News

Sen. Lindsey Graham, shown in Washington on July 30, 2014, is backing an initiative that would require congressional approval of any nuclear deal signed with Iran. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Two factors make congressional intervention on Iran almost inevitable: The inability of nuclear negotiators to reach a deal by the deadline and the Republican sweep of midterm elections on Nov. 4. The talks, centered on the status of Iran’s nuclear program, were extended from Monday’s deadline… Read more »

Herzliya-Pituach, a tony suburb on the coast just north of Tel Aviv, has beaches, luxury real estate and affluent residents in common with the Hamptons on New York's Long Island. (Jorge Novominsky/Flash90)

NEW YORK (JTA) – If they buy it, they will come. That’s the philosophy behind a new luxury apartment project in Israel called The Hamptons in Herzliya Pituach that’s attempting to link two very swanky locales in the service of strengthening Diaspora Jews’ connections to Israel — and selling… Read more »

World Council of Arameans now “Looks specifically to Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon” Lost in the uproar over Israel’s proposed Nationality Bill has been the historic recognition of Arameans as a separate nationality in Israel. Israel is the first country in the world to recognize the Arameans. Israel’s… Read more »

Teens with Most Popular Ideas to Engage Peers in Jewish Life Will Present to 150 Top Philanthropists What: What’s Trending? Jewish Teens! Video Contest Leading up to BBYO International Convention (IC) 2015, Jewish teens around the world are invited to share their innovative ideas for how… Read more »

Washington, DC – BBYO and DoSomething.org‘s five-week hunger advocacy and awareness campaign, Can-Tribute, will conclude on Sunday, Nov. 30. To date, 15,000 youth across North America collected 200,000 pounds of canned goods to donate to food banks in their communities. Just in time for Thanksgiving, these young people have… Read more »

President Barack Obama speaking about his executive action on immigration policy at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nev., Nov. 21, 2014. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama did not mention Jews once in his Nov. 20 speech announcing immigration reforms, but he ended with a flourish that would be immediately recognizable to anyone who has sat through a Passover Seder. “Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for… Read more »

Israeli flags standing next to the Israeli state symbol in the Knesset, Nov. 6, 2014. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — On Sunday, Israel’s Cabinet advanced a bill in a 14-6 vote that if passed by the Knesset would enshrine into law Israel’s status as a Jewish state. The nation-state law, as the controversial measure is being called, has sparked a crisis in Israel’s coalition, with… Read more »

Richard Glazier

Award-winning pianist, storyteller and cultural historian Richard Glazier will bring his passion for the history, personalities and music of the Great American Songbook to Tucson Dec. 7 in Invisible Theatre’s “Broadway to Hollywood.” His one-man show includes personal stories, movie clips, interview footage and — of course —… Read more »

Chief French Rabbi Haim Korsia, center, with Consistoire President Joel Mergui, left, and French army officers at a synagogue in Paris, Nov. 6, 2014. (Alain Azria)

PARIS (JTA) — The first thing Haim Korsia did after becoming chief rabbi of France was give his new office a thorough cleaning. Next he redecorated to give the space a more modern look, placing his 30-inch model of a nuclear submarine — a gift from his previous stint… Read more »

A big shout out to the Weintraub Israel Center and the Fox Theatre for bringing us the fantastic David Broza with a special appearance by Alberto Rios, Arizona’s first poet laureate. Their joyous performance together brought the house down. If you’ve been to Broza’s concerts, you know that his… Read more »

The Southern Arizona Jewish community has been chosen to participate in a special initiative called PJ Goes to School. Many local families already particpate in PJ LibraryTM, a national Jewish engagement program that mails free, high-quality Jewish literature to families raising Jewish children. The program here is coordinated… Read more »

Asher Susser

The University of Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will present “From the Arab Spring to ISIS: The Upheavals in the Middle East and What They Mean for Israel” on Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. as part of its free Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series. Asher Susser,… Read more »

(L-R) University of Arizona students Liao Dong, Jing Xia, Hao Jun Yang and Ming Xuan Xiao on University Boulevard in Tucson, Nov. 7, at the start of homecoming weekend. (Sheila Wilensky/AJP)

Do stereotypes vary based on traditional socialization in any given country? Yes, if you’re talking about China, at least according to four Chinese students at the University of Arizona who attribute characteristics such as intelligence, success and business acumen to being Jewish. “I didn’t know why Jews are so… Read more »

Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez’s 20-year experience in the behavioral health field has run the gamut from social worker and case manager to administrator. Recently named president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona, Hernandez, 44, says his new role is the next logical step in his career.… Read more »

Shalom Tucson will hold its annual Hanukkah Mall Madness event for children of all ages and their parents on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 1-3 p.m. at Park Place Mall. Local synagogues and Jewish agencies will present activities to celebrate the joyous holiday. The event will feature arts and crafts,… Read more »

Sharon B. Megdal, Ph.D., director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, will speak at the Hadassah Southern Arizona luncheon on Sunday, Dec. 7 at noon at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive. Her presentation, “Water Management Innovations in Water-Scarce Regions,” will address Arizona and… Read more »

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly at National Harbor, Md., Nov. 10. (Ron Sachs)

There was the vice president of the United States, two Supreme Court justices and an Academy Award-winning actress with a compelling Jewish story. There were Jewish professionals, lay leaders, clergy and recent college graduates. The West Point cadets’ Jewish choir performed. The Israeli prime minister appeared via satellite from… Read more »

Vadim Gluzman (Marco Borggreve)

When they first handed Soviet-born Israeli musician Vadim Gluzman the violin he plays today, he had the “distinct feeling” he was being watched. This is no ordinary violin, mind you, so it’s practical to think that a number of people were looking on. But this feeling was different, supernatural… Read more »

(JTA) — A fraternity at the University of Arizona was put on interim suspension after 15 of its members allegedly attacked members of a Jewish fraternity. Members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity are accused of assault and discrimination in the incident at the apartment of an Alpha Epsilon… Read more »

Hundreds of Israelis mourn at the funeral of three of the victims killed earlier today when two Palestinian terrorists from East Jerusalem entered the Kehilat Yaakov synagogue in the Jewish orthodox neighborhood of Har Nof, Jerusalem, with pistols and axes, and began attacking Jewish worshippers. Four orthodox Jewish men were killed and several more injured. The attackers were shot and killed at the scene. November 18, 2014. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — They all lived on the same street. They had all moved there from abroad. They were all rabbis. They all prayed at the same synagogue. And it was at that Jerusalem synagogue that they were all murdered on Tuesday morning. Mosheh Twersky, 59; Kalman Levine,… Read more »