Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

A view of a Starbucks shop in Washington, D.C., April 17, 2018. The company announced that it will close more than 8,000 U.S. stores on May 29 to conduct "racial-bias education" following the arrest of two black men in one of its cafes. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Starbucks denied that it demoted the Anti-Defamation League from a lead role in its anti-bias training, saying it continues to view the Jewish group as a valuable partner in future training. Reggie Borges, a spokesman for the coffee giant, spoke to JTA on Wednesday following… Read more »

High School Students are invited to compete in The Norman Alexander Award for Excellence in Jewish Student Writing by submitting a 500-word essay on: Jewish Contributions to American Music. Examples are: Paula Abdul, Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Shlomo Carlebach, Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, George Gershwin, Benny Goodman, Billy Joel,… Read more »

Seated (L-R): Walter Feiger, Sidney Finkel, Barbara Agee. Standing: Yulia Genina, Naama Potok (Mrs. Frank), Ann Arvia (Mrs. Van Dann), Harold Dixon (Mr. Kraler), Annique Dveirin

Holocaust survivors meet “Anne Frank” cast Three actors from the Arizona Theater Company production of “The Diary of Anne Frank” spent the morning with Holocaust survivors at Jewish Family & Children’s Services on Tuesday, April 24. The actors and the survivors talked about their relationship to the production and… Read more »

MARY ELLEN LOEBL will receive the 2018 Arizona Education Association Partners in Education Award. Loebl is coordinator of “Making A Difference Every Day: The Homer Davis Project” for the Jewish Community Relations Council of the JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA, which provides weekend food packs and other assistance for elementary school… Read more »

Tu Nidito Children and Family Services will honor SOOZIE HAZAN and MAYA LURIA along with Lani Baker, Jenine Dalrymple and Judy Wood as the 2018 Remarkable Moms at the nonprofit organization’s annual gala, The Remarkable Celebration, on Saturday, May 12 at the Westin La Paloma Resort. For more information,… Read more »

(JTA) — When Bryan Stevenson set out to build a memorial to the thousands of black people lynched in the United States, he thought about Germany and Poland. Those countries, where millions of Jews died at the hands of the Nazis, have made sure to preserve the memories of… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — It’s like finding out that the White House has a mikvah in its basement and no one knows about it. Up an elegant stairway next to the concert hall at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is the “Concert Lounge dedicated by the… Read more »

(JTA) — The jail sentence of Rabbi Barry Freundel, a once-prominent Modern Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C. who secretly filmed women in his synagogue’s mikvah, has been shortened by over a year due to good behavior, his lawyer said. Freundel’s 6 1/2-year sentence also was reduced because he participated as… Read more »

Bertha Reynolds was born Bertha Hurwitz in Poland. (Courtesy of Shirley Thaler)

(JTA) — When Eleanor Roosevelt or Bess Truman sent a formal invitation to one particular White House staff member, they often addressed it in the customary form of days gone by: “To Mrs. William Reynolds,” the envelope would read. Mrs. Reynolds, a dark-haired beauty who handled presidential correspondence, lived… Read more »

(JTA) – More than 2,000 Jews and non-Jews attended “Wear a Kippah” rallies in Berlin and other German cities to protest anti-Semitism. The protests on Wednesday come in the wake of a Syrian asylum seeker’s attack on a non-Jewish man wearing a skullcap in the German capital last week. Jews were… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — A pledge by 51 student groups at New York University to boycott Israel and two pro-Israel campus organizations is a sign of “animosity” at the private campus, a Jewish student leader said. In the resolution, which was released Monday, the student organizations express their support… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — When Alice (Gerstel) Weit last saw Simon Gronowski, she was 13 and he was 10 and, by Alice’s recollection, “the most adorable boy ever.” When they reunited this week, 76 years later, “I opened the door and there he was, a frail, little old man,” she… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center will present a screening of the independent film, “Keep the Change,” on Thursday, April 19 at 7 p.m. A performance by the Sparks Cheerleaders will be the opening act for the film, a romantic comedy about two young adults on the autism spectrum. All of the… Read more »

It is a common belief that smiling makes people appear younger. Empirical findings in an Israeli-Canadian study, however, seem to prove that smiling faces are actually perceived as older than are faces with a deadpan or surprised expression. Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Western University in… Read more »

A  healthy smile makes an important first impression. Maintaining that smile and its health becomes increasingly important throughout life. Beyond routine brushing, flossing and regular dental checkups, local dental professionals suggest there are other ways to maintain a healthy smile at every stage. When babies begin teething at three… Read more »

NFTY convention Maya Levy had a good excuse for skipping the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Connections brunch on Feb. 18, where she was due to receive one of two Bryna Zehngut Mitzvah Awards (see “In Focus,” AJP, 3/9/18). She was attending the North American Federation of… Read more »

(Leo) John Felman, 80, died March 18, 2018 after a long battle with post-polio syndrome and cancer. Mr. Felman was born and raised in Pittsburgh. After attending the Mercersburg Academy, he graduated in 1960 from the University of Pittsburgh with a B.A. and honors in philosophy. He attended post-graduate… Read more »

The American Psychological Association Division 22, Rehabilitation Psychology, selected ALAN L. GOLDBERG, PSY.D., APBB, J.D., to present the 2018 Leonard Diller Award Lecture on Contributions to Neurorehabilitation at its annual conference, held Feb. 22-25 in Dallas. The award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to neurorehabilitation and… Read more »

Nine attorneys of Tucson law firm MESCH CLARK ROTHSCHILD have been recognized as 2018 Southwest Super Lawyers. They are Michael McGrath and Fred Petersen for Bankruptcy: Business; Gary Cohen for Business Litigation; Mel Cohen for Construction Litigation; Doug Clark for Personal Injury; Thom Cope for Employment Litigation: Defense; David… Read more »

Haley Melissa Zorn, the daughter of Scott and Julie Zorn, celebrated her bat mitzvah on Saturday, March 17 at Temple Israel, in Akron, Ohio. She is the granddaughter of David and Kathryn Unger of Tucson, formerly of Akron, the late Harold Zorn and Adele Zorn of Las Vegas. Haley… Read more »