News

Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging and Tucson Hebrew High will launch a Tracing Roots 2.0 intergenerational program next month, bringing together Handmaker residents and Jewish teens. The original program, which began in fall 2015 and wrapped up in 2017, built “beautiful connections,” says Nanci Levy, Handmaker’s community outreach… Read more »

Local congregations are enhancing youth and family education programs while increasing inter-synagogue collaboration to enrich Tucson Jewish life. Participants credit expanded funding from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona for this boon. “The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has always allocated grant money to synagogues, but additional funding through… Read more »

Jewish wisdom teaches that it takes 40 days to form a habit. “The same is true for molding character and changing how we look at life,” says Esther Becker, director of the Women’s Academy of Jewish Studies at the Southwest Torah Institute. Her “40 Days to Become a Better… Read more »

The Tucson Clay Co-op is celebrating a special birthday in October. The building where clay bowls and pots come together is turning 100 years old and proprietor Maxine Krasnow wants to send it up big. “You don’t celebrate when a building is 101 or 102, you do it the… Read more »

Yofi, a fluffy 2-year-old goldendoodle, leads a very dynamic life in the Jewish community and beyond. She is an athlete, educator, therapist and beloved pet with a very busy schedule. Her active social life began early with basic training at eight weeks old. “She went from crazy to calm… Read more »

I’ve always considered Tucson Hebrew Academy as my fourth child and this community to be my family,” Ronnie Sebold recently told the AJP. With hands-on involvement within the school for 37 of its 45- year history, she has dedicated a lifetime to nurturing the academy. For this dedication to… Read more »

Grace Kolack, daughter of Marque Kolack of Naples, Florida, and Janice Wilson of  Tucson, and Daniel Louchheim, son of Thomas and Marcia Louchheim of Tucson, were married April 29, 2018, at La Mariposa Resort with Rabbi Thomas Louchheim and Cantor Janece Cohen officiating. The maid of honor was Bailey… Read more »

At the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony, there is the dramatic moment in which a wine glass (wrapped in a napkin) is placed on the ground. The groom stomps on and shatters the wine glass as the assembled guests shout their congratulations, “Mazel tov!” There are many interpretations… Read more »

All hounds were on deck Sunday for a Blessing of the Pets at Congregation Anshei Israel, led by Rabbi Robert Eisen. About two dozen dogs attended, and a half-dozen cats were blessed virtually through photographs or with stuffed stand-ins. One dog even brought her stuffed cat for blessing. The… Read more »

Joan-e Rapine, MS, LAC, NCC, a clinical therapist at Jewish Family & Children’s Services, will lead an interactive discussion, “Domestic Violence and the Impact on Our Community: Let’s Work Together to End the Problem and Become Part of the Solution” on Sunday, Oct. 28, 10 a.m. to noon at… Read more »

(JTA) — When he and his wife moved to Pensacola, Florida, on Sunday afternoon, Rabbi Mendel Danow expected to spend the following couple of weeks settling in and buying supplies for their new home. Instead, two days after getting off the plane, Danow found himself driving to a Walmart… Read more »

(JUF News via JTA) — Author A.J. Jacobs has encouraged his three sons to be grateful for all they have. He and his wife urge them to write thank-you notes, to thank the bus driver — even thank their household robot Alexa for weather forecasts. Jacobs, who is Jewish, sometimes says… Read more »

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (JTA) — Danish Jews celebrated their community’s rescue 75 years ago in a ceremony Thursday at the country’s main synagogue, the packed sanctuary filled with dozens of survivors and luminaries. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin was among those on hand at the Great Synagogue of Copenhagen, joining Crown… Read more »

Dianne Feinstein

WASHINGTON (JTA) — There are 56 candidates for Congress who identify as Jewish. Among them are 41 Democrats: five are running for the Senate — three incumbents and two challengers. Among the 36 in the U.S. House of Representatives, 18 are incumbents and 18 are challengers. (Three incumbent Jewish… Read more »

Art teacher Amy Novelli has joined Tucson Hebrew Academy. Originally from Ohio, Novelli graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Columbus College of Art & Design and earned her Master of Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. She worked as a sculptor for… Read more »

Dana Adler has been elected president of the Women of Reform Judaism Pacific District for a two-year term. She will be installed at the WRJ 2018 Pacific District Convention, which will be held in San Diego Oct. 18-21. The district comprises 13 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Adler… Read more »

Tucson Hebrew Academy’s student government held its annual Passport to Peace event Monday, Sept. 17. Taking place around the Jewish High Holidays, it provides students an opportunity to reflect and to learn about ways they can do mitzvot and actively participate in tikkun olam (repair of the world). Representatives… Read more »

More than 75 people attended Splish Splash in the Sukkah, a joint event co-hosted by Tucson Hebrew Academy, PJ Library and PJ Our Way on Sunday, Sept. 30. The event included a reading of “Leo and Blossom’s Sukkah” by Jane Breskin Zalben, making rain sticks in the THA sukkah,… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — When Nikki Haley said on Tuesday that she would be stepping down as U.N. ambassador by the end of this year, the Israeli and pro-Israel laments poured out swiftly. Haley didn’t simply defend Israel and its government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as her predecessors… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) – The organizers of a rally to support pro-Israel students at Columbia University didn’t want the Jewish Defense League to show up. And yet there they were, a few demonstrators wearing the extremist right-wing group’s insignia, a clenched fist punching into a yellow Jewish star. The… Read more »