Yearly Archives 2012

Politicians sometimes save the most important truths for a foreign audience. Sometimes those truths really need to be said at home. On “Meet the Press” last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a particular point about the liberal values shared by the United States and his country. In… Read more »

Tucson Meet Yourself: A Folklife Festival will take place downtown from Oct. 12-14. This is the 39th annual TMY festival, whose mission is to present the living traditional arts of the ethnic communities of the Arizona-Sonora region. The festival now draws more than 100,000 people over three days. The… Read more »

Traditional political issues of taxes and business growth arose at a local candidates forum on Monday, Sept. 24 at the Arizona Inn. However, many of the 15 candidates vying for seats in Legislative Districts 9, 10 and 11 and on the Pima County Board of Supervisors repeatedly harked back… Read more »

“We the People of the United States …” So begins the United States Constitution, laying out the blueprint for a nation. Along with its 27 amendments, the Constitution is the roadmap to our rights as citizens. Today, many significant issues are being challenged on constitutional grounds. But just what… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy will celebrate local women with “13 Extraordinary Women Share Their Secrets” on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. at Skyline Country Club. The 13 women will have three minutes each to share their formulas for success in their personal, professional and… Read more »

Congregation Anshei Israel’s cantorial soloist Nichole Chorny is forming two new choirs: one for adults and another for children. An interest meeting for the adult choir will be held Sunday, Oct. 14, 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the synagogue’s sanctuary. Open to all adults, the choir’s repertoire will include a full… Read more »

Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy and CHAI Circle will hold a Sharsheret ink Shabbat Weekend Oct. 25-28. The events will kick off Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. with a “Think Pink” challah baking program and panel discussion at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, “What’s Jewish about Breast… Read more »

Joel Chasnoff

Tucson Hebrew Academy will honor Tom Warne with its 2012 Tikkun Olam Award at a gala dinner featuring entertainment by comedian Joel Chasnoff on Oct. 28. Warne is known in the Jewish community as a lay leader and philanthropist. He is chair of the Tucson Jewish Community Center board… Read more »

Congregation Anshei Israel’s ‘Wall of History’ details milestones in the synagogue’s history.

Congregation Anshei Israel will hold a “Wall of History” dedication on Saturday, Oct. 13. Three panels recounting milestones in the history of the synagogue will be dedicated after years of work to produce them, an effort spearheaded by CAI’s art committee chairperson, Eleanor Jeck. The panels were donated by… Read more »

Michelle Levine, outreach director for the American Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel

Michelle Levine had long dreamed of influencing environmental issues in Israel. When the perfect job – as the English spokesperson and marketing manager for the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel — materialized in 2004, she made aliyah from Tucson. She will speak about “Environmental Victories in… Read more »

Saul Kagan, founding executive direcor of the Claims Conference, right, talking to Nahum Goldmann, founder and longtime president of the World Jewish Congress, 1958. (Courtesy Claims Conference)

NEW YORK (JTA) — As the founding executive director of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, I remember just how difficult the issue of negotiating with Germany was within the Jewish world 60 years ago. In Israel in particular, it was a subject of enormous controversy, political and… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — In 1935, a trial was held in Bern, Switzerland, in which two individuals were being prosecuted for distributing the notorious anti-Semitic document “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.” At the trial, witness after witness came forward testifying to the fraudulent nature of “The… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – We could have been in Tehran. Men in dark suits and earpieces stood outside the doors of the hotel, keeping watch for protesters and anybody else who didn’t belong. Inside, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prepared to meet a group of university students. Except this was… Read more »

Holocaust survivor Larisa Rakovskaya in her Odessa apartment, Sept. 14, 2012. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

ODESSA, Ukraine (JTA) — In her dilapidated apartment, Larisa Rakovskaya examines a stack of unpaid heating bills. Sick and alone, the 86-year-old Holocaust survivor and widow is preparing for another encounter with the cold, her “worst and only fear.” Rakovskaya says her hope of staying warm this winter lies… Read more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an offsite bilateral meeting as part of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 28, 2012. (Avi Ohayon/GPO/Flash90/JTA)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not meet, but they ended up sounding not so far apart. Netanyahu’s address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 28 in many ways echoed Obama’s speech there on Sept. 25, with both ratcheting up the heat… Read more »

Our agencies regularly provide background discussions concerning  Middle East negotiations, the Palestinian Authority and UNRWA for the cream of the crop of North American Jewry, which includes clergy, students, academics and all streams of Jewish religious observance, from Orthodox Jews to Reconstructionist Jews. Whenever possible, we invite someone who… Read more »

My first column. What a lame subject for a first column. But I’ve been meaning to write this column for 20 years, and I’m only just now getting around to it. Seriously. I’ve had a lot to say. But more than that, I’ve had an extraordinary opportunity these 20… Read more »

Dancers outside the 13th century Scolanova synagogues in Trani, during the Lech Lecha Jewish culture festival, September 2012. (Ruth Ellen Gruber)

TRANI, Italy (JTA) — Francesco Lotoro resurrects the music of the dead. Since 1991 the Italian pianist has traveled the globe to seek out and bring to light symphonies, songs, sonatas, operas, lullabies and even jazz riffs that were composed and often performed in Nazi-era concentration camps. “This music… Read more »

Josh Mandel, the state treasurer of Ohio, is running for the Republican nomination to challenge the incumbent Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown. (Citizens for Josh Mandel)

NEW YORK (JTA) — JTA has identified eight congressional races of particular Jewish interest and four others featuring potentially viable Jewish contenders. Top eight congressional races to watch: U.S. Senate: Hawaii — Mazie Hirono (D) vs. Linda Lingle (R) Strongly Democratic Hawaii is tough turf for Republicans, but picking up a… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in Jerusalem, Sept. 11, 2012. (Itay Beit-On/GPO)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In the U.S.-Israel relationship, “daylight” is back, but this time it’s Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is being called on to draw down the shades. Netanyahu’s recent sharp rebuke of the Obama administration’s Iran policies has drawn equally pointed pushback from Jewish Democrats. The back… Read more »