Hartley Lachter, Ph.D.
When medieval Christians claimed that Jewish history and religious practice was in decline, the Kabbalah, a mystical school of thought in Judaism, provided a powerful reimagining of Judaism, says Hartley Lachter, Ph.D., associate professor of religion studies at Lehigh University. “Kabbalah argues that there is this secret way in… Read more »
An heirloom Havdalah spice box is displayed with photographs of Esther Blumenfeld’s late father, Rabbi Karl Richter. (Courtesy Esther Blumenfeld)
After the death of his youngest sister in Stuttgart, Germany, my father thought deeply about the meaning of life and death, and the idea of becoming a rabbi became a calling. The 17-year-old Karl Richter, with youthful enthusiasm, decided to do his university as well as rabbinical studies at… Read more »
Dan Ben-David The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series with six lectures on “Israel: 20th Century Ideal to 21st Century Reality.” “Since 1997 the Pozez families’ generosity has made this series one of the intellectual and social staples… Read more »
Pir Zia Inayat-Khan
An interfaith talk and book signing with Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, Ph.D., on his new book “Mingled Waters: Sufism and the Mystical Unity of Religions,” will be held Thursday, Nov. 16, 7-8 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El. “Mingled Waters examines the inner teachings of Hinduism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam… Read more »
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron leads Congregation Chaverim's Rosh Hashanah service on Mount Lemmon on Sept. 21. (Nanci Freedberg)
Congregation Chaverim has a new traveling ark, thanks to a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona in collaboration with the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. The $5,000 grant, made possible by the Ann and Sam Goldfein Endowment Fund and the Zuckerman Family Fund held at the… Read more »
Robert Mueller, center, at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., June 21, 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating whether President Donald Trump’s campaign had ties with Russia, issued two indictments this week and unsealed a guilty plea. Paul Manafort, who for several months last year helmed the Trump campaign, and an associate, Rick Gates, who remained with… Read more »
The Barna group conducted a study involving 599 Jews born from 1984 to 1999. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Are Jewish millennials the most religious generation? And do one-fifth of them think Jesus was God in human form? Yes and yes, says a new survey of 599 Jews born from 1984 to 1999. The survey creates a contradictory portrait of Jewish millennials: These young… Read more »
Niveen Rizkalla working with IsraAID in Santa Rosa, Calif., in the wake of deadly wildfires there.(Courtesy of IsraAID
WASHINGTON (JTA) — For 17 years, the Israeli NGO IsraAID has been performing search and rescue, purifying water, providing emergency medical assistance and walking victims of trauma back to psychological health in dozens of disaster-hit countries. But no season has been busier than this past summer and fall, its… Read more »
Stephen Bannon speaking at a campaign event for then Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in Fairhope, Alabama, Sept. 25, 2017. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — As former White House strategist Stephen Bannon declares war on the Republican establishment, a faction linked to the Senate GOP leadership is firing back with the kind of charges previously heard from Democrats and Never-Trumpers when Bannon ran Trump’s campaign and sat in the White House.… Read more »
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signing his state's anti-BDS bill at a Jewish community center in Austin, May 2, 2017. (Office of the Texas Governor)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — On May 2, Israel’s Independence Day, Texas state Rep. Phil King stood smiling as Gov. Greg Abbott signed King’s bill banning the state from doing business with boycotters of Israel. “Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally,”… Read more »
A scene from the film "1945" (Courtesy of Menemsha Films)
(JTA) — The time is just after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Two Orthodox Jews disembark from a train at a rural station in Soviet-occupied Hungary and, after offloading a heavy bag, they begin a silent, hour-long walk to a nearby village. The purpose of their journey is not… Read more »
Israeli soldiers rest from training in northern Israel, June 14, 2009. (Matanya Tausig/Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) – The Israel Defense Forces takes pride in its status as a “people’s army.” More than just a military, the IDF embraces its reputation as an equalizing force in Israeli society. Every soldier, rich and poor, is supposed to learn during mandatory army service what it takes… Read more »
Jason Lezak takes the U.S. to gold with a record-breaking 4 x 100 medley anchor leg at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. (Courtesy Tucson Jewish Community Center)
Olympic swimmer Jason Lezak will present a Mutual of Omaha BREAKOUT! swim clinic on Sunday, Nov. 12, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. A total-person approach to swimming, the clinic can help swimmers break bad habits, build new skills, and uncover hidden talent. The clinic will… Read more »
Carol Zuckert makes honey cake for Rosh Hashanah at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. [Nanci Levy)
Celebrating Shabbat and Jewish holidays brings the joy and comfort of tradition to residents of senior living communities. This can involve anything from a ride to synagogue to holding High Holiday services on site. Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging “Jewish celebrations and services are important because they help… Read more »
W. Edward Morgan
Like many Jews, eminent local civil rights lawyer W. Edward “Ed” Morgan, who died in Tucson Sept. 20, 2017, at age 94, deeply valued Jewish learning — but the knowledge that changed his life emerged only in his late 50s, when he first learned from his aging mother that… Read more »
Rabbi Naomi Levy
Bestselling author Rabbi Naomi Levy will be the keynote speaker for the 13th annual CHAI Circle retreat on Sunday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, 5501 N. Hacienda del Sol Road. CHAI Circle is a support group for women in the Jewish… Read more »
David J. Del Grande The Arizona Jewish Post won two awards recently from the Arizona Newspapers Association. In the ANA’s 2017 Better Newspapers Contest, AJP Staff Writer David J. Del Grande took third place in the Best Feature Story category (Division 2: Non-Daily circulation 3,500 to 10,000) for “Local thrift store volunteers in… Read more »
(L-R) Karen and Myles Levine with co-author Dan Baldwin [Courtesy Dan Baldwin)
During the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 2009, Myles Levine was jolted out of bed by the screams of his wife, Karen. Their front and garage doors were sealed shut. Globs of motor oil, paint, and foam peanuts were strewn along their walkway and driveway. A putrid chemical… Read more »
Irving Silverman, left, and George Youngerman at Maya Levy’s bat mitzvah celebration in Tucson on Feb. 15, 2014. (Courtesy Doug Levy)
If Irving I. Silverman had not been born legally blind 97 years ago, he probably wouldn’t be making news today. Silverman recently published “Aging Wisely … Wisdom of Our Elders,” a nearly 500-page anthology of essays by more than 75 seniors and experts in aging. This is just the… Read more »
Hamas and Fatah leaders shake hands following the signing of a reconciliation deal at the Egyptian intelligence services headquarters in Cairo, Oct. 12, 2017. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken a wait-and-see approach to last week’s Palestinian reconciliation deal. Netanyahu spoke out publicly and loudly against the move toward unity between the feuding Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, calling it a threat to Israel and a setback to peace.… Read more »
