Ilan Stavans and his new book, "Seventh Heaven" (Courtesy of Stavans/JTA Montage)
MEXICO CITY (JTA) —More than 10 years ago, Ilan Stavans scandalized language purists of the Spanish-speaking world by translating a chapter of “Don Quixote” — into Spanglish. Since then, the so-called czar of Latino culture has become one of the most important interlocutors for Hispanics in the United States. In… Read more »
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Shir Tabac had always yearned for a dog, but it wasn’t until she completed her military service and went to college that she felt ready to make the commitment. “It was the first time I was living independently, and I wondered how I could have a dog and do… Read more »
A group of volunteers takes to the streets to beautify Pittsburgh. (Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh)
PITTSBURGH (JTA) —As we approach the one year since the worst anti-Semitic attack in American history, I am grateful for the outpouring of support for the Pittsburgh Jewish community. Over the last year, people across the world have stood shoulder to shoulder with all of us in the 412.… Read more »
At capacity, a new tunnel network will hold some 23,000 bodies and is expected to be filled within a decade. (Sam Sokol)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Carved into the rock on the side of a mountain directly under the Har HaMenuchot cemetery here lies the entrance to Jerusalem’s newest necropolis, a city of the dead that its designers hope will relieve a shortage of burial space in the capital. A local engineering… Read more »
Muslim women attend a Bernie Sanders campaign rally at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium in Riverside, Calif., May 24, 2016. (David McNew/AFP/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Bernie Sanders was one of only two Democratic presidential candidates to address the Islamic Society of North America Convention in August, the largest annual gathering of Muslim Americans in the country. Organizers invited the 10 highest-polling contenders at the time to the Houston event, but the Vermont… Read more »
Daniel Shorr, far right, and other members of Stanford’s Student Space Initiative escort a rocket he built. (Courtesy of Shorr)
SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — Typically, Jews gather after Rosh Hashanah services to recite a brief prayer and then symbolically cast away their sins by tossing breadcrumbs into a body of water. The ritual, called tashlich, isn’t mandated by Jewish law — it’s just… Read more »
Members of the Jewish community and their allies protest anti-Semitism and a National Students for Justice in Palestine conference at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles, Nov. 6, 2018. (Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — More than eight in 10 American Jews say that anti-Semitism has spiked in recent years and even more believe it is a problem in the United States, according to an American Jewish Committee survey. More than three-quarters of respondents see the extreme political right as more… Read more »
(JTA) — At least 12 white supremacists have been arrested for allegedly attacking, planning attacks against or threatening the Jewish community in the year since the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue building in Pittsburgh, the Anti-Defamation League said in a new report. Since Oct. 27, 2018, white… Read more »
On Oct. 27, 2018, in was the most brutal anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States, a gunman opened fire in the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh, taking the lives of 11 innocent people from three congregations: Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life *… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli actress Gal Gadot will star as Polish heroine Irena Sendler, who saved 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazis, in a film produced by the actress and her husband. Gadot and her husband Yaron Varsano have formed the production company Pilot Wave. Gadot will star as… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent an official request to Russian President Vladimir Putin to pardon an Israeli-American woman sentenced in Russia to 7 1/2 years in prison after being convicted of smuggling marijuana into the country. The request submitted on Sunday to pardon Naama Issachar, 26,… Read more »
(JTA) — The chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is under fire for saying that a presentation to residence-hall advisors on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians was anti-Semitic. The presentation, called “Palestine & Great Return March: Palestinian Resistance to 70 Years of Israeli Terror,” prepared… Read more »
(JTA) — More than 10,000 people marched in Berlin against anti-Semitism and in a show of support for the victims of anti-Semitic violence in the city of Halle. The march on Sunday left from Bebelplatz, significant as a site of Nazi book-burning, to the New Synagogue in central Berlin.… Read more »
Shawn Fairbairn, Kids Scoop News reporter, reporting from the Democratic debate in Westerville, Ohio, Oct. 15, 2019. (Ron Kampeas)
WESTERVILLE, Ohio (JTA) — Give 10-year-old Shawn Fairbairn this: He’s a political reporter who cuts to the quick. He thinks that Marianne Williamson, the self-help guru seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, should stick to writing books. His first question for a top surrogate for Bernie Sanders was whether the… Read more »
The Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has launched a special campaign called “The Next Step” to support its expansion to larger premises and operation of The Ruth & Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life. The center’s new facility now in use at 180 W. Magee… Read more »
Melissa Goldfinger, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona annual campaign chair for 2020, is surrounded by (L-R) Deborah Oseran, Ronnie Sebold, Andy Kunsberg, and Leslie Glaze. Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP
Educating the community — that’s our real campaign task,” says Melissa Goldfinger, chair of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s 2020 fundraising drive. “We kick off our 100 Days of Impact on Oct. 24, with our 2020 theme: Powered by You — Stronger Together. Our job is to help… Read more »
A new mural by JJ Dardano, unveiled outside the Jewish History Museum Sept. 6, underscores the institution’s focus this year on humanitarian issues. Photo Debe Campbell
The Jewish History Museum and Jewish Community Relations Council will formally launch the Jewish Community Migrant Justice Initiative on Thursday, Oct. 24. The project will coordinate Jewish community efforts in response to the humanitarian needs of asylum seekers and refugees in Southern Arizona, says Bryan Davis, JHM executive director.… Read more »
Carolee Asia, left, visits with longtime friend Gertrude Shankman, a Handmaker resident. Photo: Nanci Levy/Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging
If you are a Tucson Hebrew Academy student, you have probably met, or at least heard of, Gertrude Shankman, a resident at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. THA students have been celebrating Shankman’s birthday every year since she turned 100. On Oct. 26, Shankman will turn 105. “It… Read more »
Lively at 95, Bill Kugelman says, “Old is what you make of yourself.” (Debe Campbell/AJP)
When I first spot Bill Kugelman across the room at a local senior living community, he is sitting in a chair, waving his arms in the air and stomping his feet to lively Zumba music. Surrounded by a group of grey-headed women, he is one of very few men… Read more »
Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona is initiating a free support group for Jewish women of all ages who have been impacted by domestic violence. The LEAH (Let’s End Abusive Households) Support Group represents a safe environment for healing and support. Group activities may help in anxiety… Read more »
