News

‘Rebuilding’ efforts overshadow Jewish issues in DNC election

Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota at a town hall meeting at the Church of the New Covenant-Baptist in Detroit, Dec. 22, 2016. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The race to lead the Democratic National Committee is nothing if not granular. Among the leading candidates Tom Perez, the former labor secretary, says “every ZIP code counts.” Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, touts his “50 plus” states strategy. Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.,… Read more »

Meet the Jewish couple leading the Trump resistance

Ezra Levin and Leah Greenberg founded the anti-Trump group Indivisible with other former congressional staffers. (Courtesy of Greenberg)

NEW YORK (JTA) — The group at the forefront of “resisting the Trump agenda” started in the middle of December with a single document circulated among friends. One that was “poorly formatted” and “full of typos,” in the words of one of its authors, Leah Greenberg. As of this week,… Read more »

Settlement issue follows Israeli PM to Singapore, Australia

Last November settlement leaders celebrated the victory of Donald Trump over Hilary Clinton for president, expecting the departure of former President Barack Obama from the White House to usher in an unlimited period of Israeli building around Judea and Samaria. More recently, Prime Miniser Binyamin Netanyahu looked more relaxed and… Read more »

Jewish groups seek action from Trump to match his words on anti-Semitism

President Donald Trump delivers remarks after touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Feb. 21, 2017. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – He hates it, he really hates it. Now what’s he going to do about it? President Donald Trump on Tuesday culminated three weeks of missed opportunities to condemn anti-Semitism and doubling down on missed opportunities to condemn anti-Semitism with a statement unequivocally condemning anti-Semitism. “The anti-Semitic… Read more »

Outside the synagogue, intermarried are forming community with each other

Jason and Julianne Kanter started talking about religion more seriously when they started to think about having children. (Courtesy of Julianne Kanter)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Leading up to their wedding in 2012, Julianne and Jason Kanter hadn’t really discussed how they would incorporate their respective religions into their home. Julianne was raised by Catholic and Presbyterian parents, while Jason grew up culturally Jewish. At first, it was simple to mark… Read more »

Rabbi’s expulsion rattles Russian Jews fearful of Kremlin crackdown

Rabbi Ari Edelkopf and wife Chana in 2009 in Sochi, Russia. (Courtesy of Federation of Jewish Communities)

(JTA) — Three years ago, Rabbi Ari Edelkopf and his wife, Chana, worked around the clock for weeks to show off their community and city to the many foreigners in town for the Winter Olympics in Sochi. The Chabad emissaries from the United States came to the city on… Read more »

People in the news 2.17.17

LAURIE WETTERSCHNEIDER has been nominated for a Women of Influence Award in the Public Service Champion category. The awards ceremony, hosted by Inside Tucson Business and Tucson Local Media, will be held March 1 at Casino del Sol Resort. Wetterschneider has raised millions of dollars to support a variety… Read more »

Resettlement experts to give ‘Refugee 101’ talk at Or Chadash

Jeffrey Cornish with children from a remote village in The Gambia, where he was Peace Corps director before coming to Tucson in 2012. Cornish is director of the International Rescue Committee in Tucson. (Courtesy Jeffrey Cornish)

Jeffrey Cornish wants to dispel the myth that refugees in the United States are a threat and a burden to society. “We need … to change the conversation about refugees,” says Cornish, the director of the International Rescue Committee in Tucson. “These people have fled oppression and the terror… Read more »

Supreme Court ‘sisters’ among topics for Brandeis book soirees

As a young attorney, Linda Hirshman, realized that fighting for the disenfranchised was her calling. “I wanted to do something that was hard, so if you accomplished it, it would be an honor,” says Hirshman, now a political pundit and author. “And there was no honor in making powerful… Read more »

Book fest panel to highlight Jewish characters

The Tucson Festival of Books returns to the University of Arizona campus March 11 and 12. Now in its ninth year, the festival is the third largest in the country, with more than 300 authors and millions of visitors attending each year. While Jewish authors have always been among… Read more »

UA talk to probe religion’s role in 2016 election

Randall Balmer

The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will present a free President’s Day lecture, “Religion and the 2016 Election: Historical Context and Unusual Alliances,” with professor and author Randall Balmer on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Religion played an unusual and unexpected role in… Read more »

Gootter Foundation to honor Glicksman at gala dinner

Elliot Glicksman

The Steven M. Gootter Foundation will present its annual Philanthropic Award to Elliot Glicksman at the 12th annual Gootter Gala on Friday, March 3 at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa. Glicksman, a lawyer in Tucson, “has supported the Gootter Foundation since its inception 12 years ago. As… Read more »

Hadassah plans 20th Adopt-a-Roadway cleanup

Hadassah Southern Arizona women and men will once again perform the mitzvah of tikkun olam, repairing the world, by cleaning the roadways around the Tucson Jewish Community Center, on Sunday, March 5, from 8-10 am. This event will mark the 20th year that chapter members have participated in the… Read more »

Michael Feinstein to bring American songbook to Fox

The Fox Tucson Theatre will present a concert by Michael Feinstein, the two-time Emmy and five-time Grammy Award-nominated entertainer dubbed “The Ambassador of the Great American Songbook,” on Thursday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, where he started playing piano by ear as a… Read more »

Mishler will sign ‘Zalman Ber’s Story’ at Tucson J

The Tucson Jewish Community Center will present a book signing by local artist and author Lisa Kotz Mishler of her new book, “Zalman Ber’s Story: The True Story of the Man the Nazis Could Not Kill,” as told to her by her father, Sol Kotz, on Sunday, Feb. 26… Read more »

Bilgray scholar takes holistic approach to healthy aging

Rabbi Richard Address

How should we be thinking about and preparing for the likelihood that we will live longer lives than our ancestors? Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min., founder of the Jewish Sacred Aging project, will discuss new ways to approach life’s “third age” as this year’s Albert T. Bilgray scholar-in-residence. Address… Read more »