Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona will present a symposium on “The U.S.-Israel Relationship: On the Verge of a Paradigmatic Shift?” on Wednesday, Nov. 9, from 1 to 9 p.m. The event, with experts from the East and West Coasts and the UA, will… Read more »

U.S. Navy Vice Admiral Cecil D. Haney (left) presents U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Jonathan E. Lowe with the Lance P. Sijan Leadership Senior Officer of the Year Award for all of Strategic Command on Sept. 18, 2011. Haney is deputy commander for U.S. Strategic Command, encompassing army, navy, air force and marines, at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Neb. (Courtesy Anne Lowe)

Even if some Jewish servicemen and women haven’t celebrated Passover in years, attending a Seder thousands of miles from home can be a source of comfort. Several Tucson mothers of Jewish servicemen have found their own ways to honor their offspring, while extending tzedakah to other Jewish members of… Read more »

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (P.K.Weis/southwest photobank.com)

Tucson Hebrew Academy will honor Rep. Gabrielle Giffords with its 2011 Tikkun Olam Award on Sunday, Nov. 6. The Jewish concept of tikkun olam (repairing the world) is a call for all to do their part to make the world a better place, both through public service and by… Read more »

Regina Gutman and Sam Spiegel wed under a chuppah at the Foehrenwald displaced persons camp in 1946. (Courtesy United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Regina Spiegel, a Holocaust survivor from Radom, Poland, currently living in Washington, D.C., will discuss her experiences in ghettos, forced labor and concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, on Sunday, Oct. 30, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. The program, “Literature and Testimony,” presented by the Coalition for Jewish Education… Read more »

Bonnie Sedlmayr-Emerson at Melanoma Walk ’11

Aged to perfection This title describes newly minted centenarian Ruth Protas. Over Labor Day weekend, Ruth’s family and friends from near and far feted her on this milestone occasion. Official greetings from the White House congratulated her for a century of memories representing an important part of the American… Read more »

  Although restaurants that cater to new trends are always popping up in Tucson, many diners still crave traditional Italian, Mexican or French cuisine. Luckily, whatever the dining preferences, Tucson restaurants satisfy myriad tastes. After travels to Paris or Montreal, locals can come home to enjoy paté or chateau… Read more »

Mitt Romney is the whack-a-mole front-runner: He consistently leads the Republican pack, but only by beating back one conservative challenger after another. First it was Michele Bachmann, then Rick Perry, and now a surging Herman Cain. His contradictory status — as a front-runner caught in a constant rearguard action… Read more »

Art Spiegelman answers questions at a book talk in Los Angeles about the 25th anniversary of his Pulitzer Prize-winning ‘Maus’ series and the new book and DVD ‘MetaMouse.’ (Micah Cordy)

  Wearing a three-piece suit and looking more elder statesman than the artist he is, Art Spiegelman was addressing an audience of about 100 at the high-toned Soho House on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. The occasion was the taping of a conversation with book scholar Michael Silverblatt,… Read more »

  The Holocaust has inevitably played an important role in the way I view the world and our responsibility to our neighbors. Knowing the facts of this genocide and the world’s complete failure to act in the face of it has led me to commit to do whatever I… Read more »

Scene from the 2010 Tucon Meet Yourself Festival (Steven Meckler)

Tucson’s Jewish community will have a significant presence at the Tucson Meet Yourself Festival this weekend. In celebration of the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which started Thursday, the Jewish History Museum will house its festival booth in a sukkah (which is apropos, as the word “sukkah” means “booth”)… Read more »

The Jewish Genetic Disease Center of Greater Phoenix will offer genetic screening on Sunday, Oct. 30 from 10 a.m. till 4 p.m. at the Ina Levine Jewish Community campus, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road. One in five Jewish individuals of Ashkenazi/Eastern European descent is a carrier for one or more… Read more »

Susan and Brad Stillman grew concerned following their son Benjamin’s birth in September 1998. He was fussy and congested, had difficulty breastfeeding and didn’t take to the bottle. The parents brought him to the pediatrician and then to a hospital pediatric care unit near their home in Rockville, Md.,… Read more »

Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging will hold its third annual “Celebration of Tucson’s Oldest Jewish Residents” on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 11 a.m. The free lunch is a celebration of Jewish Tucsonans ages 90 and older. The lunch will begin with a color guard presentation by Tucson’s Jewish… Read more »

Jewish Family & Children’s Services will hold events celebrating two programs next month. The LEAH — Let’s End Abusive Households program, which serves victims of domestic violence within a Jewish cultural and religious context, will mark its 11th year of service with a free house party at Covenant House… Read more »

In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the U.S. Civil War, the Jewish History Museum, in partnership with the Tucson Jewish Community Center, will present a free screening of “Jewish Soldiers in Blue & Gray” on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. at the JCC. The film reveals the… Read more »

Shalom Tucson will hold a free bagel brunch on Sunday, Oct. 23, 10:30 a.m. to noon at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, with the theme “One Stop Shopping for the Tucson Jewish Community!” Geared toward newcomers and those interested in connecting to Jewish Tucson, the event will include the… Read more »

Participants embrace prior to Occupy Wall Street's Kol Nidre service across from Zuccotti Park in downtown New York, Oct. 7, 2011. (Danielle Fleischman)

Rachel Feldman originally had meant to attend a traditional synagogue Kol Nidre service. Aimee Weiss hadn’t found a place to daven but was looking for something more interesting than a “big box synagogue.” Come Yom Kippur eve, they and several hundred other Jews found themselves drawn to lower Manhattan,… Read more »

Pope John Paul II visits Rome’s Great Synagogue with Chief Rabbi Elio Toaff in April 1986, the first recorded papal visit to a synagogue.

The Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is sponsoring a bus trip to Phoenix on Tuesday, Nov. 29 to attend the exhibit, “A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People.” The 2,000 square foot, multi-media traveling exhibit chronicles the friendship of… Read more »

Robert Morris

Growing up in Tucson during the 1950s, Robert Morris, Jr. learned about the importance of fresh vegetables from a local Jewish peddler. “When I was elementary school age Toby would let me ride on his truck for a few blocks,” says Morris. Today, fresh vegetables have often disappeared from… Read more »

A chair for Gilad Shalit was displayed on the bimah at Temple Emanu-El throughout the High Holidays.

During this year’s High Holiday services, an empty, decorated chair was displayed on the bimah at Temple Emanu-El as a reminder of the ongoing captivity of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas five years ago and has been held in Gaza. The idea for the chair… Read more »