Tagged FRONT

Poll shows deep divide between Israeli and American Jews — on Trump

President Donald Trump holds a news conference ahead of his early departure from the G7 Summit in La Malbaie, Canada, June 9, 2018. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
June 12, 2018 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israeli and American Jews disagree on much — settlements, religious pluralism, even the degree to which they are “family.” And now you can add Donald Trump to the mix. Twin polls of Israeli and American Jews published by the American Jewish Committee on Sunday uncovered divides… Read more »

‘Terror kites’ shake residents in southern Israel, but not their resolve to stay put

Flaming kites sent from Gaza have caused thousands of shekels of damage on Israel's western border. (Sam Sokol)
June 12, 2018 / Sam Sokol, JTA

NAHAL OZ, Israel (JTA) — Dani Ben David fiddles with his radio, switching between it and his cellphone as he drives through the Beeri Forest, a nature reserve located on the border of Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. As his Jeep jolts over the dirt road, he quickly… Read more »

Murder of Jewish girl in Germany fuels an anti-migrant backlash

A picture of Susanna Maria Feldman is placed among flowers at a makeshift memorial in Wiesbaden where the 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered by an Iraqi asylum seeker, June 8, 2018. (Boris Roessler/AFP/Getty Images)
June 12, 2018 / Toby Axelrod, JTA

(JTA) — In Germany, the case of a young Muslim refugee charged with the rape and murder of a teenage girl has captured media attention and rocked Germany’s Jewish community: The victim, 14-year-old Susanna Feldmann, was Jewish. Missing since May 22, the girl’s body was found June 6 buried… Read more »

Here’s what the Trump-Kim summit could mean for Israel and Iran

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump at their historic summit in Singapore, June 12, 2018. (Kevin Lim/The Strait Times/Handout/Getty Images)
June 12, 2018 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — Amos Yadlin likes talking about the Begin doctrine, which calls for removing existential threats to Israel before they are manifest — maybe because he lived it twice. As an Israeli Air Force pilot, Yadlin flew one of the planes that took out Iraq’s nuclear reactor… Read more »

Why it’s a big deal that Argentina cancelled its soccer game in Israel

Lionel Messi, left, and Gonzalo Higuain of Argentina play against the United States during the 2016 Copa America Centenario in Houston, June 21, 2016. (Bob Levey/Getty Images)
June 6, 2018 / Ben Sales, JTA

(JTA) — Israelis want nothing more than for their country to be considered normal. That may have to wait. A much-anticipated soccer game between the Argentine and Israeli national teams was cancelled Wednesday because, Israeli and Argentine officials say, of physical threats made to the Argentine players — including… Read more »

A pro-Israel activist dates a far-left celebrity, and the Dutch go bananas

Paul van der Bas reads a Dutch newspaper featuring an article about him and Anne Fleur Dekker, May 7, 2018. (Courtesy of Anne Fleur Dekker)
June 5, 2018 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Like many young intellectual couples their age, Anne Fleur Dekker and Paul van der Bas enjoy going on walks together, dining out, discussing art and attending cultural events. A Dutch couple in their 20s, they have different dress styles — he has a clean-cut look and… Read more »

Four years after 3 Israeli yeshiva boys were kidnapped and killed, their families find a new normal

Iris Yifrach speaks at a June 2014 rally in Tel Aviv calling for her kidnapped son Eyal's safe return. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
June 5, 2018 / Renee Ghert-Zand

JERUSALEM — It’s easy to spot Iris Yifrach as she walks through the crowds in a packed shopping mall in central Israel. And it’s not just because she’s wearing a bright yellow blouse and matching headscarf. Yifrach has been a public figure since June 2014, when her 19-year-old son,… Read more »

Why an Orthodox group says the Supreme Court’s cake shop ruling is good for the Jews

Jack Phillips, owner of the Masterpiece Cakeshop, celebrates in his Colorado store after the U.S. Supreme Court voted 7-2 in his favor in a dispute with a gay couple, June 4, 2018. (Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
June 5, 2018 / Ben Sales, JTA

(JTA) — Seven Supreme Court justices sided with a Colorado baker in his legal fight with a gay couple. And seven major Jewish groups weighed in on the decision. Six of the Jewish groups disagreed with the decision. But one Jewish organization, the Orthodox Union, dissented from the rest,… Read more »

‘Garden of Hope’ plan blossoms at Tucson Jewish Community Center

This artist’s rendering of the ‘Gan Tikvah’ or ‘Garden of Hope’ at night. The garden is scheduled to open at the Tucson Jewish Community Center in 2019. (Photo: Barbara Grygutis Sculpture LLC)
May 31, 2018 / Debe Campbell, AJP Editorial Assistant

