Carlos Hernandez Upcoming changes in the way the state of Arizona will manage behavioral health services funded by Medicaid present an opportunity for Jewish Family & Children’s Services to expand its services, along with a challenge to “improve and enhance our infrastructure” to meet compliance requirements, says JFCS President and CEO… Read more »
Dar Katz (left) and Shachaf Shahar with Camp J campers at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
(Julie Zorn/TJCC)
As Camp J shlichot (Israeli emissaries), Shachaf Shahar and Dar Katz are here to share their love and knowledge of Israel and Jewish culture with the campers at the Tucson Jewish Community Center this summer. Shahar, 22, is from Yad Mordechai, a kibbutz in Tucson’s Partnership2Gether region in southern… Read more »
Barry S. Hirsch, 73, died June 15, 2015. Mr. Hirsch was born in Cleveland. His family moved to Tucson in 1948. A graduate of Tucson High School, he received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education from the University of Arizona. Mr. Hirsh served in the Peace Corps… Read more »
Lillian Fisher, 93, died June 7, 2015. She served as a Pima County Superior Court Judge for 16 years. She helped found the Arizona Women Lawyers Association and was a founding member of the National Association of Women Judges. She also helped establish many Tucson organizations, including the Tucson… Read more »
Eve Rosenberg at the Bureau of Land Management campsite at Ajo Way and San Joaquin Road, before setting out for the final day of the Migrant Trail, May 31. (Deborah Mayaan)
When I joined the Migrant Trail for the last day of its 12th annual week-long solidarity walk from El Sásabe, Sonora, Mexico, to Tucson, we stepped single-file along Ajo Highway in a walking meditation. Periodically, we called out names of those who had died crossing our Sonoran Desert. Some… Read more »
Robert N. Rosen CHARLESTON, S.C. (JTA) — The unspeakable murder of nine accomplished, beloved and respected African-American Charlestonians of faith in their own church on Wednesday has hit our city like an earthquake. These murders occurred in my neighborhood, across the street from Buist Academy, the public magnet school my daughter and… Read more »
Though he's CEO of a major travel company, Stephen Kaufer says he doesn't really have wanderlust -- but he would like to revisit his favorite destination: Jerusalem. (Courtesy TripAdvisor) NEW YORK (JTA) – When Stephen Kaufer, the CEO of TripAdvisor, an $11 billion company that runs America’s leading user-generated hotel review website, thinks back to all the places he has visited, one stands out as his favorite. Jerusalem. “Oh my gosh, looking at all of these amazing structures, the… Read more »
Cindy (Adrienne C. Moore), left, and Flaca (Jackie Cruz) in "Orange Is the New Black."
(JTA) — “Orange Is the New Black” protagonist Piper Chapman’s may no longer have a Jewish husband, but that doesn’t mean that Judaism isn’t a huge part of the new season of the Netflix hit. In fact, religious identity is one of the biggest themes of Season 3, as many… Read more »
Alina Adams with her family (Courtesy of Alina Adams)
It’s the No. 1 trending topic on Twitter and currently burning up other social media as well: Rachel Dolezal, who resigned on Monday as president of the Spokane chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and who teaches African-American studies at Eastern Washington University, has… Read more »
Abraham Foxman holds a replica of his Hollywood Walk of Fame Star as he is honored by the ADL's 2014 Annual Meeting at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on November 7, 2014. (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (JTA) – If there’s one thing that can be said of longtime Anti-Defamation League leader Abraham Foxman, who is stepping down this month after nearly 30 years at the helm, it’s that he never holds back from speaking his mind. In an age of canned, anodyne statements… Read more »
Michael Douglas speaking at the announcement of the Genesis Generation Challenge winners at the Bloomberg Philanthropies headquarters in New York City, April 28, 2015. (Flickr)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Michael Douglas hadn’t heard of the Genesis Prize when he found out that he’d won it. In fact, the Oscar-winning actor was surprised to discover he was even in the running for an award designed for those who inspire fellow Jews. His father, actor Kirk Douglas,… Read more »
Raymond Karl Lederman, D.O., a doctor, psychiatrist and passionate advocate for child and adolescent mental health, died June 15, 2015 after what his family describes as “a long journey” with cancer. He was 65. Born in Detroit, he graduated from the University of Michigan, then attended medical school at… Read more »
Maickel Melamed (in ski mask and rain poncho) running in the Boston Marathon. (Maickel Melamed Facebook page)
BOSTON (JTA) —Twenty hours after the start of Monday’s Boston Marathon, Venezuelan long-distance runner Maickel Melamed crossed the finish line, prompting an impromptu City Hall ceremony in his honor later that morning. Melamed finished far behind the marathon’s winners, but he nonetheless received a medal. That’s because Melamed, who is Jewish,… Read more »
Back row: Michael Gibson, Sarah Jones, Joshua Arden, Kacie Bauer, Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Cantorial Soloist Marjorie Hochberg. Front row: Gabriel Cohon, Isabella Brody, Dalya Parker, Meghan Ramirez, Athena Focazio-Moran, Rebecca Bauer (Joe Steiner) Temple Emanu-El confirmation Temple Emanu-El’s 5775 confirmation class led the Shabbat evening service on Friday, May 22. Music of the Night On May 9, Congregation Or Chadash honored Cantor Janece Cohen on the 25th anniversary of her ordination as a cantor and the receipt of… Read more »
MALIWAN JOANIQUE TOVA ROCKLAND, daughter of Jeffrey and Suwatana Rockland, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Saturday, June 20 at Temple Emanu-El.. She is the granddaughter of Michael Rockland and Patricia Ard of Morristown, N.J., Mae and Myron Tupa of Brookline, Mass., and Samart and Bangorn Apairatana of… Read more »
BENJAMIN ROBERT HELMING, son of Suzanne Baron Helming and Bruce Helming, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on Saturday, June 13 at University of Arizona Hillel with Congregation Chaverim. He is the grandson of Martha Baron and the late Allen Baron, and Carol and Bob Helming, all of Tucson.… Read more »
ROBYN DAFOE has been named vice president for clinical services for JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. Previously, she was the director for quality management and utilization management at Pantano Behavioral Health Services, where she worked for the past 10 years. Dafoe also has worked for Child… Read more »
“A Beggar at the Door: Longer and Shorter Psalms” by Tucson poet and painter JOSH GOLDBERG has been published by Albion-Andalus Books. Goldberg teaches at The Drawing Studio in Tucson and his artwork can be seen at Davis Dominguez Gallery and joshgoldbergtucson.com.… Read more »
Ruth J. Weinstein, 87, died May 29, 2015. Born in Newark, N.J., Mrs. Weinstein lived in New Jersey until 1977 when she and her husband moved to Tucson. She was a congregant of Temple Emanu-El for 38 years and volunteered on many committees and assisted in the office until… Read more »
Steven B.Nasati CHICAGO (JTA) — There are many important endeavors already underway to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, or BDS, as the Anti-Defamation League’s Abraham Foxman argues in his recent JTA Op-Ed. From educating and mobilizing our own community to engaging non-Jewish leaders and institutions, much work is being done. But… Read more »
