Women and children living at Tucson’s Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse will receive flowers and a basket of beauty products on Mother’s Day through Jewish Women International’s 15th annual Mother’s Day Flower Project. Two other shelters in Arizona, Chrysalis Shelter in Phoenix and Chrysalis Shelter in Scottsdale, also will… Read more »
News
In Watertown, Mass., prepping for Shabbat after a night of gunfire and explosions
(Jewish Exponent) — Shelly Levy and Ken Lebowitz had planned to bake their own challah for Shabbat on Friday, but then came the lockdown. As residents of Watertown, Mass., ground zero for the citywide manhunt for the second suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing, they weren’t able to get… Read more »
Giffords: ‘Shame’ on senators who voted down gun checks
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. senators who defeated a bill that would toughen background checks for gun purchasers “brought shame on themselves,” former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords said. “The senators who voted against background checks for online and gun-show sales, and those who voted against checks to screen out would-be… Read more »
Kotel compromise aside, Israel faces uphill battle over religious pluralism
Natan Sharansky’s proposal last week to expand the space for non-Orthodox prayer at the Western Wall could be historic (see related story, page 10). But for most Israelis, changes at the Western Wall are of only trivial interest. Far more pressing are state restrictions on marriage and conversion, Sabbath… Read more »
Tucsonan helps youth find their voices
It’s a big deal when any organization wins a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant. In November, Pima County Public Library learned that it did just that, receiving $100,000 from the foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to design a mobile media lab, youth… Read more »
Jewish Federation ‘Stars’ to be honored at annual meeting
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will honor its 2013 award winners at its Annual Meeting and Awards Celebration on Thursday, May 2 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. “Feddys,” the custom metal and glass awards designed by Lynn Rae Lowe for the Federation, and other… Read more »
Mary Peachin, self-described ‘adrenalin junkie,’ has deep Tucson roots
Mary Peachin is proud to be a third-generation Tucsonan, a granddaughter of the pioneer Jewish Levy family. She’s also forged her own path. At 72, she can count flying her own plane, sky diving, bungee jumping and swimming with sharks among her experiences. Her life of adventure traveling began… Read more »
Judges to probe questions of ethics and professionalism at JFSA seminar
The Tucson Cardozo Society, a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, will hold a breakfast seminar on ethics and professionalism on Tuesday, May 7, 8 a.m. to noon at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The Hon. Richard E. Gordon will lead a panel of judges. Gordon took… Read more »
JFSA’s Freedman, ‘a true role model,’ retiring after 11 years
For more than a decade, Marlyne Freedman has been there for members of the Tucson Jewish community. Not just through her job as senior vice president at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, but as a compassionate supporter of all things Jewish — both people and causes. At 66,… Read more »
At last, Warsaw’s Museum of the History of Polish Jews is dedicated
WARSAW, Poland (JTA) — Krzysztof Sliwinski, a longtime Catholic activist in Jewish-Polish relations, gazed wide-eyed at the swooping interior of this city’s Museum of the History of Polish Jews. Nearly two decades in the making, the more than $100 million institution officially opened to the public last month amid… Read more »
Budapest bistro Matzah Soldier drawing trendy clientele with a fresh take on grandma’s cooking
BUDAPEST, Hungary (JTA) — On a corner in the heart of the former Jewish ghetto here, David Popovits sits down for some matzah ball soup and super-sized dumplings at his newly opened kosher-style restaurant. A burly, 40-year-old Hungarian Jewish businessman, Popovits used to eat in the restaurant as a… Read more »
Who bombed Boston? Word for now is caution.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The day after the Boston Marathon bombing, President Obama called it an “act of terrorism.” What kind of terrorism, no one was ready to say — a caution that derives from years of wrongful speculation that on occasion has ruined innocent lives. Hours after the attack… Read more »
The Birthright Israel flip side: Fewer high school students traveling to Israel
NEW YORK (JTA) — With the summer travel season fast approaching, providers of Israel programs for teenagers are bracing themselves for what several say could be a season of historically low travel in a year unaffected by major security concerns. Over the past decade, Israel travel among those aged… Read more »
In aftermath of Boston Marathon bombings, Israeli Independence Day fetes are toned down
NEW YORK (JTA) — Israeli Independence Day celebrations in Boston were muted and security was increased in the wake of bombings that left three dead and dozens injured at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Mike Rosenberg, director of community relations at Maimonides, a Jewish day school in… Read more »
‘Running Rabbi’ recounts chaos at Boston Marathon, vows to run in next year’s race
(Jewish Exponent) — “It was a beautiful day. I was so excited to run and having such a good run. The crowd was unbelievable. The whole experience was amazing. It was almost magical.” That’s how the Boston Marathon began for Rabbi Benjamin David, head rabbi at Adath Emanu-El in Mount… Read more »
In U.S. fight over visa waiver exemption for Israel, both sides cite discrimination
WASHINGTON (JTA) – A legislative effort led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to enable Israelis to enter the United States without visas may be stymied by the government – Israel’s government. The hitch is Israel’s inability or unwillingness to fully reciprocate, something required for visa-free travel to… Read more »
Plagiarism scandal finally fells France’s celebrity chief rabbi, who resigns
(JTA) — “When Gilles Bernheim speaks, France listens.” That’s how Avraham Weill, the chief rabbi of Toulouse, describes what he believes was the main appeal of his charismatic mentor, who on Thursday resigned as chief rabbi of France after admitting to several instances of plagiarism and falsely using an… Read more »
Construction of new Kotel site may begin within one month, Sharansky says
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Natan Sharansky said the implementation of his plan to expand the non-Orthodox prayer site at the Western Wall could begin in as little as one month. In an interview Thursday with JTA, Sharansky sounded cautiously optimistic about his proposal to create an egalitarian space equal in… Read more »
In Iran talks, North Korea parallel goes only so far
WASHINGTON (JTA) — If you have nuclear weapons, all sorts of bad behavior will be tolerated. That’s the lesson some are worried Iran may be learning from North Korea’s increasingly confrontational stance against South Korea and the United States. Pyongyang has stepped up its belligerent rhetoric in recent days,… Read more »
Rabbi Grafman, Dr. King and the letter from Birmingham Jail
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Southern Jewish Life) — “Are you still a bigot?” Every year for the rest of his life, students studying the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” would call Rabbi Milton Grafman, knowing little of the situation in 1963 Birmingham, and pose that question. His… Read more »