News

(JTA) — The alleged gunman in the attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue near San Diego was charged with murder. John Earnest, 19, was charged on Sunday afternoon with one count of murder in the first degree and three counts of attempted murder in the first degree, according… Read more »

(JTA) — The head of the Anti-Defamation League said Saturday’s synagogue shooting should serve as a “wake-up call” for politicians and business executives to more seriously address anti-Semitism. Jonathan Greenblatt, the CEO and national director of the ADL, spoke with reporters on a call from Poway, California, where a… Read more »

(JTA) — The family of two British-American Jewish teens killed in a terrorist attack in Sri Lanka are planning to set up a charity in their memories. Amelie and Daniel Linsey, 15 and 19, were among the hundreds murdered in terrorist attacks targeting Christians in the south Asian island… Read more »

POWAY, California (JTA) — Lori Gilbert-Kaye, who was killed in the attack at a Chabad synagogue near San Diego, is credited with jumping in front of the synagogue’s rabbi to shield him from the gunman’s bullets. Gilbert-Kaye, 60, of San Diego, is survived by her husband and 22-year-old daughter.… Read more »

POWAY, California (JTA) — Poway’s mayor said preparations made in the aftermath of the massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue “contributed to saving lives” in his hometown. On Saturday, a gunman entered Chabad of Poway, killing Lori Gilbert-Kaye, a 60-year-old congregant, and injuring three others, including Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, the… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — After widespread condemnation, and an initial statement that critics slammed as inadequate, The New York Times apologized for publishing an “anti-Semitic political cartoon.” The image, which appeared Thursday in the opinion section of the international print edition of the newspaper, depicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu… Read more »

(JTA) — The New York Times acknowledged that it published in its international print edition a political cartoon that “included anti-Semitic tropes.” The cartoon showed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a guide dog (a dachshund) wearing a Star of David collar and leading President Donald Trump, who is… Read more »

(JTA) — A crowdfunding campaign established to help the victims of an attack on a Chabad synagogue near San Diego, California, has raised more than $18,000 in its first 10 hours. More than 600 people donated nearly $32,000 toward a goal of $50,000 on GoFundMe, with many donations ranging… Read more »

(JTA) — An Israeli girl whose family moved to San Diego to escape rocket attacks in Israel and her uncle also from Israel were among the injured in a shooting attack at a Chabad synagogue near San Diego. Noya Dahan, 8, and her family moved to California from Sderot… Read more »

(JTA) — The shooting on Saturday that left one woman dead and three injured happened in a synagogue focused on welcoming and outreach. The shooter, who has been apprehended by police, entered the synagogue, Chabad of Poway, at approximately 11:30 a.m. and began shooting. He is 19 years old… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona are heartbroken and horrified by the senseless act of violence on Saturday at Congregation Chabad in Poway, California. This act came on the exact six-month anniversary after the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, on… Read more »

(JTA) — A shooting at a Chabad synagogue in Poway, near San Diego, California, has left one person dead and three injured, including a child. Police in Poway detained a white 19-year old San Diego man in connection with the shooting on the last day of Passover, and hospitals said… Read more »

(JTA) — If official exit polls from Ukraine’s presidential elections are to be believed, that country is set to become the only one in the world besides Israel whose president and prime minister are both Jewish. Comedian Volodymyr Zelensky’s dramatic lead in exit polls Sunday — in many of… Read more »

Reciprocal hospitality The Weintraub Israel Center’s Partnership2Gether Israeli and Tucson teams gathered here March 3-8 for the P2G 2019-20 annual budget meeting. Since 1996, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has participated in P2G, a Jewish Agency for Israel program connecting Jewish communities around the world.  One year the… Read more »

Bella Wexler, a sophomore at Catalina Foothills High School, has earned a scholarship from the U.S. State Department to study in Xiamen, China, this summer. She will study Mandarin in the State Department’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth, a language-immersion program. Wexler is a member of the Jewish-Latino… Read more »

Edlin Nunez

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has appointed Edlin Nunez as its new administrative services manager. A native Tucsonan, she is a graduate of Grand Canyon University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She has spent her career serving with community-based organizations, including seven years with CODAC Health, Recovery… Read more »

Phil Bregman, Leslie Glaze

The second annual combined Jewish Community Awards Celebration and Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Annual Meeting will be held Thursday, May 9 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The event will include special recognition awards honoring lay or professional leaders from each of the Federation’s beneficiary and affiliated agencies.… Read more »

Six months ago, Jesse Davis and his wife, Melissa, began keeping a kosher home. They were prompted by their two oldest daughters, pupils at Tucson Hebrew Academy, who took the school’s kosher cooking class and came home with “a million and one questions,” says Davis, a teacher at Temple… Read more »

This year’s community Yom HaShoah commemoration will mark 80 years since the outbreak of World War II by reflecting on the vibrant and diverse Jewish life that existed in Europe and North Africa before the Holocaust. “On the Eve: Jewish Life Before the Third Reich” will be held Sunday,… Read more »

A family-friendly Yom Ha’atzmaut festival, marking the 71st anniversary of Israel’s Independence, will be held Sunday, April 28, from 4-6:30 p.m. in the Sculpture Garden at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. “This is an opportunity to celebrate Israel’s birthday,” says Jennifer Selco, the Tucson J’s director of Jewish life… Read more »