News

The final polls are in and Israel’s election is a nail-biter

A Likud party supporter holds a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem, April 7, 2019. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
April 8, 2019 / Marcy Oster, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The final polls before Israel’s national election on Tuesday show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party running either neck and neck or up to five seats behind upstart challenger Benny Gantz’s Blue and White party. The last polls allowed by law were published Friday. Exit polling… Read more »

Leaders explore similarities in religious values

The Rev. Debra Asis of the Episcopal Church of the Apostles (left) and Rabbi Helen Cohn of Congregation M’kor Hayim discuss Christian and Jewish values at a forum held Jan. 26 at Tucson Hebrew Academy. (Photo courtesy Congregation M’kor Hayim)
April 5, 2019 /

If you were asked to name the “top 5” Jewish values, what would you say? Tikkun olam? Education? Tzedakah?  Community? What if you were Christian?  What would your “top 5” be? Are Jewish and Christian values essentially the same, or are they different? Rabbi Helen Cohn of Congregation M’kor… Read more »

THA’s Kutler finds his personal grit in Ultraman Israel endurance challenge

Laurence Kutler competes in the 171-mile bicycling leg of the March 6-8 Ultraman Israel endurance challenge. (Courtesy Laurence Kutler)
April 5, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

As if completing a 320-mile race in three days isn’t enough, doing it in 36 hours is an enormous challenge. Included in that are a 6.2-mile swim through chilly mountain waters and cycling 171 miles across a desert at the lowest point on earth, not to mention running a… Read more »

Teens, seniors will launch life stories book at reception

Gianna Lampert and partner Ruth Cooper at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging (Photo: Angela Salmon)
April 5, 2019 /

Tracing Roots 2.0 paired Tucson’s Jewish teens with residents of Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging to build meaningful relationships. The program encourages participants to learn together, share their stories, trace their ancestry and bring memories to life through technology and personal interaction. Tucson Hebrew High students met regularly… Read more »

Repertory choir to bring its rich sound back to Emanu-El

Elliot Jones conducts the Arizona Repertory Singers in the ‘King David’ oratorio at Temple Emanu-El on April 29, 2018. (Photo: Celesteal Photography)
April 5, 2019 /

Arizona Repertory Singers will present a concert at Temple Emanu-El on Sunday, April 28, “Psalms of David and Songs of Solomon.” “The Arizona Repertory Singers are one of this city’s choral treasures,” says Robert Lopez-Hanshaw, music director at Temple Emanu-El. “They always bring a beautiful, rich sound to the… Read more »

Federation transportation service takes seniors from isolation into action

Driver Mark Contreras has worked for HandiCar, Inc. for 11 years. Jeanne Fischer is one of his regular passengers. The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s free transportation service is available for seniors and disabled passengers traveling to Jewish cultural, religious and community activities around Tucson. (Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP)Driver Mark Contreras has worked for HandiCar, Inc. for 11 years. Jeanne Fischer is one of his regular passengers. The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s free transportation service is available for seniors and disabled passengers traveling to Jewish cultural, religious and community activities around Tucson. (Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP)
April 5, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

For some local Jewish seniors and the disabled, transportation can’t be taken for granted. Without a vehicle, a driver’s license, friends or family to take them places, or the ability to afford a ride service, life can be confining. Isolation can lead to depression and affect general well-being. When… Read more »

Montoya to moderate local leaders forum on immigration
April 5, 2019 /

Immigration 2019 is the focus for the annual local leaders forum, presented by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, and the Jewish History Museum. The event will be held Friday, April 12, at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy, 3718… Read more »

Workshop aims to take ‘awkward’ out of gender conversations
April 5, 2019 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
Amy Lederman, left, and Ariel VegosenAmy Lederman, left, and Ariel Vegosen

More than 60 people gathered at the Jewish History Museum on Sunday, March 17 for “Gender Speak: Understanding the Trans and Gender-Evolving World.” Amy Hirshberg Lederman, a Tucson educator, writer and attorney, and Ariel Vegosen, a California-based gender inclusivity trainer, led the workshop, which looked at gender from a… Read more »

Photographer captures experience of Palestinians at Israeli checkpoints

Not every Palestinian crossing into Israel is going for work. Some 15 percent cross the border for medical, educational or other purposes. (Photo: Laura Ben-David/JTA)
April 5, 2019 / Laura Ben-David, JTA

I believe in the Jewish people’s right to live in our homeland. That profound belief has no bearing on the rights of others to live here as well. There are Palestinians who live and work in the land of Israel, and while I may seldom agree with the positions… Read more »

Tucson philanthropist and developer Don Diamond dies at 91
April 4, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor
Donald R. DiamondDonald R. Diamond

The Tucson Jewish community mourns the loss of local philanthropist, businessman, and real estate developer Donald R. Diamond, who died March 25 at the age of 91. His daughter Rabbi Jennifer Diamond and Cantor Janece E. Cohen conducted funeral services March 27 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Rabbi… Read more »

Uber removes London driver who would not take Jews
April 4, 2019 / Marcy Oster, JTA

(JTA) — Uber dropped a driver in London who allegedly said he would not take Jews. Two men who were wearing kippahs said the driver, identified as “Ahmed,” refused to pick them up after they were matched with him on the Uber app, the Jewish Chronicle reported. The driver… Read more »

Police have suspect in Oklahoma anti-Semitic vandalism
April 4, 2019 /

(JTA) — Police have a suspect in a spree of anti-Semitic and racist graffiti in Oklahoma City and the neighboring city of Norman. A woman was caught on surveillance video painting white supremacist, racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on the Oklahoma Democratic Party headquarters in Oklahoma City. She is the… Read more »

Chabad of Flagstaff building site vandalized

Rabbi Dovie Shapiro posted this photo on Facebook March 28, showing the community’s response to vandalism at a Chabad of Flagstaff building site. “The people of Flagstaff have hearts of gold — and silver — Thank you for all the love!” he wrote, tagging the post “#thisisflagstaff #movingbeyondhate #jewishflagstaff #lightoverdarkness #chabadflagstaff.” (Facebook)
April 4, 2019 /

A Chabad center being built in Flagstaff was broken into and vandalized sometime between late afternoon on Friday, March 22 and 7 a.m. on Monday, March 25. Crude swastikas were drawn in black paint on the windows and carved into the walls of the Molly Blank Jewish Community Center, which… Read more »

Despite Brexit woes, Theresa May is a hero to many British Jews

Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at a United Jewish Israel Appeal dinner in London, Sept. 17, 2018. (Peter Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images)
April 4, 2019 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — As the United Kingdom’s political establishment continues its tailspin over Brexit, little can be said with certainty about either’s future. All bets are off as Prime Minister Theresa May, whose own survivability in office seems increasingly doubtful, continues a desperate balancing act meant to satisfy her own coalition’s many… Read more »

An indigenous and Jewish photographer wants to tell her people’s story before it’s too late

In “An Exploration of Resilience and Resistance,” Kali Spitzer photographed indigenous and mixed race women and gender non-conforming people. (Kali Spitzer)In “An Exploration of Resilience and Resistance,” Kali Spitzer photographed indigenous and mixed race women and gender non-conforming people. (Kali Spitzer)
April 4, 2019 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — At the age of 20, Kali Spitzer left her home in Victoria, British Columbia, to travel north and immerse herself in the culture of her father, who is a member of the Kaska Dena, a First Nations people native to Canada. For around seven months, she lived… Read more »