Rev. Nachman Berkowitz died Sept. 5, 2014. Born in Poland, he became a rabbinical student in his youth. In 1941, he was arrested by the Russian police and taken to a concentration camp in Siberia. After he was freed, he spent several years in Kazakhstan. In 1946, he returned… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — Unplugging more from electronic devices has become a commonly cited resolution for both the Jewish and secular new years. But electronics are also increasingly becoming integrated into Jewish New Year observances. Here are some new offerings at the junction between high-tech and High Holidays. G-dcast,… Read more »
The emir of Quatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, right, with Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, second from right, during an official visit to the Gaza Strip, Oct. 23, 2012. (Mohammed Salem-Pool/Getty Images) WASHINGTON (JTA) – It was the first Persian Gulf state to establish ties with Israel, the first to welcome Israeli students and the only one to allow direct dialing to Israel. Israeli athletes shine on its courts. Now Qatar is on the outs with Israel because of its embrace… Read more »
As Jews are known as “the People of the Book, “ the Arizona Jewish Post asked Tucson’s congregational rabbis to recommend a book that would inspire their congregants for the new year. Here are some intriguing suggestions: I recommend “John Lennon and the Jews: A Philosophical Rampage” by Ze’ev… Read more »
Irene Lloyd Jewish Elder Access, a free information and referral service for Jewish adults over 60, has existed in Tucson since 2010. In just four years the program has become so well-known that Ilene Lloyd, program manager, receives calls from people in nearly every U.S. state and countries such as Spain,… Read more »
Congregation Chaverim will partner with the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation and the Union for Reform Judaism to hold a bone marrow registration drive at Yom Kippur services. “This new year, 5775, our congregation will be performing pekuach nefesh, saving a life,” says Rabbi Stephanie Aaron. “With the… Read more »
Laurie Dietz, left, coordinator of the Special Needs Inclusion Project of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Coalition for Jewish Education, reviews a visual schedule designed for a student at Congregation Or Chadah with Tianna Liebeskind and Seth Brown. (Courtesy Laurie Dietz) On an afternoon in 2003, Brenda Landau witnessed an event that would change the way the Tucson Jewish community would provide religious education for students with special learning needs. Landau, currently a senior vice president at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, was serving as the director of education… Read more »
Tessa Haining of Boston, daughter of Hadine Joffe and Nick Haining, with her grandmother, Marcelle Joffe of Tucson Editor’s note: Tessa Haining, 13, granddaughter of Tucsonans Marcelle and Leonard Joffe, wrote this essay about their family’s Jewish holiday food traditions. The children in the room were getting antsy, scooching around on their chairs and toying with the silverware laid out on the table. They glanced at the… Read more »
Rabbi Robert Eisen What a summer this has been! It began with an unprecedented number of congregations sponsoring missions to Israel, and then spent most of its days holding us captive to the news, wondering just what might be. Thoughts of falafel, shawarma and coffee like no other in the world gave… Read more »
Hadassah Southern Arizona will hold its first charity golf tournament on Sunday, Oct. 26, to raise funds for medical research. “We invite you to have a great time golfing, while doing a mitzvah,” says Iris Sapovits, event chair. Noting this summer’s trendy ALS ice bucket challenge, she says, “Hadassah… Read more »
Janni Lee Simner Janni Lee Simner takes both her writing and her Judaism seriously. Being a full-time writer, with eight published young adult and children’s novels, has influenced her observance of Shabbat, she says. “On Friday night I take a deep breath, light candles in the window,” followed by a Shabbat dinner… Read more »
Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz (left) and David Cutler David Cutler wanted to do something special with his Catalina Foothills home after his wife, Felicia, passed away in 2009, so he approached Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz and his wife, Ada, about using the home as a synagogue. Lewkowicz, director of Judaic studies at the Tucson Hebrew Academy, jumped at… Read more »
Anti-fascist protesters holding a banner in front of the Athens municipal ampitheater during a swearing-in ceremony for Golden Dawn party member Ilias Kasidiaris, Aug. 29, 2014. (Photo: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images) ATHENS, Greece (JTA) — Jewish groups say the passage of a bill banning Holocaust denial and imposing harsher penalties for hate speech is an important milestone in the fight against Greece’s rising neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. “This comes very late, but not too late,” World Jewish Congress CEO Robert… Read more »
Ori Parnaby This fall, Tucsonans will have two new ways to connect with the many programs and services offered by the Tucson Jewish community: a concierge service and a revamped, interactive jewishtucson.org community website. Ori Parnaby, the concierge, started in her new position Sept. 2. Her office is at the Tucson… Read more »
Abigail Gumbiner Abigail Gumbiner defies the adage “you can’t go home again.” On Sept. 14 she will speak at the Jewish History Museum of Tucson about photos she and two other artists have contributed to the current exhibit “Temple of Shadows.” The exhibit title refers to the building that many in… Read more »
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will sponsor Gubernatorial Debate 2014 on Thursday, Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Cosponsors are the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and YWCA Tucson. Fred Duval, the Democratic candidate; Doug Ducey, the… Read more »
The Tucson Symphony Orchestra will open its 2014-15 season with “Bernstein, Copland, Gershwin: American Essentials” on Friday, Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Sept. 28 at 2 p.m. at the Tucson Music Hall. Music Director and Conductor George Hanson will open his 19th and final full season conducting… Read more »
Susan Claassen (left) as Edith Head with Joan Rivers in London in 2008. Susan Claassen, actress and managing artistic director of the Invisible Theatre, first met comedian Joan Rivers, who died Sept. 4 at the age of 81, in 2008. “It was a dream come true,” says Claassen. “She had been performing her brilliant show ‘A Work in Progress by a Life… Read more »
Roberta Bracker Growing up in the Fairfax neighborhood of Los Angeles, Roberta Bracker, now 76, took being part of a Jewish community for granted. At her high school, all of the kids were Jewish. Bracker’s mother wanted her three daughters to be knowledgeable about music and Judaic studies. She envisioned her… Read more »
Ben Pozez and his wife, Amy, in New Orleans during the Jewish Federations of North America National Young Leadership Conference — TribeFest in March For Ben Pozez, involvement in the Jewish community is practically coded into his DNA. His grandparents, the late Shaol and Evie Pozez, were philanthropic and community leaders from the moment they arrived in Tucson in 1979. His parents, Mitch and Robin, have continued the tradition. So it was only… Read more »
