News

No one is assigned to Jewish outreach at the DNC. Who ya gonna call?

Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, speaking to a crowd of supporters at a unity rally in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 21, 2017. (George Frey/Getty Images)
May 3, 2017 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) – You’re a Jewish donor or macher and you need to talk to someone at the Democratic National Committee, stat. Who’s most likely to return your call? Tom Perez, the party chairman, according to Jewish and Democratic insiders. Perez is also pretty much it – no one… Read more »

Abbas’ meeting with Trump may be his chance to shine. Does he have what it takes?

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaking to the media in Berlin, April 19, 2016. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
May 3, 2017 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump wants a deal with Israel and the Palestinians. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders say they want Trump to make the deal. What could go wrong? For all the good cheer guaranteed when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas meets Wednesday with Trump at the… Read more »

A U.S. government body on religious freedom is accused of going easy on Israel

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 23: Dr. James Zogby participates in a panel discussion about the Muslim experience in America at the Washington National Cathedral October 23, 2012 in Washington, DC. Zogby is president of the Arab American Institute. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
May 1, 2017 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) – The U.S. State Department’s most recent religious freedoms report includes more than 1,400 words on access to holy sites in Israel. The most recent report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has zero words on access – or on anything to do with Israel.… Read more »

Labor protest says Conservative seminary violating its own ethical standards with building project

Marchers protesting labor arrangements at the Jewish Theological Seminary's construction site in New York City say the building contractor violates workers' rights, May 1, 2017. (Ben Sales)
May 1, 2017 / Ben Sales, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) — The labor rights march, held on the unofficial workers’ holiday of May 1 and embarking from the steps of the Jewish Theological Seminary here, featured signs in Yiddish and Hebrew — and included some of the seminary’s own students. But the march wasn’t celebrating the long… Read more »

5 reasons why Sebastian Gorka may be on his way out of the White House

Sebastian Gorka participating in a discussion during the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 24, 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
May 1, 2017 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

  WASHINGTON (JTA) – Sebastian Gorka, who advises President Donald Trump on counterterrorism, reportedly is leaving the White House for a role elsewhere in the administration. Gorka has been an object of Jewish attention since he was photographed at an inaugural ball sporting a medal of the Vitez Rend, a movement founded… Read more »

Why this Filipina is fighting for Israel

Staff Sgt. Joana Chris Arpon on Israeli soldiers saving her grandmother in the Philippines: “I was like, “Whoa, that’s what I want to do.” (Courtesy of IDF Spokesperson)
May 1, 2017 / Andrew Tobin, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Staff. Sgt. Joana Chris Arpon isn’t Israeli, or even Jewish. Her service in the Israel Defense Forces is personal. Arpon, 20, is the daughter of Filipino parents who came to the Israel to find work. She said she enlisted as a combat soldier because an Israeli army  team rescued her… Read more »

A New Yorker editor picks 7 of his favorite Jewish cartoons

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 09: Cartoonist Bob Mankoff attends New York screening for NEW YORKER PRESENTS at Crosby Hotel on February 9, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Amazon Studios)
May 1, 2017 / Gabe Friedman, JTA

(JTA) — Bob Mankoff has been the cartoon editor at The New Yorker for 20 years. But he’s been a Jew for 72. The celebrated cartoonist, who is stepping down from his prestigious perch in May, has therefore had a long time to formulate his thoughts on Judaism and Jewish… Read more »

In focus 4.28.17
April 28, 2017 /
(L-R): Joline Riddle, Sue DeBenedette, Amy Dowe, Denise Wolf and Mike Gadarian at the JCCs of North American Professional Conference

Tucson J professional development The Tucson Jewish Community Center sent five staff members to the JCCs of North America Professional Conference 2017, held in Orlando, Fla., March 19-22. Denise Wolf, chief operating officer; Mike Gadarian, chief financial officer; Joline Riddle, early childhood education director; Amy Dowe, fitness director; and… Read more »

In Tucson talk, journalist will examine media bias on Israel

Matti Friedman is a former AP reporter and author of "The Aleppo Codex" and "Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story"
April 28, 2017 / David J. Del Grande, AJP Staff Writer

It’s very important to understand who is feeding you information and why they are doing so, says Matti Friedman, an award-winning author and former reporter for the Associated Press’ Jerusalem bureau. “We all need to be critical consumers of media, not just where Israel is concerned,” says Friedman. “The… Read more »

Jewish History Museum explores ‘Fluid Identities’ of Crypto Jews
April 27, 2017 / Renee Claire, Special to the AJP
The “Cruz de los Sepharditos de Nuestra Tierra Sagrada” by artist Carlie Sánchez illustrates the confluence of cultures. (Courtesy Jewish History Museum)

