Local

JFSA proposes officers, directors for 2017-18

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s board governance committee, chaired by Eric Schindler, has recommended the following slate of officers for the 2017-2018 program year: Shelly Silverman, chair of the board; Eric Schindler, vice chair/board development; Deborah Oseran, vice chair; Ben Silverman, treasurer/secretary; Tom Warne, immediate past chair. Also… Read more »

Ziegler’s ‘Dov and Ali’ tackles the big questions

Paul Hammack is Dov and Callie Hutchison is Sonya in ‘Dov and Ali.’Paul Hammack is Dov and Callie Hutchison is Sonya in ‘Dov and Ali.’ (Paul Hammack is Dov and Callie Hutchison is Sonya in ‘Dov and Ali.’ (Whitney Woodcock)

Something Something Theatre is presenting “Dov and Ali” by award-winning playwright Anna Ziegler, through April 23 at the Community Playhouse, 1881 N. Oracle Road. In “Dov and Ali,” a Jewish high school teacher and his Muslim student, sparked by their studies of “The Lord of the Flies” by William… Read more »

Holocaust expert explores difference between religious hostility, anti-Semitism

Peter Hayes speaks at the Holocaust History Center at the Jewish History Museum on March 13. (David J. Del Grande)

From the Catholic Church, to occupied Europe and the United States, the world failed to prevent the Holocaust because they were too vested in their own interests, Peter Hayes, a former professor at Northwestern University, told about 40 people who packed the Holocaust History Center at the Jewish History… Read more »

Lecturer says Trump’s dealmaking could work in Middle East

Shai Feldman

Shai Feldman, a professor of politics at Brandeis University, believes President Donald J. Trump could broker a deal that ends the Arab/Israeli conflict, because the most contentious issues contradict a golden rule of negotiation. “In the Arab/Israeli conflict the devil is not in the details, in the Arab/Israeli conflict… Read more »

Shinshinim hosts grateful for opportunity

Seated (L-R): Leah Avuno, Yoni Weiner, Bar Alkaher; standing: Téa, Tamir, Erin, Elana, Joshua, Jackie and Naomi Weiner (Courtesy Naomi Weiner)

If your heart longs to visit Israel, but time doesn’t allow, consider the opportunity to bring a vibrant piece of Israel to your home. The Shinshinim Young Ambassadors Program sends Israeli high school graduates to communities all over the world to work in Jewish educational and cultural institutions (see… Read more »

Israeli Partnership2Gether delegates get inside look at Tucson community

Tucsonan Goggy Davidowitz takes part in a Partnership2Gether team- building exercise at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Feb. 27. (David J. Del Grande)

Hosting the annual Partnership2Gether leadership mission in Tucson this year was ambitious and quite successful, says Oshrat Barel, director of the Weintraub Israel Center. Six partnership delegates from Israel, Tucson delegates and local community stakeholders spent a week, from Feb. 26-March 5, discussing the program, its strengths and ways… Read more »

New estate sale business to benefit Greater Tucson Fire Foundation

(L-R) Patty Vallance, Jennifer Cassius and Anita Feder (Courtesy Family Friends, LLC)

Jennifer Cassius, Anita Feder and Patty Vallance recently formed Family Friends, LLC, an estate sales company. Family Friends aims to help families with the distribution and disposition of personal property, whether due to downsizing, a transition to alternative living arrangements or the loss of a loved one, “with an… Read more »

Musical revue to celebrate ‘Stars of David’

Jeremy Vega and Liz Cracchiolo (standing), Kelli Workman and Dennis Tamblyn in ‘Stars of David’

Arizona Onstage Productions will present “Stars of David: A New Musical,” based on Abigail Pogrebin’s 2005 bestseller, subtitled “Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish,” April 15 and 16 at the Berger Performing Arts Center. The musical revue presents little known stories about some of the most famous Jews of… Read more »

Lawyers see Passover, immigration link

Fred Klein (right) with Lievin Niyongabo at the Tucson's International Rescue Committee office. An immigrant from Burundi, Niyongabo is an Americorps VISTA volunteer at the IRC and also works as a caregiver. He was a university student in Namibia when his family got permission to resettle in the United States and plans to resume his studies. (Courtesy Fred Klein)

Passover is the time of freedom. We eat matzah, the bread of affliction, we eat bitter herbs and dip karpas (vegetables) in salt water to recall our suffering and tears. We eat charoset, made with ground almonds, cinnamon and wine to recall the mortar used by Jewish slaves to… Read more »

Journalist David Gregory to speak on spiritual path at JFCS event

David Gregory

David Gregory, political analyst for CNN and author, says reconnecting with Judaism centered his life in the right way. Gregory’s book, “How’s Your Faith? An Unlikely Spiritual Journey,” is an autobiographical tale about his return to faith in adulthood. Simon & Schuster published the book in September 2015. “The… Read more »

With emotional link to new musical, Tucsonans become Broadway producers

Dick and Sherri Belkin at the opening night of "Come From Away" on Broadway, March 12. (Courtesy Dick Belkin)

Dick and Sherri Belkin, known for their dedicated energy and philanthropy in the Tucson Jewish community, recently donned new hats as Broadway producers. The couple attended the New York premiere of “Come From Away,” a musical about 9/11, at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre last week. A musical about 9/11? … Read more »

In Tucson talk, author details how modern Germans helped, hindered quest for lost legacy

Author Dina Gold, left, with J. Edward Wright, director of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies, at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on March 6 (Korene Charnofsky Cohen)

In December 1990, Dina Gold marched into a government building at Krausenstrasse 17/18 in the formerly Soviet-controlled East Berlin, and announced that she had come to claim her family’s property. She was bluffing. At that point in her quest for justice, she had no evidence. Gold showed an official,… Read more »

Shoah survivor on global healing mission to speak here

Leslie Schwartz

Holocaust survivor Leslie Schwartz will speak about his experiences as a teenager in Auschwitz, Dachau and Mühldorf and show a film titled “The Mühldorf Death Train” on Wednesday, April 5 at 6 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The event is sponsored by the German studies department at… Read more »

UA Hillel students plan for 26th annual Holocaust vigil

The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation will hold its 26th annual Holocaust vigil later this month, a 24-hour program dedicated to the remembrance of the Holocaust as well as to promoting tolerance and understanding on campus and in Tucson.  A student committee designed and organized the vigil. This year’s… Read more »

UA experts help bring medicines, inventions to market

Eric Smith is Tech Launch Arizona's commercialization network manager. (Courtesy Tech Launch Arizona)

How does an invention get from “there” to “here”?  The University of Arizona is at the cutting edge in science, medicine, optical sciences, engineering, agriculture and other areas — but bringing inventions from the lab to the marketplace is a complex process, calling for talented experts with extensive technical,… Read more »