An oil rig in the Tamar natural gas field off the Israeli coast, June
23, 2014. (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Israel discovered two massive natural gas fields off its coast five years ago, it was billed as a goldmine that would shift the balance of energy exports in the Middle East and fill Israel’s coffers. Five years later, drilling in the biggest field, known as Leviathan,… Read more »
Nicholas Thalasinos renewing his marital vows with his wife at a
Jewish-style ceremony, 2013. (Facebook)
(JTA) – While America puzzles over the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, many American Jews are puzzling over an additional element: the religious identity of victim Nicholas Thalasinos. Pictured on his Facebook page wearing a scarf-style tallit prayer shawl, Thalasinos, who was killed along with 13 others in… Read more »
Tucson Jewish Comunity Center staff members and Israeli chefs prepare a communal meal Nov. 16. Guests include the staffs of the Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon community centers and members of the Partnership2Gether steering committe. (L-R) Todd Rockoff, Abby Gettinger, Lisa Delyria, Stacy Ramsower, Christina Pugh, Denise Wolf, Chef Yael Shamir, Chef Maya Klein, Travis Fischer, Chef Sahar Rafael, Lynn Davis, Sue DeBenedette, Oshrat Barel. The Israeli chefs, joined by Chef Orly Varon Shushan, will visit Tucson in May for the Israel Festival.
Jewish culture and connection were the focus of a recent Tucson Jewish Community Center staff trip to Israel. The group of 10 returned to Tucson from their 12-day trip on Nov. 19 with a renewed sense of purpose. The Tucson J staff joined with delegations from the Shimon and… Read more »
Bob and Jere Moskovitz, newcomers to Tucson, toast the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Culture Shuk at Tucson Hebrew Academy on Nov. 15. (Korene Charnofsky Cohen)
The Jewish Culture Shuk, a one night smorgasbord of adult education classes, brings the community together through learning. Teaching from a Jewish perspective, instructors strive to help us understand and respect ourselves and others, and to deal with difficult situations at home and in the world. On Sunday, Nov.… Read more »
(L-R): Aaron Green, Nathan Shapiro, Peggy Simon and Haley Dveirin share lunch at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging on Nov. 8. (Courtesy Tucson Hebrew High)
Tucson Hebrew High students are creating relationships with residents of Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, aided by a recent “Better Together” grant from an anonymous donor. The grant supports programs for young Jewish students to engage with the elderly in a hands-on fashion, encouraging the students to live out Jewish… Read more »
Tucsonan Danny Levkowitz finished his steel menorah in time to celebrate Chanukah 2015.
Tucsonan Danny Levkowitz recently finished building this 15-foot tall menorah, his first attempt at sculpture, at his east side home. Made of steel rebar with LED lights, the menorah took over two months to create, but it is something Levkowitz, the owner of Sun Lighting, has been dreaming about… Read more »
Sharon Megdal, director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, and Abraham Tenne, retired Israel Water Authority director of desalination, tour a desalination facility in Hadera, Israel. (Cody Sheehy)
I just returned from an exciting visit to Israel, my 10th since 2010. Each time I visit the region I learn new things about their efforts to manage water resources. At the WATEC 2015 conference in Tel Aviv, where I was an invited speaker, I had the opportunity to… Read more »
Migrants wait to be processed at the increasingly overwhelmed Moria camp on the island of Lesbos in Greece, Oct. 21, 2015. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – American Jewish organizations don’t see the Syrian refugees as a threat; they see them as a reminder. With rare unanimity on an issue that has stirred partisan passion, a cross-section of the community has defended the Obama administration’s refugee policy in terms recalling the plight of Jews fleeing… Read more »
Brendan, left, and Neal Shusterman (Courtesy of Neal Shusterman)
NEW YORK (JTA) — When Neal Shusterman helped his son Brendan with a second-grade report on the Pacific Ocean’s Marianas Trench, he thought the name of its deepest location, Challenger Deep, would make a great title for a book. In fact, for a number of years, whenever Shusterman — the author… Read more »
