Anna Greenberg at Sabino Canyon in a “Run with Anna” t-shirt. One of her brothers, Aaron, created “Run with Anna” events as a way to promote regular physical activity. See facbeook.com/RUNwithANNA. Get healthy — it could save your life. That may sound incredibly obvious, but in the case of Tucson native Anna Greenberg, it’s the start of a remarkable story. Greenberg, 26, was told two years ago that her weight was jeopardizing her health. Her doctor, also a family friend,… Read more »
Jewish backers of Rick Santorum, shown speaking at an Arizona Republican Party fundraiser in Phoenix on Feb. 21, 2012, say Jewish voters should look past his hard-line social conservatisim and consider his message on the economy and on Israel. (Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons) WASHINGTON (JTA) — If Rick Santorum secures the Republican nomination, expect to hear this mantra from his Jewish supporters: In times of crisis, social issues don’t matter. The former Pennsylvania senator, who is leading in national polls in the race for the GOP presidential nod, is fiercely anti-abortion and… Read more »
Palestinians demonstrating outisde Israel's Supreme court in Jerusalem in support of Khader Adnan, who declared a hunger strike in Israeli jail more than two months ago. Adnan ended his hunger strike on Feb. 21, following an agreement with the State PRosecutor's Office. (Kobi Gideon/Flash 90/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) — As his weight dropped and his face grew gaunt, Khader Adnan became the latest Palestinian cause celebre. Israel arrested Adnan, a 33-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank village of Arraba, on Dec. 17 and placed him in administrative detention. The former spokesman for the terrorist group… Read more »
Alan and Judy Gross at the Western Wall in the spring of 2005. (Courtesy of the Gross family) WASHINGTON (JTA) – For the Jews of Cuba, it was the ultimate Internet connection. The high-tech equipment that U.S. contractor Alan Gross brought with him to Cuba in 2009 to help connect local Jews to the Internet reportedly included a SIM card that makes it almost impossible to track… Read more »
Hundreds of Israelis protesting against the country's soaring cost of living in front of the Knesset in Jerusalem, Aug. 2, 2011. (Yossi Zamir/Flash 90/JTA) JERUSALEM (JTA) – “It’s the economy stupid” was how American political strategist James Carville once summed up the defining issue in U.S. presidential elections. But in Israel, besieged by enemy nations and locked into an ongoing conflict with the Palestinians, security has traditionally trumped all other political agendas. Until… Read more »
ODESSA, Ukraine (JTA) — In a colorful room at the Tikva Children’s Home here, 30 young boys stand in two straight lines and wait for the cue signaling that they are to start singing. The children, students in a music class, are performing “Mind Your Manners” by the Philadelphia-based… Read more »
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi presents Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with a plaque, August 2011. (The Israel Project) NEW YORK (JTA) — Here’s what the international Jewish media conspiracy looks like: Two men and four women, all clad in dark suits, sitting around a table in a windowless conference room in a nondescript office in midtown Manhattan. Together they run a global organization stretching from Washington to… Read more »
French President Nicholas Sarkozy addressing guests at the CRIF dinner, Feb. 8, 2012. (Erez Lichtfeld courtesy of CRIF) PARIS (JTA) – Trailing in the polls and with elections just 10 weeks away, French President Nicolas Sarkozy went to one of his most reliable bases of support — French Jews — to drum up enthusiasm. On the morning of Feb. 8, Sarkozy met at Elysees Palace with released… Read more »
Protesters in the aftermath of deadly riots march in Cairo on Feb. 3, 2012. The increasing chaos in Egypt, including the recent arrest of U.S. democracy activists, has raised questions about it factors into U.S. and Israel security considerations in the region. (Gigi Ibrahim via CC) WASHINGTON (JTA) — The future of a key pillar of Israeli security could rest with the fate of a few dozen pro-democracy activists in Egypt. After Egyptian authorities filed charges on Feb. 6 against 43 American and other foreign pro-democracy activists who worked in the country, leading members of… Read more »
Sen. Lindsey Graham, shown attending Independence Day celebrations at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, in July 2011, has authored a resolution that would make an Iranian nuclear capability a "red line." (Courtesy U.S. Embassy, Kabul) WASHINGTON (JTA) — Is America’s red line on Iran moving? A new bipartisan resolution introduced Thursday on Capitol Hill is part of a growing effort to shift the longstanding U.S. red line from Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon to having the capability to build one. Such a shift would… Read more »
Evan Kaufmann, a U.S.-born hockey player whose great-grandparents were killed in the Holocaust, is now representing the German national team. (Courtesy Eishockey Magazin) WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (JTA) — More than 65 years ago, Evan Kaufmann’s great-grandparents were murdered in the Auschwitz death camp. Now he is taking the ice for the German national hockey team. Following a successful hockey career at the University of Minnesota, Kaufmann tried out for several professional clubs in… Read more »
Zidan Badran, mayor of the Israeli portion of the Arab town of Barta'a, stands on the seam that separates the Israeli part of town from its West Bank portion. (Linda Gradstein) BARTA’A, West Bank (JTA) — In these days of frozen peace negotiations, most Israelis and Palestinians have little contact. Palestinians need a special permit to enter Israel, and Israelis need army permission to enter the parts of the West Bank controlled by the Palestinian Authority. In fact, just a… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — What were the Jews doing becoming so involved in a debate over contraception? It was a question that more than one Jewish official asked themselves over recent months as tensions between the Obama administration and leaders of the Catholic Church rose to the boiling point over… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Iran and Israel appear to be locked in an assassination contest. Israeli leaders blamed Iran for two assassination attempts late Sunday and early Monday — in Tbilisi, Georgia, and in New Delhi, India. The bomb in Tbilisi was disabled before it could be activated, and the… Read more »
For the second year, the Tucson Jewish Community Library and the Weintraub Israel Center will present “Israel to Go,” a three-part series for people interested in traveling to Israel. The seminars will be held Feb. 15, March 29 and April 4 at 7 p.m. in the library, which is… Read more »
With four notable authors, including world-renowned “Clan of the Cave Bear” author Jean M. Auel and former University of Arizona President Peter Likins, the 16th Annual Brandeis National Committee, Tucson Chapter, Book & Author events promise to be a treat for readers. The Evening Soirée with authors Auel, Likins,… Read more »
Nancy K. Miller A Jewish uncle who was the first mayor of South Tucson, a family past discovered as an adult, ownership of unknown property in Israel — all this, and more, contribute to the story of Nancy K. Miller’s family. Miller, the author of “What They Saved: Pieces of a Jewish… Read more »
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Northwest Division will present a talk by Laura Green, “When It Comes to Israel, Why is the World Silent?” on Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. at the Hilton El Conquistador in Oro Valley. Green is on the Utah board of the America-Israel… Read more »
Rachel Knox Rachel Knox will receive the 2012 Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award, which honors an outstanding Jewish teenage girl, at the Women’s Philanthropy Connections brunch on Feb. 19. The award, which honors a late community leader, was created by the advisory council of Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Southern… Read more »
Joe Pasternack (University of Arizona) University of Arizona basketball has a new Jewish assistant coach, Joe Pasternack. Pasternack, 34, came to the UA in May from the University of New Orleans, where he was head coach for four years. He’s friends with former UA assistant coach Josh Pastner, who is now head coach at… Read more »
