Haredi Orthodox Israelis protest in Jerusalem against compulsory military service for men, Aug. 25, 2015. (FLASH90)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Secular and haredi Orthodox Israelis differ on many things, but there’s one thing both sides agree on: When it comes to religious affairs, the government is failing. That’s one of the findings of an annual survey of Israeli religious identification and attitudes toward religious policy… Read more »
Dr. Oliver Sacks speaks at Columbia University in New York City, June 3, 2009. (Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
(JTA) — On Aug. 30, at age 82, noted neurologist and author Dr. Oliver Sacks succumbed to a cancer that first plagued him nearly a decade ago, paused, and recently reappeared. One of his last essays, published posthumously, appears in the Sept. 14 issue of The New Yorker and… Read more »
Amy Hirshberg Lederman When my husband, Ray, was diagnosed with cancer almost four years ago, we became a team, determined to face the challenge of living with cancer head on. From the onset, we talked openly about risks and probabilities as we aggressively researched and pursued treatments and clinical trials. We sought… Read more »
As the population of Holocaust survivors ages and dwindles, there is a growing urgency to ensure that both their eye witness accounts of the atrocities and the tales of their resilience are preserved in perpetuity. Earlier this year, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona compiled the stories… Read more »
B’nai B’rith Covenant House residents display care packages made by children during the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Super Extraordinary Sunday on Jan. 25 . (Back row, L-R): Solomon Steklov, Iosif Beskin, Gregoriy Tselnik; (front row): Sima Biznichuk, Tsilya Lipkina (Courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona)
Many Tucsonans are surprised to learn that the Jewish community sponsors not one but two nationally recognized independent housing communities for low and very low income seniors: B’nai B’rith Covenant House of Tucson and the Gerd & Inge Strauss Manor on Pantano. Both properties were the vision and work… Read more »
The Jewish History Museum’s “Reclaiming Discourses” series will feature (clockwise from top left): Laynie Browne (Sep. 17), Sam Ace (Oct. 14), Hannah Ensor (Nov. 11), Kate Bernheimer (Dec. 16) and Rachel Zucker (Jan. 27, 2016).
The Jewish History Museum and University of Arizona Poetry Center will present a monthly series, “Reclaiming Discourses: Jewish Writers Today,” beginning Thursday, Sept. 17. The five contemporary authors, who write both poetry and prose, explore what it means to be human by delving into such diverse subjects as fairy… Read more »
"Chard" by Mara Aspinall
“Naked Food: Photography by Mara Aspinall” will be on display at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery from Sept. 17 through Oct. 20. A reception for the artist will be held Sunday, Sept. 20 from 2-5 p.m. Aspinall, the former CEO of Ventana Medical Systems, has traveled… Read more »
The High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are prime time for rabbis. On these Days of Awe, above all others, sanctuaries are filled to overflowing with Jews seeking spiritual connection or simply to embrace timeless traditions. With all… Read more »
Migrants cross into Hungary as they walk over railroad tracks at the Serbian border, Sept. 8. (Dan Kirkwood/Getty Images
Editor’s note: For the local response, see JFSA facilitates gift for Syrian refugee aid (JTA) — When he looks into the tired eyes of the Syrian refugees now flooding Europe’s borders, Guy Sorman is reminded of his father, Nathan, who fled Germany for France just months before Adolf Hitler… Read more »
Iranians walk through Tehran's old main bazaar, March 18, 2014. (Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – If you’re an American who likes Iranian caviar and pistachios, you’re in for a treat. Once the nuclear deal with Iran is implemented, the U.S. sanctions that until now have blocked the export of those Iranian foodstuffs into the United States will be lifted. Bon appetit.… Read more »
Tourists at Auschwitz photographing the "Arbeit Macht Frei" gate, July 2015. (Ruth Ellen Gruber)
(JTA) – Pawel Sawicki gets to his desk every morning by 7, but he works no regular office job. Sawicki is an information officer at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Memorial and Museum, the sprawling complex in southern Poland that encompasses the largest and most notorious Nazi death camp. More than… Read more »
Amna Farooqi, with megaphone, says she comes to the leadership of J Street U "because I care deeply about the people in Israel and the people in Palestine." (Courtesy of J Street)
POTOMAC, Md. (Washington Jewish Week via JTA) — J Street U’s new president Amna Farooqi has made no secret of being a “Pakistani American Muslim.” That’s how she described herself in a keynote speech this spring at J Street’s national convention in Washington, D.C., when she was a board… Read more »
Rabbi Shlomo Neeman, left, founder of the Kiev-based Zionist Seminary, and staff at the Tchelet summer camp in the Republic of Georgia, Aug. 19, 2015. (Eliyahu Yurovsky)
TBILISI, Georgia (JTA) — Until April of last year, Julia Podinovskaya felt like she had a pretty good handle on where her life was going. Born to a middle-class Jewish family in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, Podinovskaya, who is in her 20s, was volunteering with the local… Read more »
U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter, left, shaking hands with his Israeli counterpart, Moshe Yaalon, before boarding a military aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, July 21, 2015. (Carolyn Kaster/Pool/AP Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – The moment the Iran nuclear deal becomes law, as seems increasingly likely given growing congressional support for the agreement, the focus of the U.S.-Israel conversation will shift to the question of what’s next. What more will Washington do to mitigate the Iranian threat and… Read more »
Justice Richard Bernstein He is an Ironman. He’s run 18 marathons, including one just a year after shattering his hip and pelvis in an accident. He’s a graduate of the distinguished Northwestern University School of Law and, since passing the bar, he’s developed into a civil rights powerhouse, having earned numerous verdicts… Read more »
Rep. Martha McSally on the 2015 Republican congressional trip to Israel, after a briefing about the operation of an Iron Dome missile defense battery, seen behind her. (Courtesy Office of U.S. Rep. Martha McSally)
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally joined 25 Republican legislators on a whirlwind trip to Israel earlier this month. McSally, who was elected to represent Arizona’s Second Congressional District last fall and serves on the Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, said she chose to participate in the trip to get… Read more »
Sen. Harry Reid, left, the Senate minority leader, and his likely successor, Sen. Charles Schumer, at a news briefing in Washington, D.C., Feb. 24, 2015. Reid is supporting the Iran deal and Schumer said he will vote against it. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
(JTA) – Does the Iran deal have the votes or not? Though President Barack Obama is vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard and Congress is in recess through Labor Day, there’s plenty of action on the agreement as lawmakers debate whether to vote with their colleagues, constituents, aides or consciences —… Read more »
Philip A. Pinto The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona, together with the College of Science and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, will present a free panel lecture, “The Iranian Nuclear Agreement: Containment or Catastrophe?” on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 7-8 p.m. in Crowder Hall. Three… Read more »
Crissi Blake (left) and Nina Isaac, co-owners of Milk and Honey (Jason Blake)
Opening Milk and Honey Breastfeeding and Postpartum Support Center is a dream that was a long time coming for co-owners Nina Isaac and Crissi Blake. The women met 15 years ago, after Isaac’s first child was born. “My baby was colicky and Crissi taught infant massage,” says Isaac. “It… Read more »
Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz, a faculty member at Tucson Hebrew High, leads 10th grade students through an exercise on character development in the digital age on Aug. 11, during the opening program of the 2015-16 school year. (Courtesy Tucson Hebrew High)
What makes someone a mensch (a person of integrity)? Students at Tucson Hebrew High and the Tucson Jewish Community Center will join others worldwide in exploring that question as part of the second annual Character Day, a concept created by filmmaker Tiffany Shlain. Known for her 2005 short film… Read more »
