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ELECTRIC CARS ON SHABBAT?
SENIOR LIFESTYLE Tips for aging in place, how to reduce stroke risk, meet an end-of-life doula and the ‘Honey Girl’ shares her story
Most Conservative rabbis say yes
1948
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2023
SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 | ELUL 15, 5783 | VOLUME 75, NUMBER 23
‘Beautiful story’ of a loan and a Torah’s trip north SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
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rian Schanerman climbed into the driver seat of his car late Friday morning with a touch of apprehension. He was preparing to drive more than 100 miles north to Prescott with something very precious buckled into the seat next to him. On Aug. 11, Congregation Or Tzion in Scottsdale officially lent one of its Sefer Torahs to Prescott’s Temple B’rith Shalom. Or Tzion board member Robert Young and Rabbi Andy Green made the handoff to Schanerman after wrapping the 1960s-era Torah in a tallit for the car ride to its new home, where it will spend at least the next five years — and maybe longer. B’rith Shalom Rabbi Susan Schanerman waited for her husband to arrive in Prescott with the Torah before sending her pre-Shabbat email to congregants, letting them know about it, though some were surprised by the announcement at the service itself. “It was a wonderful turnout, just lovely,” she said. “Our president, Deborah Plotkin, paraded the Torah and we sang and people kissed it — it was exciting.” “It was such a mitzvah for me to be the one carrying it and I could see the joy on everyone’s faces,” Plotkin said. “The vibe in the whole temple was so heartwarming — it really gave a shot of vitality to the community.” B’rith Shalom has two Torahs of its own, however, one is so old it’s no longer legible and the other needs repairs. When Rabbi Schanerman learned from one of her congregants, who is also a member of Or Tzion, that the Scottsdale synagogue might be willing to part with one of its Torahs, she contacted Young to ask about purchasing one. Young brought the request to a board meeting, where it was decided unanimously that rather than burden a small congregation with the significant expense of buying
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Wildcats trip to Israel a success on and off the court SCRUFFY COHEN | SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
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he University of Arizona Wildcats men’s basketball team went to Israel on a summer trip starting Aug. 9 and concluding on Aug. 20. Arizona — National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules allow teams to take overseas trips only every four years — played the Israel Select Team, a squad comprised of some the best Israeli players including Ryan Turell, the first Orthodox Jew attempting to play in the NBA. Arizona also played games in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The trip was organized by Athletes for Israel, an organization that brings high-profile athletes University of Arizona men’s basketball team visited Yad Vashem: The World Holocaust to Israel. According to their The COURTESY MIKE CHRISTY/ARIZONA ATHLETICS Remembrance Center while they were in Israel. website, Athletes for Israel uses sports as a platform to “combat antisemitism and racism while changing the narrative of Israel.” Athletes for Israel founder Daniel Posner strongly believes that sports can be used to create societal change. That change, as Posner sees, starts with the head coach. As the 2022 AP National Men’s Basketball Coach of the year, coach Tommy Lloyd, head coach of the Wildcats, is a household name in the college basketball universe. Yet, Posner paid attention to the person coach Lloyd is rather than the X’s and O’s, essentially calling Lloyd a mensch. SEE WILDCATS, PAGE 3
Rosh Hashanah is nearly here Enjoy seven sweet facts about Rosh Hashanah you may not know. See page 19. PHOTO COURTESY OF KVELLER VIA JTA
SEE TORAH, PAGE 2
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State Dept. condemns far-right Israeli Tennessee court rules couple has the right Holocaust gravesites identified in Latvia minister for saying his right to travel in the to sue state after foster care agency denied and Netherlands using contemporary West Bank is ‘more important than Arabs’ technology them services because they are Jewish freedom of movement’