OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Geri-Lynn Bertagnolli has joined the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona as campaign administrative assistant. Bertagnolli, a Tucson native, has an M.B.A. in e-commerce as well as B.S. degrees in business administration and business management from the University of Phoenix, where she also earned a certificate in human resources management.… Read more »
Abbie Kozolchyk on a recent research trip to Samoa (Courtesy Abbie Kozolchyk) Former Tucsonan Abbie Kozolchyk was included in a Tripbase® listing of “100 Favorite Travel Writers.” Kozolchyk has written for Conde Nast Traveler, Food & Wine, Cosmopolitan, and Forbes Traveler, among other publications. Her book, “The World’s Most Romantic Destinations,” was published by National Geographic. Aimee Katz completed a summer… Read more »
Alma Hernandez’s second-place finish in the Democratic primary for the Arizona House of Representatives paves her way to election in November. (Courtesy of Hernandez)
(JTA) — Alma Hernandez, a 25-year-old Mexican-American Jew, finished in the top two in her Democratic primary for the Arizona statehouse, paving her way to be elected in November. Hernandez was second in her district Tuesday — there are two open spots for state representative — allowing her to… Read more »
Supporters of Julia Salazar back the New York State Senate candidate at a news conference in Brooklyn, N.Y., Aug. 6, 2018. (Erik McGregor/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
NEW YORK (JTA) — New York State Senate candidate Julia Salazar is pushing back against an article on a Jewish website describing discrepancies in her Jewish and family biography. Salazar, 27, a democratic socialist running for a seat in Brooklyn’s 18th district, has been profiled in various Jewish and… Read more »
Peter Riegert and Amy Irving starred in "Crossing Delancey." Riegert played a pickle shop owner on the Lower East Side. (Warner Brothers/Getty Images)
The movies, at least in contemporary times, don’t have enough great stories of outwardly Jewish love. That’s one of the many reasons why “Crossing Delancey,” the classic 1988 romantic comedy that arrived in theaters 30 years ago this week, remains a cinematic treat worth revisiting.… Read more »
The six Ulma children, seen here with their mother during their last summer alive, were killed in 1944 after watching their parents' execution for harboring Jews. (Courtesy of the Ulma Museum)
MARKOWA, Poland — Memorial plaques bearing the names of Poles killed for rescuing Jews line the pathway leading to a small, austere structure built into a hillside in this rural village in southeastern Poland. In the center courtyard, a large slab is inscribed to the memory of Jewish victims… Read more »
Mumbai, India – The Jewish community of India, together with American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, is responding to the destructive floods in Kerala, providing food and clothing to hundreds of families hard-hit by the disaster. With a presence in India since 1950, JDC and its partners in the Jewish community will provide… Read more »
Ben Kingsley stars as Adolf Eichmann in "Operation Finale." (Valeria Florini / Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures)
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Ask Ben Kingsley about why he was keen to portray Nazi criminal Adolf Eichmann in the new film “Operation Finale” and he describes the traumatic childhood incident in which he first learned about the Holocaust. The 74-year-old British actor was then in grammar school and… Read more »
Women mourn their relatives at the cemetery overlooking the Jewish town of Krasnaiya Sloboda in northern Azerbaijan, July 21, 2018. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
KRASNAIYA SLOBODA, Azerbaijan (JTA) — For one day each summer, the hills overlooking this centuries-old Jewish town echo with the sound of wailing women. The women ascend up a narrow path from this town of several hundred residents in northern Azerbaijan to its vast cemetery. It’s an annual procession on Tisha… Read more »
Ben Fisher lived for three years across from Jerusalem's Old City, or what he calls the "seam" between Arab eastern Jerusalem and Jewish western Jerusalem. (Kendall Rock)
(JTA) — In 2014, early on in a three-year stint spent living in Israel, songwriter Ben Fisher took a vacation to Japan. Sitting in a hotel room in Tokyo, he spontaneously wrote a song about the founding of Tel Aviv — in about 15 minutes. The story goes that… Read more »
The view down an alley off the street where Nazi camp guard Jakiw Palij lived in Queens, N.Y., Dec. 4, 2017. (Celeste Sloman for the Washington Post)
(JTA) — A former guard at a Nazi concentration camp was deported to Germany overnight from the United States, where he had lived for decades. Jakiw Palij, 95, had lived in Queens, New York. He served as a guard at the Trawniki concentration camp near Lublin, Poland, during World… Read more »
Rachel Freier, center, is the protagonist of ‘93Queen.’
