News

(JTA) — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has described Jews as “hook-nosed” and blamed Israel for the unrest in the Middle East, has resigned. Mohamad, the world’s oldest leader at 94, submitted his resignation to the country’s king Monday, AFP reported. He had agreed to step down and… Read more »

WARSAW, Poland (JTA) – The Auschwitz Memorial has condemned the new Amazon mini-series about Nazi hunters. The museum said in a tweet that the human chess game invented for “Hunters,” in which the inmates of the Auschwitz camp were the game pieces and were killed when their piece was… Read more »

(JTA) — Marianne Williamson, a Jewish writer and self-help guru whose run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination failed to gain strength, has endorsed Bernie Sanders. Williamson offered her support during an appearance Sunday at a Sanders rally in Austin, Texas. “We’re being told oh, it can’t happen. He… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel confirmed its second case of coronavirus, diagnosed in another Israeli who returned after spending two weeks quarantined on a cruise ship docked in Japan’s Tokyo Bay. The case was confirmed on Sunday at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer, where the cruise passenger has been… Read more »

(JTA) — A hard-line student group in Iran has threatened to destroy the Tomb of Esther and Mordechai in the north of the country in revenge for the Trump administration’s peace plan. The Basij group in Hamadan province, where the tomb is located, earlier this month said it would… Read more »

PARIS (JTA) — The U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism implicitly criticized the decision in France not to try a man who killed his Jewish neighbor. Elan Carr referenced the decision on the killer of Sarah Halimi during a conference Monday on anti-Semitism organized by the European… Read more »

(JTA) — Disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein was found guilty Monday on two counts of rape and sexual assault, but was acquitted on more serious charges. A New York State Supreme Court jury found Weinstein, 67, guilty of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Rockets fired from Gaza rained down on southern Israel, causing some damage to homes and other property on Monday. At least one rocket landed on a playground in the city of Sderot, causing damage. The previous evening, the Israeli army struck military targets belonging to the… Read more »

(JTA) — Billionaire entrepreneur Leslie Wexner, under fire for his ties to the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein and allowing a culture of sexual harassment and bullying of female employees at Victoria’s Secret, is stepping down from his L Brands retailing empire. L Brands announced on Thursday that it… Read more »

(JTA) — At least four infants have contracted herpes in New York City in the past six months after undergoing a circumcision rite in which the ritual circumciser, or mohel, cleans the circumcision wound by oral suction. Three cases of herpes have been reported since December and four since… Read more »

(JTA) — For the second time in three days, the Auschwitz Museum has condemned Amazon for selling Nazi-era anti-Semitic children’s books in English and German. “When you decide to make a profit on selling vicious antisemitic Nazi propaganda published without any critical comment or context, you need to remember… Read more »

(JTA) — The institutions of the Jewish community of Milan are in lockdown, along with other faith communities and others, following the discovery of coronavirus cases in the Italian city. “Schools are out, including ours,” Claudia Bagnarelli, a founder of Milan’s Jewish school, which has 500 students, told the… Read more »

This is a developing story. NEW YORK (JTA) — More than 50 Jewish community centers in 23 states have received emailed bomb threats since Saturday. None of the threats have been found to be credible, though local law enforcement agencies have been notified. Officials do not know who sent… Read more »

Rabbi Yossie Shemtov

Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging continues its annual Three Rabbis Lecture Panel next month, exploring “The Future of the Tucson Jewish Community.” Rabbi Yossie Shemtov of Orthodox Congregation Young Israel, Rabbi Robert Eisen of Conservative Congregation Anshei Israel, and Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Reform Congregation Or Chadash will… Read more »

Live Theatre Workshop has purchased a new property after 26 years of renting its current location. The theatre arts nonprofit will hold a groundbreaking event Friday, March 6 at 10 a.m. at the new location, 3322 E. Ft. Lowell Road. A $1 million capital campaign to renovate buildings and… Read more »

Tucson native Alexander Boxer, author of “A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for our Destiny in Data” (W.W. Norton & Company, 2020), will return to his hometown as a presenting author at the Tucson Festival of Books, March 14-15 on the University of Arizona… Read more »

Last spring, community leaders from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation began a community visioning project that was soon dubbed “2020 and Beyond: Reimagining Jewish Life in Southern Arizona.” After initial stages that included hiring an outside consultant and holding meetings with stakeholder groups… Read more »

Sara Hurand says she’s never known anyone like her brother, Josh Hurand, a psychotherapist in Tucson who has a gift for connecting people. “He makes business connections, creative connections, light and fun connections, and deep and enduring connections. He is meaningfully close with family members both near and far,… Read more »

Unscrewed Theater and Beth Shalom Temple Center in Green Valley will partner for a BSTC fund-raiser next month, “Dine and Laugh!” Comedy troops from Unscrewed Theater, an improv club based in Tucson, will perform while attendees enjoy a three-course dinner on Saturday, March 21, at the Madera Crystal Ballroom… Read more »

To cut down on pollution created by gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment, the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, in partnership with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, has created the “Cut Down Pollution” program. “Our region exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s health standard for ground-level ozone on… Read more »