News

WASHINGTON (JTA) — An American administration is issuing dire warnings about a Persian Gulf nation, there’s talk of war and questions about the quality of intelligence. And those who back confronting Iran and those who don’t are citing Israel as a factor. If the Iran war talk sounds familiar,… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — On April 16, Dzanc Books announced its latest release, “The Siege of Tel Aviv,” a novel that imagines an Iran-led attack on Israel that leaves the country decimated. Author Hesh Kestin, a former journalist who had already published two novels with the small independent press,… Read more »

A daughter, Maya Klari Neuman, was born on April 8, 2019 to Eszter and Ariel Neuman of Los Angeles. Maya joins brothers Zev and Louis Neuman. Grandparents are Shlomo and Yael Neuman of Tucson, and Eva and Tamas Lengyel of Los Angeles.… Read more »

(JTA) — The gunman who killed a woman and wounded three others at the Chabad of Poway told a 911 dispatcher he had done it because “the Jewish people are destroying the white race.” Prosecutors described the call Thursday in announcing 109 hate crime and other charges against John T.… Read more »

(JTA) — Judging by all the media attention, the world loves short Jewish women named Ruth. One of them, Ruth Westheimer — better known as the renowned sex therapist Dr. Ruth — is on the phone to talk about her life and a new documentary about it. But first… Read more »

(JTA) —It’s glitzy. It’s kitschy. It’s like a musical Olympics or “American Idol” on steroids. Welcome to the Eurovision Song Contest, an annual pageant in which all of Europe (and some of its neighbors) send national representatives to  compete for the best forgettable pop song and most unforgettable outfits.… Read more »

(JTA) — A Jewish couple in Pittsburgh named their baby girl after Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who was killed in the attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue. Judah and Chaya Cowen welcomed Noa Lea — Gilbert-Kaye’s Hebrew name was Leah — on May 3. She is the couple’s fifth child.… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Israel won the right to host this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, the event was anticipated as a golden opportunity to showcase a side of the nation rarely seen in global coverage of the “conflict.” Then the rockets began to fall. Over the weekend, Hamas… Read more »

POWAY, Calif. (JTA) — “Those who are standing can remain standing,” Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein joked, a nod to the standing-room-only crowd that had packed Chabad of Poway for Friday night services. For many of those who filled the sanctuary, showing up was an act of faith, of solidarity, of… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Performers scheduled to take the stage next week at the Eurovision Song Contest have begun rehearsing the contest’s venue in Tel Aviv despite the threat of rockets. Among the countries whose performers have held rehearsals onstage at the Tel Aviv Expo on Saturday and Sunday are… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) –In the wake of a deadly attack on a Chabad synagogue in California, the movement will press for a mandatory moment of silence in American schools, a measure that it claims will reduce violence. In a release Sunday, the Washington-based American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad) said chapters… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Trump administration is deploying air and sea strike forces to the Middle East in response to what it described as “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran. It’s not clear what Iranian escalations National Security Adviser John Bolton was referring to Sunday evening in… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An American citizen killed while running for cover from a Hamas rocket was laid to rest in Jerusalem on Sunday evening. Hundreds turned out to bury Pinchas Menachem Prezuazman, a 21-year old American-Israeli from Ashdod. A member of the Ger Hasidic sect, he leaves behind a wife and… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Despite Monday morning’s ceasefire, which ended two days of intense fighting between Israel and Hamas, the “campaign is not over,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “Over the last two days we struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad with great force,” Netanyahu said. “We hit… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A 21-year-old man became the fourth Israeli civilian to be killed by Gaza rocket fire, after a rocket struck an apartment building in the southern coastal city of Ashdod. The man was in the stairwell of the building when it was struck by a rocket late… Read more »

Cody Blumenthal

Cody Blumenthal was selected to play on the Maccabi USA Youth Men’s Basketball Team for the 14th Pan American Maccabi Games July 5-15 in Mexico City. Playing 16 games as a sophomore guard for Catalina Foothills High School varsity Falcons this season, he averaged 11.4 points per game and… Read more »

Updated May 6 The Jewish and greater Tucson communities routinely step up and volunteer to meet the needs of migrant families passing through the Old Pueblo. In the past eight months, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council has provided roughly 750 hot meals at shelters housing… Read more »

As Tucson grapples with a continuing influx of Central American migrants seeking asylum, and the community responds with shelter, food, and clothing, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish History Museum focused their annual local leaders’ forum on the immigration issue. The event… Read more »

Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s official Memorial Day dedicated to fallen soldiers and victims of terror, will be observed in Tucson on Tuesday, May 7 with song and remembrances at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, 6:30-8 p.m. Enacted into Israeli law in 1963, Yom Hazikaron traditionally is observed by the sounding… Read more »

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona is hosting a free, family-friendly event, “Celebration of Caring for Tucson’s Children” on Sunday, May 19, from 12-3 p.m. at the Scottish Rite, 160 S. Scott Ave. Children of all ages are welcome. There will be food and music for parents… Read more »