It is forbidden to live in a city that does not have a garden or greenery – Mishnah Kiddushin 4:12 Gan Tikvah, the Garden of Hope, will be a contemplative oasis designed with the concept of intentionality, and a healing extension from the Tucson Jewish Community Center Sculpture Garden.… Read more »

Tucson’s Lions of Judah explore the Jewish side of Italy

Tucson ‘Lions’ visit the Synagogue of Sienna. Back row (L-R): Deanna Evenchik-Brav, Leslie Glaze, Jane Ash, Ellen Goldstein; third row: Shelly Silverman, Deborah Oseran, Liz Weiner- Schulman, Carol Sears; second row: Fran Katz, Karen Katz, Wendy Sandweiss, Melissa Goldfinger; front row: Karen Faitelson, Judy Berman, Shelley Pozez. Not pictured: Jody Gross. (Courtesy Fran Katz)
May 31, 2018 / Debe Campbell, AJP Editorial Assistant

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Lion of Judah women’s group spent an action-packed nine days visiting the highlights of Italy on a recent tour. Tandy Kippur was instrumental in planning the late-April trip. “Italy was chosen because of the welcoming atmosphere, the beautiful people . . . and… Read more »

Who killed a Polish Holocaust hero? His family may be close to finding out.

Lea Hirsch, left, in eastern Poland meets a man who knew her uncle before he was murdered in 1944, June 2017. (Courtesy of Lea Hirsch)
May 29, 2018 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

  (JTA) — Josef Kopf survived Sobibor by killing a guard and staging the first successful escape from that death camp in Poland, where the Nazis murdered 250,000 Jews. But Kopf, whose unlikely escape in 1943 preceded by several months a full-scale uprising at Sobibor, did not live to see Nazi… Read more »

As night falls, Jerusalem’s old-school Jewish market transforms into a hipster hangout

Employees of Sus Ye'or, a Mexican restaurant in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market, pose behind the counter. Small eateries have taken the place of many traditional food shops in the market. (Ben Sales)
May 23, 2018 / Ben Sales, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — In another life, Kobi Frig would have been sitting behind vats of spices in Jerusalem’s bustling, labyrinthine Mahane Yehuda market, hawking paprika, zaatar and cinnamon like his grandfather and father did before him. Instead, Frig obeyed his father’s wishes, went to college, and started a chain… Read more »

Philip Roth, enfant terrible turned peerless chronicler of American Jewish life, is dead at 85

Philip Roth at the National Humanities Medal ceremony at the White House, March 2, 2011. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)
May 23, 2018 / JTA Staff

(JTA) — Philip Roth, whose notorious novels about the sex drives of American men gave way to some of the most probing examinations of the American Jewish condition in the 20th and 21st centuries, has died. He was 85. His death was confirmed to The New York Times by… Read more »

‘Mr. Lacrosse’ puts sport on Western map

Mickey-Miles Felton has been active in lacrosse in both Tucson and Israel. (Debe Campbell)
May 18, 2018 / Debe Campbell, AJP Editorial Assistant

Editor’s note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Felton is being inducted into the University of Arizona Men’s Lacrosse Club Team Hall of Fame in October. The name of the association in which the UA plays has also been corrected; it is the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association.… Read more »

At senior communities, residents play part in maintaining Jewish connections

At Villa Hermosa, a Tucson senior living community, Bill Kugelman listens as Cantor Janece Cohen of Congregation Or Chadash plays Hanukkah songs on Dec. 13. (Courtesy Congregation Or Chadash)
May 18, 2018 / Korene Charnofsky Cohen, Special to the AJP

Sharing ideas and family recipes enables Jewish residents of senior living communities to keep up family connections and traditions. Staff members appreciate their input, saying that coordinating Shabbat and other Jewish holiday celebrations is part of how they help residents to be happier and healthier. Villa Hermosa Aimee Pichardo,… Read more »

Local woman’s pet proves its dedication as Handi-Dog

Talya Fanger-Vexler trained Sapphire to be a service dog with the help of Handi-Dogs, a Tucson nonprofit organization. (Debe Campbell)
May 18, 2018 / Debe Campbell, AJP Editorial Assistant

Talya Simha Fanger-Vexler fell in love one day with a fluffy puppy in a pet shop window. It had sparkling blue eyes and a calm, composed demeanor. Talya pictured long hikes and active adventures with the bouncy sable Sheltie at her side. Five years later, the lovable fur ball… Read more »

Community volunteers recognized for outstanding work
May 18, 2018 / Debe Campbell, AJP Editorial Assistant

This is part one of a series on the Jewish agency volunteers who received 2018 Special Recognition Awards at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Awards Celebration held May 10. Max Cohen, Jewish Family & Children’s Services President and CEO Carlos Hernandez attributes much of Jewish Family… Read more »