News

Sen. Joe Lieberman, right, shown visiting special operations forces in Afghanistan on July 4, 2011, says his strong Jewish faith leads him to forge an independent path, striking aliiances with both parties. [Sgt. Lizette Hart, U.s. Military Public Affairs, via Creative Commons]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Call Joe Lieberman the unlikely evangelical. The Independent senator from Connecticut — and the best-known Orthodox Jew in American politics — is probably more cognizant than most of his Jewish congressional colleagues about rabbinical interdictions against encouraging non-Jews to mimic Jewish ritual. Yet here he is,… Read more »

Shay Shem Tobi, left, and Levy Forchheimer enjoying the cocktail party and comedy night thrown in honor of visiting Israeli soldiers by the Manhattan Jewish Experience, July 2011. (JTA)

NEW YORK (JTA) — When Israel wanted to help its troops, it sent them to America. Last month, 15 former soldiers selected by the Israel Defense Forces traveled to New York for a weeklong program to treat lingering trauma from their combat during the 2006 Lebanon War with Hezbollah.… Read more »

Onlookers peer at the archeological dig and planned museum site on the Rathaus square in downtown Colgone. (Alex Weisler)

COLOGNE, Germany (JTA) — This city in western Germany is banking its future on its Jewish past. But at present, the investment is exacting a heavy price: $52 million, to be exact. Following a divisive decades-long battle, Cologne’s municipal government voted recently to allocate that sum toward the construction… Read more »

SHILOH, West Bank (JTA) — Yisrael Medad remembers when just eight families lived in the red-roofed homes in this Jewish settlement deep in the hills of the West Bank. Now some 2,500 Israelis live here, and Shiloh has playgrounds, schools and a yeshiva. The red-roofed homes sprawl over several… Read more »

VIENNA, Austria (JTA) — The symbolism was unmistakable. Four thousand Jews stood just a few hundred yards away from the spot where a quarter-million Austrians cheered Adolf Hitler in March 1938 as he announced Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria. This time, however, the Jews had come to celebrate, as… Read more »

Luuk Koole, the manager of Holland’s only kosher butcher, says a proposed shechitah ban would make doing business more expensive. (Alex Weisler/JTA)

(Amsterdam) – A few streets over from the bookstore where Anne Frank bought her famous diary, the only kosher butcher shop in Holland is bustling. Two employees man the long counter at Slagerij Marcus, pausing from chopping meat to sell customers a bit of this or that for Shabbat… Read more »

A poster campaign sponsored in part by the Jewish community's Security Community Network urges Jews to keep an eye out for suspicious objects.

(Washington) – Focus on behaviors common to all extremists: That’s the advice security experts are offering in the wake of the recent attacks in Norway by a perpetrator who appeared to be anti-Muslim rather than an Islamist. In the United States, the attacks in Oslo and on the island… Read more »

'Sunset II,' acrylic, by Diana Madaras

An art exhibit by Diana Madaras is on display at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery through Aug. 11. Madaras, known for her bold, colorful paintings in watercolor and acrylic, owns two galleries in Tucson that feature her work exclusively. She is president of the nonprofit Art… Read more »

Congregation Chofetz Chayim’s annual Spirit program will again give Tucson’s Jewish men the opportunity to experience one-on-one or intimate group learning with rabbinical students. Two full weeks of free study sessions will be held this month. Spirit participants will study with students from Rabbi Israel Becker’s alma mater, The… Read more »

Applications for the 2011 Cohon Award will be accepted until Sept. 1; forms are available at www. cohonaward.com. This year’s award for achievements in the areas of Jewish unity, education/information, rescue or creative arts will be $30,000. In addition to the major award, which will go to individuals, smaller… Read more »

Shalom Tucson will present the ninth annual Gateway to our Synagogues bagel brunch on Sunday, Aug. 14, from 10:30 a.m. until noon at the Tucson Jewish Community Center at 3800 E. River Road. The event, which is for newcomers and anyone interested in hearing about Tucson’s synagogues, is one… Read more »

Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging and JoiN (Jewish Organized i-Network), a program of Too Jewish Radio, will co-host a business mixer on Thursday, Aug. 11 at 5:30 p.m. at Handmaker. Local business owners and professionals will have the chance to network and learn about business practices based on… Read more »

Detective Donna Jacob, who retired last month from her position in intelligence and hate crimes with the Tucson Police Department, is now serving as a Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona community security consultant on a part-time contract, funded by the Federation for six months. Jacob will be available to… Read more »

Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging will hold a celebration for the holiday of Tu B’Av on Monday, Aug. 15 at 10 a.m. . The holiday celebrates the end of a three-week period of mourning that commemorates tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people. Tu B’Av is considered a… Read more »

The Outreach Connections of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is sponsoring Jewish Heritage Night at a Tucson Padres baseball game on Sunday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. at Kino Park (formerly Tucson Electric Park). The Padres will play against the Sacramento River Cats. Cosponsors of the event include… Read more »

Members of a young adult group in Kiryat Malachi, Israel, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, recruited other young adults from the city to demand affordable housing. The sign reads, “Welcome to the tent city — Kiryat Malachi.” About 100 people joined the protest on July 25. (Courtesy Jewish Agency for Israel)

The wave of protests sweeping Israel is about much more than the lack of affordable housing: It’s a grass-roots demand for a major redistribution of the nation’s wealth. In social terms, protesters are calling for a more caring government attuned to the needs of young, middle-class citizens who serve… Read more »

"Mrs. Cohen's Shabbat Table" is part of the new Jewish History Museum exhibit

A new exhibit, “History & Nostalgia: The Southern Arizona Jewish Experience, 1850-1950,” exploring the daily life of Jews of the Southern Arizona region, will be on display at the Jewish History Museum from Aug. 14 through Dec. 30. The exhibit is part of Tucson’s birthday celebrations (see tucsons birthday.org).… Read more »

Emily Ellentuck

Congregation Anshei Israel will hold a special Shabbat evening service called “Shir Hadash: A New Song,” beginning Friday, Aug. 19, at 5:45 p.m., and continuing approximately once a month. The service will be led by Rabbis Robert Eisen and Ben Herman and feature Emily Ellentuck as cantorial soloist. Ellentuck… Read more »

Members of the Weintraub Israel Center and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona have formed an Israel Action Network to counter efforts to delegitimize Israel. The network is “part of a national trend among Jewish communities,” says Dan Karsch, chair of the network… Read more »

Hebrew High students (L-R) Shane Weinstein, Ariel Nadler and Ben Bressler celebrate Purim 2011 with a hamantashen break. (Courtesy Hebrew High)

Sharon Glassberg was a member of Tucson’s second Hebrew High graduating class in 1980. Thirty years later, as director of the Coalition for Jewish Education at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, she’s the principal of Hebrew High. The evening program’s main goal is still the same, to enhance… Read more »