News

(JTA) — On Aug. 30, at age 82, noted neurologist and author Dr. Oliver Sacks succumbed to a cancer that first plagued him nearly a decade ago, paused, and recently reappeared. One of his last essays, published posthumously, appears in the Sept. 14 issue of The New Yorker and… Read more »

(TAZPIT) – A statistical survey conducted by Smith Consulting Co. for the NGO, ‘Hiddush – For Religious Freedom and Equality’ has revealed the changes in the distribution of Israeli Jewish citizens according to the different religious denominations they identify with. The Hiddush NGO publishes its annual Religion-State Index… Read more »

To meet the needs of the deaf and severely hearing-impaired, Temple Emanu-El is offering American Sign Language interpretation at all of its High Holy Day services this year. Rabbi Batsheva Appel organized a workshop for ASL interpretation in Jewish settings at the beginning of August. Thirteen interpreters attended the… Read more »

Asher Susser

Asher Susser, Stein Professor of Modern Israel Studies at the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies, will lead a lunch and learn on “Iran, the Arabs and Israel” on Wednesday, Sept. 16, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Weintraub Israel… Read more »

The Elder Rehab program for memory-impaired older adults at the Tucson Jewish Community Center will begin its second semester the week of Sept. 21. The first semester matched 21 senior participants with a University of Arizona intern or volunteer who supervised physical exercise, memory and language activities and interactive… Read more »

As the population of Holocaust survivors ages and dwindles, there is a growing urgency to ensure that both their eye witness accounts of the atrocities and the tales of their resilience are preserved in perpetuity. Earlier this year, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona compiled the stories… Read more »

Many Tucsonans are surprised to learn that the Jewish community sponsors not one but two nationally recognized independent housing communities for low and very low income seniors: B’nai B’rith Covenant House of Tucson and the Gerd & Inge Strauss Manor on Pantano. Both properties were the vision and work… Read more »

The Jewish History Museum and University of Arizona Poetry Center will present a monthly series, “Reclaiming Discourses: Jewish Writers Today,” beginning Thursday, Sept. 17. The five contemporary authors, who write both poetry and prose, explore what it means to be human by delving into such diverse subjects as fairy… Read more »

“Naked Food: Photography by Mara Aspinall” will be on display at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery from Sept. 17 through Oct. 20. A reception for the artist will be held Sunday, Sept. 20 from 2-5 p.m. Aspinall, the former CEO of Ventana Medical Systems, has traveled… Read more »

The High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) are prime time for rabbis. On these Days of Awe, above all others, sanctuaries are filled to overflowing with Jews seeking spiritual connection or simply to embrace timeless traditions. With all… Read more »

There were three rabbis who deeply influenced me as a young man: my director at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, my Hillel director at Washington University and the rabbi of my hometown synagogue. All three were marvelous role models, learned men and righteous Jews. My hometown family rabbi, Rav Bill… Read more »

My aspiration to become a rabbi and lead a Jewish community dates back to my childhood years in New York, having been raised in the Grand Central Station. I am not referring to the landmark train station in midtown Manhattan. “Grand Central” is what we called my parents’ home… Read more »

A Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi were my mentors, my guides and my inspirations to become a rabbi. Rabbi Joseph Weizenbaum, z’l, the Reform rabbi of my youth, my bat mitzvah, and my teenage understanding of Judaism, was certainly the rabbi who led the way, who motivated me… Read more »

I grew up in South Africa in a vibrant Jewish community. As a child I was encouraged to join Jewish youth groups. I loved the activities and discussions. However, about Judaism I had many unanswered questions. Then it all unraveled. There was a youth Shabbaton in Johannesburg. It was… Read more »

The spacious room was lined up with green cushioned chairs ready for another session of “Chat with Rabbi Yudi” at a retirement community in Tucson. As I walk in, I found a single person sitting there. “It’s just me …” she sheepishly said. “Will you still stay?” “Of course!”… Read more »

I always wanted to be a lawyer. As a project in elementary school, we were asked to determine what classes in high school and college we would need to take to prepare us for our chosen professions. I interviewed one lawyer, sent letters to a few law schools and… Read more »

It was either astronaut or rabbi. As a fifth grade student, the homework assignment was to prepare a drawing about what we would like to be when we grew up, and I handed in two very different drawings. One of me as an astronaut and the other of me… Read more »

How I became a rabbi is easy to describe: I went to undergraduate school and rabbinic school; spent the requisite number of hours studying, writing papers and preparing for exams; and had a student pulpit for three years of “hands-on training.” But why I became a rabbi is something… Read more »

I grew up in Chicago, number seven in a family of 11 children. Being that I was born into a Chabad family, I was involved in Jewish outreach since I was in elementary school. My first experiences were when my father used to take me with him to the… Read more »

My grandfather was an important Reform rabbi — he wrote one of the four platforms the movement has ever produced — and my father is a prominent cantor and rabbi, but I never thought about becoming a rabbi growing up. When I began singing in my teens I did… Read more »