Ronit Elkabetz, left, and Sasson Gabai in “The Band’s Visit” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Beth Shalom Temple Center in Green Valley will be a satellite site for the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival in January. “We are excited that the Tucson International Film Festival will reach from SaddleBrooke to Green Valley,” says Katie Spector, assistant director of Jewish life and learning at the… Read more »
Tucson police are investigating instances of anti-Semitic fliers, like the one pictured, which was spotted July 30 on a pole at the intersection of East Toole Avenue, North 6th Avenue and East Alameda Street in downtown Tucson. (Courtesy photo)
At least one anti-Semitic flier recently was sighted, posted on a pole in downtown Tucson. Tucson Police Department Sgt. Ben Frie told the AJP on Aug. 7 that “they started showing up about a week ago … at a couple of different locations.” Paul Patterson, Jewish Federation of Southern… Read more »
Jewish History Museum/Holocaust History Center staff Bryan Davis, left, and Josie Shapiro, center, unfurl a new banner on the fence in front of the museum Aug. 12 while Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, right, looks on. (Debe Campbell/AJP)
In the decades since the Holocaust, “‘never again’ has been the language spoken as an unattainable aspiration,” Bryan Davis told a group gathered Monday at Tucson’s Holocaust History Center. “But now, in this moment, people all over the country are demanding that never again is now and that never… Read more »
Bethany Neumann
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy board has partnered with Youth On Their Own, a local non-profit that has been helping homeless or unaccompanied students become high school graduates since 1986. Each year, the WP board chooses a social action focus to foster community engagement. “We’re creating… Read more »
Allison Stuewe reads while Marc Goodman blows the shofar and Deborah Mayaan demonstrates movement to release grief during a Jewish Voice for Peace Tisha b’Av vigil at Tucson’s Historic Y on Aug. 10. (Brooke Hotez)
More than 50 Jewish demonstrations were held across the country last weekend in opposition to U.S. immigration policy and to mark Tisha b’Av, the traditional Jewish day of mourning. The call to action came from T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights and other organizations, including the refugee aid… Read more »
Craig Sumberg Fox Tucson Theatre
Ten years ago, when Craig Sumberg first joined the staff of the Fox Tucson Theatre Foundation, the theatre had recently undergone a beautiful and expensive renovation, but the revitalization of downtown Tucson had barely begun. Sumberg is proud of helping to make the Fox “a place Tucsonans are proud… Read more »
Bonnie Kay with Maximus
Cats are the stepchildren of the animal world, says Bonnie Kay, current president of the Hermitage No-Kill Cat Shelter & Sanctuary. Compared to dogs, cats don’t have nearly as many programs and services, and are more likely to be euthanized in other shelters. Last year, the Hermitage adopted out… Read more »
Black Labrador Sisu spends her days in the laboratory, helping conduct research. (Shane Tarquinio/AJP)
Sisu is a black Labrador. She wears a red collar and has sweet eyes and spends her days on the third floor of the University of Arizona anthropology building, assisting in research at the AZ Canine Cognition Center. Sisu mills around the lab, getting pats from lab coordinators and… Read more »
Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona President and CEO Graham Hoffman, left, and Greg Gadarian at a seminar honoring Gadarian July 31 at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy (Brenda Landau/Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona)
Introducing Greg Gadarian, who was honored at a recent Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona Summer Series seminar for his 30 years of service as co-founder of JCF’s Professional Advisory Group, Sarah Singer said, “Greg is honest, ethical, smart, and some might even say brilliant — but he will… Read more »
Participants on Temple Emanu-El’s congregational trip to Israel, from left, Larry Shire, Leslie Shire, Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Janet Kenigsberg, and Marcy Tigerman, overlooking Jerusalem, June 25. (Courtesy Appel)
Temple Emanu-El’s Jewish heritage tour of Israel this summer was Rabbi Batsheva Appel’s first turn at tour leading. “It was wonderful to be back in Israel and to lead a trip for the first time,” she says. Joining her on the June 20-July 1 journey were Marcy Tigerman, Janet… Read more »
Olivia, owned by Bertí Brodsky and David Rosenstein 
Alma Hernandez (center) with her family at her naming ceremony at Congregation Chaverim, April 8, 2016. (Courtesy Hernandez)
I am proud to be Jewish, Latina and bilingual. I have the honor of representing the state House of Representatives district where I was born and raised in Arizona. My home in Tucson is less than one hour away from the U.S.-Mexico border. Tucson and El Paso in many… Read more »
Chapter and regional leaders from Tucson and Scottsdale at the BBYO International 2019 Kallah summer program. (L-R) Gabe Friedman and Sam Goldfinger of Tucson, and Caroline Carter, Elsa Harris and Mimi Yonover of Scottsdale.
Tucsonan Sam Goldfinger, president of Tucson’s AZA chapter of BBYO, was featured in an article “A Shabbat to Remember and Never Forget” from eJewishPhilanthropy, an independent online publication. Sam and five other teens gave a D’var Torah honoring visiting Holocaust survivors during BBYO’s International Kallah summer program in Lake… Read more »
Homer Davis Elementary School teachers are thrilled with the school supplies donation from Truly Nolen staff and customers. (Mary Ellen Loebl/JFSA)
Truly Nolen volunteers recently delivered $700 in cash and more than a dozen boxes of school supplies donated by Truly Nolen customers and staff to Homer Davis Elementary School. Truly Nolen is a community partner in the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s community outreach program, “Making a Difference Every… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Twenty-one right-wing Israeli lawmakers rebuffed a House bill that endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while rejecting efforts to boycott the Jewish state. In a letter addressed to U.S. Reps. Brad Schneider, Lee Zeldin, Jerry Nadler and Ann Wagner, the co-sponsors of the bill… Read more »
(JTA) — One of the most befuddling questions surrounding the Jeffrey Epstein saga is why Leslie Wexner, a billionaire entrepreneur, entrusted all of his money to Epstein, a secretive financier with no college degree. For those immersed in the Jewish world, there’s an added question: How did Wexner —… Read more »
Undocumented Mexican immigrants are photographed while being processed at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement center in Phoenix, Ariz., April 28, 2010. (John Moore/Getty Images)
(JTA) — The Immigration and Customs Enforcement official who drove a pickup truck into a row of Jewish protesters in Rhode Island has been placed on leave, and police have announced that they will investigate the incident. Five of the protesters were hospitalized, according to Tal Frieden, an organizer… Read more »
(JTA) — Israel’s ambassador to the United States said the decision to ban Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering the country had nothing to do with President Donald Trump. In a conference call with Jewish groups Thursday afternoon, Ron Dermer said reports implying that Israel had caved… Read more »
(JTA) — Rep. Ilhan Omar likened Israel’s decision to deny entry to her and Rep. Rashida Tlaib to President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., tweeted that the decision is “a sign of weakness.” In a statement Thursday, the Minnesota Democrat called Israel’s decision “an affront.” “Trump’s… Read more »
Hungarian supporters of the far-right Jobbik party participatingin a nationalist march through Warsaw, Poland, Nov. 11, 2015. (JanekSkarzynski/AFP/Getty Images)
BUDAPEST (JTA) — In 2011, Hungary’s largest Jewish group called on the Justice Ministry to ban the far-right Jobbik party, describing it as “anti-Semitic” and “fascist.” Now some in the Jewish community, and even inside Mazsihisz, see Jobbik as a legitimate partner for effecting democratic change, despite its blunt… Read more »
