David Ivers Arizona Theatre Company Artistic Director David Ivers will return to his native California after being named artistic director at the 55-year-old Tony Award-winning South Coast Repertory Theatre in Costa Mesa, California. Ivers will continue his ATC co-executive leadership responsibilities with Managing Director Billy Russo until assuming the new position… Read more »
Tucson J revamps art gallery The Tucson Jewish Community Center revealed its renovated Fine Art Gallery on Sunday, Sept. 16 at the artists’ reception for “Simcha,” a group show featuring 13 members of the Tucson Jewish Artists. Approximately 100 people turned out for the exhibit. The gallery features a… Read more »
Howard Lee Rapoport, 89, died Sept. 19, 2018. Educated in St. Louis, Mr. Rapoport graduated from University City High School and later Washington University with a degree in business. Among his duties while in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict was serving as his company’s bugler. He later… Read more »
In 1966, when I was just 13 years old, my parents surprised me by taking me to New York City to see Zero Mostel star as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof.” I was enchanted by Shalom Aleichem’s inspiration, “Tevye the Dairyman,” which was written in Yiddish in 1894.… Read more »
The Rosh Hashanah custom of dipping apples in honey had its start among Ashkenazi Jews. (Liron Almog/Flash90)
The truth is, there is no commandment in Judaism to dip an apple in honey on Rosh Hashanah. But what would the Jewish New Year be without the custom? It’s a question that bedevils vegans, many of whom won’t eat honey because it’s an animal product. So what’s a… Read more »
Volunteers from Roche Tissue Diagnostics (Ventana Medical Systems, Inc), including Jennifer Miller Grant (foreground) and Ianna Brugal, pack food boxes for Homer Davis Elementary School on Dec. 15, 2017. The food boxes are part of ‘Making a Difference Every Day: The Homer Davis Project,’ coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council. (JFSA)
In Tucson, 21 percent of children live below the poverty level. It makes a difference when children study on empty stomachs. It makes a difference when they have no food to eat when they get home. It makes a difference in their ability to grow, learn and succeed. “Making… Read more »
(JTA) — A Missouri Republican who has made anti-Semitic and other bigoted statements handily won a primary for the state’s House of Representatives. Steve West, who promotes anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on a radio show he hosts, defeated three other candidates Tuesday in the bid for a seat representing Clay… Read more »
This Ruth Bader Ginsburg action figure is being sold by a Brooklyn-based company. (Fctry via Kickstarter)
(JTA) — Fans of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg can already buy a plethora of items with her face on it, including T-shirts, mugs and prayer candles. Soon they will be able to add another keepsake to their collections: an RBG action figure. If the amount of money raised to produce the… Read more »
A look at the Avocado Rose dish at The Avocado Show. (Courtesy of The Avocado Show)
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Last year, Ron Simpson was still managing talent for a living. But within just a few months Simpson, a 34-year-old Jewish marketing professional and producer from Amsterdam with no experience in running a restaurant, launched an international chain of eateries with a partner. It is so… Read more »
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg preparing to administer the Oath of Allegiance to candidates for U.S. citizenship at the New-York Historical Society in New York City, April 10, 2018. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
(JTA) — Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says she hopes to remain on the court for another five years. “I’m now 85,” Ginsburg said, according to CNN. “My senior colleague, Justice John Paul Stevens, he stepped down when he was 90, so think I have about at least five… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Knesset passed controversial legislation making Israel the “nation-state of the Jewish people,” angering groups in Israel and the Diaspora. The so-called Nationality Law enshrines in Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Law that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. It passed early Thursday morning after hours… Read more »
Regarding the letter in the June 29 edition, “Connection doesn’t give women equal access,” I hope the Jewish Federation continues to host events like ‘The Connection.’ As a transgender Jewish woman, I am not always allowed to attend women’s events in the Orthodox world. When such events are held… Read more »
arinne Sjoberg peels off a sticker that neo-Nazis left on the door of what used to be the Jewish community center of Umea, Sweden. (Photo courtesy Carinne Sjoberg)
When Carinne Sjoberg dissolved the Jewish Community of Umea in northern Sweden, she knew it would send shockwaves far beyond the small congregation that she had spent decades building. The move in May owed to intimidation by neo-Nazis, making it the first time in decades that a Jewish organization… Read more »
Elaine McLain displays her certificate of conversion on Aug. 9, 2017, with the members of the rabbinic beit din, from left: Rabbi Dr. Howard Schwartz, Rabbi Avraham Alpert, Rabbi Dr. Bennett Blum.
Before moving to Handmaker in 2015, Elaine McLain lived all over the country, and “did everything imaginable,” she says, including marrying and being widowed twice, raising three children — and, on Aug. 9, converting to Judaism. (See related story, page 7.) Jewish ethics were the first thing that attracted… Read more »
School days are right around the corner, and community students have much to look forward to in the new school year. Tucson Hebrew Academy students will notice physical changes from the outside to the inside for the school’s 45th anniversary. Refreshing the building exterior, water fountains and restrooms is… Read more »
Out & About participants on a recent trip, starting with front row, (L-R): Ethel Weissman, Ramon Cruz (driver), Carol Zuckert; Debbie Smolen (volunteer), Betty Light, Leah Casey, Doris Wochley; MaryJane Gibson (volunteer); Lois Waldman, Les Waldman, Mort Edberg, Elaine McLain
Elaine McLain, a Handmaker resident for two and a half years, is delighted Handmaker recently created an Out & About program for residents, a series of trips to cultural sites similar to Handmaker’s popular Adventure Bus program, which is for people experiencing the early stages of memory loss. “It’s… Read more »
Even as a child, Hana Ripp felt that she had a mission in life. She wanted to be a voice for those who couldn’t speak. Intuition guided her over decades to follow her vision of world peace and harmony through the best vehicles she knew — arts and education.… Read more »
Alma Hernandez, a Mexican-American Jew and daughter of immigrants, is running for the Arizona House of Representatives and founded a progressive Jewish group in Tucson. (Courtesy of Hernandez) (JTA) — When Mary McCabe explains America’s immigration courts to children who have been separated from their parents, she tries to make it interactive. She draws a sketch of a courtroom and asks kids to identify the figures in the room — like the judge or the lawyers —… Read more »
Meijer and Tedje van der Sluis during filming in Amsterdam of a 2018 documentary film about their marriage. (Merlijn Doomernik)
AMSTERDAM (JTA) — More than 70 years have passed since Meijer van der Sluis first laid eyes on the love of his life. He was at a home for child survivors of the Holocaust, and he opened the door for her. He still remembers her short haircut and exactly… Read more »
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Tel Aviv has been decked out in rainbow flags for weeks. Suddenly, it seems, every restaurant, coffee shop and store is super “gay friendly.” The city’s Pride Parade is traditionally held on the second Friday of June. Fifteen years ago, estimates were that 9,000 people… Read more »
