Israel being a pretty small country, you’d think that every last inch of it would be well-known and well-covered. That’s far from being the case. Avid or armchair travelers can relish in reaching endless little locations where they can bask in the glorious silence, as well as in the glow of …
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“I wish I was born a man, I know what I’d do this morning,” wrote May “Maimie” Pinzer to Fanny Howe in the early 1900s. “I’d button up my coat and jump on the tail end of a train and steal a ride to wherever it was going and then when I’d get there, I’d stop to consider, ‘What’s next?’”
Jerusalem By the Beach
Eric Fingerhut, who led Hillel International for five years, has been hired in the same role at Jewish Federations of North America. And Mark Wilf, JFNA’s board chairman, hopes his new CEO will bring “energy and imagination” to the umbrella for local Jewish federations.
A still from the film ‘Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel.’
Beth Emeth Congregation of the West Valley in Sun City West is hosting the 14th annual West Valley Jewish Film Festival.
The movies aren't what they used to be. With the advent of Netflix and other streaming services, movie theaters have struggled to bring in patrons. Film festivals, too, have had to grapple with the lure of the home theater. Fortunately for residents of Sun City West, though, Beth Emeth Congr…
You probably know his “Starchild” character, with white face makeup and a black star over his right eye, and the Spandex, leather and chains he wears onstage with platform shoes. But when he’s not smashing guitars and telling you to “lose your mind in Detroit Rock City,” KISS frontman Paul S…
To many, having to fight for the right to volunteer might seem slightly ridiculous. But that’s exactly what viewers see in documentarian Paula Eiselt’s first feature-length film, “93Queen,” which chronicles the arduous process of turning Ezras Nashim — an all-volunteer ambulance corps compri…
As Jeanine Korer prepares for the opening of her art exhibit at Temple Solel on Sept. 1, she is eager to share an expansive lifetime of work aimed at making audiences smile.
“What am I going to do with my life?”Julian Hyman asked himself, as many have asked standing at life’s crossroads, puzzling over inchoate paths that might lead to new directions or careers.
Anytime the wealth of a celebrity or business leader is disclosed, the internet explodes with hot takes about money, ownership and excess.
R emember the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode where Larry David is obsessed with chicken from a Palestinian restaurant, but is wracked by guilt for supporting the establishment? “I know, I know, but this chicken, you can’t believe how good it is!”
Not long ago, in an antiques shop, I found a February 1937 issue of “National Geographic” that featured Berlin. It portrayed a city thriving under Nazi rule, with photos of streets festooned with swastika flags, Hitler’s birthday parade and children smiling in front of swastika-draped buildings.
There is something special about an elaborate dessert. Finishing a meal with a showstopper of a sweet treat makes everyone smile.
There is nothing better than biting into a ripe peach, even when the juice rolls down to my chin. With their sweet flavor tinged with a touch of tartness, peaches are my favorite fruit — not just for their taste but for their versatility, too.
Summer is the time of year when many Jews from the United States and around the world visit Israel. This summer, visitors will have something new to behold.
“What the Night Sings”
Last April, my boyfriend, Brad, and I got bumped from a flight and each received $1,000 vouchers. We’d always been interested in Buenos Aires, so we planned a trip to Argentina. Gauchos! Tango! Steak! Jews!
“Discover your inner geek” was the official tagline for Memorial Day weekend’s Phoenix Comic Fest — formerly Phoenix Comicon — the city’s largest annual celebration of science fiction, comic books and a host of other cultural products from manga and microzines to the latest in virtual-realit…
Danielle Gross is a first-year member of Jewish Federations of North America’s National Young Leadership Cabinet. She joined the national cabinet through her work with Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix’s NowGen program, which engages Jewish adults in their 20s through 40s in philanthropy,…
The book “Wherever You Go, There They Are” opens with author Annabelle
We’re living in a golden age of podcasts. Think of just about any topic and there’s a good chance there’s a podcast on it. From the podcast institutions like “This American Life,” “Serial” and anything NPR does to more niche shows about an exploration of Baltimore’s history through the lens …
Ten-year-old Adam is lonely. At home, in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Massuah, his parents — still grieving for Adam’s older brother, who died in a car accident a year ago — barely notice him as he gathers his things and leaves.
