After a tornado and a fire damaged a historic synagogue and a Jewish community center in separate incidents over the Christmas holidays, the local community is helping Jewish communities in Alabama and Arizona get back on their feet. On December 25, a tornado swept through Alabama destroying homes and causing millions of dollars in property damage. Two Shabbats later, congregants of the Springhill Avenue Temple in Mobile are still displaced. The historic Reform synagogue, the first shul in Alabama, suffered …More

A Reform leader accuses Israel of discrimination against the non-Orthodox. [Times of Israel] How Jewish groups can make gay youths feel accepted. [Tablet] Judd Apatow discusses his new film, "This is 40." [Jewcy] A man suspected of stabbing an Orthodox Jew in Geneva is extradited to Switzerland. [Jewocity] A Jewish victim of the Arizona shooter faces her assailant in court. [Forward] Berlin is seeing an explosion of Jewish restaurants. [Forward] Kosherfest 2012 serves up faux bacon to the masses. [Jewish …More

Gabby Giffords told her attacker she was “done thinking of [him],” during a sentencing today for the infamous Arizona shooter. Jared Loughner, 24, received seven life sentences plus an extra 140 years in prison in lieu of the death penalty for his shooting spree last year. He killed six and wounded 13, including the Congresswoman that has become a symbol of heroism for many Americans. Giffords, Arizona’s first Jewish Congresswoman, was shot in the head and paralyzed partially after the attack, …More

Mitt Romney can get Jewish votes, so long as he stands up to the Tea Party, says political strategist Mik Moore. [Huffington Post] The era of using technology to advance learning can change the way Jews study Torah. [Wall Street Journal] The Arizona desert is abloom with Jewish-women's groups. [Jewish News of Greater Phoenix] A Jewish professor in Boston uses music to transcend the darkest times in Judaism's history. [Intermountain Jewish News] Thousands of Jewish athletes will compete in the Maccabi …More

A leader of Hungary's notoriously anti-Semitic political party discovers he has Jewish roots. [Algemeiner] Germany's circumcision ruling may lead to "circumcision tourism." [Jewish Press] Jewish groups are concerned over Arizona's "papers please" law. [New America Media] Jewish residents react to Colorado fires. [International jewish News] Gilad Shalit thanks the Jewish community for its support during a visit in New York. [Jewish Week] Congressional candidate Hakeem Jeffries vows to help cash strapped …More

More than half of Jewish Israelis call illegal African migrants a “cancer.” [Los Angeles Times] An Australian Jewish conference cancels anti-Zionist speakers. [EJP] Tablet reports a decrease in the number of young Jewish women undergoing rhimoplasty. [Tablet] Jewish literacy program PJ Library reaches three million books delivered to children. [Huffington Post] A Jewish theater in Arizona closes after 24 years. [AZ Cenral] Berlin’s Jewish film festival turns 18. [Forward] And Joe Eszterhas …More

Police have identified a Jewish family from Tempe, Ariz., the Butwins, as the subjects of a suspected murder-suicide. Police said that James Butwin, a board member of his local synagogue, Temple Emanuel, was the primary suspect in the killing of his wife and three children. The bodies were found in a burning SUV on Saturday that was registered to the Butwins but had been missing from the family home, Tempe Police said. While authorities were working to identify the remains, the Pinal County sheriff said he …More

The Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show faces outcry from Arizona Jewish residents over the offensive name of one of its horses. Polish champion horse Pogrom, a 3-year-old colt on lease from the Polish government to the Midwest Training Centre, has earned the ire of Jews who interpret his name as referring to WWII anti-Semitic attacks in Europe. "They did not intend to choose a name that would be offensive, especially to people with whom they share historic tragedies," said Sue Adams, spokeswoman for Midwest Training …More

Shortly after leading a vigil on the one-year anniversary of her brutal attack, United States Representative Gabrielle Giffords announced that she will resign her position in Congress. “I don’t remember much from that horrible day, but I will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice,” Giffords says in a two-minute video released Sunday. Though her speech is much improved from her November interview with Diane Sawyer, Giffords’ brief comments are halting. Thanking viewers …More

On the one year anniversary of a brutal attack that resulted in a gunshot to her head, United States Rep. Gabrielle Giffords led a crowd in Tuscon, Arizona in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. Giffords took to the outdoor stage at the University of Arizona, closing out a day of events in a community still reeling from the shooting that killed six and wounded 13 others. She needed help from her husband, Mark Kelly, to lift her arm to cover her heart, but she spoke loudly and clearly. Kelly, a former astronaut, …More

United States Rep. Gabrielle Giffords served Thanksgiving meals to both active and retired service members at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in her hometown of Tucson, Arizona. Giffords was accompanied by her husband, Mark Kelly. She only used her left hand while distributing turkey with Kelly noticeably supporting her as she served the food. Giffords was among the 19 people shot in an attack last January outside a Tuscon supermarket, which left six dead. She has been undergoing intensive rehabilitation at TIRR …More

Although Nancy Miller calls this book a memoir, it is in many ways more a family detective story, tracking a set of clues back into the past and across the globe. Or, perhaps better, it exemplifies how writing a memoir can move an author onto the openly shifting grounds of memory, where her own need — she’s “starved for stories”— is revealed and explored. On those shifting grounds, the fragmentary and uncertain nature of “a Jewish past” also becomes visible. Miller flies …More