Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

  NEW YORK (JTA) — The FBI and Department of Homeland Security will be assisting local Jewish community centers in bolstering security after 16 JCCs received bomb threats on the same day. On Wednesday, officials from the FBI and Homeland Security will conduct a conference call with U.S. Jewish… Read more »

(JTA) — Jared Kushner, the Orthodox Jewish son-in-law of President-elect Donald Trump, will be named senior adviser to the president, Trump transition officials reportedly have confirmed. The official announcement is expected as early as Tuesday, The New York Times and several other major news outlets reported Monday. Citing people close… Read more »

PLUM WINDOWS AND DOORS, owned by DESIREE WILLIAMS, in collaboration with HABITAT FOR HUMANITY, recently presented full replacement windows and a new patio door to Irma Bush, a longstanding Habitat for Humanity volunteer and beneficiary. Habitat for Humanity Tucson, in addition to building new homes for those who qualify,… Read more »

Songwriter MICHAEL COOPER, a native of Nogales, Ariz., recently had musical theater productions performed in New York, London and Paris. In October, the National Alliance of Musical Theatre showcased selections from his musicals “Luna Park,” “Sunfish” and “Love Always” in its Songwriter’s Cabaret series. “Luna Park” was one of… Read more »

Jessica Maia Frankenberg, daughter of Viviana and Nathan Frankenberg will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Jan. 21 at Congregation Bet Shalom. She is the granddaughter of Teresa and the late Henry Frankenberg of East Meadow, N.Y., and Arnoldo and the late Rosa Waysburt of Asuncion, Paraguay. Jessica attends… Read more »

L-R: Or Chadash sixth graders David Berk, Gabby Marsh (visitor), Talya Fleisher, Emma Ruben, Lily Goldberg, Jessica Witchey, Ethan Silvyn, Riley Silvyn. Center: Ava Silverman

Or Chadash Mitzvah Fair  On Sunday, Dec. 11, the sixth grade students at Congregation Or Chadash held the 10th annual Mitzvah Fair, which allows students to learn about and in turn help teach the concept of tzedakah (charity) in our community, says Rina Liebeskind, Or Chadash education director. The… Read more »

Alfred Irving Paley, 89, died Dec. 24, 2016. Born in Monticello, N.Y., Mr. Paley was a U.S. Navy veteran who served in World War II. He graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute (now New York University Tandon School of Engineering, Brooklyn) with a degree in electrical engineering. He spent his… Read more »

Barbara Levy died Dec. 23, 2016. Survivors include her daughters, Linda Levy and Jaie Levy, both of Tucson; and one grandson. Graveside services were held at Evergreen Cemetery with Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel officiating.… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold its Super Sunday phone-a-thon on Jan. 29 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. During the annual fundraising event, volunteers will reach out to members of the Jewish community for donations to the Federation’s 2017 Community Campaign, which supports humanitarian and educational… Read more »

Yonatan Nir, an Israeli documentary filmmaker and producer, says making movies is an education unto itself. “Every film that I make is a window to a new world,” says Nir. “For me, the camera is a way to communicate, to learn more about the world and to experience it… Read more »

Marthe Cohn was crossing a field covered with ankle-deep snow. She was alone. There was no moon and she had no compass, no flashlight, nothing written down. As a French Jew, she had enlisted in the army to help defeat the Nazis. Her mission was to cross the border… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center will join with UA Presents to hold a free “sneak peek” mini concert by cellist Matt Haimovitz on Friday, Jan. 13 at 3 p.m., one day prior to his Jan. 14 concert at 8 p.m.  at Crowder Hall. Haimovitz will offer a musical variation… Read more »

As a kid, Allison Richter of Tucson spent many happy hours canoeing, shooting arrows, hiking and crafting at Camp Pearlstein, now called Camp Daisy and Harry Stein, in Prescott. Her parents never thought she would bring home a husband. She didn’t, of course, but those summers began a beautiful… Read more »

Cathy Olswing will present “Israel Through Our Eyes,” a report on a recent Hadassah Desert-Mountain Region mission, at a Hadassah Southern Arizona early dinner event on Jan. 15 at 3 p.m. at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St Andrews Drive. Olswing, who serves on the national board of Hadassah,… Read more »

NETANYA, Israel (JTA) – One fit young soldier scales a rope. Two others practice hand-to-hand combat. A large group marches across the sand. But those were just the inspirational photographs on the walls. The actual soldiers crowded in the one-room building here on the Orde Wingate army base were… Read more »

  TEL AVIV (JTA) – Israel’s leading security think tank has published a plan to redraw the map of the West Bank in a bid to consolidate major settlements and prevent the spread of others. The plan, presented Monday to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin as part of the Institute for National Security Studies’ yearly strategic… Read more »

(JTA) A large menorah in the front yard of an Arizona family was twisted into the shape of a swastika. The Hanukkah candelabra was made of gold spray-painted PVC pipes and solar-powered lights. Parents Naomi and Seth Ellis told the Washington Post they built the 7-foot menorah in front… Read more »

Congregation Or Chadash will hold a Texas Hold-Em poker tournament, plus a dinner and casino night, on Saturday, Feb. 4 at the Tucson Scottish Rite Cathedral, 160 S. Scott Ave. The poker tournament, limited to 150 players, will begin at 6 p.m., with onsite registration open at 5 p.m.… Read more »

Ryan McKittrick

Ryan McKittrick, assistant professor of theater arts at Brandeis University, will present “The American Musical from the 19th Century to ‘Hamilton’” at the Brandeis National Committee’s University on Wheels breakfast on Thursday, Jan. 12 at 9:30 a.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. McKittrick’s talk will feature scenes from… Read more »

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Temple Emanu-El will host the 2016 Cohon Memorial Foundation Awards at Shabbat evening services on Friday, Jan. 13, at 7:30 p.m. Rabbi Baruch J. Cohon and Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon will present the awards to this year’s winners, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of… Read more »