News

ARLINGTON, Va. (JTA) — Jews don’t serve in the military. Jews shouldn’t serve in the military. Forget about being Jewish — the mission comes first. Like a lot of other Jewish dilemmas, what’s old for Jews who serve in the U.S. military is new again, and the organization established… Read more »

(JTA) — The row between Poland and Israel about the Holocaust reached new heights this week after Poland’s prime minister said that the genocide had not only Polish, Ukrainian and German perpetrators, but Jewish ones as well. Addressing a new law that criminalizes blaming Poland for Nazi crimes, Mateusz Morawiecki said… Read more »

(JTA) — Jews in and around the nation’s capital do plenty of Jewish things. Many of them just don’t do those things as members of Jewish institutions. That’s one of the main takeaways from a wide-ranging survey of Washington, D.C.-area Jews published this week by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.… Read more »

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WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jay Marshall Wolman, like a thousand other lawyers on Twitter, is wry, maybe a little coarse and, well, Jewish, peppering his tweets with Hebrew blessings and other Jewish references. He gets deadly serious, though, if you ask him why he is the lead attorney representing Andrew… Read more »

(JTA) — As he leads the police response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel is likely enduring some of the toughest days of his career. And he’s probably looking to his Judaism to guide him through it. Israel is the county’s first Jewish… Read more »

(JTA) — They volunteered. They played soccer. They went to camp. They were sweet, mature and easygoing. They were just beginning their lives, or helping others on their way. And one may have died so that others could live. Jewish students and staff were among the 17 people who… Read more »

(JTA) — Police are recommending charges of bribery and breach of trust against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He’s saying the case police have made is “full of holes, like Swiss cheese.” Police allege Netanyahu received expensive gifts from supporters in return for advancing their interests, including expensive cigars… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — There’s a battle going on among pro-Israel leaders, and it’s over Qatar. It’s like watching ice hockey players clear the bench for a brawl, only the antagonists are all on the same team. The folks lining up to praise or bury the emirate are best known… Read more »

(JTA) — Israel and Iran have been clashing for years. But on Saturday, their war of words briefly became an actual fight. In short succession, Iran sent a drone into Israel, Israel shot it down and took out the drone launcher in Syria, Iranian-allied Syria downed an Israeli plane,… Read more »

Pictured, left to right, Ruben Rosthenhausler as Louie, Stephanie Howell as Bella, and Michelle Holland as Gert in a scene from the Arizona Rose Theatre production of “Lost in Yonkers.”

The Arizona Rose Theatre is bringing back one of its most popular shows, Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers,” beginning Feb. 24. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize, this heartfelt comedy is drawn from Simon’s experiences growing up in New York City. Set during… Read more »

Pawel Lichter, a Holocaust survivor who lives in Tucson, will present “A Polish Jew’s Story of Survival” at a community event sponsored by the Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Northwest office, 190 W. Magee Road, Suite… Read more »

Jewish Family & Children’s Services will sponsor a free screening of the 2016 film “Denial,” starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Wilkinson, on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The film recounts the true story of historian Deborah Lipstadt, played by Weisz. The screening… Read more »

Dr. BJ Miller

Dr. BJ Miller seeks to change the way we die. This preeminent speaker will share his thoughts on maximizing quality of life and minimizing unnecessary suffering at the Ninth Annual Cindy Wool Memorial Seminar on Humanism in Healthcare on Thursday, March 29. An expert on patient-centered, palliative, and end-of-life… Read more »

Fusion’z Café is offering a new take on kosher favorites, from dressing up falafel with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions to offering five variations on avocado toast. This is not your grandma’s spread. Fusion’z is the new installment inside the University of Arizona Hillel, replacing the Oy Vey Café,… Read more »

In August, Allison Wexler, Tucson’s Jewish community special abilities coordinator, was exploring athletic programming ideas for individuals with special needs. When she learned the Tucson Jewish Community Center would be forming a flag football league, she thought, “What does football need? Cheerleaders.” Wexler created a new program at the… Read more »

“Tradition, tradition, tradition!” sings out the cast in the opening number of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Neva Small, the woman who played Tevye’s third daughter, Chava, in the film version of the beloved musical, has always taken this entreaty to heart. Now Small, who has created her own traditions… Read more »

Roza Simkhovich is proud to say that she has been an American for nearly 39 years. She and her family came from Latvia, a Baltic country formerly part of the Soviet Union, to the United States looking for relief from anti-Semitism. As an educator for nearly 30 years, she… Read more »

It’s never too late to learn and grow. The Tucson Jewish Community Center provides numerous opportunities to help people discover their passions later in life. Here are a few highlights of events and classes coming up. “Inside Writing a Mystery” is a free discussion with local author and retired… Read more »

Judge John Peck with his “St. Notorious” at Art Under the Arches Gallery, January 2018.

A long, winding and unexpected road took Tucson native John Peck from the Old Pueblo to Ajo, a small Arizona community of 3,300 people, just 40 miles from the Mexican border. From editor, to economic developer, community activist and nonprofit leader, he now finds himself sitting on the justice court… Read more »

Enthusiastic participation in celebrating Shabbat and Jewish holidays helps residents of senior living communities stay connected to Judaism. Sometimes, they even teach the non-Jewish staff about Jewish traditions and food. Atria Campana del Rio “I have been with Atria for 14 years, and when I started I knew nothing… Read more »