Hamilton Jordan, left, then the White House chief of staff, speaking with President Jimmy Carter at the White House, July 19, 1979. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Hamilton Jordan, President Jimmy Carter’s wunderkind adviser and chief of staff, discovered at age 20 that his family’s story wasn’t a straightforward Christian Southern experience. At the cemetery service for his maternal grandmother, Helen, Jordan was puzzled to discover her plot was nestled alongside that of… Read more »
Quiet contemplation of the menorah can be rewarding. (Flickr Commons)
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — There’s a popular Chanukah song recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, “Light One Candle.” Its chorus insists we “don’t let the light go out” — but I’ve been thinking that maybe we should. Not that I want to leave all those Maccabee children stumbling in the… Read more »
Falash Mura arriving in Israel from Ethiopia, Aug. 28, 2013. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
TEL AVIV (JTA) – The Israeli government has approved entry of the “last” group of Ethiopian Jews awaiting immigration to Israel. The move comes two years after the arrival of 450 Ethiopian Jews then deemed to be the “last” such group. Indeed, there have been several groups said to… Read more »
Friends of Ezra Schwartz grieve over the coffin of the American terror victim at a service at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel before the body was repatriated to Boston for his funeral the following day, Nov. 21, 2015. (Ben Sales/JTA)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — His best friend remembered him starting up a children’s game on their senior school trip. His teacher retold the time he made Hebrew jokes on a whiteboard during class. His rabbi recalled him committing to study the entire Bible this year. His parents wrote… Read more »
Roberta Elliott, a Tucson winter resident volunteering to help refugees in Vienna, Austria, last month, sorts through piles of donated shoes. (Courtesy Roberta Elliott)
The U.S. Passport Control agent greeted me with uncustomary warmth as I returned to Newark Liberty Airport on Nov. 2. “Was your trip business or vacation?” he asked. For a split second I hesitated, but answered firmly “vacation.” How could I tell him that the time I had just… Read more »
Oren Riback, wearing his silver and bronze medals for breaststroke and backstroke from the 2000 Maccabi Games held in Tucson, still uses the gym bag he received as a teen athlete. (Chase Cohen, Tucson Jewish Community Center)
The Tucson Jewish Community Center will return from a three-year hiatus at the JCC Maccabi Games, sending a delegation of teen athletes to the games that will be held July 24-29 in Columbus, Ohio. Over the past few years, the games conflicted with Tucson school schedules, although a few… Read more »
Students, faculty and staff in the forecourt of Tucson Hebrew Academy on Nov. 3 after THA’s new sign was revealed. (Courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy)
Tucson Hebrew Academy introduced its new brand identity to the community on Tuesday, Nov. 3, celebrating with morning coffee, cocoa and refreshments. THA is the only school in Tucson providing K-8 education that combines a strong secular program, integrated Jewish education, and a warm sense of community celebrating Jewish… Read more »
Beverly King Pollock The Invisible Theatre will hold a reading of “Looking for Magic,” a semi-autobiographical play by Tucsonan Beverly King Pollock, on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. in observance of World AIDS Day. Pollock and her husband, Mel, lost both of their sons to AIDS in the 1990s. In 1990,… Read more »
Sara Lieberman is a New York native who moved to Paris a year ago. (Krystal Kenney)
PARIS (JTA) — They say not to take the bikes with the seat turned around. But I take the bike with the seat turned around. Before I know it, I am riding fiercely across town on Rue Saint-Lazare with a loose pedal. This can’t be good, I think… Read more »
A young wedding guest at the Synagogue des Tournelles in Paris, Nov. 15, 2015. (Alain Azria)
PARIS (JTA) — Watching the Belgian countryside fly by, I reflected on the previous time that I was aboard a high-speed train bound for Paris to cover a horrendous terrorist attack. It had been less than a year since France-born Islamists killed 17 people in Paris: 12 at… Read more »
A police officer patrolling the Times Square subway stop in New York City the day after a series of terrorist attacks in Paris, Nov. 14, 2015. (Andrew Renneisen/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The series of terrorist attacks that killed at least 129 in Paris pose a couple of major challenges for the United States, Jewish officials and security experts said. The challenges: security threats from the the 200 or so Islamic State fighters who have returned to the United States, and… Read more »
