Asher Susser Professor Asher Susser, Ph.D., will return to the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies to give the first lecture of the 2017-18 season, “Fifty Years Since the Six Day War — How the Middle East Has Changed,” on Tuesday, Sept. 5. The Six Day War of June 1967 was a… Read more »
Students from San Francisco’s Jewish Community High School perform their original play “Alice and the Black Hole Blues.” (Brian Dean Photography)
Fifteen thespians from San Francisco’s Jewish high school have taken their original play to the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The students arrived in the United Kingdom earlier this month to perform the show, “Alice and the Black Hole Blues,” at the world’s largest arts festival four times during a… Read more »
Binyamin Wood-Isenberg
The train was packed. It was rush hour on a Thursday evening traveling back from work in Manhattan. Most people had in their ear phones, some had out books, and a few people stared blankly into space. As I sat there with the Hebrew text of Toras Menachem on… Read more »
Gay rights activists organizing against state-sponsored anti-gay pogroms in the Russian republic of Chechnya are detained by police in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 1, 2017. (David Frenkel)
A new exhibit, “Invisibility & Resistance: Violence Against LGBTQIA+ People” will occupy the Contemporary Human Rights space of the Holocaust History Center on the campus of the Jewish History Museum when the museum opens for a new season Sept. 1. The exhibit, which will be on display through May 31,… Read more »
Rabbi Shai Held, a co-founder of Mechon Hadar, a traditional egalitarian yeshiva, has just released a book of Torah commentaries. (Courtesy of Mechon Hadar)
NEW YORK (JTA) — After the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, voices abounded calling the demonstration an affront to American values. Rabbi Shai Held called it an attack on God. “One of the most fundamental claims Judaism makes about the world is that every human being on the face… Read more »
The scene at the entrance to Emancipation Park during the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(JTA) — I was in Charlottesville on Saturday. I felt called to go because white supremacy is a hateful ideology that has murdered millions throughout history and continues to kill. I went because my family and ancestors suffered at the hands of anti-Semites throughout history, because I bear their… Read more »
Protesters and counterprotesters clashing at Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Is it OK to punch a Nazi in the face? That’s the question animating much of the discussion of Saturday’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which quickly devolved into a brawl between rally-goers and a contingent of anti-fascist counterprotesters known as antifa. Following the clashes, a… Read more »
White supremacists rally in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Ron Kampeas)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (JTA) — The white supremacists, for all their vaunted purpose, appeared to be disoriented. Some 500 had gathered at a park here Saturday to protest this southern Virginia city’s plans to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the park. Pressured by the American Civil Liberties… Read more »
White supremacists spar with counterprotesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Emancipation Park in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(JTA) — They believe the “white race” is in danger. They believe the United States was built by and for white people and must now embrace fascism. They believe minorities are taking over the country. And they believe an international Jewish conspiracy is behind the threat. These are the… Read more »
Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer speaking on "Meet the Press," Aug. 14, 2017. (Screenshot from YouTube)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (JTA) — Michael Signer, the Jewish mayor of Charlottesville, has one thing in common with the white supremacists who descended on his southern Virginia city over the weekend: He also opposed the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Of course, Signer’s reasons for… Read more »
Lisa Mandelblatt, center, campaigns in New Jersey's 7th district. (Courtesy of Mandelblatt)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Emily’s List, the organization that encourages women to run for office, reported in April that inquiries from women about running for office on the local, state and national level have skyrocketed — from 900 during the 2016 election cycle to 11,000 since Donald Trump’s election as president. How… Read more »
"The Unbowed Man" statue at the Khatyn Memorial in Belarus commemorates Yuzif Kaminsky, a survivor of Nazi atrocities, and his slain son Adam. (John Oldale/Wikimedia Commons)
KHATYN, Belarus (JTA) — Even by Soviet standards, the massive memorial complex near Minsk to the victims of Nazi atrocities stands out for its immense scale and ambition. Spread across half a million square feet — roughly the size of 10 football fields — the haunting Khatyn Memorial is… Read more »
Margret and H. A. Rey in Hamburg, Germany, May 1973. (Ullstein bild via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Curious George — that curious little monkey — is beloved by millions of readers around the world. His adventures with the Man With the Yellow Hat impart important life lessons amidst silliness and mayhem. But many people probably don’t know that the children’s book character was actually… Read more »
New citizens take the oath of allegiance at the Tucson Jewish Community Center July 26.
