Congregation Chofetz Chayim will hold a Magical Purim Party II on Thursday, March 5 at 5 p.m., featuring award-winning magician and comedian Norm Marini. He is a past president of the Society of American Magicians. His honors include Close-Up Magician of the Year and three-time winner of Stage Magician… Read more »
News
Jane Lynch to showcase song stylings, wit at UA Hillel benefit
Fresh from her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Sue Sylvester on “Glee” and her 2013 Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in “Annie,” Jane Lynch will bring her comedic skills and musical talent to the University of Arizona’s Centennial Hall on Sunday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The evening, “See Jane… Read more »
To be blacklisted by Putin was ‘great honor,’ journalist Gessen tells Tucson audience
Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen is intent on exposing injustice, whether in her three talks in Tucson on Feb. 2, her books or articles in the New York Times, Slate and other publications. Her personal family history has run head-on into conflict with both the former Soviet Union and the… Read more »
Local woman is champion for mental health recovery
Mindy Bernstein, executive director of the Coyote Task Force, a local behavioral health agency, landed in Tucson in 1976. She wasn’t sure then what her path would be, but she never imagined a career in mental health advocacy. “I’ve been working in public behavioral health since 1986,” Bernstein told… Read more »
JCF accepting applications for Israel trip scholarship
The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona is accepting applications for the 2015 Goldman Family Israel Scholarship through March 11. The Elliot S. Goldman Family Israel Scholarship Fund and the Goldman Family Israel Scholarship Fund, both endowment funds held at JCF, together provide an annual Goldman Family Israel Scholarship… Read more »
On Israel mission, JFSA women strengthen ties
For Nina Isaac, the impact of spending 10 days in Israel with Jewish women from Tucson and around the United States was brought into sharp contrast after she spent the next three days in Dubai, training Muslim nurses. “It was a huge shift, being in Israel, the land of… Read more »
As David Cohen becomes CIA’s No. 2, Jews appear to have smoother sailing at security agencies
WASHINGTON (JTA) — David Cohen’s path to second in command at the Central Intelligence Agency is, in many respects, a typical one in Washington. A seasoned Ivy League lawyer who began his career defending the right of religious groups to display menorahs on government property, Cohen was the Obama… Read more »
Oscar nominee ‘Ida’ traces void left by Poland’s murdered Jews
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — For the past few decades, Holocaust films have been common — and often victorious — fare at the Academy Awards. But this year, the Polish nominee in the Foreign Language Film category ventures into the less frequently explored territory of the Holocaust’s aftermath. “Ida,” writer-director… Read more »
Meet the voters transforming Israel’s political landscape
RAANANA, Israel (JTA) — Chani Lerner-Mor’s political activism began on a street corner here in 1993. The landmark Oslo Accords had been signed recently, ceding parts of the West Bank to Yassir Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization. The daughter of a Likud Party activist, Lerner-Mor, then just 9 years old,… Read more »
Why there is no Chabad house in Havana
HAVANA (JTA) — On the freshly painted, salmon-colored walls of Alberto and Rebeca Meshulam’s apartment, two portraits of the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, frame the entranceway leading to a wide, airy vestibule. Miniatures of the same portrait sit atop a glass-covered countertop near an image of the… Read more »
Despite Speechgate drama, U.S.-Israel defense relations stay solid
WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — American-Israeli relations may be enduring a challenging period due to the political drama surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress, but you’d never know it from the recent confirmation hearing for defense secretary nominee Ashton Carter. Carter’s appearance on Feb. 4… Read more »
Coming to JFSA Connections: ‘Strength to Strength’ is personal
Sarri Singer has always been closely connected to her Jewish community, whether in New Jersey, New York or Israel. On Sept. 11, 2001, at age 28, she was director of recruitment for the National Conference of Synagogue Youth summer programs, two blocks from Ground Zero. Since that date surviving… Read more »
Denmark synagogue attack seen as ‘wake-up call’
(JTA) — From the window of the Jewish Community of Copenhagen’s crisis center, Finn Schwarz can see his country changing before his eyes. Hours after the slaying of a guard outside the Danish capital’s main synagogue early Sunday morning, two police officers toting machine guns were on patrol outside… Read more »
Le’Or aims to put marijuana legalization on the Jewish agenda
(JTA) — “You know, it’s a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob, what is the matter with them?” That was President Richard Nixon speaking to his top aide, H.R. “Bob”… Read more »
In Japan, the Holocaust provides a lesson in dangers of nationalism
FUKUYAMA, Japan (JTA) — In the auditorium of this country’s main Holocaust education center, a teenage actor explains the dilemma that faced a Japanese diplomat during World War II. “My conscience tells me I must act a certain way, but doing so means defying my commanders,” says the actor… Read more »
Michael Oren lends foreign policy bona fides to new Israeli party Kulanu
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Michael Oren, New York-born and educated at Columbia and Princeton, begins an interview in Hebrew. Though he quickly switches to English, Oren interrupts himself every so often to translate a word into Hebrew for his assistant. It’s a bilingual bridge he has spanned in one… Read more »
Dems’ confronting of Israelis raises Netanyahu speech stakes
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In tense meetings, top congressional Democrats — including a number of Jewish lawmakers — confronted Israeli officials about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, met Wednesday with Yuli Edelstein, the Knesset… Read more »
Jewish Tucsonans expand social activism away from home
Both Lonnie Kleinman and Molly Rothschild grew up immersed in Tucson’s Jewish community. But like many college graduates in their 20s, each felt compelled to broaden her life experience by leaving home, working with Jewish nonprofits in other parts of the country. Kleinman, 23, who attended Tucson Hebrew Academy… Read more »
Brandeis used book sale to raise scholarship funds
The Tucson chapter of the Brandeis National Committee will hold its annual used book sale Feb. 13-22 at the Foothills Mall. Admission is free except for a special preview to be held Thursday, Feb. 12, from 5-9 p.m., which requires a $10 tax-deductible donation to the BNC. Proceeds of… Read more »
Scribe to restore UA Judaic studies center’s Torah scroll
On Feb. 10-11, the University of Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will bring master sofer (scribe) Rabbi Gedaliah Druin to campus to resume work on the restoration of its 200-year-old Torah scroll. The scroll was donated anonymously; the center’s Beth Alpert Nakhai, Ph.D., acquired it in 2009. The scroll… Read more »