Tagged HEADLINES

Natan Sharansky, head of the Jewish Agency for Israel, is tasked with finding a solution to the growing battle over women’s prayer restrictions at the Western Wall. (Miriam Alster/Flash90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — He brought unprecedented attention to the plight of Soviet Jewry. He stood up to the KGB. He survived nine years in Siberia. He served in Israel’s fractious government. Now, Natan Sharansky is facing his next challenge: finding a solution to the growing battle over women’s… Read more »

(Jewish Ideas Daily) — Israel uses the pretense of law to dominate and disenfranchise Palestinians in the territories. So argues Ra’anan Alexandrowicz in his documentary “The Law in These Parts,” a recent favorite on the New York film circuit. Since the film has garnered nearly universal acclaim, it is… Read more »

Dear Erica, I am very frustrated with the leadership of my children’s preschool. After the Newtown killings, I went straight to the head of the school and asked why we can’t have an armed guard outside the building. The school did send out an email to the entire school… Read more »

Reform leader Rabbi Rick Jacobs, shown speaking at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Jerusalem in November 2012, co-authored a letter to President Obama on eschewing action against the Palestinians that would damage efforts to renew peace talks. (Robert A. Cumins/JFNA)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Two major Jewish groups are at odds over the prospect of penalties for the Palestinians in the wake of their enhanced U.N. status. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee in recent weeks has backed two congressional bids to at least shut down the Palestine Liberation Organization… Read more »

Alan Elsner

A recent announce­ment that I had joined J Street as vice president of communications raised some eyebrows among some of my friends in the Jewish community. After all, as recently as two months ago, I was a member of senior management at The Israel Project, a very different organization.… Read more »

If there were a prize for the Arab country that has done most to promote Arab-Israeli peace recently, I’d seriously consider nominating Saudi Arabia. Admittedly, that’s a counterintuitive choice: Riyadh doesn’t even recognize Israel and shows no signs of doing so anytime soon; moreover, it finances the spread of… Read more »

Anna Greenberg lights the Chanukah candles at the service of healing in her honor Dec. 5. (L-R) Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, Wendy Weise Cohon, Anna, Bruce Greenberg, Burney Starks (behind Bruce), Aaron Greenberg, Alayne Greenberg, Joree Sowards, Tzadik Rosenberg-Greenberg (MartyJohnston/TJCC)

“Anna-tude” – it’s a new word in the Tucson lexicon to describe the shining spirit of Anna Greenberg, 27, who has been fighting cancer with enormous courage and a wry sense of humor for more than a year. Anna was diagnosed with cancer in October 2011 after her dramatic… Read more »

Afshin Ellian

Among his many talents, Afshin Ellian has a knack for making people want to kill him. It’s a trait he demonstrated as a fugitive in his native Iran after the Islamic Revolution; then as a refugee in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where he angered secular Stalinists; and finally in Holland,… Read more »

Mike Reiss, writer/producer of ‘The Simpsons,’ as he would look in the cartoon world he helped create.

The 22nd annual Tucson International Jewish Film Festival, featuring almost two dozen comedies, dramas and documentaries about everything from music to bagels to the healing power of dolphins, will be held Jan. 10-20. A pre-festival kick-off will be held Sunday, Jan. 6 at 2:15 p.m. and 7 p.m. at… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — With public acceptance of same-sex marriage growing, liberal Jewish groups are hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will strike down the Defense of Marriage Act that they have long opposed. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases related to same-sex marriage: an appeal of a… Read more »

Schoolchildren from the Haitian town of Zoranje standing outside their middle school that was built by the JDC. (Courtesy American Joint Distribution Committee)

NEW YORK (JTA) — It was the poor construction. There had been many earthquakes more powerful than the one that hit Haiti nearly three years ago, and there have been many more since. But few have been deadlier. When the tremor registering 7.0 on the Richter scale struck on… Read more »

Diane Heiman, co-author of "It's a...It's a...It's a Mitzvah," with children at a JCC of Greater Washington book event. (Courtesy Diane Heiman)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Chanukah, when children look forward to getting gifts and gelt, is an ideal time to recall Judaism’s commitment to helping others and tikkun olam, repairing the world. Two recently published books, “The Mitzvah Project Book: Making Mitzvah Part of Your Bar/Bat Mitzvah … and your… Read more »

WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (JTA) — It’s no secret that Henry Ford was a notorious anti-Semite, and his company’s dealings with the Nazi Party during the Holocaust are well documented. But the company’s story has changed drastically in recent years. The Ford family’s donation of a rare 500-year-old Torah scroll… Read more »

Frony Chaima from Malawi, with a heifer her family received from a Heifer International supporter

Heifer International is known for practical, philanthropic gift-giving. Since 1944, Heifer’s mission has been to end hunger and poverty through gifts that provide self-reliance. The organization currently offers 30 kinds of livestock, trees, seeds and agricultural training to needy families in 42 countries, including the United States. Donations may… Read more »

  In our last issue, we announced that starting with the Dec. 14 issue, the Arizona Jewish Post is changing from mail to carrier delivery. Here’s a reminder — and a few new details. Carriers for the Arizona Daily Star will handle the delivery, but you do not need… Read more »

Congregation Anshei Israel has commissioned the creation of a new Torah as part of a yearlong celebration of its 83rd anniversary, or “Second Bar Mitzvah.” A kick-off event, the “Mitzvah 613 Torah Fair” on Sunday, Dec. 16, will allow participants to fulfill the 613th commandment by sharing with others… Read more »

Temple Emanu-El is offering a new program for interfaith families, “Stepping Stones to a Jewish Family.” Stepping Stones is designed to introduce interfaith families to Judaism and Jewish rituals, synagogue life and community participation in a relaxed, informal way. Temple Emanu-El is partnering with the Tucson Hebrew Academy on… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — The recent conflict in Gaza and Israel casts a vivid spotlight on the need to strengthen relations between Jews and Muslims in countries around the world. It is crucial if we are to avoid importing the violence that has rocked the Holy Land to our… Read more »

Moshe Bahta, director of the Ibim Absorption Center, briefing his staff, Nov. 18, 2012. (Adam Soclof)

IBIM, Israel (JTA) – The explosion occurred close enough to Stesyahu Alema to shake his apartment, where he sat with his wife and two of his five children. But he didn’t flinch. None of them did. “There are a lot of people with me, so I don’t need to… Read more »

Micah Halpern

It doesn’t matter who the president is when it comes to U.S. policy toward Israel. When political pundit Micah D. Halpern made that statement in his talk, “Making Sense of the Middle East: A Post-Election Analysis,” at a Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona leadership campaign summit on Nov. 8,… Read more »