… Read more »
Clifford Odets, 1935 Clifford Odets’ “Awake and Sing,” about a Jewish immigrant family in the Bronx during the Great Depression, is an American masterpiece, says Cynthia Meier, managing director of Tucson’s Rogue Theatre, which will stage the play next month. Originally performed in 1935 by the Group Theatre, directed by Harold Clurman,… Read more »
Melissa Suzanne Klein and Matthew Loren Landau were married on March 23, 2014 at Reflections at the Buttes in Tucson, with Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash officiating. Melissa is the daughter of Cindy Klein of Grass Lake, Mich., and Steve Klein of Tucson. She received a Bachelor… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker of Tucson (left) and former Chief Rabbi of Israel Meir Lau in Tel Aviv in May One winter night in the mid-1960s, when I was a young teenager, the stage was set for a very important meeting in Israel this past May. Unbeknownst to me, the true genesis for this meeting had begun some 80 years ago. On that winter night, a man arrived at… Read more »
Rabbi Charles Sherman Rabbi Charles Sherman, author of “The Broken and the Whole: Discovering Joy after Heartbreak” will speak at Congregation Anshei Israel on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. In the book, published in March to critical acclaim, Sherman writes about his journey dealing with a severely disabled son and the… Read more »
Shalom Tucson will hold a bagel brunch on Sunday, Sept. 14, 10 a.m. to noon at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The event is an opportunity for those new to the area or newly interested in the Jewish community to meet representatives of synagogues and local Jewish agencies and… Read more »
Congregation Chofetz Chayim and the Southwest Torah Institute will hold a “Torah for the Future” dedication on Sunday, Sept. 14 to celebrate the completion of a new Torah, the first Torah ever written expressly for the congregation and its educational and outreach division. Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild will be… Read more »
Chabad Tucson is commissioning a Jewish scribe, or sofer, to check and repair mezuzot and tefillin on the premises at Congregation Young Israel. Rabbi Moshe Liberow of Colorado Springs, Colo., will begin his work on Sunday, Aug. 31 and remain in Tucson for the duration of the week, depending… Read more »
Temple Emanu-El has launched Project Elul, a month-long program designed to assist in preparing for the High Holy Days. “While the gates of repentance are always open, it is better to prepare to enter them, including reflecting back on the past year, and taking stock, engaging in what is… Read more »
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin’s latest book, “Rebbe: The Life and Teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the Most Influential Rabbi in Modern History” landed on the New York Times bestseller list within weeks of its release in June to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rebbe’s death. Telushkin, one of the… Read more »
B’nai Tzedek Tucson Teen Philanthropy will hold its annual kick-off party on Sunday, Sept. 14 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Teens in grades 8-12 and their parents are invited to learn about B’nai Tzedek, a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the… Read more »
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are our holiest days of prayer and personal reflection — and a time to remember people in need. Project Isaiah, a food drive benefiting the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, is an annual project of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish… Read more »
Asher Susser Asher Susser, Ph.D., has returned to the Arizona Center of Judaic Studies, taking up an invitation extended to him when he was a visiting professor in Modern Israel Studies in 2010-2011. Susser, who’s on sabbatical from Tel Aviv University for the fall semester, will be teaching an undergraduate course… Read more »
