Yearly Archives 2010

From left to right, Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the director of American Friends of Lubavitch, hanging onot his hat, joins Jack Lew, the director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, and Rabbi Abraham Shemtov on a crane as Lew gets ready to light the National Menorah on the ellipse in front of the White House, Dec. 1, 2010.

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Chanukah is a story of a people standing alone to keep its lights aflame. This year in Washington, the message was of a people standing with friends — and even the not-so-friendly — to douse terrible flames. President Obama hosted the annual White House Chanukah party… Read more »

A costumed Maccabee stands at a Chanukah menorah-lighting ceremony at Berlin's Brandenberg Gate, Dec. 1, 2010. (Toby Axelrod)

BERLIN (JTA) — Icicles formed on Rabbi Yehudah Teichtal’s beard as he helped set up the towering menorah in the center of Berlin. It wasn’t just any menorah among the thousands that the Chabad-Lubavitch movement erects every Chanukah in public locations around the world. Teichtal, the Chabad rabbi in the… Read more »

At least 40 Israelis have been killed in a forest fire in northern Israel described as out of control, Dec. 2, 2010. (Flash 90)

In the aftermath of the deadliest fire in Israel’s history, Israelis this week set to the task of burying the dead, cleaning up and figuring out what exactly went wrong — and who is to blame. Even before the blaze in the Carmel Mountains near Haifa came under control… Read more »

Ethan Felson

NEW YORK (JTA) — What’s old is new, and unfortunately this holiday season, wrapped in a bow, is a boycott of things Israeli and Jewish. The relics of the past boycotts — from Nuremberg to Damascus — are back. Uninterested in reconciliation, the extremist and myopic fervor that undergirds… Read more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets Egyptian Foreign Minister Aboul Gheit on May 27, 2009. Leaked State Dept. cables reveal that diplomats advised Clinton to defer to Gheit's aggrandized notion of Egypt's importance. (State Dept./Michael Gross)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A careful reading of the WikiLeaks trove of State Department cables — which is laying bare some 250,000 secret dispatches detailing private conversations, assessments and dealmaking of U.S. diplomats — reveals a notable if perhaps surprising pattern: how often they get things wrong. Again and again… Read more »

At least 40 Israelis have been killed in a forest fire in northern Israel described as out of control, Dec. 2, 2010. (Flash 90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — In a country always on guard to prevent the next tragedy born of terrorism or war, an out-of-control forest fire was the culprit in a tragic bus incident that left some 40 people dead in northern Israel. The bus, carrying police cadets from Israel’s prison service,… Read more »

Joshua Langert and Leah Friedman announce their engagement. Joshua is the son of Dr. Richard and Peggy Langert of Tucson and grandson of Cantor Charles and Sally Julian of Tucson. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology from Washington University in St. Louis and his medical degree… Read more »

SHARON MEGDAL, director of the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona, attended the third biannual Drylands, Deserts, & Desertification Conference earlier this month at the Sede Boqer Campus of the Ben-Gurion University, where she gave three lectures. A plenary lecture covered “Restoration Success Stories from Arizona.”… Read more »

SAMUEL LOUIS GORDON, son of Amy Krauss and Richard Gordon, will celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah on Mon., Dec. 20 at the Hebrew Congregation of St. Thomas, U.S.Virgin Islands. He will lead Temple Emanu-El’s Shabbat evening service on Fri., Dec. 3. He is the grandson of Allen and the… Read more »

ETHAN WILLIAM BRODY, son of Jacqueline and Eric Brody, will celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, Dec. 11 at Congregation Or Chadash. He is the grandson of Bonnie Farinas of Las Vegas, Nev. Ethan attends Orange Grove Middle School where he is an honor student and plays clarinet… Read more »

Jordan Fassler, 85, died Nov. 17, 2010. After serving in the U.S. Army under General Patton, he completed his education at the University of Arizona in 1951 with a master’s degree in education. He  moved to New York City and returned to Tucson in 1955. He worked at Doolen… Read more »

Jane Elizabeth Klimist, 89, died Nov. 17, 2010. Survivors include her husband, Ben Klimist; children, Carol (Lee) Druckman of San Diego, Calif., and Barry (Joyce) Klimist of Denver, Colo.; two grandsons and three great-grandchildren. Services were held at Evergreen Mortuary with Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon officiating. Interment followed in… Read more »

Eugene C. “Sonny” Rickles, 84, died Nov. 11, 2010 . Born in Chicago, Ill., Mr. Rickles owned several mobile home parks for over 40 years. He was a member of the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission and was a political lobbyist for the manufactured home industry. Survivors include… Read more »

Florie Krell, 74, of Pittsburgh, Pa., died Nov. 10, 2010. Born in Uniontown, Pa., Mrs. Krell graduated from the University of Pittsburgh. She was involved in the Brandeis Women’s book sale and led a women’s issues group for Hadassah. Mrs. Krell was preceded in death by her husband, Arnold… Read more »

Arthur Berg, 88, died Nov. 9, 2010. Born in New York City, Mr. Berg graduated from James Monroe High School in the Bronx. Mr. Berg retired from American Airlines and moved to Tucson in 1983. Survivors include his wife of 67 years, Hannah; daughters, Carol Krizman of Tucson and… Read more »

Fran (Schneweiss) Weissenberg, 95, died Nov. 6, 2010. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mrs. Weissenberg attended Brooklyn College and taught in New York City schools. She was a member of O.R.T. and many other organizations. Her book, “The Streets are Paved with Gold,” was published when she was 75, and… Read more »

Residents of the arid West Bank town of Ariel got a taste last week of Paris. Defying left-wing calls for an actors’ boycott, the Beersheba theater group inaugurated a new cultural center with a moving performance of “Piaf,” a musical tribute to the undisputed doyenne of the French chanson.… Read more »

Chanukah: a celebration of light, freedom, heroism and courage, the spirit of the Maccabees and the miracle of the vessel of oil. Of all the Hebrew songs we sing at Chanukah, I cherish one above all others: “Anu Nosim Lapidim — We are Carrying Torches” by Aharon Zeev. “We… Read more »

Jewish Addiction Support Services will present “Addiction: A Story of Recovery” with Dan Stone, LCSW, LISAC, CT, on Sunday, Dec. 12, 2-3:15 p.m.at the Dusenberry-River Library, 5605 E. River Road, Suite 105. Stone, a licensed social worker and substance abuse counselor, will share his personal journey of recovery. Like… Read more »

The Tucson Maimonides Society will hold a dinner next month highlighting “Emergency and Disaster Medicine in Israel and the American Physicians Fellowship for Medicine in Israel,” with APF president Norton Greenberger, M.D. The APF was founded in 1950; twice yearly emergency and disaster preparedness conferences with hands-on training are… Read more »