News

WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — The call came early on a recent morning: A helicopter carrying those wounded during a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla would soon arrive at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem. But as doctors began unloading the injured, they quickly realized it wasn’t Israeli… Read more »

Chabad yeshiva students gather near the Chabad House on the main square of the Venice Ghetto. (Ruth Ellen Gruber)

VENICE, Italy (JTA) — It was a Friday afternoon in the heart of the historic Venice Ghetto, and I was chatting with the city’s chief rabbi, Elia Richetti, when his cellphone beeped. “It’s a text message from Gam-Gam Goodies, the Chabad-run pastry shop around the corner,” said the bespectacled… Read more »

Aharon Barak, formerly Israel's top justice, recently became an issue in Elana Kagan's Supreme Court confirmation process. (Yossi Zamir/Flash 90)

NEW YORK (JTA) — It was an unexpected headline in an otherwise relatively mundane U.S. Supreme Court confirmation process: Bork tries to Bork Barak’s Elena Kagan with Barak card. Like a ghost from confirmations past, failed Reagan nominee Robert Bork grabbed headlines last week when he spoke out against… Read more »

Chickens being kosher slaughtered on New Zealand's South Island in 2009. A new law banning shechitah is being challenged by the country's Jews.

SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – Barring a last-minute policy reversal, Jewish leaders in New Zealand appear certain to launch legal action against the government over its controversial new law banning kosher slaughter. Six Jewish leaders were granted a 30-minute meeting a week ago with Prime Minister John Key, the son… Read more »

To submit  your “Books that made a difference” entry,  mouse over “Contact” and  select “Books that made a difference” from the drop-down menu.. Submissions will be posted online and selected entries will appear in the AJP Rosh Hashanah issue on Sept. 3. The book that changed my life: “This… Read more »

Irving Silverman with Jagger

If “Jagger” evokes an image of the frenzied gyrations of the Rolling Stones lead singer, the Tucson dog bearing his name had an opposite, calming effect on 90-year-old Irving Silverman, who participated in dog therapy with Jagger at Tucson’s St. Joseph’s Hospital. Following surgery for a benign brain tumor… Read more »

Joanne Lefty, 79, died June 9, 2010. Along with her husband, Mrs. Lefty co-owned the Shoe City Shoe Store in downtown Tucson for 30 years. Mrs. Lefty was preceded in death by her husband, William. Survivors include her son, Marty (Kathy) Lefty of Glen Ellyn, Ill.; stepsons, William F.… Read more »

More than 700 people reportedly attended a rally outside the Israeli Embassy of London supporting Israel in the wake of the flotilla incident, June 2. (Adrian Korsner/JTA Photo Service)

Prague (JTA) — As thousands of protesters condemned Israel’s blockade of Gaza in cities across Europe, reactions within Jewish communities ranged from mild concern to alarm. On Saturday, June 5, 6,000 protesters marched in Germany, 20,000 in France and 2,000 in London against Israel’s actions in the May 31… Read more »

Interfaith Community Services, a volunteer-based nonprofit founded in 1985, is holding its second annual “Freedom from Hunger” food drive through June 27. “The shelves of ICS’s food bank get barer in the summer,” says ICS Executive Director Bonnie Kampa, who notes that the agency provided food to 25 percent… Read more »

Hebrew High Class of 2010 (L-R), front row: Sharon Glassberg, director, Coalition for Jewish Education; Andrew Irving Berger; Brianna Paige Finkelstein; Jenna Brynn Langert; Ashley Robert Brio. Second row: Bryan Davis, Hebrew High Principal; Jeremy Fenn; Erica Esther Bee; David Richelson; Yonatan Meir Twena. Third row: Jacob Sheldon Kotz; Samuel B. Silverman; Carly Levy; Erin Olitzky. Fourth row: Sam Rubin; Nate Sacks; Bonnie Segal; Ron Grant, senior class faculty

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Coalition for Jewish Education held two graduation ceremonies last month, for Hebrew High and the Tucson Melton Adult Mini School.… Read more »

The Herzliya marina, where many of Israel's wealthy class dock their boats. (Moshe Shai/JTA Photo Service)

Herzliya Pituach (JTA) — Some of the wealthiest Israelis live on Galei Tchelet Street in this coastal town on a narrow road that seems to groan under the weight of its many mansions. Rooftops and balconies of the grand homes peek out from beyond the walls covered in oleander… Read more »

Two letters to the Arizona Jewish Post (June 4) are confusing, based as they are on mistaken understanding of federal immigration law. Though both writers claim the Arizona statute is an exact copy of federal law, it isn’t. SB 1070 defines a new crime; being an illegal is per… Read more »

“Dawning of One Hundred Days,” acrylic by Ginny Tompkins

Paintings by Ginny Tompkins will be featured in the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Arts Gallery through Aug. 24. Specializing in very large abstract art in acrylic, Tompkins was the subject of “Ginny Tompkins: A Retrospective” by France-Marie Haeger, Ph.D., published in 2005 with 101 color plates. Haeger’s descriptions… Read more »

Rabbi Jason Holtz

Temple Emanu-El’s new assistant rabbi, Jason Holtz, will take up his duties June 21. Holtz received his rabbinic ordination earlier this month from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since 2006, he has served as a student rabbi at Congregation B’nai Abra­ham in Portsmouth, Ohio; Temple… Read more »

(L-R) Seth Grossman, Sol Lieberman, Janet Winans and Adrienne Halpert, gathered in Halpert’s store, Global Arts Gallery, have found varied ways to express their Jewish identity in Patagonia, Ariz.

Whether engaged in traditional religious practices or celebrating the High Holy days at the “temple of nature,” for the dozen or so Jewish residents of Patagonia, Ariz., identification with Judaism runs deep.… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden defended Israel’s handling of the raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, departing from the Obama administration’s approach. Biden said Israel has an “absolute right” to defend its security interests, according to a transcript Politico obtained of an interview that was to… Read more »

Rabbi Elia Richetti, the president of the Italian Rabbinical Assembly, mingles with tourists outside the Jewish Museum in Venice (Ruth Ellen Gruber/JTA Photo Service)

ROME (JTA) — The years-long battle that ended recently with the dismissal of the chief rabbi of Turin, Italy, highlights a 21st-century identity crisis afflicting the oldest Jewish community in the Diaspora. Rabbi Alberto Somekh, who like all recognized rabbis in Italy is Orthodox, had served as chief rabbi… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — The last time American Jews took to the streets in significant numbers to make the case for Israel’s right to defend itself, during Israel’s war with Hamas in early 2009, rockets were raining down on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. This time it’s a… Read more »

The factory in which Oskar Schindler used Jewish slave labor during World War II has been turned into a Holocaust museum. (Patti McCracken/JTA Photo Service)

KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — In January 1994, an American tourist stepped out of a taxi into a cold, drizzling rain and entered the Jarden Jewish Bookshop at the far end of the square in the Jewish quarter of Krakow. On the counter he splayed a weeks-old copy of The… Read more »

Zach Emanuel,  the son of  White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, celebrated his Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem. The ceremony took place May 30 at the Davidson Center, located  near the Western Wall.  About 50 people, mostly family members, participated.  Security was heavy for the family and guests;  there… Read more »