Family and friends packed the Tucson Jewish Community Center ballroom on Wednesday, July 26 as 99 new U.S. citizens from 17 different countries took the oath of allegiance. “Having the honor to host this ceremony at the J is very meaningful,” Todd Rockoff, president and CEO of the Tucson… Read more »
The Maccabi USA Youth Men’s Basketball team display their gold medals at the 2017 Maccabiah Games in Israel. Front row (L-R): Tucsonan Sam Beskind, Caleb Milobsky, Jackson Blaufeld, Max Leibowitz, Griffin Levine, Coach Brian Seitz; back row: Coach Jeff Klein, Amitai Afenjar, Gabriel Ravetz, Casey Ring, Bryan Knapp, Daniel Schlakman, Abraham Rosow, Ben Lubarsky, Coach Howard Fisher (Courtesy Sam Beskind)
Whether they made it to the medals podium or not, six participants with Tucson ties who went to Israel last month for the 20th Maccabiah Games, known as “the Jewish Olympics,” say the experience was priceless. “Softball is why I came to Israel, but Israel really came to me… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and wife Sara on their way to Greece for a two-day state official visit, June 14. ( Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/Israeli Government Press Office/Flash90)
(JTA) — He has a firm grip on the government, but a mounting political scandal might bring him down. Officials from his own party have begun to distance themselves from him, but he remains defiant. Oh, and his son is in trouble, too. Just one more thing Benjamin Netanyahu has… Read more »
The Congregation Or Chadash group at the Mount of Olives June 21. Front row (L-R): Alex Putnam, Jacob Louchheim, Alan Kalmikoff; second row: Joan Morris, Marcia Louchheim, Marcia Katz, Pam Drell, Ashley David, David Hazan, Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, Arlene Kutoroff; third row: Elliot Framan, Andrea Davis, Daniel Louchheim, Grace Kolack, Soozie Hazan, Benny Louchheim, Katie Louchheim, Evan Adelstein, Renee Adelstein, Keith Trantow (Courtesy Congregation Or Chadash)
Friday, close to sunset in Jerusalem, a siren sounds heralding the start of the Sabbath. The Muslim call to prayer and Christian church bells echo across the city. Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, his wife, Marcia, and members of their family, along with members of Congregation Or Chadash, were awed by… Read more »
Repair the World volunteers assist with food preparation at Masbia Soup Kitchen in Brooklyn. (Alli Lesovoy)
NEW YORK (JTA) — As a college student, Jake Max assumed he would work in banking or consulting after graduation. That was the path favored by many of his classmates. But after experiencing the 2016 presidential campaign his senior year at Emory University, Max was spurred to action and… Read more »
Donald Trump speaks with journalists at a rally against the Iran nuclear deal at the U.S. Capitol, Sept. 9, 2015. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Campaigning last year for the presidency, Donald Trump said the Iran nuclear agreement was the “worst deal” he had ever seen. It was never exactly clear, however, what he intended to do about it: Appearing at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s policy conference in… Read more »
Talleen Abu Hana visited Washington, D.C., to speak about her experience being a transgender woman in Israel. (Ron Kampeas)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (JTA) — Last month, the Israeli Embassy marked LGBT Pride Month with a reception for Jewish and Israeli activists and leaders. About 100 people attended the event, which featured an address by Talleen Abu Hana, an Arab Christian from Nazareth who won the first Miss Trans Israel… Read more »
