Jewish religious law and customs require that mezuzahs be affixed to doorframes. (Zeevveez/Flickr)
SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — A bill to ensure the right of Californians bill to hang mezuzahs on their door frames is moving through the state legislature, and is on its way to the desk of Governor Gavin Newsom. SB 652 bars landlords and… Read more »
A Jewish woman holding a candle, with a "We Will Outlive Them" banner in the background, at a New York vigil for the victims of the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh. (Gili Getz)
NEW YORK (JTA) – In 2019, there are more haters than lovers of the Jewish Left. Especially in the United States, the mainstream Jewish community reviles left-wing Jews who embrace anti-Zionism. Meanwhile, the Jewish Left itself is split. On one side are the “Left Zionists” who support a two-state… Read more »
The exterior of Temple Mishkan Israel in Selma, Ala. The synagogue has four members but wants to transform into a museum. (Amy Milligan)
(JTA) — Whenever the lone synagogue in Selma, Alabama, needs dusting, new lighting or vacuuming, Ronnie Leet is the one who does it. It’s tiring work — especially since the 120-year-old Temple Mishkan Israel hasn’t held regular services in years, hasn’t had a rabbi in nearly half a century… Read more »
Jonathan Cohen, third from left, is seen with other members of the Netflix series "Family Business." (Netflix)
(JTA) — One fan’s recent description on Twitter of the new Netflix series “Family Business” isn’t too far off: a “French Breaking Bad but with weed.” The French series, which debuted last week, is a wacky comedy about a Parisian Jewish family, the Hazans, that turns its failed kosher… Read more »
Hands reach out to touch the casket of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson as his funeral procession prepares to leave the world headquarters of the Lubavitch Hasidim in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, June 12, 1994. (Mark Phillips/AFP/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM (JTA) –Twenty-five years ago, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the 92-year-old Lubavitcher Rebbe, succumbed to his many ailments and died, to the horror of his Hasidim. Since suffering the first of several devastating strokes on March 2, 1992, while visiting the grave of his late father-in-law and predecessor Rabbi Yosef… Read more »
Josh Block, Israel Project CEO, speaks on on PBS News Hour on March 7, 2019. (PBS News Hour/Screenshot)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Israel Project’s chairman says that reports of the advocacy organization’s demise are premature in the wake of the surprise departure of its CEO. An insider told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the organization has let go of all of its staff without notice or their… Read more »
Ethiopians and supporters have protested across Israel against police violence following the death of a 19-year-old Ethiopian Israeli, Solomon Tekah, who was shot and killed by an off-duty police officer. Shown here is a protest in Kiryat Ata, July 3, 2019. (Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Protests by the Ethiopian-Israeli community and their supporters entered a third day on Wednesday in Israel in the wake of the killing of an Ethiopian-Israeli teen by an off-duty police officer. While the protests are tied to the death of Solomon Tekah, 19, on Sunday night… Read more »
Young Jewish adults from all over the world participate in the Birthright Israel program in Jerusalem, Jan. 14, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (JTA) – The year was 2000, and Michael Steinhardt had just dropped a bombshell that nearly brought an otherwise dignified conference to blows. “I tend, in my dourest moments, to consider both the Reform and Conservative Jews as historic accidents in the 21st century and suspect,… Read more »
Avi Abraham, a Krav Maga instructor who teaches self-defense classes to synagogue-goers, shows how to combat an attacker in a promotional video. (Screenshot from YouTube)
(JTA) — When the ushers locked the door to the sanctuary, and the congregants prepared to flee the synagogue in preparation for a mass shooting, Rabbi Neil Cooper made sure it all happened before they had to take the Torahs out of the ark. Ten minutes later the worshippers… Read more »
Malka Leifer, center a former Australian teacher accused of dozens of cases of sexual abuse of girls at a school, is escorted by police as she arrives for a hearing at the District Court in Jerusalem, Feb. 27, 2018. Advocates say Israel's government have not adequately dealt with the issue of child sexual abuse. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — In April, Israeli police announced the arrest of a 22-year-old man in Beit Shemesh accused of multiple counts of child sexual assault. Short of celebrating the arrest of an abuser, local victims’ rights advocates took the authorities to task. Shana Aaronson, head of the Israeli branch… Read more »