Growing up in Scottsdale, Ben Sinclair was active in Temple Kol Ami’s youth group and even served as a counselor at a Jewish summer camp in California. So how did this nice Jewish boy end up selling pot in Brooklyn?
From Twitter to Facebook, from Ireland’s Independent to Vanity Fair, people were talking about Meghan Markle’s shirt.
The Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival, which starts on Sunday, has been around for more than two decades, and over the years it has developed a day where teens from seventh to 12 grades can attend a pre-selected film with their parents to learn more about their Jewish heritage.
Neil Diamond, the legendary singer-songwriter behind such hits as “Sweet Caroline” and “Cherry Cherry,” announced last Monday that he has Parkinson’s disease and is retiring from concert touring.
When Ira Glass, the host and producer of the National Public Radio (NPR) program “This American Life,” saw a performance of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof” last year, he was surprised by his reaction.
There’s the Kotel, the Western Wall, in 1859, not much different than it is today. There are tourists outside Jerusalem in 1867. There are Polish Jews staring into a camera in 1867, while their counterparts from Yemen do the same in 1900.
As the baking season is upon us, I am attempting to streamline my recipes and techniques. This year, I have discovered the bar cookie.
By the middle of Chanukah’s eight days, I’ve made traditional potato latkes at least twice, so I’m looking to stretch my imagination and the latke’s potential.
From the time he was 4 weeks old, Avi was a stunner. He wasn’t much larger than the palm of David Golden’s hand, but even then, as a little black-and-white fluff ball, it was clear he was destined for greatness.
For Gina Gold, growing up black and Jewish in New York City wasn’t easy.
In “Thor: Ragnarok,” director Taika Waititi evolves the hammer-wielder’s franchise into a self-aware intergalactic comedy that provides big laughs in addition to a ton of CGI fights. As Thor himself explains in the opening, “Thor: Ragnarok” answers the question of where Asgard’s first son an…
As Jews of a certain age, haven’t many of us thought that were it not for the grace of God or our grandparents’ or parents’ courage in leaving their homes, the Nazi killing machine may have gotten us?
“A wonderful fact to reflect upon … when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret,” Charles Dickens muses in “A Tale of Two Cities.” The same voyeurism inspires Israeli author Eshkol Nevo’s popular novel “Three Floors Up,” availab…
Food is always my focus when it comes to planning a get-together, and the holidays amplify that emphasis.
The home my parents provided for my sisters and me was one filled with love and respect, but something was missing. Being that we were an interfaith family — Mom was raised Irish Catholic while my father was raised Jewish — the concepts of faith and religion were rarely discussed. They were …
Prince Charming’s recent appearance at a “bark mitzvah” was a real dog-and-pony show. You see, Prince Charming is a miniature horse.
When Valley resident Helen Jaffa had open-heart surgery for an aortic aneurysm nine years ago, she knew she needed to do something big to improve her health. After years of pestering from her vegan daughter, Jaffa made the decision to go completely vegan, becoming part of a trend that’s on t…
The general rule of a break-the-fast meal seems to be simple, relatively light and requiring minimal day-of preparation.
This Community page features photos of community members around the Valley and the world. Submit photos and details each week to photos@jewishaz.com by 10 a.m. Monday.
It’s always the same: As soon as Labor Day passes, mainstream magazines and newspapers bemoan the passing of summer, as though it’s an immutable fact that warmer days are done once September arrives.
Something as simple as a warm bagel is connecting Jewish students of all backgrounds at Arizona State University.
It’s time for school again, but it’s not always easy to get kids back into the reading habit if they’ve been doing other activities all summer. Here, then, to re-engage little minds are a few Kar-Ben books you’ll find either in bookstores or online. These picks can also serve as terrific rea…
Visitors to the Otto Weidt Workshop for the Blind Museum in Berlin would need to be blind not to notice Haim Hoffman — or rather, his weird beard — as he asks them to leave their backpacks at the reception desk before entering this former brush factory that was used to save Jews during the H…
The temperatures may still be high, but fall is on its way, which means it’s time for the annual Red Rocks Music Festival.
“Menashe” is an insightful and moving portrait set within Brooklyn’s Chasidic community and is the first full-length film in Yiddish to hit the big screen in 70 years. The story behind the film is just as engaging.
Archaeologists say they have discovered a lost Roman city that was home to three of Jesus’ apostles — Peter, Andrew and Philip — on the shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel.
