Benjamin Wilder, Ph.D. Benjamin Wilder, Ph.D., 36, is director of the University of Arizona Desert Laboratory on Tumamoc Hill, a job that connects him deeply with his Tucson roots. Wilder was born and raised in Tucson. His father, Janos Wilder, is an award-winning chef and owner of the local DOWNTOWN Kitchen +… Read more »
Neil Markowitz Neil Markowitz, 61, has been a contributing member of the Tucson community for over 25 years. His work in founding and running the Environmental Education Exchange (E3) as well as the time he gives to Jewish organizations has made an impact felt across the region. Markowitz has been working… Read more »
Gregg Garfin, Ph.D. Growing up in the 1970s it was almost impossible not to be surrounded by environmental movements. The first Earth Day was held in April 1970 and many people were concerned with saving forests and protecting the air, land, and water from pollutants. Gregg Garfin, Ph.D., was no exception. Garfin,… Read more »
In March, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and Jewish Community Foundation, along with local families, launched the Jewish Community Pandemic Relief Fund to help community members facing financial challenges due to the coronavirus pandemic. Since March, the fund has raised more than $404,000 and its task force has… Read more »
The number of people in any space at the Tucson Jewish Community Center is limited to allow for social distancing. (Courtesy Tucson Jewish Community Center)
The Tucson Jewish Community Center reopened its fitness center on Aug. 28, following a decision from the Arizona Department of Health Services that allowed gyms in Pima County to resume operations with safety measures in place. The J’s fitness center had been closed since late June, when it briefly… Read more »
Esther Sternberg, M.D. Esther Sternberg, M.D., has been a pioneer in the field of wellness in the workplace. Her research on how the built environment affects worker’s health and productivity has been a great tool for architects, building managers, and other researchers expanding the field. Sternberg was born and raised in Montreal,… Read more »
At left, Daniel Karsch (left) and Tom Newman, former partners in Old Pueblo Urology, during a visit Karsch and his wife, Carol, made to Tucson from Israel in February 2020. At right, Karsch and Newman co-host 'The Plumber's Ball' in 1974. (Courtesy Carol Karsch)
Daniel Nathan Karsch, M.D., 78, died of cancer on July 23, 2020. Dan was born in Philadelphia to Lil and Joe Karsch and grew up in the large Jewish neighborhood of Wynnefield, centered around Har Zion Temple, Jewish schools, synagogues, and Camp Ramah. A graduate of Ursinus College and Jefferson… Read more »
Joaquin Ruiz, Ph.D. Joaquin Ruiz, Ph.D., the University of Arizona’s first vice president for Global Environmental Futures, gets excited about the work of its partners around the world, such as farmers in Israel’s Arava region. “There are a bunch of kibbutzes in the Negev that are growing stuff on rocks and with… Read more »
Laura McKee has been hired as executive assistant to the CEO of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. McKee began her career with an associate’s degree as a legal assistant from Pima Community College and worked as a legal secretary while earning her bachelor’s degree… Read more »
The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish History Museum & Holocaust History Center in Tucson today issued a statement strongly condemning statements made by Arizona Representative John Fillmore likening the tattooing of Holocaust victims to government mask-wearing mandates issued to slow… Read more »
Mary Jo Pollack won the Phoenix Moth Story Slam in July. Pollack has told stories live in Tucson for Odyssey Storytelling, FST! Female Storytellers, and Tellers of Tales Tucson, where she is second vice president. Rabbi Baruch J. Cohon, vice president of the Tucson-based Rabbi Samuel S. and A.… Read more »
(JTA) — The king of Saudi Arabia has thrown cold water on the assurances of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump who is leading Middle East policy, that all Arab countries will follow the United Arab Emirates’ lead and normalize ties with Israel. Saudi Arabian King Salman… Read more »
(JTA) — The president of Malawi said that his country would open an embassy in Jerusalem Lazarus Chakwera made the announcement Saturday as part of a larger expansion of the country’s diplomatic representation abroad. Malawi currently does not have a diplomatic mission in Israel. The announcement came a day… Read more »
(JTA) — The display was striking: 1,019 empty plastic chairs set up in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, one for each of the Israeli victims of the coronavirus since the pandemic began this spring. The chairs, set up on Monday by the grassroots organization Standing Together, each bore a… Read more »
(JTA) — A Vienna-born Israeli man who left Austria 76 years ago at the age of 8 became the first Jew to receive Austrian citizenship under a new law that allows those who were persecuted by the Nazi regime and their direct descendants to obtain Austrian citizenship without giving… Read more »
A Hasidic man wears a protective face mask while visiting The Vessel at the Hudson Yards on September 3, 2020 in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)
(JTA) – Rising fears about a second wave of coronavirus cases in New York City’s Orthodox communities appear to be coming to pass, with the proportion of tests turning up cases of the disease more than four times the citywide rate in one heavily Orthodox neighborhood in newly released… Read more »
Jews pray on a street near the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine, Sept. 20, 2006. (Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Before deciding to stay permanently, Chaim Chazin would visit the small city of Uman, Ukraine, every year around Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. For Chazin, a religiously observant music producer from Israel, the brief annual visits were energizing spiritual experiences away from money troubles back home.… Read more »
(JTA) — Israel passed a grim milestone over the weekend as its tally of coronavirus deaths exceeded 1,000. The country currently has the highest rate of new infections per capita in the world, with an average of 199.3 new cases a day per 1 million residents for the week… Read more »
Left: Nadine Strossen (Anthony Alvarez) Right: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees on Capitol Hill on April 10, 2018. (Xinhua / Ting Shen via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms face increasing pressure to crack down against anti-Semitism and other forms of hate speech. This summer, the Anti-Defamation League and NAACP led a one-month corporate boycott against advertising on Facebook, and a group of British Jews led a 24-hour boycott… Read more »
Israelis take part in the annual Israel's Gay Pride parade hosted by Jerusalem on June 25, 2009.
Photo Nati Shohat /FLASH90
(JTA) — Yeshiva University rejected the formation of a campus group for queer students but said it was putting in place new policies to help LGBTQ students feel safe. The flagship Modern Orthodox college in New York sent a statement to students Thursday addressing a yearlong battle over whether… Read more »