“Fluid Identities:  New Mexican Crypto Jews in the Late 20th Century” is currently on display at Tucson’s Jewish History Museum. On loan from the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe, “Fluid Identities” is part of a larger exhibition entitled “Fractured Faiths.” The Tucson exhibit offers an opportunity to… Read more »

Federation 70th anniversary mitzvah project will continue at Sister Jose Women’s Center

(L-R) Tom Warne, JFSA chair; Len Kronman, Sister Jose volunteer; Stuart Mellan, JFSA president and CEO; Shelly Silverman, JFSA board chair nominee; Bruce Ash, JFSA Sister Jose project co-chair; Ori Parnaby, Jewish community concierge; Fran Katz, JFSA senior vice president; and Jane Ash, JFSA Sister Jose project co-chair, at the April 20 ribbon-cutting celebration at Sister Jose Women’s Center. (Danielle Larcom/JFSA)
April 27, 2017 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

Sister Jose Women’s Center held a ribbon cutting ceremony at its new location on Park Avenue South on Thursday, April 20. The nonprofit center is a haven for homeless women. Its new location, a remodeled 9,000-square foot warehouse, will enable the center to serve far more women than it… Read more »

Tucson Pops free concerts to start Mother’s Day
April 27, 2017 /

Mother’s Day, May 14 marks the opening of the 63rd season of Tucson Pops Concerts in the Park. Under the direction of Maestro László Veres, the Tucson Pops Orchestra will perform five “Music under the Stars™” concerts on Sundays, May 14-June 11, at 7 p.m. at the DeMeester Outdoor… Read more »

Jewish Latino Teen Coalition marks 13 years of advocacy, diversity

The Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition at the Newseum, a museum that promotes free expression and five freedoms of the First Amendment, in Washington, D.C., during their annual trip to Congress, April 2, 2017. Standing (L-R): Megan Ramirez, Ellie Friedman, Aliya Markowitz, Chloe Goorman, Lisa Kondrat, Aaron Green, Max Silverman, Nicolas Rios, Hannah Weisman, Lew Hamburger; kneeling: Shari Gootter with Indy, Francisco Lopez (Facebook)
April 27, 2017 / David J. Del Grande, AJP Staff Writer

Lobbying in Washington, D.C., for an increase in protections for immigrant families was an invigorating experience, says Nicolas Rios, a high school student and member of Tucson’s Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition.  Rios, 16, a junior at BASIS Tucson North, heard about the JLTC from his college preparatory counselor. Growing up… Read more »

New program focuses on leadership through a Jewish lens
April 27, 2017 / Kaye Patchett, Special to the AJP
Amy Hirshberg Lederman (Courtesy Lederman)

A group of leaders from the local Jewish community recently received a unique opportunity to study 21st-century leadership issues from a Jewish perspective. The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona sponsored the flagship LEAD 2017 leadership program, held Jan. 4-March 22 at Tucson Hebrew Academy and the Jewish Federation. A… Read more »

JFSA proposes amendments to its constitution
April 27, 2017 /

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona proposes amendments to its constitution, which will be voted upon by its membership at its annual meeting, May 11 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. As required by the constitution, these changes are available for review at jfsa.org/constitutionamendments. It is… Read more »

Green Valley ethical will class planned
April 27, 2017 /
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron

In conjunction with Jewish Family & Children’s Services, Beth Shalom Temple Center in Green Valley will present a free ethical will workshop for the Jewish community, led by Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, on Tuesday, May 9, 10 a.m.-noon. Unlike a medical directive or living will, or a will detailing bequests… Read more »

Hillel awards Shirley Curson Medical Scholarship
April 27, 2017 /
Sophie Loeb

Sophie Loeb, a second-year medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, has a strong commitment to care for those in her own backyard. Loeb is the 2017 recipient of the Shirley Curson Medical Scholarship from the UA Hillel Foundation. The scholarship recognizes the commitment… Read more »

Anti-Semitic incidents in US surging in ’17, rose by a third in ’16

Vandalized gravestones at the Waad Hakolel Cemetery in Rochester, N.Y., March 3, 2017. (Gretchen Stumme/AFP/Getty Images)
April 27, 2017 / Marcy Oster and Ben Sales, JTA

  (JTA) – Anti-Semitic incidents in the United States soared 86 percent in the first three months of 2017 after rising by more than one-third in 2016, according to the Anti-Defamation League. There has been a massive increase in harassment of American Jews, largely since November, and at least… Read more »