Stuart Mellan Congregation Or Chadash will host “Celebrating 25 Years of Gratitude,” a dinner honoring Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, on Friday, Feb. 21. Mellan will retire in May, after more than 25 years at the Federation. Or Chadash also got its start 25… Read more »
Isaac and Simone Figueroa at the 1920s-themed Hava Tequila party on Feb. 2, 2019.
Hava Tequila, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s annual Young Leadership benefit party, will be held Saturday, Feb. 29, 8-11 p.m. at a new location, the Sonoran Rooftop at the Westward Look, 245 E. Ina Road. The theme will be “A Night on the Red Carpet.” “We checked out… Read more »
Anna Stupnicka-Bando, the 90-year-old president of the Polish Association of the Righteous Among the Nations, gets set to enter one of the taxis for saviors of Jews, in Warsaw, Poland, Jan. 29, 2020. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
WARSAW, Poland (JTA) — Outside one of this city’s many brutalist apartment buildings, passersby stop to stare at and photograph a London-style taxi emblazoned with large Star of David symbols. Some seem puzzled by the out-of-place sight. Others look delighted to encounter something they’ve seen or heard about in… Read more »
Zucchini, potato and Manchego pashtida (Leanne Shor)
This recipe originally appeared on The Nosher. Americans don’t have nearly the appreciation that Israelis do for quiche. In the States, it’s an unimaginative brunch addition that never really shines. But in Israel, it’s the star of many lunch tables and an incredible dairy dinner. Not to mention Shavuot,… Read more »
Vicky Ignatiuk, left, and Kate Kliuchevschi, 13-year-old Christian students in Moldova, munch on Passover matzah brought to their Chisinau classroom by two Jewish visitors. (Larry Luxner)
CHISINAU, Moldova (JTA) — Fifteen Christian seventh-graders at the City Theater School in this capital city sit in a circle listening attentively while two Jewish teenagers visiting their classroom talk about Jewish traditions. “What do you think a Jew looks like?” asks Arina Andriuschenko, standing at the blackboard with… Read more »
The Arab League held an emergency meeting to discuss the U.S.-brokered proposal for a settlement of the Middle East conflict at the league headquarters in Cairo, Feb. 1, 2020. (Khaled Desouki/AFP via Getty Images)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan will probably not achieve its stated goal of bringing peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but it might just bring about peace between Israel and more of its Arab neighbors. Here’s why. Over the past several years, Israel… Read more »
(We Are via Getty Images)
This story originally appeared on Alma. “Your Hebrew name?” the head of the yeshiva asked, pencil and paper poised to take it down for my aliyah, the honor of reciting Torah blessings. It was my third week at his school, a place where I’d reluctantly agreed to study for… Read more »
Raquel Montoya-Lewis answers questions from the press after Gov. Jay Inslee announced her appointment to the Washington State Supreme Court. (Office of the Governor)
This story originally appeared on Kveller. When Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis was sworn in to Washington’s Supreme Court earlier this month, she became the second Native American person to serve on a state Supreme Court. “This was never something I really planned on or expected to happen,” Montoya-Lewis tells Kveller… Read more »
Participants in the Passages program visit Jerusalem to explore the history of their Christian religion. (Courtesy of Passages)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — As evening descended on Jerusalem one Friday last month, 1,000 students gathered at the Western Wall for the traditional prayers to welcome the Jewish Sabbath. They joined the throngs who dance and sing at the holiest site in Judaism as Shabbat begins. When it was over,… Read more »
Hasidim, government officials and police officers stand in front of the K'hal Adas Greenville synagogue next door to the JC Kosher Supermarket in Jersey City, N.J., the site of a deadly shooting, Dec. 11, 2019. (Laura E. Adkins/JTA)
CHICAGO (JTA) — Some commentators have used the word “epidemic” to describe the recent spikes in anti-Semitism. They may not realize how correct they are. Twenty years ago, upon my return to the United States after serving as a senior infectious disease epidemiologist at the World Health Organization in… Read more »
