People protesting to allow churches to reopen in San Diego, May 1, 2020. (Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — President Donald Trump wants synagogues and other houses of worship to open their doors — but many Jewish leaders say his pressure won’t affect their timelines. The president went on the offensive Friday, telling governors that he would override them to require houses of worship to be… Read more »
Joe Biden speaks at a coronavirus virtual town hall from his home in Wilmington, Del., April 08, 2020. (Screengrab from JoeBiden.com via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Joe Biden said that as president he would reverse Trump administration policies that have led to Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank. “I do not support annexation,” the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee told Jewish donors on Tuesday during a fundraising webinar. “I’m going… Read more »
Campers playing on the water at Camp Modin. The camp is perhaps the first Jewish camp in the country to announce, in detail, how it plans to open. (Courtesy of Camp Modin)
(JTA) — Here’s a story that would have been unremarkable until just a few months ago: A Jewish camp is planning to open this summer. Camp Modin in Maine has announced that it will open July 9 — two weeks later than originally planned — despite the ongoing COVID-19… Read more »
(Image by Imagno/Getty Images; design by Arielle Kaplan)
This story originally appeared on Kveller. We’ve been self-quarantining for more than 40 days and 40 nights and, quite frankly, we’re running out of steam. Still, we can’t escape all the social media posts and articles (and our mother’s voices in our heads) telling us to make good use of… Read more »
Russell Walker (right) was a candidate for North Carolina's State House in 2018. His racist statements prompted the North Carolina Republican Party to withdraw its support for him. (Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations)
A new PBS documentary, “Viral: Antisemitism in Four Mutations” will premiere May 26. The film, which will air at 9 p.m. on Arizona Public Media’s channel 6, explores the rise and spread of anti-Semitism in the United States and Europe in recent years. The project has been underway for more than… Read more »
Stuart Mellan
Contemplative, compassionate, collaborative: these are some of the words friends and colleagues use to describe Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, who is retiring at the end of this month after more than a quarter century leading the organization. The coronavirus pandemic and… Read more »
To ease loneliness caused by COVID-19 social distancing during Passover this year, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation organized a Passover ‘Potluck’ held via Zoom on April 13, one of the intermediate days of the holiday. As part of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and Jewish Community Foundation response to the coronavirus pandemic, staff and volunteers have made more than 1,300 social welfare phone calls to members of the community. The project is ongoing. “It started with my desire to reach out to donors of… Read more »
Loving Kindness Meditation with Pamela Adler is one of the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s virtual classes. (Tucson Jewish Community Center)
The Tucson Jewish Community Center has been offering a variety of virtual classes and programs at www.tucsonjcc.org to help people stay physically fit, mentally sharp, and spiritually focused while the facility is closed as a preventative measure due to the coronavirus. “You can stay active in your own home! Here… Read more »
A rattlesnake crosses the Loop path near Swan Road on April 25. (Facebook)
Warm weather may lead to more outdoor activities, but be aware of rattlesnakes, cautions the Arizona Poison and Drug Information Center located in the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. So far this year, 36 rattlesnake bites have been reported to AzPDIC. Twenty-four of those bites occurred in April, up… Read more »
Graduate student Tyler Ripperger in Janko Nikolich-Žugich lab at the University of Arizona puts plates into a 37 degrees Celsius bath to allow for optimal detection conditions. (Photo: Kris Hanning/University of Arizona Health Sciences)
The University of Arizona has started analyzing blood samples from hundreds of thousands of Arizonans to determine who has developed antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19. The state of Arizona is providing $3.5 million to test 250,000 health care workers and first responders throughout Arizona. To lay the foundation… Read more »
Rabbi Michael Azoulay, second from right, reading the Torah with congregants at the synagogue of Neuilly-sur-Seine, a Paris suburb, Dec. 11, 2017. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
(JTA) — Regulars at the synagogue in the Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Seine call its main hallway “the traffic jam.” The term, often uttered with an eye roll, refers to the bottleneck that forms several times a day outside the offices of the popular synagogue, housed in a 1930s Bauhaus… Read more »
Rising sixth-graders at Camp Ramah in California on the beach during an overnight trip. The camp has said "we cannot open camp in mid-June or run our summer sessions as scheduled." (Courtesy of Ramah in California)
(JTA) — At the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, and as recently as a couple weeks ago, some Jewish camps had hoped they could run for part of the summer. For a growing number of camps, that hope now appears to be vanishing. Two Conservative Ramah camps look increasingly… Read more »
Israeli first- to third-graders social distance and bring doctor's notes at the entrance to their Jerusalem school, May 3, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — On the first day that Israel’s schools reopened nine weeks after closing to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Kalanit Taub’s 8-year-old daughter stayed home. As a third-grader, her classes were among the first wave of those to resume. But her 10-year-old brother’s classes hadn’t yet… Read more »
Designer Yoav Gati makes doodles out of photos of discarded gloves. (Courtesy of Yoav Gati)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Designer Yoav Gati was walking around his south Tel Aviv block in March when he saw a discarded latex glove on the street. A few meters later he spotted another one, and then another. By the time he looped back home he had collected over… Read more »
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks at the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force at the White House, April 10, 2020. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Dr. Anthony Fauci, who directs infectious disease research for the federal government, advised Orthodox Jews to phase in communal prayer as local governments lift coronavirus pandemic restrictions. “The kind of social interactions which is the core of the beauty of your culture has unfortunately led to… Read more »
A scene from Barry Levinson's 1999 film "Liberty Heights." (Screen shot from YouTube)
Social distancing and staying inside is hard. Thankfully, accessing good things to watch during this time is not. This is the sixth installation of a weekly column on Jewish movies and TV shows that you should stream in quarantine. Liberty Heights Streams for free on: YouTube Available to rent on:… Read more »
A picture of Herbert Max Fraenkel that a team of volunteers studying his ancestry found in January at his home in London. (Courtesy of The Jewish News)
(JTA) — After several weeks at a London mortuary, the unclaimed body of 95-year-old Herbert Max Fraenkel was slated to be buried in a shared grave at a pauper’s funeral. Fraenkel, who was born in 1924 in Berlin, died alone at his home in January. City workers were unable… Read more »
Renee Godinez had her son pour spring water on her to symbolize immersing in a mikvah. (Courtesy of Godinez)
(JTA) — Renee Godinez had completed nearly all the steps to becoming Jewish before the coronavirus pandemic descended earlier this spring. She had studied extensively with Rabbi Rick Winer of Temple Beth Israel in Fresno, California, and adopted Jewish practices in her life. All that was missing was a… Read more »
Monica Barker of Tiger Lily Table (Facebook)
While sheltering in place due to the coronavirus, we may not be able to dine at our favorite restaurants, but we can still make our meals, whether they are home-cooked or takeout, look special, says Monica Barker of Tiger Lily Table Rentals in Tucson. “Don’t save Granny’s china for… Read more »
Rabbi Robert Eisen
Rabbi Robert Eisen, who will retire at the end of June after 21 years as Congregation Anshei Israel’s spiritual leader, “doesn’t like to toot his own horn,” says Dan Jurkowitz, president of the CAI board of trustees and a lifelong member of the congregation. Quietly, however, the rabbi does much,… Read more »
