(The Nosher via JTA) — Brrrr, it’s cold outside. But we know exactly what you need to warm up: some spicy, hawaij hot cocoa. Hawaij is an important, if not nearly sacred, Yemenite spice blend. It’s one of the most important ingredients in Yemenite cooking, with both savory blends using coriander, turmeric… Read more »
A vigil in Buenos Aires on the first anniversary of AMIA prosecutor Alberto Nisman's death, Jan. 18, 2016. (Omer Musa Targal/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — On Jan. 18, 2015, Argentine terrorism prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head in what was almost certainly murder, not suicide. Whoever murdered him didn’t just want to kill him but rather his body of work. They wanted to bury… Read more »
David Posner (Courtesy of JCC Association)
(JTA) — A bomb threat is never an inconsequential thing. But 16 in one day is inconceivable – at least it was until Monday. That’s when 16 Jewish community centers in nine states received calls threatening a bomb on site. While the bombs turned out to be hoaxes, the calls themselves were not. They were… Read more »
Rabbi Marc Schneier (Courtesy of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding)
(JTA) — As we celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., American Jews should reflect anew upon the epic struggle he led to free African-Americans from the shackles of bigotry and take pride in the singular role played by the Jewish community in support of King and… Read more »
A complex in Wilmington, Del., housing four Jewish organizations was evacuated after receiving a bomb threat. (Courtesy of Siegel JCC in Wilmington)
NEW YORK (JTA) — The FBI and Department of Homeland Security will be assisting local Jewish community centers in bolstering security after 16 JCCs received bomb threats on the same day. On Wednesday, officials from the FBI and Homeland Security will conduct a conference call with U.S. Jewish… Read more »
Jared Kushner at the premiere of "A Film Unfinished"at MOMA-Celeste Bartos Theater in New York City, Aug. 11, 2010. (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Jared Kushner, the Orthodox Jewish son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, will be named senior adviser to the president, Trump transition officials reportedly have confirmed. The official announcement is expected as early as Tuesday, The New York Times and several other major news outlets reported Monday. Citing people close… Read more »
Ryan McKittrick Ryan McKittrick, assistant professor of theater arts at Brandeis University, will present “The American Musical from the 19th Century to ‘Hamilton’” at the Brandeis National Committee’s University on Wheels breakfast on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 9:30 a.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. McKittrick’s talk will feature scenes from… Read more »
Joe Pasternack (University of Arizona) The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation will host its annual alumni and friends event on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 5:15 p.m. The evening will feature Joe Pasternack, UA associate head basketball coach under Coach Sean Miller, who will brief attendees on this year’s Wildcat team. His talk will be… Read more »
The University of Arizona Cancer Center is partnering with the Tucson Jewish Community Center to deliver a free, four-part educational series on cancer starting in February. Classes will focus on trends in research and clinical care, from precision medicine to novel drug development to the new frontiers of immunology.… Read more »
Keith Wick in “Buyer & Cellar”
Live Theatre Workshop will stage “Buyer & Cellar” by Jonathan Tolins, a one-man show that begins with the premise of an underemployed actor going to work as a shopkeeper in the basement of Barbra Streisand’s Malibu home, Thursdays-Sundays through Feb. 11. “This seriously funny slice of absurdist whimsy creates… Read more »
Renee Taylor with her husband, Joe Bologna
Invisible Theatre will present Renée Taylor in “My Life on a Diet” at the Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway Blvd., on Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 8 at 3 p.m. Taylor, best known for her Emmy-nominated role as Fran Drescher’s Jewish mother on… Read more »
On Sunday, Jan. 8, the Weintraub Israel Center will hold an event to thank the Greater Tucson Fire Foundation and the Tucson area firefighters who traveled to Israel in November to help control the hundreds of fires there. The event will be held at 5 p.m. at the Tucson… Read more »
There has been an uptick in hate crimes since the election, which has inspired a journalist to wear a kippah daily. (Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) — I do not like wearing a kippah. I grew up in a Reform synagogue where few people wore them, including the rabbi. The gendered nature of it bothers me. (Why, in some “egalitarian” synagogues, are men forced to wear them but not women?) And, quite… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, arrivies at his weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Dec. 25, 2016. (Dan Balilty/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Emotions are running high following the Obama administration’s decision to allow the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution condemning Israeli settlements. Here are seven questions aimed at making sense of what went down and what it could mean moving forward. 1. Did Obama… Read more »
Fireworks explodE over the Rhine River during a New Year's party in Cologne, Germany, Jan. 1, 2014. (Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images)
(JTA) — While the rest of the world is busy exchanging Happy New Year wishes, Germans are greeting each other with a peculiar expression: “guten Rutsch,” which means “good slip.” Some believe the greeting, which is especially unusual in a formal society such as Germany’s, is a lighthearted reference… Read more »
Daniel S. Mariaschin (Courtesy of B'nai B'rith International)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — The feeling in this country following the adoption of the anti-settlements resolution in the U.N. Security Council on Friday is more than palpable. For those who observe Shabbat, there was the knowledge on Friday afternoon that a vote in New York would occur after… Read more »
The U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, June 14, 2016. (Flash90)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – President-elect Donald Trump said during his campaign he wants to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. His nominee for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has said he hopes he will work from an embassy in the city. Trump’s transition team has affirmed the intention to move… Read more »
Blue crinkle cookies are soft and chewy. (Rachel Kor)
(The Nosher via JTA) — In many homes, there is a tradition to bake Hanukkah cookies this time of year. Whether it’s the sugar and butter mixing in the mixer, the blue and white sprinkles, or the festive menorah cookie cutters, there is something about cookie baking that propels us into the… Read more »
A Syrian civilian is loaded into a bus by members of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent at a makeshift shelter in Jibrin, on the eastern outskirts of Aleppo, Dec. 22, 2016. (George Ourfalian/AFP/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Aleppo, one of the world’s oldest cities and Syria’s largest metropolis, is synonymous with one of humanity’s cruelest conflicts — now surpassing the siege of Sarajevo as the deadliest and longest-running battle for a city in our time. With an estimated 31,000 deaths, the battle for… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The transition between the Barack Obama and Donald Trump presidencies is creating a vacuum that is increasing the threat of genocide in trouble spots, according to a top official at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Cameron Hudson, the director of the museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for… Read more »
