It was a family rumor that set Brook Wilensky-Lanford, 33, on the path that has led to her critically acclaimed new book, “Paradise Lust: Searching for the Garden of Eden” (Grove Press). As Wilensky-Lanford, the daughter of AJP Assistant Editor Sheila Wilensky, explains in her book’s prologue, in 2004… Read more »
Jack, a retired middle school principal and 30-year Queens resident who delcined to provide his last name, leaves a polling site after voting for Democrat Dave Weprin, who lost the race for New York's 9th congressional district, Sept. 13, 2011. (Uri Fintzy) NEW YORK (JTA) – Was it Israel, same-sex marriage or the Obama administration’s handling of the economy? That’s the question political partisans and observers are debating after Republican Bob Turner won an upset victory in the heavily Democratic and Jewish New York congressional district represented by Anthony Weiner until… Read more »
Israel and its supporters hope to head off a vote in the U.N. Security Council recognizing a Palestinian state when the council meets again in late september. The council is shown meeting to discuss developments in Kosovo, Aug. 30, 2011. (Courtesy United Nations) WASHINGTON (JTA) — All but resigned to the inevitability of a Palestinian push for statehood at the United Nations later this month, Jewish groups are hoping that its effects can be blunted through aggressive diplomacy and the threat of action by the U.S. Congress. Jewish groups are urging foreign… Read more »
Girls play at the SEGA Girls’ School in Tanzania, the recipient of Dining for Women’s August 2011 fundraising efforts. (Warren Zelman) Do Jewish women enjoy sharing a meal while contributing to worldwide social justice? Of course — and the Tucson chapter of the national organization, Dining for Women, does just that. Dory Martin, a local psychotherapist, started the chapter two years ago after learning… Read more »
Laura Lauder “Act on your passion” is philanthropist Laura Lauder’s overriding message for women. “Many people are afraid that others aren’t going to be supportive of what they’re interested in doing,” she told the AJP, “but actually if you act on your passion then others will see you as a model”… Read more »
Academy Award-winner Helen Mirren stars as retired secret agent Rachel Singer in John Madden’s espionage thriller "The Debt." Laurie Sparham/Focus Features) A taut, beautifully crafted thriller with an Israeli accent, “The Debt” is easily and best appreciated as edge-of-your-seat entertainment. At the same time, though, the English-language remake of the 2007 Israeli film “Ha-Hov” echoes a question raised far more egregiously by “Inglourious Basterds” but otherwise rarely… Read more »
Ira Forman, longtime head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, was tapped by the Obama campaign to be its Jewish outreach director. (photo by Ira Forman) WASHINGTON (JTA/WASHINGTON JEWISH WEEK) — The fight for the Jewish vote in 2012 is expected to be a tough one. So the Obama campaign is turning to the quintessential insider. On Aug. 16, the Obama campaign tapped as its Jewish outreach director Ira Forman, the former head of the… Read more »
Israeli soldiers scuffle with Palestinians during a demonstration near the West Bank village of Beit Omar, Aug. 13. Some analysts warn that a U.N. vote on the Palestinian statehood could set off a new wave of Mideast violence. ( Najeh Hashlamoun/Flash 90) On Sept. 20, when the annual session of the U.N. General Assembly opens, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to ask U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to present a Palestinian request for statehood recognition to the U.N. Security Council. The long-anticipated request will kick off a chain of events… Read more »
Alfred Schreier returned to Vienna in 2009 for the 100th anniversary of the Hakoah Sport Club (above), and again this summer for the first European Maccabi Games to be held in a German-speaking country since 1945. Alfred Schreier was proud to be among the 2,000 athletes representing 37 nations at this year’s European Maccabi Games held July 5 to 13 in Vienna, Austria. A Sahuarita resident, Schreier, 82, was born in Vienna, where he returned after the Holocaust to become a successful teen athlete in… Read more »
Ben Louchheim (Photos courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy) At Tucson Hebrew Academy parents sometimes say “you keep them in a cocoon,” says Ronnie Sebold, director of admissions. But this cocoon also nurtures THA students as they embark on their high school years. “They get a lot of comfort here, learn skills and are academically so prepared and… Read more »
Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaking at the Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, June 18, 2011. (Gage Skidmore/Creative Commons) WASHINGTON (JTA) — To some conservative Jews, Texas Gov. Rick Perry would make an excellent presidential candidate. He’s been to Israel more than any other candidate in the field and has said he loves it. Some conservative Jews say Perry creates jobs. But other Jewish conservatives seeking the anti-Obama… Read more »
Passers-by glancing at looted stores in a London neighborhood, Aug. 9, 2011. (Creative Commons) (JTA) – While some Jews in London marked Tisha b’Av on Tuesday by lamenting the burning of the Holy Temples on that day some two millennia ago, other London Jews watched as their city burned amid widespread rioting. “Everyone is shocked,” Joel Braunold, a lifelong Londoner, told JTA in… Read more »
Tributes at the Oklahoma City bombing memorial on July 8, 2011. Federal authorities say concerns about Islamist extremists since then have not distracted them from right-wing extremism. (Kyle Monahan, Creative Commons) WASHINGTON (JTA) — With the Norway attacks fresh in mind and the 10-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks fast approaching, are U.S. authorities paying attention to the right kinds of threats? The fear is that with polarization intensifying in America, extremists might mark the 10th anniversary of… Read more »
The Outreach Connections of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is sponsoring Jewish Heritage Night at a Tucson Padres baseball game on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. at Kino Park (formerly Tucson Electric Park). The Padres will play against the Sacramento River Cats. Cosponsors of the event include… Read more »
Members of a young adult group in Kiryat Malachi, Israel, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, recruited other young adults from the city to demand affordable housing. The sign reads, “Welcome to the tent city — Kiryat Malachi.” About 100 people joined the protest on July 25. (Courtesy Jewish Agency for Israel) The wave of protests sweeping Israel is about much more than the lack of affordable housing: It’s a grass-roots demand for a major redistribution of the nation’s wealth. In social terms, protesters are calling for a more caring government attuned to the needs of young, middle-class citizens who serve… Read more »
"Mrs. Cohen's Shabbat Table" is part of the new Jewish History Museum exhibit A new exhibit, “History & Nostalgia: The Southern Arizona Jewish Experience, 1850-1950,” exploring the daily life of Jews of the Southern Arizona region, will be on display at the Jewish History Museum from Aug. 14 through Dec. 30. The exhibit is part of Tucson’s birthday celebrations (see tucsons birthday.org).… Read more »
Emily Ellentuck Congregation Anshei Israel will hold a special Shabbat evening service called “Shir Hadash: A New Song,” beginning Friday, Aug. 19, at 5:45 p.m., and continuing approximately once a month. The service will be led by Rabbis Robert Eisen and Ben Herman and feature Emily Ellentuck as cantorial soloist. Ellentuck… Read more »
Trees left standing by Joplin High School following the May 22, 2011 tornado collected debris from the heavily damaged school, June 4, 2011. [John Daves/U.S. Army via Creative Commons] NEW YORK (JTA) – When a tornado devastated the small city of Joplin, Mo., in late May, the city’s lone synagogue was left untouched — at least, physically. Bu tthen came the flood. Not as water, but in the form of phone calls from across the United States from… Read more »
A local woman wheels her baby in front of the Auschwitz Jewish Center, in the heart of Oswiecim. (Ruth Ellen Gruber) OSWIECIM, Poland (JTA) — Can a town that exists in the shadow of death transform itself into a place of normalcy? The question long has vexed Oswiecim, the town of 40,000 in southern Poland where the notorious Auschwitz death camp is located. For decades, residents and city leaders have… Read more »
The Israeli singer Carolina shares love stories and songs next to the famous LOVE sculpture at "Contact Point," a late-night event held at the Israel Museum, July 2011. (Oscar Abosh) JERUSALEM (JTA) — Amid the alleyways that zigzag through Jerusalem’s Nahlaot neighborhood, a nonprofit collective run by five young artists is trying to make art more accessible in a city known more for conflict than culture. The turquoise gate of Barbur Gallery opens onto a stone courtyard and garden… Read more »
