Rabbi Yossie Shemtov The Jewish year of 5776 has just begun and we are certain that it will be a wonderful year. In the words of the Kohen Gadol (high priest) during the Yom Kippur service, may it be a year of light, of blessing, of rejoicing, of happiness, of glory and… Read more »
Rabbi Israel and Esther Becker of Southwest Torah Institute and Congregation Chofetz Chayim will host a “Love of the Land” orientation meeting Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. to introduce their third Tucson Jewish community Israel trip, which is slated for May 22 through June 5, 2016. Refreshments will… Read more »
(JTA) — Israelis get around the globe, as anyone who has traveled to Thailand, Goa or Patagonia knows. Writers, too, are known for living outside the lands of their birth – Czech-born Milan Kundera lives in Paris and writes in French; Jhumpa Lahiri moved to Rome in 2012 and wrote her… Read more »
(Heritage Florida Jewish News via JTA) – It all started with a little bump on his neck. Now Jason Mendelsohn is on a mission to conquer cancer and spread the word about human papilloma virus-related cancer, or HPV. In April 2014, Mendelsohn was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma, which… Read more »
Joc Pederson taking a swing against the Washington Nationals, Aug. 12, 2015. (Hillel Kuttler)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Ask Los Angeles Dodgers’ rookie outfielder Joc Pederson how his season is going, and he’ll talk about the team. “We’re playing great baseball, and that’s something we’re looking to continue to do,” a shy and wary Pederson told JTA recently following a spirited game of dice with… Read more »
Richard Joel NEW YORK (JTA) — Richard Joel, the president of Yeshiva University, announced that he will step down by the end of his current term. Joel, 65, made the announcement Sept. 10 in an email sent to Y.U. staff, students and alumni, and obtained by JTA. His term is set… Read more »
The driver, Mohammed, holding an etrog. (Ben Sales)
ASSADS, Morocco (JTA) — We had to cross the gorge, and the only way was to walk single file on a narrow concrete gutter, maybe a foot wide, that bridged the two cliffs. Below us was a long, perilous drop onto the rocky depths. I was traveling deep into the rural communities of… Read more »
Don Francisco -- born Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld -- celebrating the 50th anniversary of his record-making show "Sabado Gigante." (Courtesy of Univision)
(JTA) — On Saturday, the Spanish language television network Univision will host the final broadcast of “Sábado Gigante.” With 53 years on TV, the world’s longest-running variety show is an eclectic, strange mashup of a game show, a talk show and live entertainment. There are singing competitions — the poor-performing contestants are… Read more »
Merchants walk a dirt path between the coastal city of Agadir, Morocco, and the highland etrog groves in Assads, Sept. 8, 2015. (Ben Sales)
ASSADS, Morocco (JTA) — Why the Jews want etrogs, Mohammed Douch does not entirely understand. What he does know is that they are his main customers. Each August and September, Jewish merchants come from around the world to his remote grove in the highlands of Morocco — an hourlong hike through… Read more »
Migrants and refugees with temporary documents board a ferry to take them to Athens at the port of the Greek island of Kos on August 14, 2015. (Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, Calif. (JTA) — Arab Americans advocating on behalf of Syrian refugees have found some unlikely allies in their effort to resettle families from the war-torn nation: influential Jewish groups. Over the last few days, HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, launched a petition drive calling on President… Read more »
(TAZPIT) – A statistical survey conducted by Smith Consulting Co. for the NGO, ‘Hiddush – For Religious Freedom and Equality’ has revealed the changes in the distribution of Israeli Jewish citizens according to the different religious denominations they identify with. The Hiddush NGO publishes its annual Religion-State Index every… Read more »
This week, a group of undergraduates from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University concluded a 10-day visit in Israel. During their trip they met with people from right and left, Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis, religious and non-religious Jews, settlers and others and, as future journalists,… Read more »
To meet the needs of the deaf and severely hearing-impaired, Temple Emanu-El is offering American Sign Language interpretation at all of its High Holy Day services this year. Rabbi Batsheva Appel organized a workshop for ASL interpretation in Jewish settings at the beginning of August. Thirteen interpreters attended the… Read more »
The Elder Rehab program for memory-impaired older adults at the Tucson Jewish Community Center will begin its second semester the week of Sept. 21. The first semester matched 21 senior participants with a University of Arizona intern or volunteer who supervised physical exercise, memory and language activities and interactive… Read more »
President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial museum in Jerusalem, March 22, 2013. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Now that enactment of the Iran nuclear deal appears to be a sure thing, the profound and often personal disagreement between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Iran is not about to go away. In the contemplative spirit of the Days of Awe, we canvassed… Read more »
Jay Ruderman (JTA) — With the High Holidays just around the corner, Jews all over the world will be asking themselves how they can lead more meaningful and moral lives. Synagogue communities, too, will be asking themselves how they can become more holy and inclusive communities. In my years of involvement with disability inclusion,… Read more »
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona recently received a $25,000 gift from a donor advised fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, which it forwarded to the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief to aid the swelling population of migrants and Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — As 5775 winds to a close, here’s a look back on the highs and lows (and everything in between) of the year that was. September 2014 At the annual U.N. General Assembly, President Barack Obama focuses his speech on the ISIS, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu likens… Read more »
(JTA) — You may have never heard of singer-songwriter Cathy Heller, but chances are you’ve heard her music. At the moment, McDonald’s is featuring her songs in two commercials — one for frappes, the other for the $2.50 double cheeseburger-and-fries combo. They are the latest in a string of high-profile… Read more »
The Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports, a complex that was shut down a decade ago, is the site of a proposed $25 million conference center. (Flickr Commons)
VILNIUS, Lithuania (JTA) – It’s one of the most intriguing sites in all of Vilnius: a massive Soviet-style sports complex built in 1971 that since its closure in 2004 has become a run-down haven for vagrants. Now the Lithuanian government has some grand plans to renovate the rotting behemoth and turn… Read more »
