Menashe Lustig as Menashe and Ruben Niborski as Rieven in ‘Menashe’ (Courtesy The Loft Cinema)
On a sidewalk crowded with people moving at the pace of a typical New York day, nobody stands out. Eventually a man appears in the back of the frame who gradually attracts our attention. There’s nothing extraordinary about him except he’s a bulky man, and he’s laboring more than… Read more »
Klezmerson to play Stone Ave. block party (Courtesy Jewish History Museum)
The Stone Avenue Block Party, a joint project of the Jewish History Museum and the Consul of Mexico in Tucson, will take place on Saturday, Oct. 7 beginning at 7 p.m. on Stone Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets. Now in its third year, the event remains “a critical… Read more »
Rabbi Robert Eisen This past August, while sitting shiva for our son, Ricky, the liturgy at our daily minyan took on new and important meaning for me. Passages that were once a source of comfort and strength became burdensome, and caused me to ask more questions than I knew I could. Other… Read more »
Amy Hirshberg Lederman In 1980, I began my career as a law clerk working at the Arizona Court of Appeals. My job was to research issues for the judge and work on draft opinions, which would then be fully reviewed, analyzed and edited until he was satisfied with the result. I spent… Read more »
Cassandra Garcia Cassandra Garcia, M.S., CGC, a certified genetic counselor at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, will present “Genetics of Breast Cancer, Jewish Ancestry, and Ongoing Research: Important Information for Men and Women” at a Hadassah Southern Arizona luncheon on Sunday, Oct. 15. The lunch will be held at the… Read more »
Recently JTA reported a story about an alternative students’ guide published by student activists at Tufts University that labels Israel a white supremacist state. The so-called “disorientation guide” also reduced the university’s Hillel to a “Zionist” organization that offers nothing of value to the private campus’s diversity or culture.… Read more »
I know something about most Jewish holidays. I can tell you that Hanukkah is about miracles, Passover is about slavery and freedom, and Shavuot is about cheesecake. (I have no idea why, but when it comes to matters of cheesecake, it is not mine to question.) The one holiday… Read more »
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Was your father a rabbi? When I tell people that I wanted to be a rabbi from the time I was 4 years old, they always ask me that same question. No, my father made women’s clothing, but he was my rabbi. When I was… Read more »
Gila (Gail) Ben-Jamin credits her many years on the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Partnership2Gether committee for having made lifelong friends in Israel. She has hosted people from the P2G region at her home in Tucson and has been hosted by those folks in Israel. She stays in touch… Read more »
Rabbi Helen T. Cohn Tucked away in two places in the Book of Proverbs is a brief, cryptic statement: “tzedakah saves from death” (tzedakah tatzel mimavet) (Proverbs 10:2 and 11:4). Surely this can’t mean if we give tzedakah (that is, charitable contributions) we will be immortal! After all, those who give generous amounts… Read more »
Participants learn to make caponata as part of the Tucson Jewish Community Center's 'Around The World: Adult Summer Camp' spotlight on Italy on June 14.
Cooking and culture will blend together in a variety of classes at the Tucson Jewish Community Center starting this month. The classes will emphasize healthy eating and the importance of cooking together as a family, as well as sharing food and culture from around the world. All dishes will… Read more »
"Big Sam: A Rosh Hashanah Tall Tale" (Apples and Honey Press) (JTA) — A challah-baking Jewish giant, a young baseball champ and an endearing boy in a pumpkin patch are among the stars of five delightful new books for kids published just in time for the High Holidays. This year’s crop includes new stories by two of the country’s most… Read more »
(Flickr Commons)
(Rabbis Without Borders via JTA) — The month of Elul is the season of repentance and forgiveness that culminates with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. In the rabbinic imagination, Elul is an acronym for “Ani L’Dodi V’dodi Li” – “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine.”… Read more »
A Living Church of God congregation in San Diego celebrates the Feast of Tabernacles -- the church's name for Sukkot -- in 2016. (Courtesy of the Living Church of God)
NEW YORK (JTA) — On the night of Rosh Hashanah, thousands of people will leave work, gather in congregations across the globe and worship God, the ruler of the world. Ten days later they will begin a fast and gather again to pray, this time atoning for their… Read more »
The Arch of Titus at the Imperial Forums in Rome. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — French historian Pierre Nora spent his life describing and explaining “places of memory,” sites commemorating significant moments in the history of a community that continue to resonate and transform from generation to generation. For the French Republic, the Arc de Triomphe is one such… Read more »
“Dreamers” originally from Ecuador at a rally in Manhattan watch Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ speak on ending the DACA program, Sept. 5, 2017. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — An array of Jewish groups and lawmakers attacked as immoral President Donald Trump’s decision to end an Obama-era program granting protections to illegal immigrants who arrived in the United States as children. The Trump administration said Monday that it would end the Deferred Action for… Read more »
Billy Joel performs at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Aug. 21, 2017. (Myrna M. Suarez/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Few artifacts of the Holocaust move me like the yellow star. Homely and seemingly innocuous, they sit in museum cases either by themselves or still attached to a jacket or blouse, the stitching rough and the lettering surprisingly crude. They are almost comically, cartoonishly blunt,… Read more »
Rabbi Shira Stern of Marlboro, N.J., is a disaster spiritual care provider for the American Red Cross. (Courtesy of Stern)
(JTA) — It was a day before Hurricane Harvey was due to make landfall, and Rabbi Shira Stern knew she was headed for Texas. As a director of Disaster Spiritual Care for the American Red Cross, she knew there would be people who would have other needs beyond shelter,… Read more »
Rescue workers and volunteers help residents make their way out of a flooded neighborhood after it was inundated with rain following Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Aug. 29, 2017. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Three weeks ago, Lauren Laderman left Camp Young Judaea-Texas after serving as the unit head for 14-year-olds this summer. Then Hurricane Harvey hit the Texas coast, and Laderman was back at camp, this time preparing the cabins for evacuees in need of a place to live. On Tuesday,… Read more »
The Arizona Jewish Post and Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will be relocating to our new home at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy. We will share this new site with the Jewish Community Foundation. The move is scheduled for Sept. & and 8. We will resume… Read more »