Diego Schwartzman, listed at 5-7 but probably shorter, is congratulated by Alexander Zverev, who stands 6-6, at the 2019 U.S. Open. Schwartzman defeated Zverev in the fourth round. (Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)
This article originally appeared on Alma. I was never the best tennis player. Nor was I particularly good at soccer, basketball or any other sport my parents signed me up for. Still, I stuck with tennis through my junior year of high school, when I was unceremoniously cut from the… Read more »
From left: Israel's ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman meet at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, Jan. 23, 2020. (Matty Stern/U.S. Embassy Jerusalem/Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The timeline is growing hazy for an Israeli Cabinet vote on annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump revealed a peace plan endorsing the move. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday after Trump unveiled the plan at the… Read more »
Rabbi Levi Shemtov attends a ceremony posthumously awarding Raoul Wallenberg with the Congressional Gold Medal in honor of his heroism during the Holocaust, at the U.S. Capitol, July 9, 2014. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Early Friday afternoon, I received a call inviting me to the White House to participate in a same-day signing ceremony for legislation authorizing $375 million in Homeland Security grants to help protect synagogues, churches, mosques and other places of worship. I replied that while I would… Read more »
(JTA) — The Trump administration put questions about the seriousness of its Israeli-Palestinian peace proposal to rest Tuesday by delivering a 181-page, detail-laden document that outlines a clear — if one-sided — vision for the future of the region. The document includes sections on history, security and economics, among… Read more »
Andre Azoulay, adviser to the Moroccan king, poses for a picture at the Bayt Dakira Jewish museum, in Essaouira, Morocco, Dec. 14, 2019. (Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Morocco’s king has inaugurated a $1.5 million center dedicated to Jewish culture in the city of Essaouira. Last week, King Mohammed VI attended the inauguration for Bayt Dakira, which means House of Memory in Arabic. The port city was formerly home to a large population of Jews,… Read more »
Diego Schwartzman shown during his match against Serbia's Dusan Lajovic at the 2020 Australian Open, which Schwartzman won in straight sets, Jan. 24, 2020. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Jewish Argentine tennis star Diego Schwartzman is currently rolling at the Australian Open. After beating Serbian Dušan Lajović in straight sets on Friday, he has made it into the round of 16 for the second time in his career. He has yet to drop a set in… Read more »
James “Sneaky” White Jr., moments after his release from prison, Jan. 21, 2020. (Alix Wall)
BLYTHE, Calif. (J., the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California via JTA) — James A. “Sneaky” White Jr., a Jewish inmate convicted of murder and imprisoned for nearly four decades, is now a free man. As he stepped out of prison on Jan. 21 to begin his life anew, his many… Read more »
Gil Landau, left, and Yael Cohen make up Lola Marsh. (Michael Topyol)
(JTA) — Gil Landau and Yael Cohen, the two core members of Lola Marsh, don’t seem to care much about any of it — the pressure of being Israel’s biggest indie band, the baggage that comes with being labeled as Israeli occupiers in some of the places they perform,… Read more »
Members of the Jewish Orthodox community walk through a Brooklyn neighborhood on the Yom Kippur holiday, Oct. 9, 2019. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Relentless campaigns calling for curricula reform in the nation’s yeshivas. Misleading headlines about educational standards at Orthodox schools. Zoning efforts aimed at keeping large Jewish families out of suburban towns. Some see a direct link between such things and the anti-Semitic violence that has erupted… Read more »
(L-R) Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash, Bryan Davis of Tucson’s Jewish History Museum, and Pastor Margaret Redmond McFaddin of Prince Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church speak at the ‘No Hate No Fear’ solidarity rally Jan. 12 in Barrio Viejo. Photo Courtesy JHM
About 160 people filled the forecourt of Tucson’s Jewish History Museum on Sunday, Jan. 12, for a “No Hate. No Fear” solidarity rally organized by the museum and its next-door neighbor, the Prince Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The rally was a response to rising anti-Semitism in the United… Read more »
