Yearly Archives 2015

WASHINGTON (JTA) — With the conclusion of a framework agreement over Iran’s nuclear agreement last week, many remain profoundly unsure whether the deal will successfully prevent Tehran’s acquisition of a nuclear weapon. Under the terms of the agreement, much of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will remain in place. Its Shahab-3… Read more »

(JTA) — On April 1, Naomi Firestone-Teeter became executive director of the Jewish Book Council, which promotes the reading, writing, publishing and distribution of English-language Jewish books. Firestone-Teeter, whose predecessor Carolyn Hessel has been called “the Jewish Oprah” for her success at promoting books, has been working her way up in the organization since graduating from… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — When attorney E. Randol (Randy) Schoenberg saw himself portrayed on the big screen by hunky Ryan Reynolds in the movie “Woman in Gold,” he immediately spotted a difference. “Obviously, I’m not the sexiest man alive,” Schoenberg acknowledged in an interview at his West Los Angeles… Read more »

(JTA) — For President Obama, the framework agreement reached Thursday with Iran is a “historic understanding” that does more to roll back Tehran’s nuclear program than any possible alternative and avoids the risk of a destructive war in the Middle East. But to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it’s… Read more »

Blue and white Israeli flags waving on the campus of the Tucson Jewish Community Center will soon signal “Tucson Celebrates Israel,” a week of community-wide commemorations and festivities. From April 19 to 26, Tucson community members are invited to participate in events ranging from a 7 p.m. screening of… Read more »

MARTIN REICHGOTT, head swim coach at the TUCSON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER, has been selected as the lead swim coach for the youth division of the U.S. delegation to the 13th Pan American Maccabi Games, to be held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Santiago, Chile. Reichgott is in his third year… Read more »

Former Tucsonan RUSSELL WIENER and bandmates in the Los Angeles-based The Title Trackers recently released “Lost Title Tracks.” The vinyl album (with a CD in the package) of classic album title song spoofs has received rave reviews in the L.A. Times and other publications. Wiener attended Tucson Hebrew Academy,… Read more »

See Jane sing The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation held its annual fundraising event on Sunday, March 8 at Centennial Hall. Emmy and Golden Globe award winner Jane Lynch, known for her portrayal of Sue Sylvester on television’s “Glee,” combined acerbic wisecracks with engaging song styling in a cabaret-style… Read more »

Sanford B. Livingston, 85, died March 15, 2015. Mr. Livingston owned Livingston’s Offset Printing in downtown Tucson since 1957. Survivors include his wife, Carol Baum Livingston; and children, David (Deborah) Livingston and Randy A. Livingston. Private services were held, with burial in the Temple Emanu-El section of Evergreen Cemetery.… Read more »

Harold Leinwand, 95, died March 14, 2015. Mr. Leinwand grew up in New York City where he graduated from The City College of New York. A short time later he joined the U.S. Army and served during World War II. Upon leaving the Army, Mr. Leinwand rejoined the accounting… Read more »

Mina Veksler, 79, died March 11, 2015. Dr. Veksler was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. At the age of 6, when Kiev was occupied by Nazis, she was evacuated with her mother to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Her father did not make the train and is presumed to have died… Read more »

Lola Maas (left) and Lindsay Migdal at the Flo Rida, Aer and Kap Slap concert at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta during the BBYO International Convention.

BBYO International Convention Over Presidents Day weekend, more than 2,200 Jewish teens from across the globe gathered in Atlanta for the largest BBYO International Convention ever. Lola Maas, a freshman at Tucson High Magnet School and member of Kadimah BBG, and Lindsay Migdal, Tucson BBYO city director, participated in… Read more »

This year’s Yom HaShoah community-wide Holocaust commemoration, exploring the many dimensions of liberation from the perspective of liberators and the liberated, will take place on Sunday, April 19 at 2 p.m. at Congregation Anshei Israel. “May I see the other ladies?” he asked. “Ladies!” my brain repeated. He probably… Read more »

Rabbi Helen T. Cohn

I recently read a long document about how to make a kitchen kosher for Passover. The work involved at that level of detail took my breath away. Transforming a kitchen to the highest level of observance is on one end of a continuum.The Jews who can’t be bothered to… Read more »

Ori Parnaby

Dear Jewish Community Concierge, I just found out about you and I was wondering what is it exactly that you do? Sincerely,  Jonathan Dear Jonathan, Great question! The Jewish Con­cierge is a brand new position created by Tucson’s Jewish Com­munity Roundtable, a group of representatives from the Board of… Read more »

Pinchas Zohm

Pinchas Zohav, a Jewish chaplain and counselor, will present “Relationships Thrive Within a We-ality, not a Me-ality” at Hadassah Southern Arizona’s luncheon on Sunday, May 3 at noon at the Lodge on the Desert, 306 N. Alvernon Way. Zohav is the author of “Creating an Extraordinary Relationship: The Art… Read more »

Temple Emanu-El will honor congregants Ruth and Stephen Dickstein for their contributions to the synagogue and the Tucson community with a gala dinner on Saturday, May 16. The theme of the event is “Our World Rests on Three Pillars: Learning, Worship, and Acts of Lovingkindness.” Steve and Ruth met… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – In 20 years, there will be more Muslims in North America than Jews, according to a new Pew Research Center report. The report, which was released Thursday, also found that more American Jews are leaving Judaism than non-Jews are joining the Jewish people. According to… Read more »

When Steve Landau started Everyone Runs, Everyone Walks 10 years ago, he hoped to provide runners of all levels with a race that they could finish and feel positive about. “I went to other races and I would hear runners say that they weren’t good enough to finish in… Read more »

Eugene Yelchin

Who knew seven years ago that the Tucson Festival of Books would rank as one of the top celebrations of authors and reading in the United States? Kudos to its founders, Bill and Brenda Viner, members of the Tucson Jewish community, and Bruce Beach, Frank Farias and John Humenik.… Read more »