Updated 12.7: The Dec. 13 concert planned by Congregation Or Chadash, Temple Emanu-El and the Tucson Jewish Community Center has been canceled. An email from Temple Emanu-el read, in part, “Due to the rise in Covid cases in Pima County, and new county restrictions for gatherings, we have made… Read more »
(LOS ANGELES) – UCLA has opened North America’s first permanent academic home for the study of American Jewish music. Housed in the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience, which seeks to foster artistic creativity, scholarship, performance, and other… Read more »
It doesn’t matter if you spell it Hanukkah, Chanukah, or some other variation – The Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life is celebrating the holiday this year. The Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is bringing its annual Hanukkah party online, on Monday, Dec.… Read more »
Members of the Tucson Maccabees semi-pro soccer team pause during a recent practice for a team meeting. (Courtesy Tucson Maccabees)
A new local semi-professional soccer team has its roots not only in the Old Pueblo, but also in “the old country.” “My first experience with soccer was as a young child in Romania when my father took me to a game,” recalls Meir Segal, the team’s founder and coach.… Read more »
Todd Rockoff will lead a Z3 lunch and learn on Dec. 13. This year’s Z3 event won’t be what people might expect. Now in its sixth year, Z3, which originally was dubbed Zionism 3.0, is an opportunity to talk about a wide range of issues in Israel and the Diaspora. But this is definitely not going to be your typical conference,… Read more »
Vinyl Tap performs at The Gaslight Music Hall in Oro Valley Nov. 4. Last month, on Nov. 4, Northwest residents joined The Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life/Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona for a drive-in concert at The Gaslight Music Hall in Oro Valley. More than 50 people enjoyed a night of music under the stars… Read more »
Ben Schwartz (left) and Billy Crystal in a scene from 'Standing Up, Falling Down'
The Tucson International Jewish Film Festival is celebrating its 30th anniversary with an abundance of films to stream. “While many things have changed, the power of film to bring us together has not,” Film Festival Co-chairs Cookie Little and Donna Dennison write on the festival’s welcome page. Using the… Read more »
A visit to the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery on March 11, 2020 revealed toppled tombstones and graves in need of repair. Volunteers made efforts to clean up the site in 2016, but the cemetery was not secure from vandals. (Photo: Virgil Hancock)
The recent restoration of the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery, established in 1904, allows the Jewish pioneers buried there to “rest in dignity,” as Stuart Mellan, former president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, told the audience at the Federation’s “Celebrating Our Past, Creating Our Future” event on… Read more »
Paula Shoyer
Chabad of Oro Valley and Chabad Tucson will host renowned cookbook author Paula Shoyer, aka “The Kosher Baker,” for a Hanukkah cooking demonstration on Zoom on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. “When I spoke to Paula last week, I told her I was looking for a recipe that… Read more »
This year is all about comfort food and with Hanukkah on the horizon, there’s no better indulgence than golden, crispy latkes (potato pancakes). For tips on how to make this holiday staple, check out these links: The Kitchn.com promises the simplest method for classic potato pancakes. Their secret? Use… Read more »
This year is all about comfort food and with Hanukkah on the horizon, there’s no better indulgence than golden, crispy latkes (potato pancakes). For tips on how to make this holiday staple, local cooking school Flying Aprons Tucson is holding a “Celebrating Hanukkah — Latkes and Applesauce” class on… Read more »
Manischewitz, an iconic name in traditional kosher products, will be offering a do-it-yourself Chanukah House cookie decorating kit, complete with a candy menorah, through national retailers including Amazon and Walmart. The kit is at the center of a promotion by Manischewitz to drive consumer sales and raise awareness for… Read more »
Honorees Nancy and Stu Mellan (Damion Alexander)
On Nov. 17, the Jewish Federation of Arizona/Jewish Community Foundation held its most ambitious event of the program year, bringing the community together for a drive-in event at Park Place Mall and online to celebrate Stuart Mellan, former JFSA president and CEO, and his wife, Nancy, for 25… Read more »
The Amplifying Voices virtual series is an opportunity to explore the intersectional relationship between the Black and Jewish communities, presented by the Tucson Jewish Community Center and a group of community partners. It will continue Sunday, Dec. 6 at 10:30 a.m. (MST) with a panel discussion, “Stories of… Read more »
The Baskin Blue Marbled Glass Arch Menorah is one of the items featured on the Temple Emanu-El WRJ Gift Shop's new website.
With their usual Hanukkah bazaar curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, the Women of Reform Judaism at Temple Emanu-El have created an online gift shop and will be holding a 20% sale on Hanukkah items Nov. 23-Dec. 1. Items can be browsed here, including newly arrived menorahs, menorah drip trays,… Read more »
Still making Thanksgiving plans? Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, in partnership with Chabad Tucson, is offering glatt kosher Thanksgiving meals prepared by Handmaker chefs. To order, call 881-2323 by Nov. 20. Chabad Tucson and Handmaker note that Meals on Wheels is a subsidized kosher meal option, and various… Read more »
Community Food Bank team members provide food supplies in the drive-up emergency food distribution operation that runs Tuesdays and Thursdays at Kino Sports Complex. (Photo courtesy Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona)
It has been a long time since the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson has hosted more than a thousand cars on a regular basis. Yet that has been the scene many Tuesday and Thursday mornings in recent months as vehicles of all types, their occupants representing the diversity of… Read more »
Sol Davis talks to middle school students from the Paulo Freire Freedom School at the Holocaust History Center in May 2018. (Photo courtesy Jewish History Museum)
As director of Tucson’s Jewish History Museum/Holocaust History Center for the past five years, Sol Davis, Ph.D., helped expand the possibilities for Jewish museums nationwide. “He took this idea and transformed it into a living testament of what a museum should be, which is not a place to store… Read more »
PJ Library and The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre will present a special livestream showing of the play “Herschel and the Hanukkah Goblins,” based on the book by PJ Library author Eric A. Kimmel, on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. The event will include a live conversation with Kimmel,… Read more »
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic headlines and post-election analyses, it’s easy to lose sight of just about everything else. But the Jewish world keeps turning. Here are recent Jewish stories from around the globe, selected by the AJP editorial team. Jonathan Sacks, former UK chief rabbi and Jewish intellectual giant… Read more »
