Yearly Archives 2014

With all the conversations surrounding the allegations against my congregation’s former rabbi, Barry Freundel, no one is saying what desperately needs to be said — that voyeurism is sexual assault and that eliminating sexual assault in our communities should be the direction of our next steps. In emails, blogs… Read more »

A man views a bullet hole inside the Jerusalem synagogue where two terrorists with a gun and knives killed five people and injured eight during morning services, Nov. 18. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash 90)

After a gruesome attack by two Palestinian cousins left five dead at a Jerusalem synagogue, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu singled out one person for blame: Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In a statement issued by his office, Abbas denounced the Tuesday morning attack, saying he “condemns the killing… Read more »

A big shout out to the Weintraub Israel Center and the Fox Theatre for bringing us the fantastic David Broza with a special appearance by Alberto Rios, Arizona’s first poet laureate. Their joyous performance together brought the house down. If you’ve been to Broza’s concerts, you know that his… Read more »

There has always been an anti-Israel presence in the American left, but it’s previously mostly been on the fringe. Now it seems that it may be becoming mainstream among liberal millennials (people reaching young adulthood around 2000). I recently experienced this at the All Souls Procession, one of the… Read more »

The Southern Arizona Jewish community has been chosen to participate in a special initiative called PJ Goes to School. Many local families already particpate in PJ LibraryTM, a  national Jewish engagement program that mails free, high-quality Jewish literature to families raising Jewish children. The program here is coordinated by… Read more »

Asher Susser

The University of Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will present “From the Arab Spring to ISIS: The Upheavals in the Middle East and What They Mean for Israel” on Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. as part of its free Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series. Asher Susser,… Read more »

Oshrat Barel

Terror in Israel, again Since the recent escalation of terror in Israel, I have been asked about one of the latest incidents in which a young Israeli Arab from Kafr Kana ran toward an Israeli police car and stabbed at the car. Several policemen stepped out of the car… Read more »

(L-R) University of Arizona students Liao Dong, Jing Xia, Hao Jun Yang and Ming Xuan Xiao on University Boulevard in Tucson, Nov. 7, at the start of homecoming weekend. (Sheila Wilensky/AJP)

Do stereotypes vary based on traditional socialization in any given country? Yes, if you’re talking about China, at least according to four Chinese students at the University of Arizona who attribute characteristics such as intelligence, success and business acumen to being Jewish. “I didn’t know why Jews are so… Read more »

Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez’s 20-year experience in the behavioral health field has run the gamut from social worker and case manager to administrator. Recently named president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona, Hernandez, 44, says his new role is the next logical step in his career.… Read more »

Shalom Tucson will hold its annual Hanukkah Mall Madness event for children of all ages and their parents on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 1-3 p.m. at Park Place Mall. Local synagogues and Jewish agencies will present activities to celebrate the joyous holiday. The event will feature arts and crafts,… Read more »

Sharon B. Megdal, Ph.D., director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, will speak at the Hadassah Southern Arizona luncheon on Sunday, Dec. 7 at noon at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive. Her presentation, “Water Management Innovations in Water-Scarce Regions,” will address Arizona and… Read more »

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly at National Harbor, Md., Nov. 10. (Ron Sachs)

There was the vice president of the United States, two Supreme Court justices and an Academy Award-winning actress with a compelling Jewish story. There were Jewish professionals, lay leaders, clergy and recent college graduates. The West Point cadets’ Jewish choir performed. The Israeli prime minister appeared via satellite from… Read more »

Vadim Gluzman (Marco Borggreve)

When they first handed Soviet-born Israeli musician Vadim Gluzman the violin he plays today, he had the “distinct feeling” he was being watched. This is no ordinary violin, mind you, so it’s practical to think that a number of people were looking on. But this feeling was different, supernatural… Read more »

Yesterday’s appalling tragedy has shaken Jews the world over. In the peaceful, beautiful neighborhood of Har Nof, Jerusalem, worshipers at a synagogue were brutally attacked by Palestinian terrorists wielding guns and butcher cleavers. Within a half hour, five women became widows and 24 children became orphans. The enormity of the tragedy… Read more »

We are still reeling from the horrible terrorist attack on a Jerusalem synagogue in which five people were killed during morning prayers, leaving four widows and 24 fatherless children on a single street in the neighborhood of Har Nof. What is the correct response to such an outrage, and… Read more »

Cindy Sher

CHICAGO (JTA) — Last year, for a month before Thanksgiving I jotted down one thing for which I was grateful every night before I went to bed. Here are some of the 30 blessings I recorded: • A warm bed. • Airplanes that fly me to visit my family… Read more »

(JTA) — A fraternity at the University of Arizona was put on interim suspension after 15 of its members allegedly attacked members of a Jewish fraternity. Members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity are accused of assault and discrimination in the incident at the apartment of an Alpha Epsilon… Read more »

Hundreds of Israelis mourn at the funeral of three of the victims killed earlier today when two Palestinian terrorists from East Jerusalem entered the Kehilat Yaakov synagogue in the Jewish orthodox neighborhood of Har Nof, Jerusalem, with pistols and axes, and began attacking Jewish worshippers. Four orthodox Jewish men were killed and several more injured. The attackers were shot and killed at the scene. November 18, 2014. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — They all lived on the same street. They had all moved there from abroad. They were all rabbis. They all prayed at the same synagogue. And it was at that Jerusalem synagogue that they were all murdered on Tuesday morning. Mosheh Twersky, 59; Kalman Levine,… Read more »

From left, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton of the European Union, Omani foreign Minister Yusaf bin Alawi and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at three-way negotiations about the future of Iran's nuclear program in Muscat, Oman, Nov. 9, 2014. (U.S. State Department)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — With the Nov. 24 deadline for an Iran deal looming, there’s no guarantee that the Obama administration will achieve its long-sought goal of an agreement over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. But there’s at least one outcome that is a virtual certainty: Obama will face a… Read more »

Food samples were a big part of the draw at Kosherfest, held Nov. 11-12 in Secaucus, N.J. (Jeff Cohn/BaltimoreJewishLife.com)

SECAUCUS, N.J. (JTA) – Gefilte fish? Check. Pastrami? Check. Kosher-for-Passover anti-constipation pills? Edible spoons for Bar Mitzvah appetizers? A cholov Yisroel-certified alternative to the nutritional supplement drink Ensure? Check, check, check. Welcome to Kosherfest, the annual kosher food trade show where hundreds of kosher food companies come together to… Read more »