Micha Bar-Am Congregation Anshei Israel’s 10th annual observance of Yom Yerushalayim — celebrating the 45th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem — will feature an exhibition of 10 works by Micha Bar-Am, a renowned Israeli photojournalist. Bar-Am, who is best known for his coverage of the Six-Day War in 1967, has… Read more »
A general view shows the illegal Ulpana outpost, adjacent to the Beit El Jewish settlement near the Palestinian West Bank city of Ramallah, on April 23, 2012. The Israeli government appeared divided following a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice to demolish Ulpana before the end of the month as it was set up without government permission on Palestinian land. (Noam Moskowitz/ Flash90) BEIT EL, West Bank (JTA) — Alex Traiman stands under a tarp in his spacious backyard as his 10-year-old, Tmima, turns cartwheels on the lawn. “This is our home,” Traiman says, pointing to his single-floor apartment filled with books and children’s toys. “We did not come here to trample… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with his father, Benzion, at a memorial day for Yoni Netanyahu at Mount Herzl military cemetary in Jerusalem, June 26, 2007. (Michael Fattal/Flash90) NEW YORK (JTA) — Benzion Netanyahu — historian, one-time political activist and father of Israel’s prime minister — died Monday in Jerusalem at 102. An accomplished scholar and the patriarch of one of Israel’s most important political families, he also played a surprising and little-known role in American political… Read more »
President Obama, shown hosting a Passover Seder at the White House on April 6, 2012, has gained Jewish support in the last half year, according to a new poll. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama enjoys the support of three-fifths of American Jews, according to the latest American Jewish Committee survey, a significant improvement over where he stood half a year ago in the organization’s polling. The poll, released Monday, shows Obama with 61 percent of the Jewish vote,… Read more »
Carol Karsch, who is retiring after 23 years as executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, with her husband, Dan, at the Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Endowment Book of Life on Feb. 7. (Martha Lochert) Carol Karsch has wanted to live in Israel since she was 10 years old, when she began learning about the Jewish state at a synagogue in the small town of Norristown, Pa. Now Karsch, who will step down next month after 23 years at the helm of the Jewish… Read more »
The cover of artist Stan Lebovic’s book reads “Black is a Color, by a survivor’s son.” But in his search for meaning in the aftermath of the Holocaust, “I don’t focus on the negativity,” Lebovic promises. Instead, he finds hope and inspiration in the resilience of the Jewish people.… Read more »
The new ramp makes it easy for wheelchair-bound members of the congregation to come up to the bimah for an aliyah. The dream of wheelchair-bound congregants at Congregation Anshei Israel — to ascend to the bimah like everyone else — has become reality. The congregation’s new wheelchair-accessible ramp, which bridges the previous divide, was dedicated at a Saturday morning Shabbat service on March 24. “I’ve been extremely frustrated that people… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Emotional. Raw. Frustrating. That’s how Oz Fishman describes his reaction to “Bully,” a documentary that follows five students who face bullying daily. The movie also focuses on two victims of bullying who killed themselves. “I think every single person who wants to be a member of… Read more »
Mayor Jonathan Rothschild Being Tucson’s mayor will involve bumps in the road but Jonathan Rothschild — the fourth Jewish mayor of Tucson’s last six — is enthusiastic about his new role. He’s spent his first months in office actively promoting the city’s revitalization, despite some “tough” spending cuts. “We’ve really been able… Read more »
Gary Small, M.D. Who knew that physical exercise may have a greater impact on the brain than so-called mind exercises? Dr. Gary Small, author of “The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program,” will discuss the latest scientific evidence on the aging brain in his presentation, “Mind Games,” Thursday, April 26 from 5 to 8 p.m.… Read more »
Sonia Reich is a Holocaust survivor who, as a child, hid from the Nazis in the forests of Poland and witnessed the murder of family members. Sixty years later, she’s transferred the horrors of her past to the present, experiencing late-onset post- traumatic stress disorder, which manifests in paranoid… Read more »
Djerba Jews spending some time at the El-Ghriba Synagogue on Tunisia's southern island. (upyneroz via CC) TUNIS (JTA) — Tucked on a quiet side street blocks from the Mediterranean Sea, the last kosher restaurant in the Tunisian capital is a thriving center of Jewish tradition in a country of 10 million with nearly an entirely Arab and Muslim population. Yet Jacob Lellouche, who has owned… Read more »
IDF soldiers raise a glass at ta model Seder on their base. (IDF Spokesperson) JERUSALEM (JTA) — With Passover nearing, the Israeli army is embarking on one of its biggest operations of the year. Whether in the field, on a base or with family living abroad, “every last soldier has everything he needs for Seder night,” asserts Capt. Ze’ev Rosens, rabbi of the… Read more »
Women raising flags during a demonstration in Paris to protest recent murders in Toulouse, March 20,2012. (Daniel Hoffman) PARIS (JTA) — With the first round of France’s presidential election less than four weeks away, the attacks that left four Jews and three French soldiers dead are reshaping the race — but for now it’s not clear exactly how. In the days leading up to the attacks, President… Read more »
Tamir Goodman, the ‘Jewish Jordan,’ is now retired from professional basketball. Tamir Goodman, 30, has been known as basketball’s “Jewish Jordan” but these days he’s an inspirational speaker promoting Jewish identity, president of Tamir Goodman Sports Consultant LLC, a husband and father of four. A former professional player for the Maryland Nighthawks who’d previously sported jerseys for six seasons with… Read more »
Photo: Ed Flores Born Marcus Rothkovich in Dvinsk, Russia (now Latvia) in 1903, Mark Rothko was an artist who created larger-than-life canvases until his death by suicide in 1970. “Red,” John Logan’s play about Rothko, which garnered six Tony Awards in 2010, is currently onstage at the Seattle Repertory Company in a… Read more »
Peter Beinart, shown in a February 2009 address to the Center for American Progress, stirred controversy this week with his call for a boycott of goods made in Israeli settlements. (Center for American Progress via Creative Commons) WASHINGTON (JTA) — Should Jews shun other Jews? And should they shun Jews who call on Jews to shun other Jews? Peter Beinart’s call in Monday’s New York Times for a boycott of goods manufactured in West Bank settlements reignited a debate not just about what works and doesn’t… Read more »
Some new Haggadahs for this Passover: "Sharing the Journey," the "New American Haggadah" and "Journey to Freedom." SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (JTA) — Leading a Seder for the first time this year? There’s an app for that. Entries in the annual stream of new Haggadahs this year include a Reform version that comes in hardcover, paperback and iPad app editions. Two others feature a gorgeously designed… Read more »
South Carolina Rep. Alan Clemmons with a group of Israeli soldiers at Masada during his visit to Israel, November 2011. (Alan Clemmons via Twitter) NEW YORK (JTA) — The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a hotly debated issue — but not in the Florida Legislature. Both houses of the state’s Legislature voted unanimously in February to stake out a bold position on the issue — but it’s not entirely clear what, exactly, Florida lawmakers were… Read more »
Stuart Mellan The Jewish community will celebrate a longtime leader later this month at “All That Jazz,” a party honoring and starring Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona for almost 18 years. “Stuart’s been so terrific,” says Donald Diamond, who initiated the event… Read more »
