The Tucson Jewish Community Center is taking part in the JCC Association’s stationary bike event, Cycle for Good, on Sunday, Dec. 8. Thanks to staggered start times, participants in Cycle for Good will be riding bikes at the same time in JCCs across North America. Every year, Cycle for… Read more »
News
Pasternack will speak at UA Hillel alumni and friends dinner
The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation will hold its annual alumni and friends dinner on Thursday, Jan. 2 at 5:45 p.m. at the Meyer Agron Center for Jewish Life on the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Campus, 1245 E. Second St. UA basketball associate head coach Joe Pasternack, now in… Read more »
Op-Ed: Herring is not religion: ‘Cultural’ alternative to conversion is a bad idea
EFRAT, West Bank (JTA) — The reputable car dealer’s advertisement in the local paper screams “Brand New Mercedes — Only $500!” You get excited but think it sounds too good to be true. Upon closer inspection, it is: The car dealer is offering only the hubcaps of the Mercedes… Read more »
Bill on Israel’s African migrants has their advocates crying foul
SAHARONIM, Israel (JTA) — A long chain-link fence with barbed wire seems to rise up out of the desert at the new Sadot facility in Israel for African migrants. Situated along Israel’s barren border with Egypt and across the street from the notorious Ketziot Prison, which houses thousands of… Read more »
Lapse in launch of nukes deal gives Iran an edge, some say
WASHINGTON (JTA) — There’s the six-month interim deal on Iran’s nuclear program that trades some sanctions relief for a freeze on Iran’s nuclear program. And then there’s the interim before the interim begins. Little noticed in the wake of the historic pact reached last month by Iran and the… Read more »
Fleeing rabbi draws unwanted attention to Israeli criminals in Morocco
(JTA) — Surrounded by dozens of adoring followers at his grandson’s wedding this summer, Eliezer Berland looked like any other Hasidic rebbe marking a family celebration. But Berland is not like most rabbis. The founder of the Shuvu Bonim religious seminary in Israel, Berland, 76, fled to Morocco earlier… Read more »
New initiative seeking to improve Hebrew literacy among American Jews
NEW YORK (JTA) — For the first 3 1/2 weeks of the summer, one group of 5-year-olds at Ramah Day Camp in Nyack, N.Y., was “very quiet” as the children went about the typical camp activities, according to Amy Skopp Cooper, the camp’s director. But in the fourth week,… Read more »
Reform biennial opening to outsiders in bid to revitalize movement
NEW YORK (JTA) — First there was the Conservative movement’s October biennial conference, billed as “The conversation of the century” and opened up to presenters from outside the movement. Then came the November General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, which featured a “Global Jewish shuk: a… Read more »
‘Asylum’ request focusing attention on anti-Semitism in Sweden
(JTA) — With an asylum application to her own homeland, Annika Hernroth-Rothstein was hoping to draw attention to the problem of anti-Semitism in Sweden. Hernroth-Rothstein acknowledges the bid is “absurd” — but it’s working, having garnered international media coverage and stirring debate. “EU statutes provide that asylum be granted to… Read more »
Struggling Holocaust survivors in Israel say gov’t must do more
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Breakfast costs Dov Jakobovitz $2. Lunch costs him $2.25. Both are served in the public old-age home in south Tel Aviv where he lives. But the food is not to his liking. Jakobovitz longs for the dishes he ate as a child in Transylvania —… Read more »
Interim deal on Iran splits Congress on new sanctions bill
WASHINGTON (JTA) — They want to brandish a new stick against Iran, but hawks in Congress aren’t going to use it — yet. For all the disappointment they expressed following the deal on Iran’s nuclear program, skeptics in Congress appear to be willing to give the agreement brokered… Read more »
Israel experience launches Brad Ausmus into job as Tigers manager
BALTIMORE (JTA) – Almost from the moment they met him, several officials and players with Israel’s national baseball team said they saw manager Brad Ausmus headed for the major leagues. They cited his communication skills, command of the game and preparation — not to mention his 18-year playing career… Read more »
Fight for religious pluralism recurring theme of 2013 federations confab
JERUSALEM (JTA) — It is a cause that elicited cheers from a roomful of participants at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly. Leading politicians have long championed it and are now trying to push it through a divided Knesset. Nearly two-thirds of Israelis support it, and activists… Read more »
Understanding the deal with Iran
TEL AVIV (JTA) — For the first time in a decade, the United States and a coalition of world powers have reached an agreement with Iran to curb the country’s nuclear program. The deal requires Iran to limit its nuclear enrichment and freeze most of its centrifuges for six… Read more »
With mega-menorah, Dutch Christians help Jews come out of their shell
BERLIKUM, Netherlands (JTA) — In a windswept parking lot near the North Sea shore, Klaas Zijlstra stands motionless as he admires his latest creation. It’s the first time he is testing the 36-foot menorah he has spent weeks designing and building in the shape of a Star of David… Read more »
With Iran deal signed, what’s Netanyahu’s next move?
TEL AVIV (JTA) — With an interim agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in place, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu each face formidable challenges ahead. For Obama, the goal will be to move from the interim agreement to a broader and more permanent deal within six… Read more »
Tucson panel examines Pew portrait of U.S. Jews
Statistics can be overwhelming and the results can be taken out of context. Tucson rabbis and academics sought to put the recent Pew Research Religion & Public Life Project’s “A Portrait of Jewish Americans” into perspective during a panel discussion at Congregation Anshei Israel on Nov. 3. “Before we… Read more »
Klezmatics to play new, classic sounds at Fox
The Klezmatics are coming to town for a concert at the Fox Tucson Theatre on Thursday, Dec. 5. Since the band’s formation more than 25 years ago, the Klezmatics have led a renaissance of the Eastern European Jewish music known as klezmer. They have performed in more than 20… Read more »
National Israel Action Network brings outreach training here
Tucson has been earmarked as one of five U.S. communities facing serious Israel delegitimization challenges. Noam Gilboord, director of community strategy for the Israel Action Network, a project of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council of Public Affairs, came here from New York last month… Read more »
In UA happiness talks, mind-body links touted
Happiness sure is popular in Tucson. Esther Sternberg, M.D., and David Raichlen, Ph.D., two Jewish professors at the University of Arizona, addressed the subject as part of the recent Happiness Downtown Lecture Series, held at the Fox Tucson Theatre. The UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences presented five… Read more »