Yearly Archives 2017

JERUSALEM (JTA) — In over a decade as prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has created more than his fair share of political memes — from the cartoon bomb he displayed at the United Nations to decry the Iran nuclear deal in 2012 to his “nix it or fix it” speech to… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — For many home cooks, spices are an afterthought, sprinkled on a dish lacking in flavor. Israeli-born, French-educated chef Lior Lev Sercarz wants to change that. “If you want to make good food and beverages you need to know about spices, and I would like to… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The case of Joseph Jesner v. Arab Bank is a bid by about 6,000 Israelis who have been harmed by Palestinian terrorism to get redress from Jordan’s Arab Bank, which delivered money to the groups carrying out the acts. Yet when the U.S. Supreme Court heard… Read more »

Guests arrive in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman Grand Foyer of the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy for the Oct. 1 gala. Above them is a glass, aluminum, steel and acrylic art installation, “Infinite Possibilities” by Art Neptune and Zak Timan. On the balcony is a bronze sculpture by David Unger, “My Beloved,” donated by Kathy and David Unger. The wooden ceiling designed by CDG architect Frank Mascia, with its “welcoming tent” shape, was inspired by the documentary “Raise the Roof” about the reconstruction of the roof of a lost wooden synagogue in Poland. (Martha Lochert)

JFSA thanks building donors with gala Some 250 donors to the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s capital campaign attended a gala on Sunday, Oct. 1 at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy, the new home of the Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.… Read more »

Devy Wolff (Korene Charnofsky Cohen)

Tucson artist DEVY WOLFF will hold a retrospective show, “Devy Wolff: The New York Years, 1968-1998” at the Joel D. Valdez Main Library, 101 N. Stone Ave., Nov. 1-29. An opening reception will be held Sunday, Nov. 5, 1-3 p.m. Visit devywolff.com.… Read more »

Davis Michael Yalen, son of Allen and Ilene Yalen, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 21 at Temple Emanu-El. He is the grandson of Sandy and William Yalen and Joan and Stuart Brodsky, all of Tucson. Davis attends Tucson Hebrew Academy, where he is student government… Read more »

TUCSON HEBREW ACADEMY has hired EMILY ERNST LUNNE as director of finance, a role that also includes human resources and building maintenance oversight. Lunne is a native of Wyoming and a graduate of the University of Wyoming. She has been involved with many nonprofit organizations as an auditor, a… Read more »

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (JTA) — Seventeen-year-old Sjuul Deriet, standing outside this port city’s main soccer stadium on a rainy Sunday, vividly explains why he hates the people he calls “the Jews.” “They have the money, they run the business from management positions and they think they’re better than blue-collar people… Read more »

(JTA) — Here we go again: The issue of how and why the United States should engage with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is back in the news. The announcement by the Trump administration that the U.S. will be pulling out of UNESCO over its biased… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — “It doesn’t help.” “I don’t know how it happened or why it happened.” “The most common response I’m seeing is confusion.” That’s what some Conservative rabbis are saying about their movement’s recent major statement on intermarriage, which reasserts the ban on rabbis performing interfaith weddings… Read more »

(The Nosher via JTA) — For generations, Jewish grandmothers have spent hours and hours chained to their stoves perfecting their family chicken soup recipes. The prevailing thought was that the longer the soup simmered, the more flavorful the result. Fortunately for the current generation, technology has created new ways… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — The Orthodox Union is founding its own division to advance women as congregational leaders, as well as to promote Jewish study and communal participation for women in Modern Orthodoxy. The announcement comes nearly nine months after the group, an umbrella association of centrist Orthodox synagogues,… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — On May 2, Israel’s Independence Day, Texas state Rep. Phil King stood smiling as Gov. Greg Abbott signed King’s bill banning the state from doing business with boycotters of Israel. “Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally,”… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — If a woman called the JTA office and said she wanted to tell her story of sexual harassment by a prominent community figure, we’d have questions. Would she put her name to the accusations? Can she corroborate them? Can she provide specific dates and descriptions… Read more »

(JTA) — The time is just after the defeat of Nazi Germany. Two Orthodox Jews disembark from a train at a rural station in Soviet-occupied Hungary and, after offloading a heavy bag, they begin a silent, hour-long walk to a nearby village. The purpose of their journey is not… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) – The Israel Defense Forces takes pride in its status as a “people’s army.” More than just a military, the IDF embraces its reputation as an equalizing force in Israeli society. Every soldier, rich and poor, is supposed to learn during mandatory army service what it takes… Read more »

Shirley Jean Lipsey, 90, died Sept. 30, 2017. Mrs. Lipsey was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She was a graduate of Omaha Central High School and attended UCLA and University of Omaha. She married James L. Lipsey in Omaha in 1947. In Omaha, she was a pioneer in the development… Read more »

Paul Golin

The Secular Humanist Jewish Circle of Tucson will present a panel discussion, “Who’s a Jew? Intermarriage and the Future of Judaism,” with a keynote lecture by Paul Golin, executive director of the Society for Humanistic Judaism, on Saturday, Oct. 28, 1:30-3 p.m. at the Murphy-Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot… Read more »

Olympic swimmer Jason Lezak will present a Mutual of Omaha BREAKOUT! swim clinic on Sunday, Nov. 12, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. A total-person approach to swimming, the clinic can help swimmers break bad habits, build new skills, and uncover hidden talent. The clinic will… Read more »

“The doctor went into the examining room and, leaning over my father, who was still lying on a gurney, he asked in a condescending way, ‘What do you want me to do, Mr. Wyner, make you younger?’ And my father responded with words that will always… Read more »