Alma Hernandez at the Arizona State Capitol, June 18 (Courtesy Hernandez)
Children and teens at public schools throughout the state will be safer thanks to the efforts of Rep. Alma Hernandez, Arizona’s first Jewish Latina lawmaker. Working with the office of Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, Hernandez, a Democrat, secured an agreement to begin mandatory training in de-escalation and crisis intervention… Read more »
Dina Rosengarten stands at an overlook point in Jerusalem on a visit to Israel in October 2018. (Andrea Crane)
After 30 years as a public behavioral health social worker, Dina Rosengarten is still in love with her role. She has a new position as director at a large, private, non-profit behavioral health center in Tucson. She counsels residential clients, mostly those in substance abuse recovery and with severe… Read more »
It is no secret that Steve Teichner is a humanitarian. His car, parked at a Tucson migrant shelter on June 14, proudly announces his passion wherever he goes. (Debe Campbell) It is 3 p.m. on a Friday, and Steve Teichner has already put in more than 40 hours of work this week. He will leave around 5:30 p.m., if no more migrants show up at the shelter. “It’s not a job, it’s a passion,” says the retired educator. “It’s… Read more »
Andy Kunsberg
This is the final part of a series on the Jewish agency volunteers who received 2019 Special Recognition Awards at the Jewish Community Awards celebration held May 9 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The evening also included the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s annual meeting. Andy Kunsberg, Jewish… Read more »
Greg Gadarian
The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona will present “Hot Topics for Tax and Legal Professionals” sessions in July and August. The July 31 session, “Charitable Developments: Recent Developments, Rules, and Landmines” will be presented in honor of Greg Gadarian, JCF Professional Advisory Group founder, to thank him for… Read more »
Susan Wortman and Jack Pinnas in front of Maghain Aboth Synagogue in Singapore. Note the large silver mezuzah on the doorframe. (Anne Lowe)
Four years ago, my husband, David, was asked to teach aviation law in Singapore for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Naturally, I went along for the trip. While there, I spent five weeks researching the Jewish community in that Southeast Asian country. When I returned to Tucson, I presented many PowerPoint… Read more »
L- R: Rabbi Dovid, Motty, Binie, Mendy, Zevi, Yossi, Moshe, and Rivky Holtzberg near Chabad of Monterey (Courtesy Binie Holtzberg)
As Shabbat approaches, Jews throughout the world exchange warm wishes of “Shabbat Shalom.” But how do we achieve that transformative Sabbath peace? As I discovered during my stay last summer on the Monterey Peninsula, Rabbi Dovid and Rebbetzin Binie Holtzberg, directors of Chabad of Monterey, extend hospitality to all… Read more »
In "Holy Lands," James Caan plays a secular American Jew who moves to Israel to escape the drama of his family -- and to raise pigs. (Cinedigm)
(JTA) — “Raising pigs in Israel? Couldn’t you play golf like everyone else?” That’s a quote that doubles well as the concept behind the movie “Holy Lands,” which stars Hollywood veteran James Caan as a relatively secular American Jew turned Israeli pig farmer. The film, directed by the French… Read more »
A Jewish mother and her children are photographed outside a synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, Jan. 1, 1950. Some 850,000 refugees from Tunisia and other Arab countries were expelled from their countries after the creation of Israel.
June 20 was World Refugee Day. And according to the United Nations page devoted to this commemoration, every minute 20 people leave everything behind to escape war, persecution or terror. I am one of those people. In 1948, when I was 6 months old, my mother risked everything to… Read more »
Sen. Cory Booker (C) (D-NJ) speaks as former housing secretary Julian Castro (L) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) look on during the first night of the Democratic presidential debate in Miami, Florida on June 26, 2019. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., was alone among the 10 Democratic presidential candidates at the first debate not to commit to rejoining the Iran nuclear deal. Moderators at the debate Wednesday evening in Miami asked the candidates whether they would rejoin the deal President Donald Trump abandoned… Read more »
