Tagged HEADLINES

New PBS special examines ‘Seeds of Conflict’ in the Middle East

Collectives of European immigrants, soon known as kibbutzim, were an early building block of the Zionist movement. (Courtesy of Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi)

LOS ANGELES (JTA) – Conflict between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East now appears a permanent condition, but it didn’t have to be that way, according to a one-hour PBS special premiering on June 30. “1913: The Seeds of Conflict” traces the relationship between the two Semitic tribes… Read more »

Op-Ed: This is not the Charleston I know

Robert N. Rosen

CHARLESTON, S.C. (JTA) — The unspeakable murder of nine accomplished, beloved and respected African-American Charlestonians of faith in their own church on Wednesday has hit our city like an earthquake. These murders occurred in my neighborhood, across the street from Buist Academy, the public magnet school my daughter and… Read more »

Op-Ed: An incentive for a two-state solution you can take to the bank

Last week, a team of the Santa Monica-based RAND Corporation came to Israel and to the Palestinian Authority to present a new study, calculating the costs of different Israeli-Palestinian scenarios. According to the study, in the case of a two-state solution, the Israeli economy would gain more than $120… Read more »

TripAdvisor CEO: A tech exec with a soft spot for Israel

Though he's CEO of a major travel company, Stephen Kaufer says he doesn't really have wanderlust -- but he would like to revisit his favorite destination: Jerusalem. (Courtesy TripAdvisor)

NEW YORK (JTA) – When Stephen Kaufer, the CEO of TripAdvisor, an $11 billion company that runs America’s leading user-generated hotel review website, thinks back to all the places he has visited, one stands out as his favorite. Jerusalem. “Oh my gosh, looking at all of these amazing structures, the… Read more »

Op-Ed: Illinois BDS law should be model for country

Steven B.Nasati

CHICAGO (JTA) — There are many important endeavors already underway to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, as the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman argues in his recent JTA Op-Ed. From educating and mobilizing our own community to engaging non-Jewish leaders and institutions, much work is being done. But… Read more »

Growing Jewish presence supports Oro Valley businesses

Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman of Chabad of Tucson affixes the mezuzah at the grand opening of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona's Northwest office in October 2012. (Phyllis Braun)

The Town of Oro Valley is running two campaigns to bolster local spending and keep dollars in the community. The first, Shop Oro Valley Summer Campaign, which runs through July 3, is open to anyone who shops at an Oro Valley business and spends at least $25. Participants are… Read more »

Marana Chamber of Commerce president is proud of town’s growth

Ed Stolmaker

Ed Stolmaker grew up in Haw­thorne, N.J., but almost 16 years ago, he made an impetuous move to unincorporated Pima County. The current president and CEO of the Marana Chamber of Commerce was visiting Tucson with his wife, Marianne, on New Year’s Eve 1998. “We weren’t planning on moving… Read more »

Rabbi touts holistic, kabalistic path to health

Rabbi Manis Friedman speaks at the Tucson Jewish Community Center May 26.

Good health and happiness can be achieved, says Rabbi Manis Friedman. During his talk, “A Healthy, Joyous and Fulfilling Life, A Holistic and Kabalistic Perspective,” attended by about 50 people on May 26 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, Friedman highlighted ways for people to look at life and… Read more »

Author of ‘Living the Secular Life’ to give Tucson talks

Phil Zuckerman

Phil Zuckerman, author of “Living the Secular Life,” will give two free lectures on Sunday, June 21 at the DuVal Auditorium at Banner-University Medical Center, 1501 N. Campbell Ave. He will present “The Rise of the Nones: Causes and Consequences of Rising Irreligion in the USA,” sponsored by Free… Read more »

AJP writer wins second ‘Jewish Pulitzer’

For the second year in a row, the Arizona Jewish Post has won a first place Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism from the American Jewish Press Association. The award is also a repeat for AJP freelance writer Nancy Ben-Asher Ozeri, who took home last year’s first… Read more »

Op-Ed: Time for a regional solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

NEW YORK (JTA) — In the last 48 hours, rockets from Gaza were again fired at innocent civilians. This cannot be tolerated. The Israel Defense Forces must respond swiftly and without hesitation. We, as the opposition, will support strong government action. Yet such action cannot stand alone. We need… Read more »

Op-Ed: Comprehensive approach to fighting BDS is needed

Abraham Foxman

NEW YORK (JTA) — Let’s be clear from the outset: the BDS movement, the effort to support boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, is sinister and malicious and is having a negative effect on Jewish students on some campuses and on the wider Jewish community. The origins of the… Read more »

As Lightning vies for Stanley Cup, the team’s Jewish owner chats with JTA

Jeffrey Vinik says his Lightning has "really resonated" in the Tampa-area community, noting "great fans" and soaring television ratings. (Scott Iskowitz/TBL)

  (JTA) — Jeffrey Vinik, the owner of the National Hockey League’s Tampa Bay Lightning, is experiencing a first: his team playing in the Stanley Cup Finals, which opened June 3 in Florida against the Chicago Blackhawks. (Under previous owners, the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004.) Tampa… Read more »

Agnieszka Kurant and the art of what’s missing

The work of Polish-Jewish artist Agnieszka Kurant will be featured this summer at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. (Janek Zamoyski)

NEW YORK (JTA) — On June 5, Agnieszka Kurant will become one of only a handful of artists to have their work adorn the famous curved facade of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum here. Kurant’s “The End of Signature,” a neon white projection created from the actual signatures of… Read more »

Targeting modern Orthodox rabbi, Israeli rabbinate draws battle line

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, rabbi of the Jewish settlement of Efrat conducts the Pidyon HaBen ceremony for a 30-day-old first born son in Efrat, West Bank, May 25, 2015. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — There’s no shortage of Israelis who want to reform the office of the Chief Rabbinate. Ranging from advocates of religion-state separation to leaders of Israel’s non-Orthodox movements to newspaper columnists, some want to end the Rabbinate’s monopoly over the country’s religious services; others want to dissolve… Read more »

The Holocaust film that is upending the genre – and other Jewish notes from Cannes

“Son of Saul,” which recreates a harrowing Holocaust experience, garnered nearly universal acclaim at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. (Twitter)

(JTA) — Given the long and storied history of the Holocaust film genre, it’s unusual for a new movie on the subject to be lauded as innovative. But the new film “Son of Saul,” the first by Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes, is being called just that. It also was one… Read more »