(JTA) — Lev Parnas, the Ukrainian-American businessman charged with campaign finance violations related to the Trump-Ukraine scandal, said in a series of media interviews that President Donald Trump “knew exactly what was going on” in Ukraine. Parnas spoke to several news outlets, including MSNBC, The New York Times and… Read more »
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Trailblazing book by Jewish author Ezra Jack Keats is most checked-out book ever at New York Public Library
(JTA) — A trailblazing children’s book by a Jewish author is the most checked-out book of all time at the New York Public Library. “The Snowy Day” by writer and illustrator Ezra Jack Keats has been checked out of the library 485,583 times, according to a list of the… Read more »
Rockets fired at Israel from Gaza and Israel retaliates
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s military carried out airstrikes on terror group installations in Gaza on Wednesday after terrorists launched rocket attacks on southern Israel. Four rockets launched in the afternoon sent Israelis in Gaza border communities running to bomb shelters. Two of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron… Read more »
500 rabbis and Jewish leaders call for action against climate change
(JTA) — Five hundred rabbis and other Jewish leaders from around the world are calling for climate change action. The letter released earlier this month was signed by rabbis and leaders spanning the denominational spectrum — from Orthodox to Reform and secular — and from countries including the United… Read more »
Anti-Semitic incidents decreased by 27% in Ukraine in 2019, Jewish group says
(JTA) — A Jewish organization in Ukraine said that the number of anti-Semitic incidents documented there last year decreased by 27 percent over 2018. The United Jewish Community of Ukraine, one of several groups representing Ukrainian Jewry, said in a report published Monday that it has documented 66 anti-Semitic… Read more »
Jersey City kosher store shooters had powerful bomb and planned to target Jews and police
(JTA) — The two Jersey City kosher store shooters were carrying a bomb in the van they were using that had enough firepower to kill or wound people in an area the size of five football fields. Federal officials on Monday also said that David Anderson and Francine Graham… Read more »
Fast facts about the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona
Did you know … that in addition to the programs, synagogues, and agencies the Federation helps fund in Southern Arizona, it supports Jewish communities in Israel, the former Soviet Union, and more than 70 countries around the world? Did you know … that the Free Loan, a non-sectarian program… Read more »
On Hanukkah, like a moth to the flame
It began as a typical Jewish Christmas Eve. To borrow a quote from Elana Kagan: “Like most Jews, I was at a Chinese restaurant.” As I walked through the restaurant, I passed table after table of Jewish friends and acquaintances happily sharing fried rice and eggrolls with family and… Read more »
Four steps to tackle our biggest issue now, starting with building bridges
The emergence of violent anti-Semitism as a widespread American scourge can leave no Jews with warm thoughts about the year that just passed. Until October 2018, just 15 months ago, there had never been a fatal attack on a synagogue in the United States. Now there have been two… Read more »
Vineyard purchases benefit Israeli charities and Tucson J
The Israel Innovation Fund’s Wine on the Vine initiative allows people to plant a grapevine in Israel in the name of a loved one for $18. The Tucson Jewish Community Center is one of the first five JCCs in the United States to partner with Wine on the Vine.… Read more »
The incredible NYC march should not overshadow Judaism’s main purpose
On Sunday, I joined tens of thousands of Jews and non-Jews who marched from downtown Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge in a show of commitment to fighting the recent violent rise of anti-Semitism. Last week, I stood in Jerusalem with thousands of Jews at the Siyum HaShas, a celebration… Read more »
Israeli research gives new hope to patients with multiple myeloma
Shlomit Norman was only 42 when doctors diagnosed her with multiple myeloma — a bone marrow cancer with no known cure that rarely strikes people under the age of 65. At the time, the youngest of her three boys was 10, and few patients with the disease survived for… Read more »
UArizona Colleges of Medicine provide some free tuition
The University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine in Tucson and Phoenix began providing free tuition in the spring semester to students who agree to practice primary care in a federally designated underserved community in Arizona for at least two years after completing their residency. This is a move to… Read more »
Humidity in workplace can impact health
A new study suggests that relative humidity levels in the office can affect stress and potentially sleep quality, and cost employers in terms of productivity and sick leave. The study is by Esther Sternberg, M.D., director of the University of Arizona Institute on Place, Wellbeing and Performance and research… Read more »
25,000 march against anti-Semitism in New York City
NEW YORK (JTA) — An estimated 25,000 people marched across the Brooklyn Bridge and held a rally on Sunday to protest rising anti-Semitism in and around New York City. The rally comes following a spate of attacks on Jews — including, most recently, a stabbing attack at a rabbi’s… Read more »
Letter to U.S. leaders on French insanity plea verdict
I have sent the following email to President Trump, Senators McSally and Sinema, and Representative O’Halleran: My name is Jeffrey N. Penfil, DMD. I am both a business owner and a community volunteer, currently serving as President of the Dove Mountain Rotary Club. As an American citizen, a citizen… Read more »
New York Times editorial calls for mass support for solidarity march against anti-Semitism
(JTA) — A New York Times editorial threw its support behind a planned solidarity march through New York City in the wake of a string of attack on Jews. The Sunday editorial noted that more than half of the 421 hate crimes reported in the city in 2019 were… Read more »
Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks: The keys to understanding American anti-Semitism — and fighting back
LONDON (JTA) — The last two festivals to be added to the Jewish calendar prior to modern times — Purim and Hanukkah — are both about anti-Semitism. There is one obvious difference between them: Haman, of the Purim story, wanted to kill Jews. Antiochus, of the Hanukkah story, wanted… Read more »
U.S. kills Qassem Soleimani, Iranian Quds force cief
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A U.S. airstrike killed Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, which operates a number of regional militias and is allied with terrorist groups targeting Israel, including Hezbollah and Hamas. The strike early Friday morning hit a vehicle near Baghdad International Airport. The Quds Force… Read more »
Suspect in Monsey Hanukkah attack had journals with references to Hitler
NEW YORK (JTA) — Prosecutors filed federal hate crimes charges Monday against the man who allegedly attacked several individuals with a machete during a Hanukkah celebration at a Hasidic rabbi’s home in Monsey. “Officials said they had recovered handwritten journals expressing anti-Semitic views, including references to Adolf Hitler and… Read more »