Tagged FRONT

The son of Holocaust hero Chiune Sugihara is setting the record straight about his father’s story

Nobuki Sugihara, second from left with Limmud FSU founder Chaim Chesler and villagers from Mir, Belarus on May 2, 2019. (Boris Brumin)

(JTA) — After decades of relative obscurity, the tale of the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara has become one of the best-known Holocaust rescue stories, rivaling those of Oskar Schindler and Irena Sendler. The late Sugihara, who issued thousands of life-saving visas to Jewish refugees in Lithuania in defiance of… Read more »

Want your kid to excel in college? After high school, try a break in Israel.

Tech whiz Asher Dale, second from right, hikes with friends in the Negev Desert during his gap year in Israel. (Courtesy of Dale)

Within months of graduating from a Jewish high school near Boston in 2017, Asher Dale had an internship that he “absolutely loved” at Forter, an Israeli technology startup that sells online fraud protection services. The company, which processes more than $50 billion in transactions annually for a global network… Read more »

Hundreds of haredi Orthodox attend symposium with leaders of anti-vaccine movement

Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the first clinician to suggest a link between autism in children and the triple vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella, in London, Jan. 28, 2010. He spoke at a rally in Monsey, N.Y., May 13, 2019. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

(JTA) — Jews are being persecuted as disease carriers amid the outbreak of measles, a New York haredi Orthodox rabbi said at a symposium with leaders of the anti-vaccination movement attended by hundreds of haredim. “We Hasidim have been chosen as the target,” said Rabbi Hillel Handler, a Holocaust… Read more »

5 years after the Ukrainian revolution, Jews there say it was a mixed blessing

Participants in the March of Dignity gather in Kiev's Maidan Independence Square for ceremonies marking the first anniversary of the Maidan Revolution that led to the ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovic, Feb. 22, 2015. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — Walking on the scorched and scarred sidewalks of this capital city’s main square five years ago, Eduard Dolinsky felt hopeful and proud. A member of Kiev’s large Jewish population and a longtime activist for its communal causes, Dolinsky had hoped that the bloody street fights… Read more »

Who are the Jews of Ukraine?

Children play musical instruments during the celebration of Hanukkah at the Kharkiv Choral Synagogue, in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, Dec. 5, 2018. (Vyacheslav Madiyevskyy/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)

KIEV, Ukraine (JTA) — Jews have lived in Ukraine for such a long time that their arrival here predates even the first recorded use of the country’s name. Starting in the ninth century, Jews began settling between Uzhgorod and Lugansk — respectively the westernmost and easternmost cities of what… Read more »

A site to order Kaddish for your loved ones takes a page from Nathan Englander’s latest book

A new site offers mourners a way to have someone say Kaddish for their loved ones. (Screenshot from kaddish.com)

NEW YORK (JTA) — In his most recent novel, “kaddish.com,” Nathan Englander imagines a website that a character — encumbered by Jewish guilt — uses to hire someone to say the traditional mourner’s prayer for his late father. In interviews, the author has said the idea was inspired by the… Read more »

R.J. Barrett’s dad is a former star in the Israeli basketball league

R.J. Barrett playing in a game during the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., March 31, 2019. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

(JTA) — On Tuesday night, the NBA held its draft lottery, determining in which order each of its teams would pick players in next month’s draft. It made headlines for a couple of reasons: First, the consensus No. 1 pick, Zion Williamson of Duke, is the most hyped basketball player… Read more »

He wrote a novel about an imagined Iranian attack on Israel. Then the publisher withdrew it.

Hesh Kestin says his book "The Siege of Tel Aviv" is not Islamophobic. Its former publisher disagrees. (Courtesy of Kestin)

NEW YORK (JTA) — On April 16, Dzanc Books announced its latest release, “The Siege of Tel Aviv,” a novel that imagines an Iran-led attack on Israel that leaves the country decimated. Author Hesh Kestin, a former journalist who had already published two novels with the small independent press,… Read more »

Documentary on Dr. Ruth delves into the sex therapist’s Holocaust past

"Ask Dr. Ruth" chronicles the life of Dr. Ruth Westheimer, a Holocaust survivor who became America's most famous sex therapist. (Austin Hargrave)

(JTA) — Judging by all the media attention, the world loves short Jewish women named Ruth. One of them, Ruth Westheimer — better known as the renowned sex therapist Dr. Ruth — is on the phone to talk about her life and a new documentary about it. But first… Read more »

Eurovision 2019: What the song contest is all about, and why it’s being held in Israel

The logo of the Eurovision Song Contest is displayed during the 2019 national selection show, in Kiev, Ukraine, Feb. 23, 2019. (STR/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

(JTA) —It’s glitzy. It’s kitschy. It’s like a musical Olympics or “American Idol” on steroids. Welcome to the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual pageant in which all of Europe (and some of its neighbors) send national representatives to  compete for the best forgettable pop song and most unforgettable outfits.… Read more »

Israel’s Eurovision planners say rockets won’t stop the music

Workers build the stage of the Eurovision Song Contest at Expo Tel Aviv in the Israeli coastal city, April 15, 2019. (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Israel won the right to host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the event was anticipated as a golden opportunity to showcase a side of the nation rarely seen in global coverage of the “conflict.” Then the rockets began to fall. Over the weekend, Hamas… Read more »

Netanyahu: Gaza battle ‘not over’ despite ceasefire

Residents of southern Israel survey the damage to their home by a rocket fired from Gaza on May 4, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Despite Monday morning’s ceasefire, which ended two days of intense fighting between Israel and Hamas, the “campaign is not over,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “Over the last two days we struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad with great force,” Netanyahu said. “We hit… Read more »

Grant boosts local efforts to aid migrants

The Tucson community's abundant generosity is evidenced at this drop location at the old Benedictine Monastery. Donations also are being collected at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. (Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP)

Updated May 6 The Jewish and greater Tucson communities routinely step up and volunteer to meet the needs of migrant families passing through the Old Pueblo. In the past eight months, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council has provided roughly 750 hot meals at shelters housing… Read more »

Community forum explores immigration policies, experiences

The panel of speakers at the April 12 annual local leaders’ forum, which focused on immigration, (L-R): Enrique Gómez Montiel, Peris Lopez, Fernando Najera, Rebecca Curtiss, Antar Davidson, and moderator Nancy Montoya. (Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP)

As Tucson grapples with a continuing influx of Central American migrants seeking asylum, and the community responds with shelter, food, and clothing, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish History Museum focused their annual local leaders’ forum on the immigration issue. The event… Read more »

Festivities will focus on children, families

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona serves the whole community and all ages. (Photo courtesy Jewish Family & Children’s Services)

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona is hosting a free, family-friendly event, “Celebration of Caring for Tucson’s Children” on Sunday, May 19, from 12-3 p.m. at the Scottish Rite, 160 S. Scott Ave. Children of all ages are welcome. There will be food and music for parents… Read more »

Poway, a California haven, learns it can happen here

Hundreds gather in Poway, Calif., for a vigil for the victims of the synagogue shooting there, April 28, 2019. (Gabrielle Birkner)

POWAY, Calif. (JTA)— With hundreds gathered to show support for the victims of a shooting inside his synagogue, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein recounted the moment when he came face to face with the gunman and what happened next: He described watching a congregant’s husband, a doctor, faint as he attempted… Read more »

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