Ian Kinsler is thriving in Detroit after being traded from the Texas Rangers. (Hillel Kutler, JTA) The rarity arose in the initial meeting of first-year Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus and his second baseman Ian Kinsler, newly traded from the Texas Rangers: a Jewish player reporting to a Jewish manager. Ausmus was “raised the same way I was,” Kinsler learned, with one Jewish parent and… Read more »
Palestinian children play in a damaged building with a swastika and the Star of David painted on it in a Gaza refugee camp in 2005. The ADL survey found that 93 percent of respondents in the West Bank and Gaza have anti-Semitic views. (Abid Katib/Getty Images) The Anti-Defamation League’s Global 100 Index of Anti-Semitism is the broadest public opinion survey of attitudes toward Jews ever conducted. It is one of the most important efforts we have undertaken in our history as an organization. The survey was conducted in more than 100 countries and territories, and… Read more »
One small step by Israelis could become a giant leap for the State of Israel. At a Tel Aviv University laboratory, a team of 20 Israelis is building a spacecraft they believe will make Israel only the fourth country — after the United States, Russia and China — to… Read more »
Jon Ben-Asher, Tucson Hebrew Academy’s new interim head of school, is off and running. He attended THA in the late 1970s and early ’80s and recalls being assigned to watch Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos” as homework. “Cosmos” is back on TV, modernized and even more spectacular. So is Ben-Asher’s view… Read more »
Ernesto Portillo, Jr., left, a columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, facilitates a panel discussion at the Jewish Community Relations Council's private screening of "The Dream is Now" on May 13 at the Loft Cinema. “The Dream is Now,” a documentary depicting the plight of young undocumented immigrants, was shown at a private screening for members of the Jewish and Latino communities on May 13 at the Loft Cinema. Following the film, four undocumented college students told their stories about living in America —… Read more »
University of Arizona graduate student Molly Keenan at Masada during her Birthright Israel trip in January. (Courtesy Molly Keenan) Molly Keenan smiles and shakes her head with disbelief at all the work that went into hosting her first Passover Seder last month, which she did with encouragement from NEXT, Birthright Israel’s program for alumni of the free Israel trip. “I’m a procrastinator, and I was kicking myself two… Read more »
Marilyn Heins, M.D. Summer activities? The good news is that parents and children have lots of choices: day camp, sleepaway camp, summer school, sports teams, music lessons, family vacations, visits from relatives, unaccompanied plane travel for children to visit relatives. The bad news is many choices means much logistical planning. Before you… Read more »
Elderly Ukrainians receive food packages at the Hesed social welfare center in Donetsk run by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. (Courtesy JDC) (JTA) — At the end of “Fiddler on the Roof,” the classic musical celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Tevye and his family flee their village of Anatevka for a better and safer life. In reality, however, not everybody left. Today, several hundred thousand Jews still live in Ukraine,… Read more »
Josh Zeid: "There’s no better place, if you’re a young player, to be than the Houston Astros." (Hillel Kuttler) BALTIMORE (JTA) – For Houston Astros pitcher Josh Zeid, a recent game against the Baltimore Orioles provided a microcosm of his up-and-down tenure in organized baseball and with the club over the past several months. Entering a 2-2 game in the seventh inning, with two runners on and two… Read more »
A special event marking the opening of the first public Holocaust education center in Romania will take place Sunday, May 18, in the town of Sighet, Romania. The “Holocaust Cellar” will become a new feature of the existing Holocaust museum in the pre-war home of Nobel Prize-winning author Elie… Read more »
Pima Animal Care Center will hold a free vaccination and wellness clinic on May 21. The first 100 patrons between 9 a.m. and noon will receive diagnostic testing and vaccines for their pets, thanks to grant funding from Banfield Charitable Foundation. Pet services offered at no charge (and worth… Read more »
Nancy Ben-Asher Ozeri The Arizona Jewish Post has won a first place Simon Rockower Award for Excellence in Jewish Journalism from the American Jewish Press Association. “Warmth, eye-opening perspective for local firefighters in Israel” by freelance writer Nancy Ben-Asher Ozeri won the excellence in feature writing award for newspapers with circulation under… Read more »
(L-R) Bebe Fischer, Ina Shivack, Hilary Lyons and Billie Maas in Arizona Onstage Production’s ‘25 Questions for a Jewish Mother’ Part memoir, part stand-up routine, “25 Questions for a Jewish Mother” will feature two segments by local residents when it comes to Tucson this month. Comedienne Judy Gold and playwright Kate Moira Ryan weave actual interviews with Jewish mothers across the United States with memories from Gold’s childhood and… Read more »
Nichole Chorny After an extensive national search, Congregation Anshei Israel has appointed Nichole Chorny as cantorial soloist. Chorny will be responsible for conducting congregational services and will coordinate and/or conduct life-cycle events and the B’nai Mitzvah program, in collaboration with Rabbi Robert Eisen. She will also develop and coordinate educational programs… Read more »
The Sisterhood of Congregation Or Chadash will hold a Fashion Show Fete celebrating mothers and daughters on Sunday, May 18 at 3 p.m. Mother and daughter models will be featured. The event, which will include an afternoon tea on the patio with sandwiches and desserts, plus door prizes and… Read more »
Christians United for Israel at the University of Arizona will host its fifth annual Night to Honor Israel at the Tucson Convention Center’s Leo Rich Theater on Thursday, May 15. The keynote speaker will be Deputy Consul General of Israel Uri Resnick, Ph.D. The Gatekeepers community choir will perform.… Read more »
Temple Emanu-El will honor the achievements of adult B’nai Mitzvah with two events this month. On Friday, May 9, at 6:30 p.m., the 13th anniversary of the 2001 adult B’nai Mitzvah class will be celebrated, with nine of the 14 members of Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon’s first adult B’nai… Read more »
Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is pictured with V. Stiviano to his left at a 2013 basketball game. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) When Donald Sterling’s racist rant hit the news last week, you could practically hear the jostling at the microphone by those eager to denounce the Los Angeles Clippers owner. For the beneficiaries of Sterling’s largesse, the denunciations took on a special imperative as a means of distancing themselves from… Read more »
Actor Ed Asner, center, led a Freedom Seder on April 21 cosponsored by Temple Emanu-El and Humane Borders. He is pictured with Dinah Bear, president of the board of Humane Borders, and Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, senior rabbi of Temple Emanu-El. (Simon Rosenblatt) Singing the traditional Passover song Chad Gadya, leaving a cup of wine for the prophet Elijah, reciting poems by Marge Piercy and other secular poets, listening to reflections by members of Tucson’s Latino community — all marked the Freedom Seder held April 21 at Temple Emanu-El, cosponsored by Humane… Read more »
Miriam Furst (Sheila Wilensky) Tucsonan Miriam Furst has been teaching in the field of gifted education for more than 30 years. She’s still at it, researching stimulating activities that illustrate concepts she’s trying to convey. But instead of K-8 or college students, students in Furst’s sharp mind classes are residents at Handmaker Jewish… Read more »
