Mollie in 2010, after she completed the Save Buzzards Bay swim. /Ed WestrickPROVIDENCE – Meet swimmers Mollie, 15, and Natalie Westrick, 13, two sisters who dove into swimming as their hobby.

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras /Nancy Kirsch

PROVIDENCE –  “What affects Providence affects us all,” said Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, in brief remarks, perhaps to deflect attention on the capital city as the locus of much of Rhode Island’s violent crime. He spoke at the May 6 panel discussion, “The Face of Gun Violence in Rhode Island: Causes and Solutions.”

As tensions brewed along Israel’s northern border with Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the country for highly anticipated talks with leaders of one of the world’s superpowers. To the surprise of many who closely follow Israeli geopolitics, that superpower is not the United States, but China.

Marcia Hirsch, Barbara Lavine, Sharon Gaines, Trine Lustig, Marjorie Yashar and Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow in Cuba /CUBA MISSION PARTICIPANTS

PROVIDENCE – After seeing the inspiring work carried out by the American Joint Distribution Committee (the JDC) in ––, and the enthusiasm of Cuba’s Jewish community, the women who participated in the Rhode Island mission to Cuba sprang into action. (See the April 26 story at jvhri.org by Susan Leach DeBlasio, “On a mission to Cuba, with the JDC,” for more information about the trip.)

Marcia Hirsch, Barbara Lavine, Sharon Gaines, Trine Lustig, Marjorie Yashar and Cheryl Greenfeld Teverow in Cuba /CUBA MISSION PARTICIPANTS

PROVIDENCE – After seeing the inspiring work carried out by the American Joint Distribution Committee (the JDC) in ––, and the enthusiasm of Cuba’s Jewish community, the women who participated in the Rhode Island mission to Cuba sprang into action. (See the April 26 story at jvhri.org by Susan Leach DeBlasio, “On a mission to Cuba, with the JDC,” for more information about the trip.)

PROVIDENCE – Where do your Alliance Community Campaign dollars go?

The sidebar, “CDC allocations in a nutshell,” in the April 12 story about the campaign, “Annual Campaign raises $2.58 million for programs,” only briefly outlined the allocations for fiscal year 2014 (July 1, 2013 - June 30, 2014).

Rabbi Michelle Dardashti /Rabbi Michelle Dardashti

PROVIDENCE – A new rabbi is coming to town: Rabbi Michelle Dardashti will be the next associate chaplain of  Brown University and rabbi of Brown RISD Hillel, succeeding Rabbi Mordechai Rackover, who announced several months ago his plans to depart at the end of this academic year.

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Minutes after a terrorist attack killed three at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, doctors and nurses at the city’s hospitals faced a harrowing scene – severed limbs, burned bodies, shrapnel buried in skin.