Women and girls dance at the Mega Challah Bake at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, Oct. 14, 2016. (Chabad Tucson)
Tucson’s fourth annual Mega Challah Bake will be held Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The event, for women and girls ages 9 and up, is a joint initiative of Chabad Tucson and the Tucson J with the participation of local congregations and… Read more »
“Unrest,” a Sundance-award-winning documentary, will be screened at the Loft Cinema on Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. Jennifer Brea, a Harvard Ph.D. student, was about to marry the love of her life when she was derailed by strange symptoms. Hoping to find answers, she grabbed a camera and… Read more »
Sharon Megdal, center, with fellow Central Arizona Project board members Jennifer Brown and Mark Taylor at the ‘Cutting-Edge Solutions to Wicked Water Problems’ conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, September 2017. (Courtesy Jennifer Brown)
I recently had the great honor and pleasure of co-chairing the international water conference “Cutting-Edge Solutions to Wicked Water Problems.” Held Sept. 10-11 at Tel Aviv University’s beautiful Porter School of Environmental Studies building, the conference was jointly convened by the American Water Resources Association and the Water Research Center… Read more »
Carol Zuckert makes honey cake for Rosh Hashanah at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. [Nanci Levy)
Celebrating Shabbat and Jewish holidays brings the joy and comfort of tradition to residents of senior living communities. This can involve anything from a ride to synagogue to holding High Holiday services on site. Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging “Jewish celebrations and services are important because they help… Read more »
W. Edward Morgan
Like many Jews, eminent local civil rights lawyer W. Edward “Ed” Morgan, who died in Tucson Sept. 20, 2017, at age 94, deeply valued Jewish learning — but the knowledge that changed his life emerged only in his late 50s, when he first learned from his aging mother that… Read more »
Richard White The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold a citizenship fair volunteer training with immigration attorneys Mo Goldman and Alan Bennett on Sunday, Nov. 19, noon-3 p.m. at the Federation office, 3718 E. River Road. Volunteers will learn how to help U.S. permanent… Read more »
The Ballet Tucson company for the 2017-18 season (Ed Flores)
The Tucson Jewish Community Center and Ballet Tucson will present “Sole Impressions: New Works Performance” at the J on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. The performance will feature original choreography by Ballet Tucson’s professional dancers. Along with background and insights from each choreographer, a question and answer session… Read more »
Rabbi Naomi Levy
Bestselling author Rabbi Naomi Levy will be the keynote speaker for the 13th annual CHAI Circle retreat on Sunday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, 5501 N. Hacienda del Sol Road. CHAI Circle is a support group for women in the Jewish… Read more »
David J. Del Grande The Arizona Jewish Post won two awards recently from the Arizona Newspapers Association. In the ANA’s 2017 Better Newspapers Contest, AJP Staff Writer David J. Del Grande took third place in the Best Feature Story category (Division 2: Non-Daily circulation 3,500 to 10,000) for “Local thrift store volunteers in… Read more »
(L-R) Karen and Myles Levine with co-author Dan Baldwin [Courtesy Dan Baldwin)
During the early morning hours of Aug. 2, 2009, Myles Levine was jolted out of bed by the screams of his wife, Karen. Their front and garage doors were sealed shut. Globs of motor oil, paint, and foam peanuts were strewn along their walkway and driveway. A putrid chemical… Read more »
Irving Silverman, left, and George Youngerman at Maya Levy’s bat mitzvah celebration in Tucson on Feb. 15, 2014. (Courtesy Doug Levy)
If Irving I. Silverman had not been born legally blind 97 years ago, he probably wouldn’t be making news today. Silverman recently published “Aging Wisely … Wisdom of Our Elders,” a nearly 500-page anthology of essays by more than 75 seniors and experts in aging. This is just the… Read more »
The 15th-century Abravanel Hebrew Bible at Portugal's Coimbra University (Cnaan Liphshiz)
COIMBRA, Portugal (JTA) — From its mountaintop perch, the University of Coimbra towers majestically over the downtown square that used to be the regional headquarters of the Portuguese Inquisition. It’s a fitting location for the 737-year-old university, the seventh oldest in the world, which outsmarted and outlived the campaign… Read more »
Hamas and Fatah leaders shake hands following the signing of a reconciliation deal at the Egyptian intelligence services headquarters in Cairo, Oct. 12, 2017. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken a wait-and-see approach to last week’s Palestinian reconciliation deal. Netanyahu spoke out publicly and loudly against the move toward unity between the feuding Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas, calling it a threat to Israel and a setback to peace.… Read more »
A Jewish man walking in London's Golders Green neighborhood, which is home to a large Jewish population, Sept. 23, 2015. (Tony Margiocchi/Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
(JTA) — A plan to open a mosque in a heavily Jewish area of London is dividing British Jews, with some calling the development worrisome and others accusing its opponents of racism. The Islamic center is slated to open next month at the Hippodrome, a former concert hall in the heart… Read more »
White supremacist leader Richard Spencer, center, and supporters clashing with police after the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Va., was declared unlawful, Aug. 12, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(JTA) — The University of Florida, home to the largest Jewish student body in the country, is bracing for an upcoming speech on campus by white supremacist leader Richard Spencer. Only six weeks after Hurricane Irma wrought destruction in Florida, Gov. Rick Scott declared another state of emergency, this… Read more »
The American Jewish Historical Society is housed at a Manhattan address that includes several other Jewish organizations. (Wikimedia Commons, JTA montage)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Last month, New York’s Center for Jewish History was the target of a right-wing campaign seeking to oust its new president, David Myers, over his dovish views on Israel. The campaign drew an appropriately outraged response from leading Jewish scholars, who rallied around Myers, a… Read more »
Harvey Weinstein speaking at National Geographic's Further Front Event at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, April 19, 2017. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for National Geographic)
(JTA) — In an interview with The Daily Beast, George Clooney described Harvey Weinstein as a very powerful man with a tendency to hit on young beautiful women over whom he had power. Despite the “rumors” he had heard about Weinstein’s openly predatory behavior, Clooney expressed sincere shock and outrage at… Read more »
(Kveller via JTA) — In the past two weeks, I’ve read two incredibly relatable pieces of writing that take to task the never-ending extra labor mothers inevitably carry on behalf of our families. The first is a beautiful Facebook post that went viral (again) called “I Am The Keeper,” which… Read more »
The General Assembly is one of the largest annual gatherings of the organized Jewish world. (Jewish Federations of North America)
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — In November, the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America is coming to Los Angeles for the first time since it became my home city in 2008. Over the course of my Jewish professional life, I have eagerly attended at least six General Assemblies,… Read more »
Nicolae Botezatu, sitting, with the rest of the cast of Romania's Jewish State Theater last year. (Courtesy of Jewish State Theater)
BUCHAREST, Romania (JTA) — When the roof of the Jewish State Theater collapsed during a 2014 snowstorm, its director reluctantly knew it was finally time to abandon the century-old building in this capital city. Maia Morgenstern did not take the decision lightly. Following years of neglect by authorities, the Bucharest Jewish… Read more »
