Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

WASHINGTON (JTA) – When David Axelrod, then a senior adviser to President Barack Obama, first learned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly had referred to him and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel as “self-hating Jews,” he remembers feeling stung. “For people to suggest that I would… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Rochelle Shoretz was fond of saying, “There are no problems, only solutions.” Her approach to life was not to dwell on bad news, but to channel the energy that friends described as boundless into somehow making things better. It’s what drove her to establish the… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the octogenarian therapist and TV host, is famous for her frank and open talk about sex. But she’s being called out for her recent comments about sexual consent — and using the Talmud to back up her controversial point of view. With her new book, “The… Read more »

Marilyn Agron, 78, died May 15, 2015. Born in Chicago, Mrs. Agron moved to Tucson in 1957. She was a lifetime member of Hadassah. Mrs. Agron was preceded in death by her two sisters, Shirley and Florence. Survivors include her husband of 57 years, Austin Agron; children, Elise (Pat)… Read more »

Sylvia Ulan, 77, died May 14, 2015. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Mrs. Ulan was raised in Albany, N.Y. She graduated from Oneonta Teachers College and taught elementary school in the Albany school system for several years. She moved to Tucson to teach and attended the University of Arizona… Read more »

Rose Bike, 87, died May 8, 2015. Born in Chicago, Mrs. Bike graduated from Tully High School and worked in the family’s bakery and lingerie shop. She was accepted at Northwestern University, but instead began working at the telephone company as an operator, eventually becoming a supervisor and trainer… Read more »

Marjorie Emerson Paulson, 90, died May 4, 2015. Born in St. Louis, Mrs. Paulson lived most of her life in Phoenix. Mrs. Paulson was preceded in death by her first husband, Elliot. Survivors include her husband Norm Paulson and his extended family; children, Jim Emerson of Albuquerque, N.M., Gary… Read more »

Joan Lipsey, 84, died March 16, 2015. Mrs. Lipsey graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and continued her education in advanced dance in Chicago and New York City. She also trained as a lab technician. She had three dance studios in Iowa. She also taught… Read more »

(L-R): Cantorial soloist Marjorie Hochberg; Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon; b’not mitzvah Fran Haggerty, Margaret Lambert and Sharon Geiger; teacher Margaret Kendle

Adult b’not mitzvah celebrate at Temple Emanu-El­ Temple Emanu-El’s yearlong adult b’nai mitzvah course culminated in a group b’not mitzvah ceremony on Saturday, May 2, with the class leading Shabbat morning services.           Tucson Hebrew Academy ­ festival celebrates STEM fields More than 600 people… Read more »

Ariella Youdelman, daughter of Donna and Frank Youdelman of Tucson, and Moshe Shor, son of Gittie and Kalman Shor of Las Vegas, were married Sept. 7, 2014 at Reflections at the Buttes in Oro Valley with Cantor Avraham Alpert of Congregation Bet Shalom and Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz officiating. Ariella… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — There’s no shortage of Israelis who want to reform the office of the Chief Rabbinate. Ranging from advocates of religion-state separation to leaders of Israel’s non-Orthodox movements to newspaper columnists, some want to end the Rabbinate’s monopoly over the country’s religious services; others want to dissolve… Read more »

(JTA) – Two synagogues and the homes of countless Jewish residents were damaged in the floods that swept through Houston on Monday and into Tuesday, inundating homes and businesses, sweeping away cars and leaving at least five people dead. Houston, America’s fourth-largest city and home to more than 40,000 Jews, was paralyzed… Read more »

(JTA) — Given the long and storied history of the Holocaust film genre, it’s unusual for a new movie on the subject to be lauded as innovative. But the new film “Son of Saul,” the first by Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes, is being called just that. It also was one… Read more »

Editor’s note: Lillian Fisher died June 7, 2015 due to complications from congestive heart failure, less than two weeks after this article was published.  The Honorable Lillian Fisher will be 94 on June 18. A retired Pima County Superior Court judge, she received the University of Arizona College of… Read more »

In April, I spent three weeks in Nepal as a volunteer for Elephant Aid International. Life for captive Asian elephants is a miserable existence of slavery, including painful iron chains around their legs. In cooperation with the government of Nepal, EAI and volunteers from all over the world built… Read more »

Blue Banana Frozen Yogurt 12125 N Oracle Road, #121 989-3998 • bluebananafrozenyogurt.com Owners Rick and Linda Brady invite you to enjoy their delicious, healthy self-serve frozen yogurt at only 45 cents per ounce. Located at the Oro Valley Marketplace, they also hand make unique flavors of Italian gelato, such… Read more »

From Providence, R.I., to Santa Fe, N.M., to Tucson, with many stops in between, tallit maker Beth Surdut has always been an artist. Her approach to Judaism is as expansive as her art, always growing and changing. “Being brought up Jewish you’re brought up to have an inquiring mind,”… Read more »

As a teenager in Baltimore, Nechama Sonenthal had to grow up fast after her older sister fell into a coma and later needed life-saving brain surgery. That didn’t stop Sonenthal from serving her community while in high school and then traveling to Israel to train with first responders in… Read more »

Tracy Salkowitz

When I first began meeting with donors on behalf of the Jewish Community Foundation, I was repeatedly struck by one thing: many donors seem to have a stumbling block to making the final decision about where they wanted to leave their funds. I dug deeper and found that donors… Read more »

This piece was written by Iris and Ori Ifrach, Rachelli and Avi Fraenkel, and Bat-Galim and Ofer Shaer, the parents of Eyal Ifrach, Gil-ad Shaer and Naftali Fraenkel. (JTA) — One year ago, our families were thrust into a nightmare beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Our sons,… Read more »