Tagged HEADLINES

Gertrude Shankman, longtime resident at Handmaker, dies at 105

gertrude_shankman_obit

Gertrude A. Shankman, 105, died July 24, 2020. Gertrude was born Oct. 26, 1914 in Brooklyn, New York. She was a longtime resident at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, where students from Tucson Hebrew Academy had visited to celebrate her birthday ever year since she turned 100. “As… Read more »

Chabad of Oro Valley plans outdoor Shofar blowing

Chabad of Oro Valley will hold three socially-distanced Shofar blowing events outside its premises at 1171 E. Rancho Vistoso Blvd. #131 on Sunday, Sept. 20. The times are 9:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 6 p.m. Each will include a 10-minute service in the parking lot. No registration is required.… Read more »

CAI to hold drive-up Shofar blast

Congregation Anshei Israel will give Tucsonans an opportunity to hear the Rabbi Sara Metz sound the Shofar live on Friday, Aug. 21 at 8:30 a.m., in the northwest parking lot (facing the sanctuary doors). Members also can pick up thei High Holy Days packages. Other LIVE Shofar blast opportunities… Read more »

Jewish gun control activists, including Gabby Giffords, take center stage at Democratic convention

In this screenshot from the DNCC’s livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords addresses the virtual convention on August 19, 2020. (DNCC via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Gabby Giffords, the Jewish former congresswoman who became a leader in the gun control movement after being shot by an assailant in the head in 2011, opened the third night of the Democratic convention with an appeal to elect Joe Biden president. “We can let the… Read more »

Non-Jewish assemblywoman in NY targeted in anti-Semitic attack

(JTA) – The fact that New York state Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright isn’t Jewish didn’t stop a vandal from leaving behind an anti-Semitic note after defacing her office. Seawright, a Democrat whose district includes part of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, called for a police investigation into the incident at a… Read more »

JAC raises funds with Walk to Israel challenge

Jewish Arizonans on Campus, which provides classes, trips, Shabbat meals, and other programs at both the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, has raised $24,154 through Olami’s Walk to Israel pedometer fundraising challenge. Registration ends Aug. 15. JAC was founded in 2005 to provide Jewish students of all… Read more »

Austria will allow descendants of Holocaust victims to receive citizenship

(JTA) — Austria will allow the descendants of Holocaust victims to receive citizenship beginning Sept. 1, the country’s embassy in Israel announced Sunday. Before an amendment to Austria’s citizenship law ratified last September, only survivors were entitled to receive citizenship, and then only if they left Austria due to… Read more »

Larry Johnson, former Kansas City Chiefs running back, tweets that Jews are involved in sex trafficking, pedophilia and more

Kansas Chiefs running back Larry Johnson carries the ball during the game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, Oct. 4, 2009. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

(JTA) — Larry Johnson, a former running back who played seven seasons for the Kansas City Chiefs, tweeted multiple times to his more than 147,000 followers over the weekend that a Jewish “cabal” is involved in “Human Trafficking, Sex Trafficking, Pedophilia, Ritualistic Child Torture, Perversion, Human Sacrifice/Murder.” And on… Read more »

Israel offers Lebanon assistance after massive, deadly explosion in Beirut

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel has offered Lebanon humanitarian assistance after a massive explosion at Beirut’s waterfront killed at least 30 people and injured thousands. Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz announced the offer on Twitter. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli army and at least one Israeli hospital also offered… Read more »

SF Giants’ first home game blessed by seafaring ‘Rally Rabbi’

Rabbi Yosef Langer on a yacht before the San Francisco Giants’ home opener, July 28, 2020. (Gabriel Greschler)

(J. the Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — While the ballpark Tuesday night at the San Francisco Giants’ home opener may not have been filled with fans because of COVID-19 restrictions, nearby McCovey Cove had a familiar guest. Standing on a 75-foot yacht docked in a part… Read more »

Uzbekistan Jews fight to save 124-year-old synagogue from demolition

(JTA) — A construction firm in Uzbekistan is attempting to have a 124-year-old synagogue demolished to make way for a luxury apartment complex, according to a Russian-Jewish publication. Absolute Business Trade, a company based in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent, earlier this year sued the Jewish Ashkenazi Community of… Read more »

Holocaust survivors launch campaign to fight Holocaust denial on Facebook

BERLIN (JTA) – Joining a growing chorus of critical voices, Holocaust survivors have launched an international online campaign criticizing Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg that is aimed at countering Holocaust denial on his social media platform. Starting Wednesday, a campaign sponsored by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany… Read more »