ZAKA volunteer holds a body bag containing one of the victims of the terror attack in the West Bank settlement of Itama, March 11, 2011. (Courtesy of ZAKA) JERUSALEM (JTA) — Demonstrations in solidarity with settlers and a Cabinet committee’s approval for new housing in the West Bank are among the Israeli responses to the suspected terrorist attack that killed five members of a West Bank Jewish family. An estimated 20,000 people attended the March 13 funeral… Read more »
Chaim Potok’s widow, Adena Potok, center, advised the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company production of ‘My Name is Asher Lev.’ From left: Andrea Dovner, Layne Racowsky (director), Michael Kary, Ben Tyler (Mark Gluckman) The Arizona Jewish Theatre Company in Phoenix will present the Arizona premiere of “My Name is Asher Lev,” written by Aaron Posner, and based on the novel by Chaim Potok, March 24-April 3. “My Name is Asher Lev” had its world premiere in Philadelphia in January 2009. Set in… Read more »
Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is organizing a team for the 13th Annual Southern Arizona Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, which will be held Sunday, April 10 at Reid Park. The event includes a one-mile walk at 7 a.m. and a five-mile walk/run… Read more »
Founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, Hadassah is celebrating its upcoming centennial by offering community members the opportunity to become a life member or male associate at a special price of $100. Hadassah is the largest women’s Zionist volunteer organization in the United States and has members in more… Read more »
Young Judaea, the national Zionist youth group of Hadassah, will hold its West Merchav Spring Convention for grades 3-8 at the Triangle Y Camp in Oracle, Ariz., April 1-3. Hosted by the Tucson Young Judaea youth group, it will feature a chocolate Seder, games, hiking, Shabbat services, songs and… Read more »
Congregation Or Chadash will host “An Affair to Remember,” an evening of dinner and dancing, on Saturday, March 26 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Klezmerkaba will provide the music, along with the debut of Quintessence, a new band fronted by Or Chadash’s Cantor… Read more »
The detractors of J Street, the “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobbying organization, like to portray the organization’s leader, Jeremy Ben-Ami, as so far to the left of mainstream American Jewish opinion as to be out of bounds. If they think Ben-Ami is too much of a lefty on Israel, just wait… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish Community Center will send a delegation to the inaugural Junior Maccabi Games for ages 11-13, to be held in Chicago May 27-31. Tucson plans to take a boys basketball team, a girls basketball team and several swimmers, says Stu Epstein, head of the Tucson delegation. For… Read more »
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Desert Caucus will lead a “Focus on Israel” mission, Oct. 23 to Nov. 2, 2011. The joint mission will offer an insider’s view of Israeli-U.S. politics “with extraordinary access to Israeli leaders and insiders from all sides of the political spectrum,”… Read more »
Leonard Joffe, M.D. Dr. Leonard Joffe, ophthalmologist and retina specialist, will present “Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Recent Advances in the Management of this Condition” at a Hadassah education meeting and brunch later this month. Macular degeneration is one of the hottest research topics in ophthalmology and many advances in its treatment have… Read more »
CBS fired actor Charlie Sheen from the sitcom "Two and a Half Men" following a series of bizarre outbursts that started wtih a tirade referring to Chuck Lorre, his Jewish boss, as Chaim Levine. (Angela George/Creative Commons) Expressions of anti-Semitism by public figures generally follow a certain script in the media. The politician/actor/public figure says something construed as offensive/hostile/ insensitive to Jews. Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, issues a condemnatory statement demanding penance. The offender expresses regret. If he deems it sufficient,… Read more »
Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D. Doctors should have a comforting bedside manner, but the subject has often been neglected in medical school curricula. Today, however, Dr. Rachel Naomi Remen’s award-winning course on humanism in medicine, “The Healer’s Art,” is taught in more than 50 percent of U.S. medical schools. Remen, the New York Times… Read more »
Gil Hoffman Gil Hoffman, chief political correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post, will present “Peace, Politics and Plutonium: An Israeli Insider’s Look at the Efforts to Prevent a Nuclear Iran and Advance Mideast Peace” at the University of Arizona on Tuesday, March 29 at 3 p.m. The lecture, which will… Read more »
Jonathan Adelman Jonathan Adelman, professor at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver, will present “Revolutions in the Middle East: Are They Good for Israel?” at an event for the Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona later this month. Adelman, who will speak… Read more »
“Generation to Generation” is the theme for Cactus Kallah 2011, which will be held March 16-20 at Windmill Suites, Tucson. Classes and workshops will range from “The whole Megillah: a look at words, their power and our responsibilities in a world of extremes” with Rabbi Shafir Lobb, kallah organizer… Read more »
Rabbi Bernard R. Kling Rabbi Berrnard R. Kling will hold a Tucson Desert Shabbaton on April 8 and 9 at the Redemptorist Renewal Center. “Almost all Jews have tasted Shabbat. At a Shabbaton, you get to live Shabbat,” says Kling, whose motto is “Ivdu Et-Hashem B’Simchah — Serve the Eternal One with Joy.”… Read more »
Members of the AIFL Tucson chapter’s Israel mission visit a youth village in central Israel. When it feels like your community has grown to include people who were previously strangers, you know you’ve had a worthwhile trip, says Amy Hirshberg Lederman, one of three co-leaders of a recent America-Israel Friendship League mission to Israel. “What I loved most about this group was that I… Read more »
Jill Rich Temple Emanu-El will honor Temple member and local humanitarian Jill Rich at a brunch on Sunday, April 3 at 10:30 a.m. at Skyline Country Club. Honored by President George H.W. Bush, charitable organizations and businesses throughout Arizona for her accomplishments over the years, Rich “is truly a treasured local… Read more »
Klezmer Company Orchestra The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Tucson Jewish Community Center will present a benefit concert, “Beyond the Tribes: A Latin Jazz and Klezmer Extravaganza,” featuring the Miami-based Klezmer Company Orchestra on Tuesday, March 29 at the JCC. The evening will start at 6:45 p.m. with Latin dance… Read more »
Joan Rivers wouldn’t mind meeting a nice Jewish man who is affluent, healthy and can drive — that is, if she can find the time. “It would be nice, but at my age? My god, the curtain is down, the hotel is closed,” jokes Rivers from her home in… Read more »
