Yearly Archives 2020

Amplifying Voices will continue with virtual civil rights tour

T. Marie King

Amplifying Voices, a six-part virtual series, provides an opportunity to explore the intersectional relationship between the Black and Jewish communities. Launched in October by the Tucson Jewish Community Center and a group of community partners, it will continue on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. with session five, “Learning the Land,… Read more »

Nominate a teen for a $36K leadership award

The Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards are now accepting applications. Up to 15 Jewish teens will be awarded $36,000 each. The Diller Family Foundation, which presents the awards, seeks teens who show “significant initiative and leadership in creating and leading a new initiative – or have considerably deepened or… Read more »

Rabbi Helen Cohn: Our own special corner

I find it increasingly difficult to understand how any religion or spiritual tradition can put itself at the center of the world and claim it has the only truth about creation and the Divine. The internet offers windows into all corners of the world.  Interfaith dialogue among open-hearted people… Read more »

Tucson J to hold Red Cross blood drives

The Red Cross is in critical need of blood donations. The Tucson Jewish Community Center will hold a blood drive in it is north parking lot (next to Tucson Hebrew Academy) on Wednesday, Dec. 30, from 8-2 p.m. Blood donations help patients of all ages: accident and burn victims,… Read more »

Drive-in Hanukkah events are planned around the Tucson metro area

Updated 12.7: The Dec. 13 concert planned by Congregation Or Chadash, Temple Emanu-El and the Tucson Jewish Community Center has been canceled. An email from Temple Emanu-el read, in part, “Due to the rise in Covid cases in Pima County, and new county restrictions for gatherings, we have made… Read more »

UCLA launches Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience

(LOS ANGELES)  – UCLA has opened North America’s first permanent academic home for the study of American Jewish music. Housed in the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience, which seeks to foster artistic creativity, scholarship, performance, and other cultural… Read more »

New semi-pro soccer team takes historic name: Tucson Maccabees

Members of the Tucson Maccabees semi-pro soccer team pause during a recent practice for a team meeting. (Courtesy Tucson Maccabees)

A new local semi-professional soccer team has its roots not only in the Old Pueblo, but also in “the old country.” “My first experience with soccer was as a young child in Romania when my father took me to a game,” recalls Meir Segal, the team’s founder and coach.… Read more »

Z3 online event brings big names to talk peoplehood, Israel, and the Diaspora

Todd Rockoff will lead a Z3 lunch and learn on Dec. 13.

This year’s Z3 event won’t be what people might expect. Now in its sixth year, Z3, which originally was dubbed Zionism 3.0, is an opportunity to talk about a wide range of issues in Israel and the Diaspora. But this is definitely not going to be your typical conference, and not… Read more »

In Focus: Northwest residents rock out to oldies

Vinyl Tap performs at The Gaslight Music Hall in Oro Valley Nov. 4.

Last month, on Nov. 4, Northwest residents joined The Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life/Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona for a drive-in concert at The Gaslight Music Hall in Oro Valley. More than 50 people enjoyed a night of music under the stars… Read more »

In 30th year, Tucson International Jewish Film Festival turns to streaming

Ben Schwartz (left) and Billy Crystal in a scene from 'Standing Up, Falling Down'

The Tucson International Jewish Film Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an abundance of films to stream. “While many things have changed, the power of film to bring us together has not,” Film Festival Co-chairs Cookie Little and Donna Dennison write on the festival’s welcome page. Using the… Read more »

Restoration of Bisbee-Douglas Jewish cemetery honors pioneer history

A visit to the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery on March 11, 2020 revealed toppled tombstones and graves in need of repair. Volunteers made efforts to clean up the site in 2016, but the cemetery was not secure from vandals. (Photo: Virgil Hancock)

The recent restoration of the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery, established in 1904, allows the Jewish pioneers buried there to “rest in dignity,” as Stuart Mellan, former president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, told the audience at the Federation’s “Celebrating Our Past, Creating Our Future” event on… Read more »

Temple Emanu-El WRJ creates new online gift shop, Hanukkah sale

The Baskin Blue Marbled Glass Arch Menorah is one of the items featured on the Temple Emanu-El WRJ Gift Shop's new website.

With their usual Hanukkah bazaar curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, the Women of Reform Judaism at Temple Emanu-El have created an online gift shop and will be holding a 20% sale on Hanukkah items Nov. 23-Dec. 1. Items can be browsed here, including newly arrived menorahs, menorah drip trays,… Read more »