News

Australian Jewish News publisher Robert Magid stirred controversy with his article arguing that Muslim boat people deprive sanctuary to legitimate refugees. (Australian Jewish News via AJDS)

SYDNEY (JTA) – An article on illegal boat people by the publisher of Australia’s main Jewish newspaper has ignited a storm of protest, with some critics savaging it for “vilifying Muslims” and promoting “xenophobic, Islamophobic and heartless sentiments.” Titled “Curb your compassion,” Robert Magid’s article published in the Aug.… Read more »

A Haredi man and his son standing next to the army recruiting office in Jerusalem on August 1, 2012. (Noam Moskowitz/Flash 90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) –  The controversy had sparked a national debate, raucous protests in the streets and the collapse of a historic government. That came in the months after the Israeli Supreme Court had nullified a law exempting haredi Orthodox Israelis from military service and given the government until… Read more »

Marika Weinberger, a Holocaust survivor and former president of the Australian Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Descendants. (Henry Benjamin)

SYDNEY (JTA) — In a court ruling that is bringing new attention to Australia’s failure to prosecute alleged Nazi-era war criminals, the government will not surrender to Hungary the man believed to be the country’s last World War II war crimes suspect. The nation’s High Court ruled Wednesday that… Read more »

Mitt Romney introducing Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate during a rally in Manassas, Va., Aug. 12, 2012. (Photo via Creative Commons)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Anointing Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney attached a name and face to his fiscal policy. Jewish Republicans, including the House majority leader, say they are thrilled with Wisconsin’s Ryan emerging as the ticket’s fresh face, hailing the lawmaker as a thoughtful and creative… Read more »

Israeli-American men's basketball coach David Blatt led the Russian national team to the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games. (Christopher Johnson via CC)

(JTA) – The London Olympics may have “lit up the world,” as organizing committee head Sebastian Coe put it, but for Jews the 2 1/2 weeks offered healthy doses of frustration and glory. On the plus side, new medalists such as America’s Aly Raisman gained the spotlight with her… Read more »

Sheldon Adelson is suing the National Jewish Democratic Council for $60 million for intimating in a online petition that he approved of prostitution in his Macau casino, shown here. (Photo via Creative Commons)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sheldon Adelson’s $60 million defamation lawsuit against the National Jewish Democratic Council describes extensive efforts by his representatives, including Alan Dershowitz, to talk the group into apologizing for intimating that the casino magnate approved of prostitution. The 16-page lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court… Read more »

The attack this week along the Israel-Egypt border poses dilemmas both for Israel and for the new Egyptian president. Should Israel accede to pressure to modify its 1979 peace treaty with Egypt and allow more Egyptian troops into the Sinai to quell the unrest there? For Egyptian President Mohamed… Read more »

A troubling recent incident in the heart of Krakow’s old Jewish quarter, Kazimierz, has raised questions anew about the scope and impact of anti-Semitism in the age of instant response and interactive social media. The incident involved a waiter (or waiters) at a popular cafe, Moment, who rudely refused… Read more »

Following the early start of Tucson’s schools, Tucson Hebrew High will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 at its host synagogue, Congregation Anshei Israel. The first session will include a welcome back pizza and last minute registration party, classes, a storytelling slam by Hebrew High faculty, and an ice… Read more »

  When the school year starts at Tucson Hebrew Academy on Aug. 16, every middle school student will have a laptop computer that they can take with them from class to class — and home with them at night. Lesson plans will be designed around this technology, which will… Read more »

The Women’s Academy for Jewish Studies at Congregation Chofetz Chayim will hold a free brunch and presentation next month, “What Does G-d Have in Mind for You?” with Esther Becker, based on the book “As Long as I Live: The Life Story of Aharon Margalit.” By age 7, Margalit’s… Read more »

Jewish youth ages 7-14 are invited to join the Tucson Jewish Youth Choir, which will kick off its 13th season on Aug. 22 at 3:45 p.m. with a rehearsal at Tucson Hebrew Academy. No prior musical experience is necessary. Under the direction of Cantor Janece Cohen, the TJYC performs… Read more »

Alexis Sokoloff holds the Torah at her Bat Mitzvah ceremony (Courtesy Gwen Sokolof)

Fourteen-year-old Alexis Sokoloff smiles as she recalls her Bat Mitzvah on June 9. “I wasn’t nervous at all,” she told the AJP. “I really love learning Hebrew.” Sokoloff was born with Down syndrome, but with the support of her parents, Gwen and Mitchell Sokoloff, and her younger sister, Rebecka,… Read more »

Participants on a Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona-sponsored Birthright Israel trip hike in Ein Avdat in the Negev. (Courtesy Nicole Walters)

The Tucsonans on the first Birthright Israel trip sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona had heard rave reviews from friends who’d been on one of Birthright’s free, 10-day trips to Israel — and they were at least a bit skeptical. But this group came back believers. “Everyone… Read more »

(L-R) Tucsonans Donna Moser, Audrey Brooks, Marlyne Freedman and Deanna Evenchik at the Birthright Israel Mega Event at Haifa Naval Base July 12

The faces of our grandparents are with me in early July as I leave for the Jewish Federations of North America Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission to Odessa and Israel with my sister, Donna Moser. Grandpa Nathan and Grandma Sadie came to the United States in 1899 from Odessa;… Read more »

Suzi Hileman

Jared Lee Loughner will spend life in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to 19 charges stemming from the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 13, including former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. “Thank God that he pled guilty and there won’t be a trial,” said… Read more »

Sheldon Adelson's backing of Republican candidates and pro-Israel causes have garnered widespread media attention this campaign. (Oliver Fitoussi/Flash90/JTA)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Call it the Adelson conundrum: What happens when the guy who acts as if he owns the room really does? In March at TribeFest, the annual gathering of young adults organized by the Jewish Federations of North America at the Venetian hotel in Las Vegas, Sheldon… Read more »

(Jewish Ideas Daily) — This week, the Deferral of Military Service for Yeshiva Students Law, better known as the Tal Law, expires.  This law is the latest enactment of the so-called “status quo arrangement,” which frames the uneasy relationship between Israel’s Haredi and secular populations.  As such, the expiration… Read more »

A candlelight vigil for the victims of the shooting at the Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisc., Aug. 6, 2012. (Courtesy of Overpass Light Brigade)

(JTA) – Almost as soon as she heard the news about a deadly shooting at a Sikh temple near Milwaukee, Elana Kahn-Oren’s phone started ringing. As director of the Jewish Community Relations Council at the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, Kahn-Oren fielded call after call from concerned area Jews asking what… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. State Department’s report on religious freedom described a “global increase” in anti-Semitism and said the “rising tide of anti-Semitism” was among the key trends of last year. The executive summary of the report for 2011, released July 30, also detailed the “impact of political… Read more »