News

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas took plenty of shots at each other. But in their dueling dueling speeches to the United Nations General Assembly, the Israeli prime minister and Palestinian Authority president directed much of their fire at the same target: the assembled world leaders.… Read more »

Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, will hold a rally in Tucson on Oct. 9. The Vermont senator will speak at 7 p.m. at the Reid Park DeMeester Outdoor Performance Center, 920 South Concert Place. Gates will… Read more »

(JTA) – All anyone attending the United Nations General Assembly opening seemed to want to talk about was the threat posed to the world by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. That was much to the consternation of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who argued in his speech… Read more »

(JTA) — In the wake of the never-ending email scandal and Bernie Sanders’ rise in the polls, Hillary Clinton is feeling some serious heat in the 2016 presidential race. In an attempt to connect with younger voters, the Democratic front-runner agreed to be interviewed by Lena Dunham, the Jewish… Read more »

(JTA) — If you can’t get enough Trump, good news: Another one is on the way! Ivanka Trump, who converted to Judaism in 2009, announced across her social media platforms that she is expecting her third child with husband Jared Kushner, a real estate mogul who owns the New… Read more »

MOSCOW (JTA) — At Russia’s largest kosher food factory, owner Pinhas Slobodnik welcomes his Muslim workers with a greeting in Arabic that he pronounces in a thick Russian accent. Some 120 workers, most from the predominantly Muslim republics of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, are employed at the factory — a… Read more »

Christians United for Israel will host Sen. John McCain for a town hall meeting on “U.S. Policy in the Middle East in the Aftermath of the Iran Nuclear Agreement” on Saturday, Oct. 3 at noon at Victory Worship Center, 2561 W. Ruthrauff Road. McCain will address the impact this… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — With a budget reaching $300 million, it was conceived as a broad partnership between the Israeli government and leading Diaspora Jewish groups. Its goal: to create a stronger connection between global Jews and Israel. But nearly two years after its launch was announced with much… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – The Republican Jewish establishment is watching the surge of political outsiders — like Donald Trump and Ben Carson — in the presidential primaries with dismay. “It’s like we have a conference call every morning, and we ask, ‘What can we do to screw ourselves up today?’”… Read more »

Two women, both mothers, become friends; the concept is simple enough. And when you get down to the nuts-and-bolts of it, it only seems logical, really: they live on the same floor of the same building in Cold War-era Knickerbocker Village, an apartment complex in New York City; their… Read more »

Eight of Tucson’s long-running film festivals have come together to create the Tucson Festival of Films, a three day event showcasing features, documentaries and shorts from Oct. 8-10. Among those is the Arizona premiere of “Raise the Roof,” a documentary presented by the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival about… Read more »

The messages and memories of the Holocaust remain a prevalent and enduring part of the global culture. “This is a story that repeats itself over and over and over again,” says Lisa E. Mishler, author of “L’Chayim — To Life,” a new book that interprets the survival stories of… Read more »

Sabine Feisst

The Jewish History Museum has partnered with Arizona Opera to bring Arizona State University professor Sabine Feisst to Tucson for a night of history, music and culture. On Thursday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m., Feisst will present “Arizona Lady and Exiled Composers from Nazi-Occupied Europe,” a historical account of… Read more »

The social action committee of Congregation Or Chadash and the Pima County Interfaith Council will present “Voting and Social Justice,” a discussion of the pros and cons of the Pima County bond election, on Thursday, Oct. 1, from 7-8:30 p.m. in room 8 at Or Chadash. Seven propositions are… Read more »

Anne Lowe

Anne Lowe, who recently spent five weeks in Singapore, will give a slide presentation on “The Jews of Singapore: Past and Present” at a Hadassah Southern Arizona lunch on Sunday, Oct. 18, 11:30 a.m. at Lodge on the Desert, 306 N. Alvernon Way. In Singapore, Lowe attended services at… Read more »

The Young Women’s Cabinet of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold its fourth annual Mahj and Mitzvahs event on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Tucson Hebrew Academy. Mah jongg players of all levels, including beginners, are welcome. Participants will make care packages to donate to the… Read more »

Rabbi Israel and Esther Becker of Southwest Torah Institute and Congregation Chofetz Chayim will host a “Love of the Land” orientation meeting Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. to introduce their third Tucson Jewish community Israel trip, which is slated for May 22 through June 5, 2016. Refreshments will… Read more »

Iran will not be able to produce a nuclear weapon in the near future; the most recent Iranian nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, makes it so. This was the consensus of a panel of University of Arizona professors who met Thursday, Sept. 17, to… Read more »

LESBOS, Greece (JTA) — As the small rubber dinghy crowded with Syrians and Afghans emerged from the midnight-black sea to land on a desolate pebble beach, the first people to greet the bewildered and frightened refugees were two Israelis. “Does anyone need a doctor?” Majeda Kardosh, 27, a nurse… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — For Israelis, the Ten Days of Repentance from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur have turned into days of violence. Unrest has swelled in Jerusalem following an Israeli ban on a protest group at the Temple Mount, the holy site known to Muslims as the Haram… Read more »