Tagged HEADLINES

(JTA) — Historian Ron Chernow has written successful biographies of the likes of J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller and George Washington. So it’s fair to say that at this point in his career, the Alexander Hamilton biographer knows the drill: There’s the author tour, the positive reviews, the… Read more »

(The Nosher via JTA) — “Ladies can grill too!” is what I thought while watching the men tend to the grill at one of my favorite Middle Eastern eateries recently. But after years of owning a charcoal grill and by default having the husband maintain it, I figured it was about… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — When Issamar Ginzberg enters his Jerusalem office on a sweltering summer day, he’s wearing a long black coat tied at the waist and a black hat. His long, scraggly beard and sidecurls, or payos, offer no relief from the heat. The office — thank God —… Read more »

(JTA) — Forget sprawling estates and yacht slips, the hottest real estate in the Hamptons might just be a Jewish cemetery. The Shaarey Pardes Accabonac Grove Cemetery, a private plot owned by the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, a Reform synagogue in East Hampton, has become one of the most… Read more »

(JTA) – Several years ago, Jessica Berman and her husband, Brad, bumped into her high school boyfriend. “If you aren’t working as a lawyer in hockey, I’d be amazed,” Berman recalled him saying. The ex had her pegged. Berman, 37, has been employed by the National Hockey League for… Read more »

Irving Berlin left an indelible mark on the classic American songbook with hits like “White Christmas,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “God Bless America.” Arizona Theatre Company will bring Berlin’s story to life in “Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin,” which opens ATC’s 2015-16… Read more »

Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon

We are about to begin the yearly journey of the Jewish fall holidays, examining the choices we continually make and the way our choices have worked out for us in the past year. The last month of the Jewish year, Elul, is bracketed by Torah portions from Deuteronomy that… Read more »

Jewish Family & Children’s Services, in collaboration with experts from the University of Arizona Center on Aging, will present the Mel Sherman Institute on Mental Health lecture series this fall, with free talks on Fridays, Sept. 18 and Nov. 13, from 1-3 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.… Read more »

Project Isaiah, Tucson’s annual High Holy Days food drive benefiting the Community Food bank, begins Sept. 1. The project is named for the Prophet Isaiah, who when asked why we fast on Yom Kippur, responded, “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?” (Isaiah 58:6). It is… Read more »

(JTA) — A Spanish music festival’s recent decision to rescind its invitation to the American reggae singer Matisyahu, after he declined to endorse a Palestinian state, brought international attention to a phenomenon that many European Jews have been feeling for years: that they are being targeted for Israel’s actions.… Read more »

BILOXI, Miss. (JTA) — Standing on an empty lot at the corner of Camellia Street and Southern Avenue, Brad Kessie wistfully inspected one of two sago palms that marked the pathway to Congregation Beth Israel, which had stood here for nearly five decades before Hurricane Katrina struck 10 years… Read more »

(JTA) — In the United States, Heinz is nearly synonymous with ketchup, but Israel has kicked the brand out of that category of condiments. Israel’s Health Ministry ruled recently that the Heinz product does not contain enough “tomato solids” to be labeled as ketchup in Israeli stores. It will be… Read more »

(JTA) — Forget the Iron Dome defense system and the rest of Israel’s formidable military – Hamas is worried about Israeli spy-dolphins. The Palestinian daily Al-Quds reported this week that Hamas captured a dolphin outfitted with Israeli “spying equipment.” Hamas’ naval wing reportedly tracked down the dolphin, which gave itself away through… Read more »

(JTA) — Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the men behind the iconic Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand, have never shied away from politics. For instance, they recently endorsed fellow Jew Sen. Bernie Sanders for president (and even toyed with the idea of giving the Independent from Vermont his own original… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Back in the summer of 1965, the first West German ambassador to Israel, Dr. Rolf Pauls, an ex-Wehrmacht officer, memorably kissed the hand of then-Foreign Minister Golda Meir. It was part of the early stages of official diplomatic relations for Germany and Israel — even… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — To Jewish parents of young children on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Karina Zilberman is something of a celebrity. She is the tall, blonde, guitar-strumming founder of the 92nd Street Y’s Shababa, a multigenerational musical celebration of Shabbat whose name is a mash-up of the modern… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — We love to kvetch about how early or late Rosh Hashanah falls — as if we have any control or say when the holidays will appear. But this year, the Jewish New Year falls on the early side for us Americans, right after Labor Day… Read more »

(The Nosher via JTA) — Pomegranates, or rimonim in Hebrew, are one of the most recognizable and highly symbolic fruits in Jewish culture. Originating in Persia, these reddish, thick-skinned fruits (technically a berry) begin to appear in markets at the end of summer and are readily available for holiday… Read more »

CASTELNUOVO BERARDENGA, Italy (JTA) — Up a windy road in the tranquil Tuscan hills, down a gravel path and past acres of grapevines, a visitor will come across a stainless steel door frame secured with a piece of clear packing tape. The Hebrew scrawled on the adhesive reads: “David Solomon.”… Read more »

(Kveller via JTA) — I’m standing on a cliff 50 feet above the Pacific Ocean, balanced on a precipice between two worlds. I don’t know how life has brought me to this place, this beautiful rock on the Izu Peninsula in Japan, but I’m here with my Japanese husband… Read more »