News

(JTA) — He was just 24, but speechwriter David Litt had already become President Barack Obama’s go-to guy for anything considered “kishke-related.” In Litt’s parlance, that meant he wrote the president’s speeches aiming to connect with Jewish Americans on a gut level — things like holiday and anniversary commemorations,… Read more »

  (JTA) — Around the picnic tables at Whitefish City Beach on the final Shabbat eve of last month, the Montana town’s tiny Jewish community shared kosher hot dogs, veggie burgers and memories of terror. In a year when white supremacists have been ascendant, at least in their public… Read more »

  {JTA) — A few weeks ago, Holly Davies was getting ready to homeschool her kids and preparing the family for the High Holidays. When Hurricane Harvey hit, she helped evacuate 150 people from her neighborhood by airboat and shelter nearly 100 people in a local church. Then came… Read more »

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Three leftist Jewish youth movements have refused to attend Brazil’s longest running Israeli dance festival in retaliation for a lecture given by a right-wing politician at a mainstream Jewish center five months ago. Chazit Hanoar, Habonim Dror and Hashomer Hatzair say their unprecedented boycott… Read more »

UMAN, Ukraine (JTA) — By selling coffee to Jewish tourists, 18-year-old Yuri Breskov can earn in a week more than his teachers from high school make annually in this provincial city. His revenues peak at $3,000 on the week of Rosh Hashanah, when some 30,000 Israelis and other Jews visit… Read more »

(JTA) — There are almost as many reality cop shows on television as there are Real Housewives. “Cops” is the granddaddy of them all, in its 30th season, plus there’s “Night Watch” and “Live PD,” to name just a few. The newest is “Street Justice: The Bronx,” which premieres… Read more »

(JTA) — This Jewish year was not a quiet one, to say the least. From the tumultuous first eight months of Donald Trump’s presidency, to a wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centers, to a neo-Nazi protest in Charlottesville that turned violent, to the twin weather catastrophes of… Read more »

(JTA) — It’s always difficult to whittle down the list of influential Jews who died in a given year, but this year the task seemed to be especially tough. The number of Jews who left historic marks on their fields — and, more broadly, on Jewish culture — was… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — American Jews overwhelmingly disapprove of President Donald Trump in just about every area, scoring him lower than his predecessor even on topics like Israel, where Jewish approval of Barack Obama was relatively low, according to an American Jewish Committee poll. The survey also shows a sharp… Read more »

Bob Feinman

In 1967, Bob Feinman, an 18-year-old Jewish kid from New York City found himself in Tucson, enrolled in college, knowing no one. He could speak Spanish, but had never heard of a taco. He ended up with a 40-year career in Spanish language radio and became an advocate for… Read more »

Medical dramas are among TV’s most popular entertainment shows. But how realistic are those life-saving scenarios? ABC’s news program “20/20” will turn that question over to a group of medical experts to explore “The Good Doctor,” a series starting Sept. 25 from David Shore, the creator of “House.” The… Read more »

Renowned Jewish singer Billy Jonas will present a Sukkot concert at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, cosponsored by PJ Library, on Sunday, Oct. 8 from 4-6 p.m. in the Sculpture Garden. The event will include a story from PJ Library and a light, breakfast-themed dinner. For 25 years, Jonas… Read more »

Cooking and culture will blend together in a variety of classes at the Tucson Jewish Community Center starting this month. The classes will emphasize healthy eating and the importance of cooking together as a family, as well as sharing food and culture from around the world. All dishes will… Read more »

Tucson composer Daniel Asia’s latest CD attempts to contextualize the human experience via a Jewish sacred text, plus the poems of a New York Jewish poet and an Israeli Jewish poet. “To Open in Praise” contains 12 tracks in three sections, written over a 25-year period. The opening composition,… Read more »

Remember “Where’s Waldo?” It’s a fun time looking at maps and pictures and finding funny looking Waldo. Well, I do my own version whenever I travel and I call it “Seeking Seymour.” My default is to always look out for links to Jewish history, culture and people. When we… Read more »

Helping Sister Jose Women’s Center renovate a 9,000 square foot warehouse on South Park Avenue took far more of Steven Tofel’s time than he’d anticipated. But he has no regrets. “I’m 100 percent glad I did it,” he says. Tofel, 75, the founder and president of Tofel Construction, ended… Read more »

Stanley G. Feldman, LL.B., has been a leading champion of civil rights in Arizona, and beyond,  for 60 years and counting. He served as an Arizona Supreme Court justice for 21 years, from 1982 to 2002, including five years as chief justice. Born in the Bronx in 1933, and… Read more »

Deborah Howard Jacob keeps a relatively low profile. For someone so involved in the Tucson community, her name doesn’t ring a lot of bells with Google. But to the people she helps and to those who know her work, Jacob’s name looms large. “She is kindness and caring personified!,”… Read more »

Carolin Haase Atchison

For more than three years, I have been researching my family’s history — and I’m still at it. When I received the results of my DNA test a couple of years ago, I was surprised, like the actors in the Ancestry TV ads. Instead of being of mainly German… Read more »

Sherrie Kay at the Sister Jose Women's Center

For Sherrie Kay, giving back to the community and helping those at risk is simply a way of life. “Growing up, my family was always involved in Jewish life and tikkun olam and all the different avenues that represents. Somehow that transferred to me. The more injustice I saw… Read more »