Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel’s announcement last week that an Israeli consortium would build Sorek 2, the world’s largest desalination plant, surprised many who had been watching the deal: The contract had been expected to go to a Hong Kong-based company. But that was before the Trump administration ramped up… Read more »

(JTA) — Don Flesch managed to grab just one item from his downtown Chicago camera shop as it went up in flames Saturday night: the antique Kodak that was the first camera his grandfather sold after he opened the store in 1899. But Flesch said he harbored no ill… Read more »

(JTA) — As Enzi Tanner participated in an online havdalah ceremony marking the end of Shabbat Saturday night, his city — Minneapolis — was being torn apart during a fifth night of unrest following the death of George Floyd, a black man, in police custody there last week. Tanner,… Read more »

Tucson’s Jewish History Museum closed its doors this spring to maintain physical distancing during the coronavirus pandemic, but the staff has been busy forging new partnerships to help it grow its offerings and its audience in the digital world. “In a time of constricted resources, the Jewish History Museum is… Read more »

Marc L. Dollinger (Courtesy)

Two summers ago, I published an academic book about blacks and Jews that did not include a single black Jew in the narrative. Ilana Kaufman, founder and president of the Jews of Color Field Building Initiative, encouraged me to open my eyes to my own implicit assumptions about Jews,… Read more »

Phyllis Gold already had been retired three years from her position as executive director of Satori Inc., where she ran a local K-1 private school and a charter school for grades 2-8, when she agreed to become director of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Northwest Division. Now, after… Read more »

After a nine-week closure, the Tucson Jewish Community Center announced plans this week to reopen its facility in early June. The J is following guidelines set forth by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state of Arizona, as well as advice from a recently formed medical… Read more »

Showing kindness to others is the best feeling in the world. So says David Cutler, founder of Felicia’s Farm in central Tucson. All of the farm’s fresh produce and eggs are donated to organizations that provide for people who might otherwise go hungry. Staff and volunteers regularly reap the benefits… Read more »

Nancy Mellan

A fiber-arts poetry chapbook by Nancy Mellan, “Threadbare,” is on virtual display as part of Foundry Art Centre’s exhibit, Context III. View the exhibit, including Mellan’s video of her piece, at www.foundryartcentre.org/context-iii. Social Lite Creative named state Rep. Alma Hernandez of Tucson one of “The Top 50 Zionist Influencers… Read more »

(JTA) — Hadara Bilsky thought she’d spend her first semester of college making friends in her dorm, having discussions with professors and students in class, and attending Shabbat services at Hillel. Now the 18-year-old isn’t sure if any of that will happen. Emory University, her school of choice, has… Read more »

Jewish Family & Children’s Services received a grant of $20,020 from Angel Charity for Children to renovate and refurnish a play therapy room with equipment and toys to help children heal and develop in healthy ways and to provide play therapy services to over 150 children each year who… Read more »

The Tucson Board of Rabbis has elected the following officers to two-year terms for 2020-2022: Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, president; Rabbi Sandy Seltzer, vice president; Rabbi Helen Cohn, secretary; Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, acting treasurer. Tucson shoe retailer and owner of Alan’s Shoes, Alan Miklofsky, and his longtime advertising agent, Rob… Read more »

A son, Miles Russell Tauber, was born March 27, 2020 to Alex and Zach Tauber of Los Angeles, California. Grandparents are Tracy and Michael Levy of Tucson, and Beth and Sheldon Tauber of Chandler, Arizona. Great-grandparents are Reva and Don Levy of Palm Desert, California, and Paul Zatulove of Phoenix.… Read more »

David Stoler, 74, died May 2, 2020. Born July 23, 1945, in Helsinki, Finland, Mr. Stoler worked at Territorial Newspapers for 30 years, and retired early enough to enjoy life traveling, biking, and spending time with his family. Survivors include his wife, Nancy; son, Marc (Noaa) of West Caldwell,… Read more »

Hyman Bolotin, 91, died April 18, 2020. Born on Dec. 11, 1928 in Chicago, Mr. Bolotin had a varied career in quality assurance in electronics and metal manufacturing. After retiring to Tucson in 1990, he enjoyed many years with his wife Gloria, often at their favorite coffee shop and… Read more »

My beloved father and hero, Solomon Eisenberg, served on the USS Daly DD-519, a naval destroyer during World War II. He saved two men who fell overboard into the Bering Sea off the coast of Adak, when the Japanese occupied the Aleutian Islands of Alaska after the bombing of… Read more »

Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin (Britta Van Vranken)

Jewish communities have a custom of reading the Book of Ruth on the holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. It is not an obvious selection. The Talmudist Rabbi Zeira asked, “This scroll does not contain the laws of impurity or purity, prohibitions or… Read more »

(JTA) — The coronavirus crisis closed a door on Jewish journalism in Canada but opened a window. When the Canadian Jewish News stopped publishing last month after 60 years, observers worried that the country’s Jewish population of some 400,000 would be underserved without a news outlet geared toward the… Read more »

(JTA) — The Museum of Jewish Montreal has been told it must vacate its premises by the end of June. The museum, which is being evicted by the building’s new owners, has been running online experiences since being forced to close due to the coronavirus crisis. “Our storefront has… Read more »

(JTA) – This upstate New York resort’s lake, bowling alleys and cabins were the setting for Mrs. Maisel’s Catskills summer retreat. Now it can be yours for a mere $6 million. The Scott’s Family Resort in Deposit, which has been operating for 150 years, is on the market. The… Read more »