Yearly Archives 2015

KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — The International March of the Living is in its 27th year. In those years, over 220,000 young people from around the globe have come to Poland to study, reflect and remember. They then return to their communities to share their personal reaction to facing the… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — The Reconstructionist movement is on the cusp of making a historic decision about whether to drop its longstanding ban against intermarried rabbinical school students. If the policy change passes, as most expect, Reconstructionism would become the first of America’s four major Jewish religious denominations to ordain intermarried rabbis.… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — For help facing its worst drought in centuries, California should look to a country that beat its own chronic water shortage: Israel. Until a few years ago, Israel’s wells seemed like they were always running dry. TV commercials urged Israelis to conserve water. Newspapers tracked… Read more »

(JTA) — After Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2014, Israel resisted pressure to join the United States and its European allies in condemning the move — citing in particular its concern not to antagonize Russia for fear it could provide Syria with a powerful anti-aircraft missile called the S-300.… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Election Day is 19 months away, but the campaign already has begun. Aside from Democrat Hillary Clinton, three Republican candidates with reasonable chances at the nomination have declared and several others are on the cusp. The Republican Party says it’s been making inroads with Jewish voters, who… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — It promises a revolutionary innovation that could transform Jewish Sabbath observance. By changing the way a light switch works, the patented Kosher Switch offers a novel — and, its backers say, kosher — way to turn light switches (and, perhaps, other electrical appliances) on and off during Shabbat,… Read more »

Native Tucsonan JOSH LEDERMAN, an AP White House reporter, will receive the Merriman Smith Memorial Award from the White House Correspondents’ Association at its annual dinner on April 25. The award honors Lederman’s on-the-spot reporting of the Sept. 19 incident when an intruder jumped the White House fence. Lederman… Read more »

BROADWAY IN TUCSON is launching the local edition of the National High School Music Theatre Awards. The Ben Vereen Awards Tucson Sing Off will be held Sunday, May 3 at the Fox Tucson Theatre. The 2015 Ben Vereen Awards Southwest Region Competition (with San Diego) will be held Sunday,… Read more »

Hillel honors Holocaust From Wednesday, March 25 at noon through Thursday, March 26 at noon, the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation sponsored its 24th annual Holocaust vigil. The 24-hour student-led program provides an opportunity to educate all students and community participants on the UA campus. One highlight of this… Read more »

Jack Greenman, 96, died April 15, 2015 in Boynton Beach, Fla. Born and raised in New York City, Mr. Greenman attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he worked in the garment industry in… Read more »

Dr. Harold “Harry” Kaye, 98, died March 30, 2015. Born in Bayonne, N.J., Dr. Kaye graduated from Bayonne High School and received his B.S. and D.D.S. degrees from the University of Michigan. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1945 at the 57th Field… Read more »

Frances Nancy Wendel, 76, died March 14, 2015. Mrs. Wendel, known as “Nancy” to all, grew up in Whitestone, N.Y. She married Henry Wendel in 1961 and they had two children. Mrs. Wendel obtained a master’s degree in counseling and served as a mental health/drug prevention counselor with the… Read more »

HAVERFORD, Pa. (JTA) — Visiting the Memorial de Caen museum in Normandy, France, in 1996, Daniel Weiss was captivated by eight photographs showing the public hanging of three partisans in Minsk, Belarus, on Oct. 26, 1941. The two male victims’ identities were known, but the female was anonymous, and… Read more »

Next week, Israel will celebrate the 67th anniversary of its establishment as a modern nation. On Remembrance Day, the day before Independence Day, Israelis will cherish the memory and legacy of the 23,000 soldiers who gave their lives so that we would be able to live as free people… Read more »

Ed Harris’ suspenders celebrate his British heritage. (Sarah Chen/AJP)

Edward Harris still celebrates the day he arrived in New York from London with only $28 in his pocket: Feb. 8, 1954. A dual citizen of the United States and Britain, he feels fortunate to have slowed his globetrotting days here in Tucson. Harris was born in 1934, just… Read more »

“Cool,” says a student with the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation. “Lovely,” says a Handmaker resident. “Vital,” says another. They’re talking about a program that has been bringing Hillel students together with Handmaker residents, started by Adam Fox, Hillel’s engagement associate, with the help of Andrea Ramirez, Handmaker’s administrative and… Read more »

Marc Mezvinsky and Chelsea Clinton during their wedding ceremony, July 31, 2010 (Genevieve de Manio)

Millennia ago, before rabbis existed or conversion was invented, thousands who were not born Jewish became part of the Jewish community through a very simple act: They married a Jew. Sarah was the first, followed in turn by Rebecca, Leah and Rachel. Thousands more followed — both biblical characters… Read more »

For many aging Americans, traditional ideas of retirement are changing. On March 16, the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona hosted a funders forum with Chris Farrell, author of “Unretirement: How Baby Boomers Are Changing the Way We Think About Work, Community and the Good Life” (Bloomsbury Press). Speaking… Read more »

This week, the Tucson Jewish Community Center launched a new 12-week series, the BEST Protocol for Osteoporosis, with instructor Mary T. Maher, M.S., A.C.S.M.-C.P.T. The three-day-a-week program is based on the Bone Estrogen Strength Training study conducted by the University of Arizona between 1995 and 2001. The protocol’s goals… Read more »

Participants at Tucson Hebrew Academy’s STEM festival on Sunday, May 3 can drive award-winning robots, investigate a mock crime scene or play a giant video game with their feet. Presented by THA’s STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) program, the family-oriented festival will run 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.… Read more »