Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel in ‘Zero Hour’ (Courtesy Brochu)
Jim Brochu stars in “Zero Hour: The Zero Mostel Story” for the Invisible Theatre this weekend. The play is set in the legendary actor’s painting studio as a naïve reporter attempts to interview the famously volatile artist, prompting an explosion of memory, humor, outrage and juicy backstage lore. Mostel,… Read more »
Bill Epstein The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre will present “My Life in Sports,” written and performed by Tucsonan Bill Epstein, Jan. 17-27. “A coming-of age story, a cautionary tale, and a love story, ‘My Life in Sports’ is a dramatic memoir about the romance of men and sports, about the games… Read more »
From left, Sam Alexander, Lynn Rae Lowe and Damion Alexander exhibit together in ‘United by Art’ at Tucson’s Mexican consulate. (Courtesy Damion Alexander)
Award-winning Tucson artist Lynn Rae Lowe; her son, Damion Alexander; and her grandson, Sam Alexander, 19, are among 13 artists featured in “United by Art,” an exhibit on display at the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, 3915 E. Broadway Blvd., through Feb. 8. “I am honored to have an opportunity… Read more »
Rain Pryor Rain Pryor is bringing her one-woman show, “Fried Chicken and Latkes,” to Tucson next month. Pryor, 49, is the daughter of the late comedy icon Richard Pryor and a Jewish go-go dancer-turned-astronomer, Shelley R. Bonus. In the show, she plays 11 different characters, from her famous father to her… Read more »
Alma Hernandez, MPH, the first Mexican American Jew to be elected to the Arizona state legislature, was included in Lilith magazine’s “7 Jewish Feminist Highlights of 2018.” She was previously featured on the cover of the magazine’s Fall 2018 issue. Hernandez will represent Legislative District 3, on Tucson’s west… Read more »
Tucson Hebrew Academy’s lower school (kindergarten through fourth grades) put on a ’50s-style Hanukkah Hop show of song and dance on Thursday, Dec. 6. The production was attended by parents, grandparents, other family and friends.… Read more »
(JTA) — A student at the Hebrew Academy of Miami died in a fall from the ninth story of his high-rise condominium building. Samuel Farkas of Miami Beach was locked out of his family’s ninth-floor condo on Tuesday evening and was trying to climb down the balcony from the floor… Read more »
(L-R): Rabbi Emeritus Ed Stafman of Congregation Beth Shalom in Bozeman, Montana; Rabbi Ethan Seidel of Tifereth Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C.; Olivia Rocamora, dean of Spanish at The Weber School in Atlanta, Georgia; Rabbi Julia Andelman, director of community engagement at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York; Rabbi Pamela Jay Gottfried, dean of Jewish studies at The Weber School; Stella Stanway, direct of education at Temple Beth Miriam in Elberon, New Jersey; Rabbi Charles Arian of Kehilat Shalom in Gaithersburg, Maryland; and Rabbi Michael Bernstein of Gesher L’Torah in Alpharetta, Georgia. Ruven Barkan)
Rabbi Ruven Barkan and his wife, Adina Weber, hosted a dinner at their home on Wednesday, Dec. 19 for rabbis and educators who participated in a three-day border immersion program in Nogales, sponsored by the Kino Border Initiative. Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Tucson’s Congregation Or Chadash called in to… Read more »
Miriam Romero received the Arizona English Language Teacher of the Year Award at the Arizona Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition Services 2018 Conference, held Dec. 5 at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort. Romero is a teacher at Carrillo K-5 Magnet School in the Tucson Unified… Read more »
Cnaan Liphshiz examines binned avocados at Amsterdam's Albert Cuyp Market, Jan. 5, 2018. (Cnaan Liphshiz)
AMSTERDAM — I was recently offered a handout while rummaging for food in a heap of trash as my two small children looked on. It happened all because I wanted to start attending synagogue regularly. To be clear, I’m writing this neither as a plea for pity nor an indictment against… Read more »
Mikhl Baran with some Kinder Ring campers. (Courtesy of Sharon Strongin/Camp Kinder Ring)
Editor’s note: JTA published this article in February 2018. Marc Rauch, director of Camp Kinder Ring, assures the Arizona Jewish Post that Mikhl Baran, now 96, taught at the camp “throughout the summer of 2018 and plans to return in 2019. He is truly an icon at Kinder Ring,… Read more »
Jeremy Huw Williams
Editor’s note: A second concert, in which Argentine pianist and conductor Ricardo Hegman was to play works by the renowned Israeli composer Andres Hadju, was canceled on Jan. 10 because Hegman will not be able to get a visa in time. Daniel Asia, a composer and University of Arizona… Read more »
Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple in Atlanta speaks at an interfaith prayer vigil following the Pittsburgh shooting last year. (Ellis Vener)
(JTA) — On an average Saturday morning at the Orthodox Ohel Tefillah synagogue on Chicago’s North Side, about 10 percent of the men carry a handgun. That number may seem high in a liberal city with some of the strictest gun laws in the country. But in the aftermath… Read more »
(JTA) — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is the winner of the $1 million Genesis Prize, the so-called Jewish Nobel. Kraft, 77, will be giving the money “to initiatives combatting anti-Semitism and other forms of prejudice as well as attempts to de-legitimize the State of Israel,” according to… Read more »
(JTA) — Michael Phelps, the most decorated swimmer in Olympics history, will receive the Morton E. Ruderman Award for Inclusion of People with Disabilities. The Ruderman Family Foundation will honor Phelps in recognition of his advocacy for people with disabilities and the sharing of his own journey with mental health, the… Read more »
(JTA) — Jewish federal employees who are struggling with expenses due to the government shutdown can now find some relief. The Hebrew Free Loan Association of Greater Washington approved an emergency program last week to provide loans of up to $2,000 per household to affected Jews living in the… Read more »
(JTA) — It has been four years since a gunman attacked the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris. JTA’s Cnaan Liphshiz went back to the scene of the shooting for a commemoration ceremony, and to check in with French Jewry on how they feel their country has progressed —… Read more »
The Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue in Yangon dates back to the 19th century. (Charles Dunst)
YANGON, Myanmar (JTA) – There was a Hanukkah party last month in this former capital city and enough guests — over 200 — to surprise an uninvited tourist. “They’re no Jews here anymore,” the tourist proclaims, confused about the celebration at Yangon’s regal Chatrium Hotel. “Yes there are,” replies… Read more »
(JTA) — The father of Meadow Pollack, a student who was among the 17 people killed in the shooting at a Parkland, Florida, high school, has been appointed to the state Board of Education. Gov. Rick Scott appointed Andy Pollack in an announcement on Friday evening, the South Florida… Read more »
Israeli parliament members meet at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Dec. 30, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli politics looks like a big mess right now. In the past few weeks, three new parties have been launched and one party has kicked out a former partner. More changes are likely, too. It probably will get messier still if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is indicted… Read more »
