Yearly Archives 2010

Audrey Nemeroff Ellen, 74, died June 28, 2010. Mrs. Ellen was preceded in death by her son, Andrew. Survivors include her daughters, Julie (Jim) Beirow of Gilbert, Ariz., and Marissa (John) Fordyce of Tucson; sister, Margot (Richard) Silver of Tucson; and six grandchildren. Graveside services were held in the… Read more »

Lillian Esther Baggin-Bein, 89, died June 26, 2010. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Mrs. Baggin-Bein worked as an escrow officer. Mrs. Baggin-Bein was preceded in death by her husbands, Lawrence Baggin and Arthur Bein. Survivors include her children, Mark (Teresa) Baggin of Tucson, Steve Baggin of Los Angeles, Calif.,… Read more »

Sarah Ann Pruitt and Martin “Marty” Douglas Johnston were married Sunday, March 21, 2010 at Regency Garden in Mesa, Ariz. Sarah is the daughter of John and Nancy Pruitt of Mesa, granddaughter of Vincent and Emma (Saul) Pruitt of “everywhere,” and Robert and Rosa (Moore) Babb of Walnut Creek,… Read more »

A YouTube video of a family singing and dancing at Auschwitz has received more than half a million hits and mixed reaction. Australian artist Jane Korman filmed her 89-year-old father Adolek Kohn, a former inmate at Auschwitz, and her three children dancing outside the infamous death camp in Poland,… Read more »

A graphic novel version of Anne Frank’s biography was released in the Netherlands. The 160-page book, launched July 9, uses text and illustrations to tell Anne’s story and make connections between her life and historical events during the period. According to Anne Frank House Museum spokeswoman Annemarie Bekker, the… Read more »

Just six months before the end of his Israeli army service, Elad Belachsan suffered a life-changing injury in a Palestinian attack. On a mission in the West Bank city of Nablus with his paratrooper unit, Belachsan, now 27, was near the front of the group when a bomb exploded,… Read more »

Katharine Henderson, president of the Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church USA)

U.S. Jews and Presbyterians say they have salvaged a fragile unity of purpose from an assembly that was poised to create a rift between the two faiths. The outcome of last month’s General Assembly in Minneapolis of the Presbyterian Church (USA) was remarkable in that all sides in the… Read more »

The Foundation for Cardiovascular Health, a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, will offer two free presentations next month on reversing coronary artery disease. The first was on Sunday, Aug. 8, 1:30-3:30 p.m., at the Northwest YMCA Pima County Community Center, 7770 N. Shannon Road, and the second will be on… Read more »

To describe the dead body that lay before me at my first tahara, the simple word “real” seems most appropriate. A tahara is the traditional Jewish cleansing performed on a body before burial. At my recent first tahara, none of the cliches occurred. I did not feel scared or… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — If Haim Shani has his way, the titans of Wall Street will start moving more of their business to Dizengoff Street. Shani, the director general of Israel’s Finance Ministry, was in New York late last month on a mission to promote Israel as a center… Read more »

(L-R) Sharon, Noya, Hila, Ital and Moshe Babel-Pour

Four years have passed since I began my journey as your community shaliach (emissary) and Israel Center director and now it’s time to say thank you and goodbye. I want to share with you my deepest appreciation and gratitude for this incredible experience. For the past four years, the… Read more »

Volunteer Heidi Felix, right, with a camper at Tu Nudito's Summer Camp (Jesus Guzman)

Smiles and happiness are the first things volunteer Heidi Felix, 24, mentions about the children at Tu Nidito’s Treehouse Summer Camp. Smiling faces may be the norm at most summer camps, but for Tu Nidito, a local nonprofit agency that serves children who are grieving, seriously ill, or have… Read more »

Plans for a mosque at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks have generated controversy. (Creative Commons/Special KRB)

Plans for a mosque at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks have generated controversy. WASHINGTON (JTA) – More often than not, Jewish and Muslim groups come down on the same side of battles over religious liberties. Jewish organizations often file amicus briefs supporting Muslim religious rights in… Read more »

Applications for the 2010 Cohon Award are being accepted through Sept. 1. The $25,000 prize will be awarded by the Rabbi Samuel S. and A. Irma Cohon Memorial Foundation for “accomplishments that benefit  Klal Yisroel — the entire Jewish people,” recognizing achievements in the fields of Jewish unity, education… Read more »

A Taste of Judaism, a free outreach program, will celebrate its 10th anniversary at Temple Emanu-El with a new family class. More than 3,500 people have completed the course offered by Temple Emanu-El, an interactive exploration of the history and practice of Judaism in three two-hour sessions on spirituality,… Read more »

Temple Emanu-El will hold a completion ceremony (siyyum) for its 100th Anniversary Linda Nadell Centennial Torah on Sunday, Aug. 29 at 9:30 a.m. During this celebration the scribe, Rabbi Shmuel Miller, along with a few honored members of the congregation, will fill in the last letters of the Torah… Read more »

Mitzvah Magic, a joint endeavor of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Woman’s Philanthropy and Jewish Family & Children’s Services, is beginning its second year of bringing together women in the Jewish community to perform hands-on tzedakah for local families needing assistance. Last year’s Co-Chairs Pamela Dubin and Stephanie… Read more »

Alan Dershowitz wants in — to the “Community of Yes,” J Street’s new campaign to rally broad-based American support for meaningful presidential leadership to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We believe that a major presidential effort will be required to achieve our goal — ensuring Israel’s security and future as… Read more »

J Street, the leftist lobbying organization that claims to be pro-Israel, is running a television ad that divides the world into two groups: the good guys who support the two-state solution, the end of the occupation and peace; and the bad guys who oppose these results and instead favor… Read more »

As the controversy over the conversion issue reached a fever pitch recently, a group of Israeli soldiers shuffled past flowerbeds into classrooms at the Jewish Agency’s Kiryat Moriah educational center in Jerusalem. Four hundred soldiers, many of them immigrants, come together from every army unit for 14 hours a… Read more »