The Kosovo Jewish community's president, Votim Demiri with his daughter Ines, a foreign ministry official, in Prizren. (Ron Kampeas/JTA) PRISTINA, Kosovo (JTA) – Boxing Club Prishtina is a squat building on a narrow street around the corner from the parliament in the heart of Kosovo’s capital city. Around the corner, a popular Italian restaurant draws the young Western Europeans and Americans in button-down shirts and open-toed heels who… Read more »
Oshrat Barel My home town was under constant threat when I was a kid and my parents used to host soldiers for Shabbat dinner every Friday. I got used to seeing those green uniforms every week and listening to their stories. There was a time I was sure I had big… Read more »
Casa Milagro Artisans 6062 N. Oracle Road • 440-2567 Hours: Tues.–Thurs. 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Closed Sunday and Monday 40 local artisans represented, handmade crafts, home décor, Native American jewelry and artwork, unique Southwest art Davis Dominguez 154 E. 6th St. • 629-9759 Hours:… Read more »
If you are not at home to water pots of colorful annuals, there are a number of welcoming green succulents that will survive long periods between watering in decorative containers. A nicely designed landscape with ample shade trees can boost the sale price of a home as much as $12,000 higher than identical homes on similarly sized lots that have poor landscaping, the American Association of Nurserymen reports. If you already have nice shade trees in place… Read more »
ALLIE LONDON has been appointed program officer for the JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. She is responsible for overseeing the Foundation’s grants program. A native New Yorker who recently relocated to Tucson from Chicago, she has over two decades of experience in marketing, copywriting and client engagement, including… Read more »
Sunrise Drive Elementary School first grade teacher ALLYCYN NADELL JACOBS recently returned from a 10-day teacher development program in China, through the Catalina Foothills School District’s partnership with Yangtze International Study Abroad. Jacobs was one of 10 CFSD participants. She teaches the English component of Sunrise Drive’s Chinese immersion… Read more »
A son, NATHANIEL ISAAC MARGALIT, was born July 11, 2014, to Rachel and Omri Margalit of Ramat Gan, Israel. Grandparents are Janet and Matthew Fox of Tucson and Zippy and Igal Margalit of Kfar Saba, Israel. Great-grandparents are Sandy and Alice Lester of Tucson and Sara Francis Kalin of… Read more »
SOPHIA DEVON GREENHILL, daughter of Andrew and Valerie Greenhill, celebrated becoming a Bat Mitzvah on June 7 at the Tucson Museum of Art. Community Rabbi Miri Fleming and cantorial soloist Nichole Chorny officiated. Sophia is the granddaughter of Barbara and Alan Gilbert of Tucson and Floy and Lewis Parkhill… Read more »
A Palestinian child amid the rubble of homes destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 18, 2014. (Emad Nasser/Flash90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — The United Nations probe into the Gaza conflict hasn’t even begun, but Israel already is convinced that it won’t end well. In a resolution adopted by a vote of 29-1 with 17 abstentions, the U.N. Human Rights Council moved last month to establish a commission… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — When it comes to Hasidic characters in movies, film consultant Elli Meyer believes that the real deal trumps a random actor in costume. But that approach isn’t without its challenges. Meyer, a New York-based Lubavitcher Hasid, recounted one occasion when he was hired to cast… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — In II Samuel, Chapter 1, when David learns of the death of Abner, he proclaims to his soldiers and all of Israel, “You well know that a prince, a great man in Israel, has died this day.” When I learned of the death of my… Read more »
NEW YORK (JTA) — With the new school year nearly upon us, Jewish educational leaders are scrambling to prepare their teachers to discuss this summer’s Gaza War. The most pressing challenge is to design age-appropriate conversations: At which grade level might classroom discussions include potentially frightening topics, such as… Read more »
Palestinian militants of the Al-Nasser Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, display their skills at their graduation ceremony in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, Sept. 27, 2013. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — After four weeks of a punishing Israel air and ground campaign that left nearly 2,000 dead and much of Gaza in ruins, Hamas has lived to see another day. For Israel, that might not be the worst thing. That’s because for all of Hamas’ violent… Read more »
Martha K. Rothman, editor of the Arizona Jewish Post from 1967 to 1979, died July 2, 2014 at the age of 89. Mrs. Rothman was also the founder of the Tucson Association for Child Care, later renamed Child and Family Resources, where she served as executive director from its… Read more »
Sandy Grossman, 81, died Aug. 2, 2014. Mrs. Grossman owned Sandy’s Antiques and Jewelry and was active in the Assistance League of Tucson and Campfire Girls. Mrs. Grossman was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin Grossman, and daughter, Beth Boling. Survivors include her in-laws, Norma and Bill Preston;… Read more »
Esther Sutland, 92, died July 25, 2014. Ms. Sutland was born in Hazelton, Pa. During World War II, she worked at Eastern Aircraft in Trenton, N.J., making Avenger torpedo bombers for the U.S. Navy. One such plane is at the Pima Air & Space Museum. Ms. Sutland came to… Read more »
Alan Howard Cole, 83, died July 23, 2014. Born in Chicago, Mr. Cole served in the U.S. Air Force Dental Division for four years. He graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he met his wife, Helen. He received a bachelor of science in biology and chemistry in 1959.… Read more »
Mary Katz, 92, died July 13, 2014. Born in Lansing, Mich., Mrs. Katz graduated from Lansing Eastern High School and moved to Flint, Mich., where she lived until 1985, when she moved to Tucson. She was a member of Hadassah and B’nai B’rith. Mrs. Katz volunteered in the Tucson… Read more »
Heather Booth protesting for voter rights in Mississippi during the 1964 Freedom Summer. (Wallace Roberts) (JTA) — At the Freedom Summer anniversary conference in Jackson, Miss., the activists who registered black voters and taught in Freedom Schools under the threat of violence 50 years ago stood up to introduce themselves. It took three hours to hear what they did in the Magnolia State back… Read more »
Most synagogues in North America finance their operations by assessing dues from their members, with an annual notice outlining the required payment. This year, Tucson’s Congregation Bet Shalom is doing things differently. Instead of mandatory dues, Bet Shalom is adopting a free-will, pay-what-you-like policy. Administrators at the Conservative congregation… Read more »
