Arts and Culture

Social activist among writers for BNC Book & Author events

Talia Carner

Talia Carner’s psychological suspense novels always revolve around long-ignored social issues, indignities and atrocities. “Knowledge is so valuable,” she says. “When people start looking at those issues and start sharing them, the feeling you get when you change someone’s life, it is magic.” Carner is one of four nationally… Read more »

Annual book festival to host 360 authors

Beverly Gray

“We’re rapidly preparing for the 10th Annual Tucson Festival of Books. We expect this to be the best festival ever,” says Brenda Viner, a member of the local Jewish community and one of the festival founders. This year’s festival will be held March 10 and 11 on the University… Read more »

Former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire just launched a line of kosher wines

Amar'e Stoudemire showing one of the wines in his collection of Israeli kosher wines, in New York, Feb. 20, 2018. (Courtesy of Jewish National Fund-USA)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Six-time NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire has launched a line of kosher-for-Passover Israeli wines.The 6-foot-10 former player, who returned earlier this month from a trip to the Jewish state, spoke glowingly about the wines and his connection to Israel at a news conference here Tuesday. “It’s… Read more »

Cholent Pot Pie Recipe

Cholent Pot Pie (Alexandra Hawkins)

(The Nosher via JTA) — Here’s a comforting yet elevated Shabbat dish from chef Yehuda Sichel of Abe Fisher. Ingredients: 1 cup pearled barley 1 cup dried kidney beans 3/4 pound boneless short ribs, cut into 2-inch cubes 1/2 pound kosher salami, cut into 1/2-inch cubes 1 large yellow… Read more »

These Jewish women say celebrating Purim in the #MeToo era is different

Female rabbis said the themes related to gender in the Purim narrative take on an added significance in the wake of the #MeToo movement. (Lior Zaltzman)

NEW YORK (JTA) — When Meredith Jacobs was taught the Purim story as a little girl in the 1970s and ’80s, Esther was made out to be its heroine, while Queen Vashti was its “evil queen.” According to the Book of Esther, Vashti was banished by her husband, the… Read more »

Simon’s ‘Lost in Yonkers’ on tap at Arizona Rose Theatre

Pictured, left to right, Ruben Rosthenhausler as Louie, Stephanie Howell as Bella, and Michelle Holland as Gert in a scene from the Arizona Rose Theatre production of “Lost in Yonkers.”

The Arizona Rose Theatre is bringing back one of its most popular shows, Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers,” beginning Feb. 24. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize, this heartfelt comedy is drawn from Simon’s experiences growing up in New York City. Set during… Read more »

JFCS to screen ‘Denial,’ based on Lipstadt case

Jewish Family & Children’s Services will sponsor a free screening of the 2016 film “Denial,” starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Wilkinson, on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The film recounts the true story of historian Deborah Lipstadt, played by Weisz. The screening… Read more »

‘Chava’ actress from ‘Fiddler’ to host sing-along at Loft

Neva Small, right, as Chava in 'Fiddler on the Roof,' with, from left, Rosalind Harris, as Tzeitel and Michele Marsh as Hodel.

“Tradition, tradition, tradition!” sings out the cast in the opening number of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Neva Small, the woman who played Tevye’s third daughter, Chava, in the film version of the beloved musical, has always taken this entreaty to heart. Now Small, who has created her own traditions… Read more »

Latvian immigrant is expert on Russian, Jewish history

Roza Simkhovich

Roza Simkhovich is proud to say that she has been an American for nearly 39 years. She and her family came from Latvia, a Baltic country formerly part of the Soviet Union, to the United States looking for relief from anti-Semitism. As an educator for nearly 30 years, she… Read more »

Explore art, history, outdoors at any age

It’s never too late to learn and grow. The Tucson Jewish Community Center provides numerous opportunities to help people discover their passions later in life. Here are a few highlights of events and classes coming up. “Inside Writing a Mystery” is a free discussion with local author and retired… Read more »

9 things you didn’t know about Passover

(My Jewish Learning via JTA) — Here are nine things that many likely wouldn’t know about the Festival of Freedom: 1. In Gibraltar, there’s dust in the charoset. The traditional charoset is a sweet Passover paste whose texture is meant as a reminder of the mortar the enslaved Jews… Read more »

‘Modern Loss’ authors want to change the way we talk about mourning

The cover of “Modern Loss: Candid Conversations About Grief. Beginners Welcome."(Courtesy of Birkner)

(JTA) — When Gabrielle Birkner and Rebecca Soffer met in 2007, the two Jewish journalists found they had much more in common than their professions. Through a mutual friend, they joined what became known as Women With Dead Parents, a monthly dinner gathering in New York City for women… Read more »

This Jewish Bedtime Ritual Is a Parenting Win

(Kveller via JTA) — Twinkle, twinkle, kochavim (stars), Shining in the shamayim (sky). When I say Shema tonight, Everything will be all right. Years ago, my oldest child brought this song home from preschool. It made me wonder: What exactly was the message they were trying to convey to… Read more »

In the #MeToo era, these synagogues are banning Shlomo Carlebach

NEW YORK (JTA) — When Rabbi Angela Buchdahl announced how her synagogue would respond to the #MeToo moment, she singled out a man. But he wasn’t one of her congregants, synagogue clergy or staff members. He was Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, perhaps the most prominent 20th-century composer of American Jewish… Read more »