Local

Visiting Israeli scholar touts critical thinking

Asher Susser

Asher Susser, Ph.D., has returned to the Arizona Center of Judaic Studies, taking up an invitation extended to him when he was a visiting professor in Modern Israel Studies in 2010-2011. Susser, who’s on sabbatical from Tel Aviv University for the fall semester, will be teaching an undergraduate course… Read more »

CAI family mission to Israel: joy and sorrow, from Shehecheyanu to L’hitraot

The Anshei Israel group at Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem. Top row (L-R): Dani Bregman, Charlotte Bregman, Sandy Yalen (below Charlotte), Rebecca Herschberg, Renee Hulsey, Emelia Bregman, Breanna Bregman. Bottom row: MeMe Aguila, Lois Bodin, Phil Bregman, Gabe Herschberg, Eliane Herschberg, Aaron Herschberg, Debby Eisen. Not pictured: Jay King, Kris King, Herb Meshel, Bill Yalen and Rabbi Robert Eisen (Photo by Rabbi Robert Eisen)

Congregation Anshei Israel’s 2014 Family Mission to Israel began with a flight that left Tucson at 6 a.m. on June 25. We arrived in Israel the following day at 1:30 p.m. Seeing the first sights of Israel from the plane as we approached Tel Aviv made the tiredness of… Read more »

Local B’nai Mitzvah students serve community, world with diverse projects

Aliya Markowitz with Cubby Graham, charity: water school partnerships manager, at the organization’s office in New York City

In the spirit of infusing the ethic of tikkun olam, repairing the world, into the process of becoming  B’nai Mitzvah, many synagogues now require their students to complete a mitzvah project in addition to learning Hebrew and chanting from the Torah. Students typically choose their own projects based on… Read more »

‘Same Moon’ project brings Tucson, Israeli families together

At an Aug. 17 party at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, local families created a poster that says “Shalom” in Hebrew and English to share with their “Same Moon” counterparts in Israel. (Courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)

Today’s families lead busy lives, but a simple opportunity to communicate with each other — let alone families thousands of miles away — can be a rare delight. “The Same Moon” project has provided just that. Six months ago, the Weintraub Israel Center connected 10 Tucson families who have… Read more »

Bet Shalom scraps mandatory dues for free-will model

Most synagogues in North America finance their operations by assessing dues from their members, with an annual notice outlining the required payment. This year, Tucson’s Congregation Bet Shalom is doing things differently. Instead of mandatory dues, Bet Shalom is adopting a free-will, pay-what-you-like policy. Administrators at the Conservative congregation… Read more »

THA seeking community input via confidential survey

Mindful of its rich 40-year history, Tucson Hebrew Academy has launched a new business strategy and branding project. “We want to talk with and hear input from the Jewish community,” says Jon Ben-Asher, interim head of school. Bromberg Consulting has developed a confidential questionnaire to elicit an “open dialogue… Read more »

New year brings innovation to Tucson Jewish schools

Tucson’s Jewish schools are heading into the new school year with new programs and teachers on tap. As Tucson Hebrew High begins its 37th year, Rabbi Yudi Ceitlin joins the faculty, teaching a course on overlooked epic moments in history. Cantor Janece Cohen will direct the first Tucson Hebrew… Read more »

College-level online Jewish ed expanding

Deborah Kaye

Online Jewish education is thriving, and the University of Arizona’s Center for Judaic Studies is part of the trend. As with other online Jewish studies programs, most of the center’s courses will be “blended learning, part in-person and part online,” says Deborah Kaye, Ph.D., a full-time adjunct lecturer at… Read more »

Camp J, Tucson relatives give French teen taste of American summer

Avi Szychter rallies campers during the Camp J Maccabiah games in July. (Julie Zorn/TJCC)

Sitting in the Tucson Jewish Community Center, surrounded by Jewish children and adolescents, French teenager Avi Szychter feels right at home. For the 18-year-old, spending the summer in the Camp J Bonim Leaders-in-Training program has been the perfect opportunity to escape the growing anti-Semitism in France and relax before… Read more »

‘We Stand With Israel’ rally draws crowd to Congregation Anshei Israel

Rabbi Robert Eisen speaks at a “We Stand With Israel” rally at Congregation Anshei Israel on Aug. 7.

