Tagged FRONT

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Less than a year ago, Stav Shaffir’s meteoric rise in Israeli politics seemed like it was continuing ever upward. Now the outspoken millennial advocate for liberal Zionism and social justice won’t even be running for office, her future uncertain. Her career appears to be a casualty… Read more »

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (JTA) — As the Women’s March gears up for its fourth go on Saturday, the skepticism and disenchantment are palpable. Articles questioning the relevance of the Women’s March in 2020 abound, comparing its expected low number of 10,000 marchers against the estimated 4 million in 2017. I,… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — It is a fact well-documented and well worth repeating: Within 25 years, it is likely that no survivors of the Holocaust will be alive. As a Jew, I am frightened by how the world looks in 2020. The rise of anti-Semitism we are experiencing today,… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Thirty years ago, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality as a way to help explain the oppression of African-American women. The theory of how different forms of discrimination interact is a useful tool to recognize the way privilege and oppression overlap. It can serve to… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) – Over the past century, Jews have endured what filmmaker Yaron Zilberman calls a “trilogy of traumas”: the Holocaust, the Yom Kippur War and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The Israeli-American writer, director and producer has spent much of his career exploring these… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Jyrell McGriff, an African-American eighth-grader who lives in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, doesn’t interact much with the many Orthodox Jews who share his neighborhood. He sees them on the street or on buses. He also has fond memories of a Jewish teacher from years… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is planning its annual Super Sunday phone-a-thon this year for Jan. 26. The event, which raises funds for the 2020 Community Campaign, will be held 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in a new venue: the Deanna and Harvey Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy at 3718… Read more »

Michael Beller, left, and Josh Kay

Only 12 states currently require schools to teach students about the Holocaust. Michael Beller and Josh Kay, the founders of Arizona Teaching the Holocaust, want to make Arizona state number 13. “It’s important to me that Holocaust education stay at the forefront,” Beller said. “We want to ensure that… Read more »

Paul Patterson

Continued attacks on Jewish targets are a reminder that individual organizations clearly need to be more attentive, and they are stepping up to that,” says Stuart Mellan, CEO and president of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. “We see a higher level of vigilance than ever before.” “The Jewish… Read more »

On a recent return visit to Tucson, Adam Scott Bellos, founder of The Israel Innovation Fund, told the AJP it felt like “coming full circle for me.” Bellos says the unique Zionist nonprofit has its roots at the University of Arizona, where he spent three years in Judaic studies… Read more »

Award-winning writer and director Yehonatan Indursky, co-creator of Israel’s award-winning TV series “Shtisel,” will speak on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. as part of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series. The free lecture will be held at the Tucson Jewish Community Center,… Read more »

Cantor Bryce Megdal and Marc Tanne were married on Sept. 1, 2019, at Maple Country Club in Maplewood, New Jersey, with Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz officiating. Megdal is the daughter of Ronald and Sharon Megdal, Ph.D., of Tucson. Tanne is the son of Robert Tanne, D.M.D., of Scotch Plains, New… Read more »

On Sunday, Jan. 5, a huge crowd responded to the call from UJA-Federation of New York to march against anti-Semitism. The sense of threat is so pervasive at this moment that Jewish Federations and other organizations bused thousands from other states and locales to march in solidarity with the Jews of New York, who have experienced an unprecedented wave of violent anti-Semitic attacks, most recently in Monsey on… Read more »

(JTA) — The most prominent anti-discrimination organizations in the African-American and Jewish communities are partnering to combat hate in New Jersey. The Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism and bigotry, and the NAACP, which fights racism and discrimination, announced the partnership Thursday. It comes about a month after a shooting… Read more »

(JTA) — An appeals court ruling that a man who killed a Jewish woman in her home while shouting Quranic verses is unfit to stand trial is prompting outraged reactions from French Jews who fear it sets a dangerous precedent that will undermine the fight against anti-Semitism. Kobili Troare admitted… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — New York City will launch three initiatives aimed at combating anti-Semitic hate crimes. Mayor Bill de Blasio made the announcement at a dramatic news conference Sunday afternoon at the central branch of the Brooklyn Public Library following weeks of anti-Semitic assaults and vandalism that have… Read more »

MONSEY, N.Y. (JTA) — When a man wielding a machete burst into a Hanukkah party at a rabbi’s house in this New York City suburb, Joseph Gluck sprang into action. Seeing the attacker, Gluck, the administrator of the Orthodox synagogue next door, helped evacuate party guests from the house.… Read more »

(JTA) — The 2010s were nothing if not turbulent. The decade brought us unprecedented political polarization, war and increasing conflict in Israel, dozens of horrific mass shootings, and a new age of election hacking and private data collection enabled by the proliferation of social media. It was capped by… Read more »

(JTA) — For many Jews around the world, there’s probably no love lost for 2019. As the year draws to a close, the Jewish community continues to grapple with the continued rise of global anti-Semitism — one major community in Europe is facing the possible election as prime minister… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The list includes names like Peter Beinart, the liberal writer; Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the liberal Middle East policy group J Street; and Sheila Katz, the CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women. No, it’s not an ad for a symposium on the Upper East… Read more »