Probably no more than the top 10 percent of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jews will ever shop at Pomegranate, the luxury kosher supermarket recently featured by The New York Times columnist David Brooks in a column titled “The Orthodox Surge.” Brooks chose the upscale kosher version of Whole Foods as the… Read more »
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Noah Warren Cohen Scholarship honors youth
The Noah Warren Cohen Scholarship has been established in memory of Noah Warren Cohen, a young man with great enthusiasm for social causes and compassion for those less fortunate. Noah died in 2010 at the age of 12 and his family has established a scholarship fund that will award… Read more »
NEWS ANALYSIS: Did Obama’s charm offensive in Israel work?
JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Obama had three goals for his first presidential trip to Israel. He wanted to persuade Israelis that the United States is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. He wanted to promote the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, albeit without any specific “deliverables.” Most… Read more »
Egyptian political turmoil spurs Jewish refugees to chronicle ‘second Exodus’
(JTA) — Frolicking with her fiance in the cool waters of the Suez Canal, Lilian Abada would never have imagined she was about to experience the first of a string of events that would ultimately lead her to flee her native Egypt for Israel with only one suitcase. When… Read more »
President Obama arrives at Prime Minister Netanyahu’s residence
Some interesting color in this one on President Obama’s time childhood in Indonesia, plus a couple jokes between leaders. Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu met just outside the PM’s residence. When they entered the home, they went in front of flags for a photo-op. Obama invited Sara Netanyahu… Read more »
Artist Siona Benjamin brings Hindu and Muslim motifs to portrayals of biblical outcasts
MONTCLAIR, N.J. (JTA) — In the space of a single painting, Siona Benjamin juxtaposes feminism, Indian mythology and Jewish imagery. On a three-foot canvas, she’ll paint a portrait of a blue-skinned figure, usually a character from the Bible, with nods to Persian miniatures, Talmudic fables and Vishnu gods. Often… Read more »
Jewish leaders join new alliance pitching domestic fossil fuels
WASHINGTON (JTA) — On page 15 of the most recent edition of the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association’s newsletter, beneath griping about perceived threats to the industry posed by President Obama’s tax and energy policies, was a nugget of positive news: A new coalition had formed between the… Read more »
Passover without wine? For Jewish addicts, sober Seders are a life-saver
NEW YORK (JTA) — It’s rare that an Orthodox rabbi chooses to omit an important Jewish ritual in his holiday celebrations. But in the spring of 2000, Rabbi Yosef Lipsker cleared his living room of furniture, set up three large dining tables and invited dozens of people to a… Read more »
With the help of Knesset members, Women of the Wall get to pray
JERUSALEM (JTA) — If ever there were a gathering of Women of the Wall that was going to spark a wider conflict, Tuesday’s would have been the one. For the past several months, police have detained members of the women’s prayer group during their monthly Rosh Chodesh services for… Read more »
New Haggadahs: Edgar Bronfman’s and an interactive version for children
Francine Hermelin Levite and Edgar Bronfman have been using unique versions of the Passover haggadah for years. Now both have decided to publish their versions of the Exodus story. Hermelin Levite, 43, the mother of three school-aged children, is the author of “My Haggadah: Made it Myself,” (http://madeitmyselfbooks.com), an… Read more »
UA Holocaust Vigil to add family scenes, Butterfly Project
The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation’s Annual Holocaust Vigil — a 24-hour program dedicated to Holocaust remembrance — will take place on the UA mall from Wednesday, March 20 at noon until Thursday, March 21 at noon. This year’s theme is “Silence Helps the Oppressors.” The event will include… Read more »
Volunteers wanted for JFCS Matza and More project, now in 43rd year
Jewish Family & Children’s Services is seeking volunteers and donations for its Matza and More project,, which it started in 1970. Local businesses, synagogues and Jewish organizations join JFCS in collecting and delivering a variety of food items to more than 200 individuals and families to help them celebrate… Read more »
Acclaimed filmmaker turns camera on his own Holocaust experience for ‘Frontline’
BOSTON (JTA) — When he was 5 years old, Marian Marzynski’s parents hatched a plan to smuggle him out of the Warsaw Ghetto. It was 1942, and Marzynski and his family were among the 400,00 Jews rounded up two years earlier by the Nazis, confined to the 1.3-sq.-mile ghetto… Read more »
Austria beckons as recession, xenophobia prompt Jews to ditch Hungary
BUDAPEST (JTA) — Three years ago, Fanni moved to Vienna from her native Hungary with her husband. Now she is pregnant. Though the couple would prefer to raise their child near their Jewish families in Budapest, rising nationalism and an economic recession are leading them to stay in Austria.… Read more »
Meet Brian Bendis, the man who killed Spiderman
NEW YORK (JTA) — Spiderman heroically dispatched countless foes since he arrived on the scene in 1962. Nearly a half-century later, Brian Michael Bendis managed to kill him. In 2000, Bendis was hired to write Ultimate Spiderman, a modern-day retelling of the classic Spiderman story. More than 10 years, 160… Read more »
On the Golan Heights, Israel braces for consequences from Syria civil war
ALONEI HABASHAN, Israel (JTA) — A fence made of chain links and rusted barbed wire once was enough to separate the Golan Heights from Syria. That’s no longer the case. A few feet away from what one area resident called a “cattle fence” — one easy to jump if not… Read more »
Roni Keidar, Israeli peace activist, to be Weintraub Israel Center guest
Despite living in an area under constant rocket fire from Gaza, Israeli Roni Keidar helps Palestinians from Gaza get emergency health care in Israel. Keidar will present “Nurturing Peace on the Gaza Border” on Thursday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The free Heartbeat… Read more »
Brandeis Book & Author event spans locales, genres
An acclaimed first-time novelist, an award-winning mystery writer, an internationally best-selling author and the reporter who wrote “A Safeway in Arizona: What the Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Tells Us About the Grand Canyon State” will highlight the Brandeis National Committee’s 17th Annual Book & Author Events. The committee’s Tucson chapter… Read more »
Where did Esther find courage? Where do we?
The Book of Esther may be a completely invented melodrama, yet under the buffoonery we find a deeply human challenge. The heart of the story — both physically and emotionally — comes at the moment that Mordecai asks Esther to approach the king and plead on behalf of the… Read more »
Prisoner X affair raises charges of dual loyalty for Australian Jews
SYDNEY (JTA) – As more details have seeped out about the mysterious life and death of Israel’s Prisoner X — identified last week by an Australian TV program as Ben Zygier — the wall of silence surrounding those who knew him has begun to show some cracks. On Tuesday,… Read more »