Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

Lawrence Berg

Lawrence Edward Berg, 86, died in Myrtle Beach, S.C., April 25, 2016. Mr. Berg was born in Mount Vernon, N.Y. He served in the U.S. Army from 1948-1952 in Okinawa, Tokyo and Germany.  Afterward, he attended Ohio State University, where he met his first wife, Edith. He headed a… Read more »

Stan Boas

Stan Boas, 94, died April 25, 2016. Mr. Boas moved to Tucson from Chicago in 1959.  His field of expertise was in furniture sales. Survivors include his children, Marcia of Tucson and Denise of Tempe. Graveside services were held in the Temple Emanu-El section of Evergreen Cemetery. Memorial contributions… Read more »

Pearline Kaufman

Pearline Kaufman, 85, died April 9, 2016. Mrs. Kaufman was preceded in death by her husband, Harold Kaufman. Survivors include her children, Rhonda Kaufman, Barry Kaufman and Neil Kaufman; and two grandchildren. Graveside services were held in the Congregation Anshei Israel section of Evergreen Cemetery with Rabbi Samuel M.… Read more »

ANALYSIS The missing left: Where’s the support for liberal Zionists on campus?

Anti-Israel students at Columbia University erected a mock "apartheid wall" in front of the iconic Low Library steps during Israel Apartheid Week, March 3, 2016. (Uriel Heilman)

NEW YORK (JTA) — The Forward recently asked college students “to tell us about a college experience that had shaped their Jewish identity in some way.” Of the six students whose responses it published, five attend American universities. Of those, two are members of Students for Justice in Palestine,… Read more »

A fresh crop of Jewish books for spring

(JTA) — Spring — when nature itself seems to reawaken — is a time for renewal. So it’s probably a good idea to spruce up your bookshelf (or e-reader or audiobook app), no? Here are nine Jewishy suggestions to rejuvenate your reading. Alligator Candy (Simon & Schuster) By David… Read more »

Synagogue condos: If you lived here, you could be praying by now

The penthouse at 415 E. Sixth St., which will sit atop the historic Anshei Meseritz synagogue. (Courtesy of East River Partners)

  NEW YORK (JTA) — If there’s one story that sums up the changes afoot on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a once heavily Jewish neighborhood, it’s the saga surrounding the Anshei Meseritz synagogue. The Orthodox shul at 415 E. Sixth St. is a relic of a time… Read more »

OP-ED A day to join Israelis in a sad circle of grief

Israeli soldiers salute during the flag-laying ceremony ahead of Memorial Day at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, April 8, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Editor’s note: Join the Weintraub Israel Center for Tucson’s Yom Hazikaron ceremony on Monday, May 9 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. NEW YORK (JTA) — This year I will mark two of Israel’s most important national holidays – Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day) and Yom Hazikaron… Read more »

Alexa Dorf

Alexa Dorf, daughter of Rachel and Rick Dorf, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on May 14 at Congregation Anshei Israel. She is the granddaughter of Becki and Richard Fink and Judy and Michael Dorf, all of Tucson. Alexa attends Esperero Canyon Middle School. She is on the dance… Read more »

Noah Zvi Fleisher

NOAH ZVI FLEISHER, son of Andrea and Jason Fleisher, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on May 7 at Congregation Or Chadash. He is the grandson of Rhoda and Nate Miller of Tucson, Roma Fleisher and Bruce Favish of Los Angeles, Sander Fleisher of Tucson and Tanya Fleisher of… Read more »

Rachel Sydney Rudner

RACHEL SYDNEY RUDNER, daughter of Monica and Eric Rudner, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on May 7 at Congregation Anshei Israel. She is the granddaughter of Gail and Calman Rudner and Alberto and Sara Mirta Bien-Willner, all of Tucson.  Rachel is the great-granddaughter of Florence Liebeskind and the… Read more »

People in the news 4.29.16

ELYSE PINCUS was one of 100 new Birthright Israel Fellows who received training last month at a four-day seminar in San Diego. Pincus is the Birthright coordinator at the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation. She also teaches pre-k and kindergarten beit midrash at Congregation Chaverim. GABE LEHRER, a senior… Read more »

Business briefs 4.29.16

Julie Zorn

JULIE ZORN, Jewish living and learning specialist at the TUCSON JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER, has completed LEAP (Leadership Enrichment and Advancement Program), a continental leadership program from the Jewish Community Center Association’s talent management pilot program. Zorn is one of only 22 people selected from nine JCCs across North America.… Read more »

In focus 4.29.16

Brandeis high tea The Tucson chapter of the Brandeis National Committee held a “High Tea” party and installation of officers on Wednesday, April 6 at Skyline Country Club, with 65 people attending. Marilyn Heins, M.D., spoke on “The Joy of Aging.” Proceeds from the event benefit the Tucson Endowed… Read more »

For Dutch property owners, Holocaust commemoration begins at home

Yvonne van Gennep-Bouma, left, tells visitors about a Jewish family that once lived at what is now her home in The Hague, May 1, 2016. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

  THE HAGUE, Netherlands (JTA) — After Yvonne van Gennep-Bouma discovered that Holocaust victims used to live in what is now her home, she began to think about them constantly. At night, van Gennep-Bouma imagined the former occupants preparing to turn in. And in the morning, she wondered where they had… Read more »

Orthodox activists and victims asking NY to change sex abuse reporting laws

Orthodox activists, like these protesting outside a Brooklyn yeshiva, are asking institutions to do more to report and investigate allegations of child sexual and physical abuse. (Courtesy of Chaim Levin)

  NEW YORK (JTA) – Advocates for sexual abuse victims in the Orthodox Jewish community will be descending on New York’s state capital on May 3 to lobby the legislature to eliminate the statute of limitations for child sex abuse offenses. A bill to change the statute of limitations… Read more »

OP-ED The lessons of Nuremberg: Stand up to hate, and remember hate’s victims

Members of the tribunal preside over the Nuremberg war crimes trials in 1946. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

  MONTREAL (JTA) — Yom Hashoah arrives this year on the eve of two historic anniversaries: the 80th anniversary of the coming into effect of the Nuremberg Race Laws, which served as prologue and precursor to the Holocaust, and the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials, which served as… Read more »