Like many heavily Orthodox sections of Brooklyn, Borough Park has been served for decades by an all-male volunteer ambulance corps called Hatzalah. The corps caters to a religious Jewish community with particular needs and customs — including one custom that can increase the tension for some patients in already… Read more »
Carlos Galindo-Elvira On Aug. 12, 2017, the nation was gripped by the shocking scene of hundreds of white supremacists taking to the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, bellowing racist and anti-Semitic chants. While some wore polo shirts and others waved Nazi flags, their message was clear: non-whites and minorities have no place… Read more »
Myles K. Beck Myles K. Beck received the Edwin N. Sommer Award from Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity at its 2018 International Convention in Los Angeles on July 14. The award is presented occasionally to a ZBT alumnus for “selfless dedication to the ideals of Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity.” Beck is a 1967… Read more »
Elder Camp volunteer Rina Ornela Ybarra and Ofelia Morales, a seven-semester veteran of Elder Rehab, show off arts and crafts creations. J’s one-day adult camp lets grown-ups in on summer fun Thirty-seven campers joined the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s one-day adult camp on July 29, enjoying traditional camp activities such as a talent show as well as a variety of class options, including cooking, yoga and J-Wave Glide-Fit floating… Read more »
Hochberg-Lappitt Rachel Hochberg and Andrew Lappitt were married on July 8, 2018 at The Wilshire Grand Hotel in West Orange, New Jersey, with Rabbi Cecelia Beyer officiating. Rachel is the daughter of Sharon and Mark Hochberg of Plainview, New York. She graduated from the University of Arizona, receiving a… Read more »
Susannah Castro recently joined the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona as Women’s Philanthropy director. She brings over 15 years of experience in nonprofit administration, including posts focused on community outreach, development, and public relations, most recently as director of operations for the Star Foundation. In August 2015, she founded… Read more »
Mitzvah Magic circle captains and co-chairs celebrate the program’s 10th anniversary, Aug. 5. Standing (L-R): Fran Katz (Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona senior vice president), Andra Karnofsky (co-chair), Linda Tumarkin, Wendy Weiss, Claudia Oreck-Teplitsky, Donna Moser, Iris Posin (co-chair); seated, Elena Boskoff, Trudy Haggard, Anne Lowe (JFSA)
Mitzvah Magic, a program that provides baskets of Jewish holiday goods and everyday basics three times a year for local Jewish families in need, is a win-win, says longtime volunteer Iris Posin, who is co-chairing the program this year with Andra Karnofsky. Not only do families receive items that… Read more »
Katie Spector and Jeremy Thompson, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s new arts and culture managers, in the J’s Sculpture Garden (Debe Ca
Look for some new directions in arts and culture programming at the Tucson Jewish Community Center with the addition of a dynamic duo of new managers, Katie Spector and Jeremy Thompson. Together they will focus on enriching community development, using innovative and creative ways to bring more people and… Read more »
(L-R) Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Board Chair Shelly Silverman, JFSA 2019 Campaign Chair Melissa Goldfinger, JFSA Senior Vice President Fran Katz, and JFSA Women’s Philanthropy Campaign Chair Leslie Glaze visit the Berlin Wall, July 15. (Melissa Goldfinger)
Each year, the Jewish Federations of North America invites professionals and lay leaders to participate in a mission that highlights the unique challenges, programs and impact of federations’ overseas funding. In mid-July, Melissa Goldfinger, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona 2019 Campaign chair; Leslie Glaze, JFSA Women’s Philanthropy Campaign chair;… Read more »
