VANCOUVER, Canada (JTA) — When Austrian and German Jews escaped Nazism by fleeing to Britain during the 1930s, the last thing they expected was to find themselves prisoners in Canada, interned in camps with some of the same Nazis they had tried to escape back home. But that’s what… Read more »
News
In Florida, Venezuelan Jewish expats set down new roots
SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. (JTA) — Sitting outside a Starbucks coffee shop in this small city north of Miami Beach, Paul Hariton recalls the dramatic night in 2002 when he and his wife decided to leave their native Venezuela. Leftist leader Hugo Chavez had just returned to power following… Read more »
Holocaust commemoration marks shift for Greek Jews in fight against neo-Nazis
THESSALONIKI, Greece (JTA) — Antonis Samaras stood in the pale morning light coming through the stained glass windows of the only Thessaloniki synagogue to survive World War II and vowed, “Never again.” For Greek Jews marking the 70th anniversary of the destruction of this city’s historic Jewish community, the… Read more »
African-Israeli personalities hoping to change community’s image
TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Yityish Aynaw immigrated from Ethiopia to Israel at age 12, she was thrust into an Israeli classroom. An orphan lacking Hebrew skills, Aynaw says she relied on other kids and her own sheer ambition to get through. Ten years later Aynaw, 22, is the… Read more »
Cyprus verdict could inhibit Hezbollah operations in Europe
WASHINGTON (JTA) – The conviction in Cyprus of a Hezbollah operative plotting to attack Israelis could undercut efforts by the terrorist group to carry out additional attacks outside the Middle East. Last week’s conviction was the second confirmation in recent months that Hezbollah is active on European soil. The… Read more »
After Israel trip and apology to Turkey, Obama gains political capital. Will he spend it?
WASHINGTON (JTA) — For a trip that U.S. officials had cautioned was not about getting “deliverables,” President Obama’s apparent success during his Middle East trip at getting Israel and Turkey to reconcile has raised some hopes for a breakthrough on another front: Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The question now is whether… Read more »
Film suggests Toulouse killer was disturbed, not hateful
(JTA) — Four weeks before he murdered seven people in Toulouse, a cheerful Mohammed Merah was filmed laughing and showing off his skiing skills to friends at a popular Alpine resort. The footage, televised on March 6, formed the opening sequence in a controversial documentary about the 23-year-old, French-born… Read more »
On Israel’s oldest kibbutzim, secular Seders stray from tradition
The families surround long tables covered by white tablecloths. Festive decorations line the walls, and the kitchen is free of chametz, the leavened foods forbidden on Passover. Seder plates sit in front of hungry participants. But instead of someone reading the Haggadah or reciting the kiddush over wine,… Read more »
‘Incredible Innovations’ is theme for Israel 65 Festival
Tucson’s Israel 65 Festival next month will celebrate “Israel’s Incredible Innovations,” such as: Computers • MinDesktop, a thought-controlled, hands-free computer for the disabled that could be used without a keyboard or mouse. Developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev students under the supervision of professor Rami Puzis, it features… Read more »
Live music, belly dancing, sweets planned for Mimuna
The annual Mimuna concert, a Moroccan-style end-of-Passover celebration sponsored by the Weintraub Israel Center and Temple Emanu-El, will be held Tuesday, April 2 at 6 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El. “We will host two very special musicians for a live performance of the MoroMore group, with Bulgarian musician Anton Shekerjiev… Read more »
Doctor to dicuss medical ethics at Hadassah luncheon
Howard J. Schwartz, M.D., will speak on “Ethical Issues for Jewish Doctors” at a Hadassah Southern Arizona lunch on Thursday, April 18 at noon at Skyline Country Club. Born in New York City, Schwartz attended yeshiva and received his B.A. from Brooklyn College and his M.D. from the Einstein… Read more »
Local Jewish veterans’ stories add to history of World War II
During World War II, Tucsonan Yale Palchick, now 91, helped liberate a Japanese war camp holding American POWs, was at Okinawa at the war’s end and in Tokyo a few days after the United States dropped its third atomic bomb on Aug. 19, 1945. But mostly, “I was trying… Read more »
JCRC panel discusses Jewish response to the border
Around 50 people attended a panel discussion, “Jewish Responses to the Border,” at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on March 14. Three of the four panelists, including Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon and Bob Feinman, are Jewish. The event, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of… Read more »
Holocaust trains are jewel of collection of Greek train enthusiast. But are they real?
THESSALONIKI, Greece (JTA) — It was spring in northern Greece, 1943. Efthymios Kontopoulos, 13, had come to Thessaloniki for the day when he saw Nazis rounding up the city’s Jews. “My father brought me into town,” Kontopoulos, who is not Jewish, said. “We saw them being taken away. They… Read more »
March is Women’s History Month: Take a walk in Tucson’s downtown
A Tucson Walking Tour in Women’s History, presented by the Arizona Women’s Heritage Trail, draws from the significant involvement of Jewish women in the city’s history. Take the former residence of Theresa Marx Ferrin at the corner of Meyer and Cushing Streets. Ferrin and her family lived in the… Read more »
At Tucson Yom HaShoah event, videos will honor survivors
The annual community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Coalition for Jewish Education of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, will be held Sunday, April 7 at 2 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. This year, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum… Read more »
In Tucson, Israeli peace activist talks about life on the Gaza border
It’s not easy living 500 yards from the Gaza border. Roni Keidar, who lives in Netiv Ha’asara — the closest community in Israel to the Gaza Strip — is an Israeli educator and active member of Other Voice, a non-partisan group promoting peace and encouraging dialogue between Israelis and… Read more »
Stumbling Stones ceremony in Germany is link not only to past but to future
In October, I attended a Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) ceremony in Magdeburg, in the former East Germany, to honor my great-grandparents, Rudolph and Laura Lowenthal, who died in the Holocaust. My sister and two cousins, the other surviving family members, accompanied me. The first Stolpersteine were created by German artist… Read more »
JCC Taglit program is rewarding for participants, staff
Participants in the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Taglit program for young adults have a wide range of disabilities, both cognitive and physical. Still, the special needs program offers an extensive schedule of daily activities for the program’s 20 full-time participants, ages 19 to 35. Whether it’s yoga, karate, fitness… Read more »
Noah Warren Cohen Scholarship honors youth
The Noah Warren Cohen Scholarship has been established in memory of Noah Warren Cohen, a young man with great enthusiasm for social causes and compassion for those less fortunate. Noah died in 2010 at the age of 12 and his family has established a scholarship fund that will award… Read more »