How do you break into the circle? A concierge service to help people navigate the Jewish community is one of several new initiatives to come out of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s strategic planning process. (Allegro Photography, http://allegrophotography.com)
May 15, 2013
By Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
Looking for a way to jump into a Jewish community “can be a very lonely place,” says Liz Kanter Groskind, a member of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona strategic planning steering committee. That’s why a “concierge” service to help people at various stages of life find Jewish community programs, events and services to suit [...]
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Dougoutigo Fadiga outside the Bani Israel clinic near the Senegalese village's sacred tree, May 2013. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
May 24, 2013
By Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
BANI ISRAEL, Senegal (JTA) — He will welcome you into his earthen-floor home, introduce you to his three wives, and let you sample their cooking. But Dougoutigo Fadiga does not want foreigners to come near the sacred tree of his village deep in the Senegalese bush. “The tree is holy grounds,” says Fadiga, president of [...]
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A previously unknown document obtained by JTA shows that concern in 2001 about fraud at the Claims Conference reached the highest levels of the organization. (Claims Conference)
May 22, 2013
By Uriel Heilman, JTA
NEW YORK (JTA) — The Claims Conference in recent days has blamed a now-dead regional director for bungling an early warning in 2001 about a massive fraud scheme that wasn’t halted until 2009. But a document obtained by JTA shows top conference officials were sufficiently concerned by the allegations that they launched their own probe [...]
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Shira Ledman, president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children's Services
May 15, 2013
By Renee Claire, Special to the AJP
“Eileen” is struggling. Once an independent business woman, she now finds herself isolated and depressed due to age-related macular degeneration and limited mobility. Her isolation is ironic, since her three grown children have moved back in with her. But as each of these adult children has either a mental or physical disability, Eileen doesn’t get [...]
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Gwen Harvey, author of ‘Esperanza Means Hope,’ with Tucson Hebrew Academy fourth graders Breanna Yalen and Jonah Parnaby, holding their painting inspired by characters in the book. (Sheila Wilensky/AJP)
What could be more exciting for fourth graders than to read a book and have the author visit their classroom? On April 26, Gwen Harvey, former director of education at the Arizona Historical Society and the author of “Esperanza Means Hope,” visited Tucson Hebrew Academy. “They’re so excited,” said their general studies teacher, Chris Graves. [...]
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