Yearly Archives 2011

Richard H. Carmona, M.D., the 17th surgeon general of the United States, will be the keynote speaker at the seventh annual CHAI Circle (Cancer, Healing and Inspiration) retreat. The retreat will take place on Sunday, Nov. 6, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Canyon Ranch, 8600 E. Rockcliff… Read more »

Temple Emanu-El Women of Reform Judaism will present an evening with comedian Keith Barany on Saturday, Nov. 5. Barany calls himself a “clean comic” who proves that comedians can be tasteful and hilarious without being corny; his website is pg-comedy.com. He currently contributes to “The Jimmy Kimmel Show,” was… Read more »

The Young Women’s Cabinet of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will present “Hot Looks for Hanukkah” at Fringe at La Encantada on Thursday, Nov. 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. Fringe managing director Jessica Baylon and staff will share make-up application tips and hairstyle techniques. The event will… Read more »

The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona will present a “Medicare, Social Security and Disability Seminar” on Thursday, Nov. 3, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Speakers are Janet Davis, an income, estate and gift tax financial planner; Brian Clymer, an attorney who represents… Read more »

Nan Rubin

The Secular Humanist Jewish Circle will sponsor a lecture by Nan Rubin on “Mussar, an Ethical Approach to Daily Life” on Saturday, Nov. 19, from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at the Dusenberry-River Library, 5605 East River Road (Craycroft and River). Rubin, a licensed clinical social worker, has been engaged… Read more »

Nancy Mellan

As Jewish wom­en, we come from a tradition that honors our role in home, family and community. In the Eshet Chayil Shabbat blessing recited by husbands to their wives, we are honored: “A good woman, who can find. She reaches her hand out to those in need. She is… Read more »

The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona will present a symposium on “The U.S.-Israel Relationship: On the Verge of a Paradigmatic Shift?” on Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 1 to 9 p.m. The event, with experts from the East and West Coasts and the UA, will… Read more »

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Cecil D. Haney (left) presents U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jonathan E. Lowe with the Lance P. Sijan Leadership Senior Officer of the Year Award for all of Strategic Command on Sept. 18, 2011. Haney is deputy commander for U.S. Strategic Command, encompassing army, navy, air force and marines, at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb. (Courtesy Anne Lowe)

Even if some Jewish servicemen and women haven’t celebrated Passover in years, attending a Seder thousands of miles from home can be a source of comfort. Several Tucson mothers of Jewish servicemen have found their own ways to honor their offspring, while extending tzedakah to other Jewish members of… Read more »

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (P.K.Weis/southwest photobank.com)

Tucson Hebrew Academy will honor Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with its 2011 Tikkun Olam Award on Sunday, Nov. 6. The Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world) is a call for all to do their part to make the world a better place, both through public service and by… Read more »

Regina Gutman and Sam Spiegel wed under a chuppah at the Foehrenwald displaced persons camp in 1946. (Courtesy United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Regina Spiegel, a Holocaust survivor from Radom, Poland, currently living in Washington, D.C., will discuss her experiences in ghettos, forced labor and concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, on Sunday, Oct. 30, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The program, “Literature and Testimony,” presented by the Coalition for Jewish Education… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Cardinal Kurt Koch, the Vatican’s key representative to Jews, is making his first visit to New York, home to the largest Jewish community outside of Israel. The cardinal, appointed president of the Vatican’s Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews in 2010, has an opportunity,… Read more »

Unveiling of the monument on Chaplains Hill in Arlington National Cemetary to 14 Jewish chaplains who died in service to the United States during World War II, the early years of the Cold War and in Southeast Asia. (Karen Wendkos)

ARLINGTON, Va. (JTA) — Fourteen Jewish military chaplains who gave their lives in service to their country finally have a place of honor in Arlington National Cemetery. Family members of the fallen chaplains were joined Monday by community leaders, politicians, and current and retired military personnel for a ceremony… Read more »

In this undated photo David Gerbi poses in front of Sla dar Bishi, the synagogue in Tripoli that he hopes to renovate. Gerbi, an Italian Jew born in Libya, played a central role in 2002 in the rapprochement between Moammar Gadhafi and Libyan Jews. (Courtesy David Gerbi)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Now it can be told: For the last decade or so, the Jews had secret back channels to Moammar Gadhafi. What led the pro-Israel community into a careful relationship with Gadhafi 10 years ago were considerations of U.S. national interests, Israel’s security needs and the claims… Read more »

Scott Shay in his book on energizing American Jewry says his call for a cyclical 18-year Bar/Bat Mitzvah captured the most attention on his promotional tour. (Howard Roy Katz, Art Box Studio)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Remember that 2009 episode of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” when as part of a plot to coax Michael “Kramer” Richards to go along with a “Seinfeld” reunion, Larry David’s African-American housemate, Leon Black, pretends to be the Jewish accountant Danny Duberstein? To sell the cover story,… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — In her final months as a political science major at the University of Pittsburgh, Susanna Zlotnikov had a positive outlook about landing a job. But as the months passed and her network of contacts led only to dead ends, Zlotnikov decided she needed a backup.… Read more »

Tiffany Shlain incorporated her father into her documentary "Connected" after he was diagnosed with brain cancer.

NEW YORK (JTA) — Filmmaker Tiffany Shlain is certainly no Luddite. She co-founded the Webby Awards in 1996 to showcase excellence on the then-fledgling Internet. Yet 15 years later she, like many of us, is ambivalent about the technology that allows people to connect to the web 24 hours… Read more »

MONTCLAIR, N.J. (JTA) — We land at Ben Gurion Airport in the heat of winter, on the first day of Chanukah.  At 11 a.m. Dec. 2, already it is 82 degrees in Tel Aviv — unusual weather for the rainy season in Israel. And it will get hotter. Much… Read more »

(Jewish Ideas Daily) — In the middle decades of the 20th century they were called “mushroom synagogues.” They popped up in the waning days of summer to provide High Holidays services, then disappeared at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. Today, “mushroom synagogues” are again in vogue — but with… Read more »

Alexander Soros, son of billionaire George Soros, chats with staffers and clients of the activist group Make the Road New York. (Shulamit Seidler-Feller)

NEW YORK (N.Y. Jewish Week) — Alexander Soros — what a catch! And not just for the obvious reason. Sure, papa George is worth $22 billion, and as your bubbe says, it’s as easy to fall in love with a rich man as a poor one. But any grandmotherly… Read more »

Israeli President Shimon Peres visiting Gilad Shalit at the Shalit family home in the northern Israeli town of Mitzpe Hila, Oct. 24, 2011. (Ziv Binyonski/Flash 90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A week after Gilad Shalit returned to Israel after being held in captivity for more than five years in Gaza, things were getting back to normal at the Shalit family home — sort of. The Israel Police said they would remove a barrier placed in front… Read more »