News

At the Shay-Shay Community Garden at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, enthusiastic amateur gardeners tend sunflowers, enormous squash, cherry tomatoes, spiky artichokes and other bounty. The 23 plots opened for use in mid-March, says site coordinator Susanne Kaplan, who has served on the board of the nonprofit Community Gardens… Read more »

The Jewish dietary laws, termed kashrut, are many and complex. According to the Torah and the Talmud, Jews may not mix meat and dairy, and may eat only fish with scales and fins, and meat from ruminants with cloven hooves. Pareve — foods containing neither meat nor dairy, including… Read more »

Temple Emanu-El’s Gan (garden) Project is growing — thanks to a $2,000 incubator grant from the Women of Reform Judaism to the WRJ of Temple Emanu-El. Temple Emanu-El was among the first to receive these grants, which range from $500 to $5,000. They were awarded to “outside the box”… Read more »

Eight colorful new murals scattered around downtown will do more than beautify Tucson — they’ll provide an economic boost by helping to brand Tucson as an exotic, world class destination, and by reducing the money spent on graffiti abatement, says Michael B. Schwartz, director of the nonprofit Tucson Arts… Read more »

“A Creature That Doesn’t Understand What He Really Is” by Curt Kiwak

Curt Kiwak will exhibit “Monsters Under the Bed,” works on paper, in the Fine Art Gallery of the Tucson Jewish Community Center, July 8-Sept. 6. An artist’s reception will be held on Sunday, Aug.28 from 2-4 p.m. Born in Chicago, Kiwak attended the Art Institute in Chicago. He moved… Read more »

The Greater Tucson Fire Foundation will host an information session about the Emergency Volunteer Project, an opportunity for professional volunteer opportunities in Israel, on Sunday, June 26, from 2-4 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The project’s mission is to recruit, train and deploy dedicated individuals who will… Read more »

As Louisa (Lulu) Youngerman waded effortlessly in the Dead Sea, making playful attempts to reach its bed, she was awestruck by the experience. “This is everything that I heard about and more,” says Lulu. “This is magical.” Lulu attended the Tucson Hebrew Academy from kindergarten through eighth grade, and… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – When Shachar was 2 years old, she asked her parents to keep her hair short. When she was 5, she asked them to throw out every skirt in her closet. When Shachar was 16, he realized he was a boy, and when he was 19 he got… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s executive order opposing BDS shouldn’t have made a splash — but it did. A handful of states had already passed similar measures opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. So had the New York State Senate — though… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Like his fellow competitors on “American Ninja Warrior,” 25-year-old Akiva Neuman pushed himself to his physical limits — climbing, jumping and running through an intense obstacle course — in the hopes of making it to the national finals in Las Vegas. But unlike the dozens… Read more »

Orlando, FL (TPS) – An Israeli-American took to the sky over Orlando last Wednesday, just a few days after the massacre at a local gay club by a self-declared ISIS sympathizer, to fly an airplane banner reading: “America! Israel Feels Your Pain.” After hearing of the massacre that claimed… Read more »

PARIS (JTA) — On a crowded sidewalk in the French capital, Yomi Peretz exchanges jokes and backslaps with customers who are waiting in a 20-yard queue in the rain to enter his falafel shop. This chummy interaction comes naturally to Peretz, a tall enthusiast of boxing and poker who… Read more »

Holon (TPS) – The Israeli gymnastics won gold atthe European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship on Sunday in the clubs and hoop event, as well as silver in the ribbons event. This year’s European championship was held in the team’s own home court of Holon, a coastal Israeli city. “I felt… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — An exhibit over 20 years old against an iPhone: Docents at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum are increasingly noting the battle with hand-held devices to keep the interest of young people. Now a $20 million gift to help revitalize the Washington, D.C., museum will aim to… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — When the 2015 movie “Freeheld” came out, featuring Steve Carell as the real-life LGBT rights activist Steven Goldstein, Goldstein sang its praises to publication after publication. How did he really feel? “It was painful to watch,” he told JTA last week. “I detested the movie… Read more »

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Mazel tov! That’s perhaps how the big shots in charge of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the first to take place in South America, will toast victories when the competition gets underway Aug. 5. Three of the top officials of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, including… Read more »

Jerusalem (TPS) – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hosted a discussion of shared national identity and citizenship between Israeli Arabs and Jews during the opening of the annual Herzliya Conference at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Rivlin rebutted critics who claimed he is a “post-Zionist” for inclusive remarks… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Jewish Republicans are criticizing Donald Trump for his renewed call to ban Muslim immigration, although few of his Jewish supporters seem to be reconsidering their endorsement of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. But at least one, celebrity Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, rescinded his apparent backing of Trump… Read more »

The Weintraub Israel Center and the Tucson J, with the support and cooperation of members of Catalina Council, Boy Scouts of America, announce a free performance bythe Israeli Scouts on Monday, June 20 at 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Tucson J. The troupe of 10 Israeli Scouts are… Read more »

Dear friends, On the evening of June 26, the Jewish History Museum will host the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona (JFSA) Pride program Celebrating Marriage Equality, an event that will mark the one year anniversary of the Marriage Equality Act, a landmark moment for our country and for LGBT… Read more »