An air raid siren wailed through Congregation Anshei Israel. On the southern wall of the sanctuary, a video showed people scurrying for shelter and lying down in the middle of a plaza, covering their heads. “In Israel, you only have 15 seconds to save your life,” an announcer intoned… Read more »

Forging new Israel bonds on Temple Emanu-El mission

Bonnie Golden at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem with Robert Indiana’s “Ahava” (Love) sculpture

Jews of a certain age might share similar early impressions of Israel. In Chicago, where I grew up, the young congregants at Lawn Manor Hebrew Congregation were inculcated with a firm commitment to the Jewish state. We saved our dime tokens to plant our trees, circle danced Israeli style… Read more »

Greece, Israel mission sparks visions of future

Holocaust memorial stars on the railroad tracks at Salonika, Greece

We sang “Happy Birthday” in Hebrew to 9-year-old Miriam in the Athens Jewish Community School;  we talked with teenagers Gala and Tal at a summer camp near Salonika;  we listened in Tel Aviv as Yuval who lost both arms and Tzipi who was paralyzed told us how they used their abilities… Read more »

Jewish History Museum to exhibit ‘Temple of Shadows’

"Lights on Shadows" by Abigail Gumbiner

                                    The Jewish History Museum will present Temple of Shadows, a photography exhibit, from Aug. 20 through Nov. 1. A set of 15 prints shows the museum, formerly the Stone Avenue Temple… Read more »

Women’s Academy book brunch to include Lau video

The Women’s Academy for Jewish Studies at Congregation Chofetz Chayim will present “Out of the Depths,” a brunch and book presentation, on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 11 a.m. “Out of the Depths,” the autobiography of Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, tells the story of the youngest survivor of the Buchenwald… Read more »

Bet Shalom starting Jewish Cub Scout pack

Congregation Bet Shalom is forming Cub Scout Pack 613. The pack will accept boys ages 6 to 10 and a half of any religious affiliation, but it will be a Jewish pack, observing all Jewish holidays and kosher laws. The pack will be directed by Frank Youdelman, who has… Read more »

Tucson lone soldiers’ parents: pride, fear

Tucsonan Shoham Ozeri, left, and a fellow IDF lone soldier in May 2014, more than a month before Israel launched Operation Protective Edge.

The intense fighting between Israel and Gaza has evoked mixed emotions for the parents of two local lone soldiers. Max Gan, 23, made aliyah in 2010 and was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces that November. He served as a paratrooper and is now in the army reserves. He… Read more »

Tucsonans visit Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital

On our recent trip to Israel with Temple Emanu-El my husband and I made a special trip to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. Special is indeed an understatement. Our mission was to deliver the adorable therapy dolls lovingly made by the women of Hadassah Southern Arizona, as well… Read more »

Tucsonan of many faiths join in prayers for peace in the Middle East

Oshrat Barel, director of the Weintraub Israel Center, and Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon of Temple Emanu-El at a Prayers for Peace in the Middle East multi-faith service on July 31, 2014.

As the latest Israel-Hamas conflict raged on, Tucsonans of many faiths gathered Thursday, July 31 at Temple Emanu-El to share prayers for peace in the Middle East. More than 200 people attended the multi-faith service, organized by Temple Emanu-El and the Weintraub Israel Center. The mood of the evening… Read more »

Tucsonans pray and fast for peace in Mideast at multi-faith events

Tearing cloth on erev Tisha b'Av to express grief over deaths in Gaza (L-R): Abby Okrent, Georgia Conroy (face obscured), Joyce Smith, Beth Lowry, Deborah Mayaan, John Heid

Tucsonans held small interfaith gatherings to pray for peace in the Middle East on July 14 and Aug. 4. On Aug. 4, the evening of Tisha b’Av, 13 people from Jewish, Islamic, Christian, Baha’i, and Buddhist faiths gathered in my living room for an event  Abby Okrent helped me… Read more »