News

The Women’s Philanthropy Advisory Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is seeking nominees for its ninth annual Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award, recognizing an outstanding Jewish teenage girl. The award was created to honor the memory of Zehngut, a community leader who died in 2005. Award nominees must… Read more »

Bryce Megdal

Native Tucsonan Bryce Megdal will hold a concert, “Home for Hanukkah,” on Dec. 29 at the Jewish History Museum, 564 S. Stone Ave. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with light refreshments. At 7 p.m., there will be a menorah lighting — participants may bring their own menorahs… Read more »

As soon as she heard about the hundreds of fires raging through Israel late last month, Marcela Donovan Hammond expected a call. Having just completed her Emergency Volunteer Project training in Israel in September  the Nogales firefighter, arson investigator and mother of six was prepared to drop everything at… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — “This Jew says no to white nationalism,” one sign read. “Silence is akin to consent,” another said, quoting the Talmud. A third displayed a lyric from a Yiddish song: “We will outlive them.” The signs, along with chants like “Donald Trump, it’s your fault; Stephen… Read more »

AMSTERDAM (JTA) — Though they are considered a caloric hazard in Israel, sufganiyot are a rare Hanukkah treat for many Jews in Europe. When the holiday arrives, some Jewish communities in Russia, Ukraine and beyond arrange special community bakes. This keeps schools and kindergartens in supply of the jam-filled… Read more »

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, is the chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil, an energy company large enough to have its own foreign policy. It is a policy, however, that doesn’t always align with the priorities of Jewish and pro-Israel groups. Oil… Read more »

  NEW YORK (JTA) — When  Northwestern University’s student Senate passed a resolution in February 2015 asking the university to divest from six corporations they said contributed to the violation of Palestinians’ human rights, freshman Ross Krasner was hurt and surprised. The rhetoric of the measure, portraying Israel as an oppressor,… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) – As wildfires threatened Israel last week, rhetoric linking arson to terrorism heated up. For about a week, fires across the country burned huge swaths of land, destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses, and forced tens of thousands of people to flee. Dozens were injured, though few… Read more »

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — Eight liberal members of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations will not attend its Hanukkah party because it is being held at a hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump. The Union of Reform Judaism, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the National Council… Read more »

  LAWRENCE, Kan. (JTA) – Joanna Slusky places a test tube into an incubating shaker, flips the switch, and it begins to quiver. So does she. “I’m excited,” she said, showing off another gadget in her lab, a contraption that stirs solutions using a magnetic coil and a metal… Read more »

PARIS (JTA)  — Although his country is entering one of the most dramatic election campaigns in recent memory, Isy Morgensztern had no intention of exercising his right to vote. A left-wing Ashkenazi Jewish filmmaker from Paris, Morgensztern was too disappointed with the ruling Socialists under French President Francois Hollande… Read more »

Chen Shterenbach, a teacher at Tucson Hebrew Academy, recently held a Hebrew poetry contest for his students. The students had the liberty of choosing any topic. The judges were Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz and Windy Jones. Lewkowicz was the representative for THA’s Hebrew and Judaics department and Jones, THA’s middle school… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Add sweeping school reforms – and with them, funding for private schools that Orthodox groups embrace and secular Jewish groups fear — to the campaign promises that Donald Trump plans to fulfill. Last week, just before Thanksgiving, the president-elect named Betsy DeVos, a billionaire education reform activist… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry signaled in a speech that the Obama administration was still considering action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in its final days, although it might fall short of a direct intervention on the issue. There’s no way to “force-feed” peace between Israel and the Palestinians, Kerry said… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Bollywood star and Indian fashion icon Sonam Kapoor appeared on the cover of the June-July issue of Harper’s Bazaar Bride, India, she did so wearing a sheer pink confection and a radiant smile. Behind her sprawled the Old City of Jerusalem.  It wasn’t happenstance.… Read more »

An interfaith worship service and candlelight vigil marking the fourth anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., will be held Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church, 3809 E. Third St. Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of Congregation Chaverim will be among the… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Northwest Division and Chabad Oro Valley will present Marthe Cohn,  author of “Behind Enemy Lines: The True Story of a French Jewish Spy in Nazi Germany,” on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 4 p.m. at the Country Club of La Cholla, 8700 N. La… Read more »

Judge Daniel Butler will present “Your Son Has a Half Hour to Live and They’re Towing Your Car: Making the Most of a Bad Day” at a combined event of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Cardozo and Maimonides societies on Monday, Dec. 12. The dinner will be held… Read more »

The U.S. Postal Service has released a new Hanukkah Forever stamp. The first-day-of-issue stamp dedication ceremony took place Nov. 1 at Temple Beth El of Boca Raton in Florida. The holiday begins this year at sundown on Dec. 24. “The Hanukkah stamp we’re dedicating today honors a religious observance… Read more »

The holiday shopping season is officially underway, with Americans expected to spend more than $650 billion on gifts, food, celebrations and other holiday needs. Local organizations are ramping up their efforts to encourage consumers to “shop local,” with gift cards and other promotions to sweeten the pot. “Arizonans should… Read more »