HEADLINES | 6
SPECIAL PULLOUT | B1
INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER
SENIOR LIFESTYLE
Elizabeth (Lizzy) Savetsky, an Orthodox Jewish social media influencer, spoke in Scottsdale
“Getting Good at Getting Older” with Rabbi Laura Geller, JFCS matches Holocaust survivors with services and more.
1948
YEARS
2023
MAY 5, 2023 | IYAR 14, 5783 | VOLUME 75, NUMBER 17
Refugee expert shines light on resettlement at genocide conference SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
T
he week of April 17-21, the 11th annual Rosenbluth Family Charitable Foundation Genocide Awareness Week (GAW) brought together genocide scholars and survivors, as well as artists and activists, for an educational initiative involving lectures, exhibits and storytelling on Tempe’s Arizona State University campus. The annual week-long event sought to understand how the international community responds to genocides, both those that are ongoing and any that might be brewing. Participants look to the past for future guidance, while also honoring people affected by genocide. Naomi Steinberg, vice president of U.S. policy and advocacy for HIAS (originally the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society) — a Jewish American nonprofit organization that provides humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees — was in Tempe as a first-time presenter and participant at GAW. (It was actually her second trip to Tempe; her first happened when she was 10 and she came with her family to cheer on Pennsylvania State University in the Fiesta Bowl.) Steinberg first became interested in the topic of refugees when, during a high school future leaders’ summer trip, she met a Cambodian refugee. In the course of telling her personal story, the woman described watching her sister be tied to a tree and left to die, plagued by swarms of tiny insects.
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Greater Phoenix’s Jewish community celebrates Israel’s birthday SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
A
makeshift shuk lined the far side of the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus’ parking lot on Sunday afternoon, serving as the entrance for the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center’s community-wide celebration of Israel’s 75th birthday. A multitude of Israeli flags and vendors selling Jewish or Jewish-inspired merchandise, everything from jewelry and clothing to arts and crafts, was just the first taste of what was in store for all who attended. Approximately 2,000 people shrugged off the afternoon heat — the temperature hovered around 100 degrees, making it the hottest day of the year thus far — and came out to hear live music, play games, jump in bounce houses and discover all that Greater Phoenix’s Jewish community has to offer. Early on, a community youth choir, made up of kids from Congregation Beth Tefillah (CBT), Congregation Or Tzion, Pardes Jewish Day School, Temple Kol Ami, Temple Chai and The New Shul and led by Temple Chai Cantor Ross Wolman, sang “Hatikvah,” Israel’s national anthem. “Israel is a promised gift and it is our home, our place, and today we are here cherishing the gift of Israel,” Hebrew High Principal Rabbi Aviva Funke told the crowd before the kids sang on the stage where an hour later the Little Chef Klezmer Band performed. Temple Chai singer Layla Raizer, who is 10 but happily anticipating her 11th birthday in 10 days, said she normally likes to sing by herself but also loves singing in the choir. “I really love singing Taylor Swift songs, but ‘Hatikvah’ is good too,” she said. CBT singer Audrey Allen, 10, said she also likes singing. She is getting ready to star in Pardes’ musical “Matilda” SEE BIRTHDAY, PAGE 3
Layla Raizer holds up her blow-up hammer she picked up at Congregation Or Tzion’s table at the community-wide celebration of Israel’s 75th birthday. COURTESY OF JEWISH NEWS
Sharing with students Local lawyers shared practical tips on navigating potential observance issues with the Jewish Law Students Association at Arizona State University. See page 18.
SEE EXPERT, PAGE 2
PHOTO COURTESY OF JEREMY ROVINSKY
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INTERNATIONAL
Hundreds of academics and institutions, Disney+ series ‘A Small Light’ tells the Anne Frank story from the perspective of including Yad Vashem, condemn Polish government’s attack on Holocaust historian the woman who hid her
ISRAEL
Speaking to Israel’s Knesset, Kevin McCarthy demurs on judicial overhaul and warns against China