News

New skills, old values: next generation enriches community

Nathan Bacal holds a photo of his great-grandfather, Harry Bacal, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s first board president. (Julie Zorn/Tucson Jewish Community Center)
October 6, 2016 / Laura Wilson Etter, Special to the AJP

In many Jewish communities, the phrase “l’dor v’dor” (loosely translated as “from generation to generation”) is used to highlight the importance of passing values, education and history from one generation to the next. Scholars and community organizations often speak of the importance of teaching children as a way to… Read more »

For local women, Lions conference is poignant, enlightening

Tucson women at the International Lion of Judah Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 12, (L-R): Ellyn Gold, Shelly Silverman, Phyllis Maizlish, Leslie Glaze, Karen Katz, Judy Berman, Jody Gross, Melissa Goldfinger and Fran Katz (Courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona)
October 6, 2016 / David J. Del Grande, AJP Intern

A delegation of nine Lions of Judah from Tucson attended the biennial international conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss philanthropic programs, ideas and stories of strength. Judy Berman, a local philanthropist, has been a Lion for about 10 years. She has attended three conferences thus far but this year’s… Read more »

Musical duo to present ‘Sephardic Journey’
October 6, 2016 /

The Cavatina Duo, Eugenia Moliner and Denis Azabagic, will present “Sephardic Journey” as part of the UA Presents series on Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. at Crowder Hall, 1017 Olive Road (in the music building). Moliner, a flutist from Spain, and Azabagic, a guitarist from Bosnia, together have… Read more »

‘My Name Is Asher Lev’ coming to Tucson stage

Art Almquist as Aryeh Lev, Carrie Hill as Rivkeh Lev and Steve Wood as Asher Lev in Live Theatre Workshop’s production of ‘My Name Is Asher Lev’
October 6, 2016 /

Live Theatre Workshop will present “My Name Is Asher Lev” by Aaron Posner, adapted from the novel by Chaim Potok, through Nov. 12, with a preview performance Oct. 7. Set in post-war Brooklyn, “My Name Is Asher Lev” is the story of a boy’s passionate desire to follow his… Read more »

BLOG After the Veep debate: Who was right about the Iranian nuclear deal, and do Israelis agree?

Democrat Tim Kaine, left, and Republican Mike Pence, facing off during the vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Virginia, Oct. 4, 2016. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
October 5, 2016 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

  (JTA) – Seven times during the vice presidential debate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the deal his running mate, Hillary Clinton, worked on had helped “stop Iranian nuclear weapons.” Seven times, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said no, it did not. Twice, Kaine said Israel’s military “says it stopped.” Both… Read more »

HIGH HOLIDAYS FEATURE For celebs like Donald Trump and Lena Dunham, ‘sorry’ may be the hardest word

Donald Trump addressing the crowd at a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 6, 2016. (John Sommers II/Getty Images)
October 2, 2016 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

    WASHINGTON (JTA) – Yom Kippur, despite its solemnity and self-abnegation, seems almost anti-climactic if you’ve spent the 10 days since Rosh Hashanah engaging in person-to-person apologies. We would never admit it to non-Jewish friends, who stand in awe of our 25-hour fast, but Yom Kippur is a dodge, an… Read more »

Saying goodbye to Shimon Peres, world leaders talk peace and love

President Barack Obama viewing the coffin of Shimon Peres after speaking during his funeral at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery, Sept. 30, 2016. (Abir Sultan/AFP/Getty Images)
September 30, 2016 / Andrew Tobin, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli and world leaders gathered atop Mount Herzl on Friday to say goodbye to Shimon Peres, Israel’s last founding father. In addition to fond personal recollections, many of those who took the stage alongside Peres’ Israeli-flag-draped coffin offered their visions of the peace that eluded the… Read more »

Reporter’s Notebook: 1 million expected to pay tribute to Peres

The casket of Shimon Peres was brought from Tel Aviv to be presented at the Knesset Plaza with a military cavalcade, so mourners can pay their respects, Sept. 29. (The casket of Shimon Peres was brought from Tel Aviv to be presented at the Knesset Plaza with a military cavalcade, so mourners can pay their respects. (Hillel Maier/TPS)
September 29, 2016 / Andrew Friedman/TPS

Jerusalem (TPS) – A military cavalcade delivered the coffin of former President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres to the Knesset early Thursday, where the deceased will lie in state in the parliament courtyard until his funeral procession tomorrow. Jerusalem police and Knesset security officials said they expect up to 1 million Israelis… Read more »

Study shows how Jewish vote could play crucial role in key states

An interactive map by the American Jewish Population Project breaks down the Jewish population by state and even county. (American Jewish Population Project)
September 26, 2016 / Penny Schwartz, JTA

BOSTON (JTA) — A new study, touted as the first-ever state-by-state, county-by-county Jewish population estimate, shows how the Jewish vote could play a crucial role in key battleground states. The study, released Thursday and conducted by the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University in suburban Boston, found that in Bucks County, Pennsylvania — one of the areas… Read more »

OP-ED We need dialogue, not demagoguery, when it comes to Israel

A protester against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip speaking into a megaphone as pro-Israel counterprotesters wave Israeli flags in Los Angeles, Aug. 2, 2014. (Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images)
September 26, 2016 / Jon A. Levisohn and Miriam Heller Stern, JTA

(JTA) — A Jewish educator who works on behalf of the Jewish people every single day recently received a letter that began with harsh words about her support for the anti-occupation group Breaking the Silence. Before long it took a startling turn. “I regretfully must express my utmost hope,” the author wrote,… Read more »

After bombings, New Yorkers cop an Israeli attitude: ‘Stuff’ happens

A New York City police officer standing guard outside Grand Central Station in New York City, Sept. 20, 2016. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
September 26, 2016 / Andrew Tobin, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — “I heard the explosion, then I went to the deli.” In the hours after the bombings Saturday in New York and on the Jersey Shore, the phrase became an instant slogan for New Yorkers’ purported coolness under fire. Attributed to a witness of the bombing that… Read more »

Jon Ben-Asher

Jon Ben-Asher
September 22, 2016 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

Back when he attended Tucson Hebrew Academy, Head of School Jon Ben-Asher was a bit of a Dungeons & Dragons geek. Ben-Asher, one of nine students in THA’s 1982 graduating class, remembers “this whole life of connectedness,” which encompassed the school, Congregation Anshei Israel (where classes were held and… Read more »

Lindsey Baker

Lindsey Baker at graduation from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2015 (Courtesy Lindsey Baker)
September 22, 2016 / David J. Del Grande, AJP Intern

Lindsey Baker, director of program development at Feeding America, says millions of fond memories flood her thoughts when she recalls her time at Tucson Hebrew Academy. But most important is the powerful feeling of belonging to a community that still resonates today. “THA gave me a sense of identity… Read more »

Howard Levkowitz

(Above) Howard Levkowitz with, from left, Olivia, wife Elayne, Ella, Jack and Julia at Jack’s bar mitzvah in 2012. (Courtesy Bertie Levkowitz)
September 22, 2016 / David J. Del Grande, AJP Intern

Howard Levkowitz, co-founder and CEO at Tennenbaum Capital Partners L.L.C., a venture capital and private equity firm in Los Angeles, Calif., says he is very happy to see his good friend and former classmate Jon Ben-Asher working as head of school at Tucson Hebrew Academy. The Levkowitz’s were among… Read more »