Rachel Fish, Ph.D. Scholar/activist Dr. Rachel Fish is a renowned expert on antisemitism in America. She will be in Tucson on Sunday, October 26, to lead Southwest Institute 2025, a program from the Center for Jewish Resilience at Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona designed to help educators and administrators identify and address… Read more »
From left, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona Deputy Community Security Director Paul Patterson, JPSA Director for Public Affairs Carina Bien-Willner, and lay leader Kent Blumenthal were on Capitol Hill June 25-26 to advocate for Jewish community security funding. (Courtesy JPSA) Carina Bien-Willner, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona director for public affairs at the Center for Jewish Resilience; Paul Patterson, JPSA deputy community security director; and Kent Blumenthal, a member of the CJR steering committee, joined almost 400 Jewish leaders in Washington, D.C., last month to lobby lawmakers for increased… Read more »
Judith Manelis On a recent Friday night, I arrived at my synagogue to discover something had been added to its architectural design. There were large round cement balls in a line across the front of the building and doorway. So now, in addition to having a security guard at the building… Read more »
This past week, a colleague and I shared these thoughts about the tragic and senseless murders of two Israeli Embassy Staff members in Washington. We are heartbroken by the tragic murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky in Washington, D.C., outside the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, May 22.… Read more »
Mazel tov to Tucson composer Daniel Asia, whose opera “The Tin Angel” will premiere on June 28 and 29 with Teatro Grattacielo at the Ellen Stewart Theater at La Mama in New York City. Asia’s Jewish heritage deeply informs his music, which integrates Jewish texts and traditions, merging classical… Read more »
Former University of Arizona basketball player/assistant coach Josh Pastner speaks at the press conference where he was introduced as the new head coach of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Men's Basketball Team on March 26. (Photo courtesy UNLV Athletics)
The 1990s were the last golden age for college basketball programs west of the Rocky Mountains, with three winning national championships that decade. Josh Pastner, 47, was a freshman on the 1997 University of Arizona men’s basketball team – the most recent team west of the Rockies to win… Read more »
The 2019 Jewish Latino Teen Coalition with Congressman Raúl Grijalva in Washington, D.C. The Jewish Latino Teen Coalition extends its most heartfelt condolences regarding the passing of Congressman Raúl Grijalva. Congressman Grijalva and his office were instrumental in founding and supporting this program, which represents a unique partnership between the Tucson Jewish and Latino communities and has helped shape the lives of many… Read more »
(L-R): E. Lee Bernick, professor of public policy at University of Nevada Las Vegas; Jessica Mehlman, associate vice president of impact and planning at Jewish Federations of North America; Sen. Ruben Gallego; Carlos A. Hernández, president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona; Andrew Gale, legacy officer at Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona; and Sophie German, director of older adult and community services at JFCS.
Three Tucsonans traveled to Washington, D.C., last week for a “Financial Vulnerability Fly-In” sponsored by Jewish Federations of North America. Fifty participants from across the country, including Carlos A. Hernández, president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona; Sophie German, director of older adult and… Read more »
Each spring, Tucson’s Jewish Latino Teen Coalition (JLTC) heads to Washington, D.C., to lobby lawmakers on a topic they’ve chosen and spent months researching. JLTC convenes 10 to 12 high school sophomores and juniors annually to foster multicultural understanding and political advocacy. Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona and U.S.… Read more »
Leaders from Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA) joined over 1,200 Jewish communal leaders in Chicago at Jewish Federations’ three-day General Assembly, where they set the shared Jewish communal agenda for the year ahead and heard from a diverse array of voices on critical issues facing the North American… Read more »
San Francisco, CA – The Jews of Color Initiative aims to have 1,000 Jews of Color (JoC) complete a survey at JoCsurvey.org, part of the first-ever study to understand the lived experiences and perspectives of Jews of Color in the United States. Led by a multi-racial research team housed… Read more »
A scene from "Feeding Our Souls," a Tucson-based documentary that is part of the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival
Virtual Jewish film festivals are providing film buffs with a smorgasbord of options to lift hearts and minds during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The 30th anniversary of the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival, already underway, begins its streaming of “Standing Up, Falling Down” with comedy stars Billy Crystal and… Read more »
T. Marie King Amplifying Voices, a six-part virtual series, provides an opportunity to explore the intersectional relationship between the Black and Jewish communities. Launched in October by the Tucson Jewish Community Center and a group of community partners, it will continue on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. with session five, “Learning the Land,… Read more »
The Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards are now accepting applications. Up to 15 Jewish teens will be awarded $36,000 each. The Diller Family Foundation, which presents the awards, seeks teens who show “significant initiative and leadership in creating and leading a new initiative – or have considerably deepened or… Read more »
Todd Rockoff will lead a Z3 lunch and learn on Dec. 13. This year’s Z3 event won’t be what people might expect. Now in its sixth year, Z3, which originally was dubbed Zionism 3.0, is an opportunity to talk about a wide range of issues in Israel and the Diaspora. But this is definitely not going to be your typical conference, and not… Read more »
Manischewitz, an iconic name in traditional kosher products, will be offering a do-it-yourself Chanukah House cookie decorating kit, complete with a candy menorah, through national retailers including Amazon and Walmart. The kit is at the center of a promotion by Manischewitz to drive consumer sales and raise awareness for… Read more »
On Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, at 11:11 a.m. Pacific Time (12:11 p.m. Mountain Standard Time), JWB Jewish Chaplains Council®, a signature program of JCC Association of North America, will host the Facebook Live premier of “The National Jewish Community Celebration of Veterans Day.” The event will honor Jewish veterans,… Read more »
A photo of George Floyd is pictured on a fence alongside other victims of police brutality in Brooklyn, N.Y., Sept. 24, 2020. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
(JTA) — From the coronavirus pandemic to the fires that have ravaged California to the anxiety of our politically polarized moment, there was no shortage of current events for rabbis to mine in their High Holiday sermons this year. But the topic that stood out this year on Yom… Read more »
(JTA) — The first time 6-year-old Bibi Shapiro found out just how widely viewed the video of him singing “Avinu Malkeinu” had been, he was sitting on his mother’s lap in Australia being beamed into Yom Kippur services at one of the largest synagogues in the United States. Like so… Read more »
(JTA) — What do Elana Kagan, Sacha Baron Cohen, Barbra Streisand, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Gal Gadot, Marc Benioff and Steven Spielberg have in common? Yes, they are all Jewish. And they all appear on the shortlist of the selection committee of the Genesis Prize to be this year’s laureate. This… Read more »
