News

A view of the reactor at the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran as the first fuel is loaded, Aug. 21, 2010. (Iran International Photo Agency via Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Obama administration officials and Iran skeptics, chief among them Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are presenting starkly different outlooks of what the world would look like should negotiators meet a Nov. 24 deadline and strike a nuclear deal. The topic is likely to dominate the meeting… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — For approximately a half hour at the beginning of her El Al Israel Airlines flight last week from New York to Tel Aviv, Elana Sztokman watched as the haredi Orthodox man seated next to her rushed up and down the aisle searching for someone willing… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his address at the U.N. General Assembly shows a photo of a rocket launcher in a civilian area of Gaza with children nearby, Sept. 29, 2014. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (JTA) – In the end, there was much to talk about at the U.N. General Assembly but few genuine surprises. With an eye on the jihadist group ISIS, President Obama focused on the need for the international community to counter the dangers of violent extremism. Israeli Prime… Read more »

President Obama speaks before the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2014. (Getty Images)

NEW YORK (JTA) – A year ago, when President Barack Obama took the dais at the U.N. General Assembly, his speech focused on Iran’s nuclear program, Syria’s chemical weapons and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He talked about Egypt’s messy transition to democracy and defended America’s actions in Libya. A year… Read more »

Michael Hewitt, Ph.D.

What we can do to “live younger longer” will be discussed in “Optimal Aging, Rewinding the Clock,” a University of Arizona Arthritis Center presentation by Michael Hewitt, Ph.D., Canyon Ranch Health Resort research director for exercise science, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 6 to 7:15 p.m., at  the University of… Read more »

Penelope Starr

Odyssey Storytelling, a monthly array of six Tucsonans each telling a true life story, began 10 years ago. “It’s all about the stories, the unique ways people figure out how to do life,” says founder and artist Penelope Starr. “It’s fascinating and so complicated.” Complexity has never stopped Starr… Read more »

Sheila Rothenberg

As “author wrangler” for the annual Book and Author event benefitting the Brandeis National Committee Tucson Chapter, Sheila Rothenberg translates her three decades of publishing experience into a meaningful volunteer activity. “I’m very pleased to be able to do it,” Rothenberg says. “For me, participating in Tucson’s Brandeis chap­ter… Read more »

Sabrina Plattner

Sabrina Plattner has been promoting better health in children for the past nine years. Her last professional position, with Healthy Children Arizona at the University of Arizona, introduced positive health, nutrition and sun safety concepts to children, putting her in contact with 25,000 local kids. In June, Plattner began… Read more »

Simon Rosenblatt

Simon Rosenblatt is emphatic as he speaks about volunteering with the Tucson Jewish community: “Make no mistake, Jewish Tucson is our family.” Rosenblatt spreads his energy and time across a trifecta of local and national Jewish efforts: Temple Emanu-El, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Union for Reform… Read more »

Laura Green

Laura Green of Ha­dassah’s Desert Mountain Region will present “Israel’s Ups and Downs, Ins and Outs: The Whole Lowdown,” at Hadassah Southern Arizona’s opening luncheon meeting Sunday, Oct. 12 at noon at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive. Green made her first visit to Israel, as well… Read more »

Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold its annual welcome and board installations on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Lodge at Ventana Canyon, 6200 N. Clubhouse Lane. The event will focus on challenging sex trafficking in Arizona, as the state gears up… Read more »

Brandeis National Committee, Tucson Chapter, will host local author John Maley at its fall opening lunch Monday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel at Reid Park. Maley has been a soldier, peace officer, corrections officer, probation officer and has worked as a private investigator in… Read more »

Jewish National Fund has announced the Schwartz-Hammer Alexander Muss High School in Israel Impact Fellowship Program, which provides scholarships to send Arizona teenagers on a summer program to Israel.  Applicants must raise $1,000 through JNF’s “Plant Your Way” program. The fellowship, which includes everything from on-campus housing to field-… Read more »

At the Bonnyton Gold Club restaurant, "pies and mince" have replaced traidtional Jewish staples. (Ben Sales)

EAGLESHAM, Scotland (JTA) — As teenagers in the 1960s, Lewis Geneen and Colin Black liked to spend their summer Sundays playing rounds at the Bonnyton Golf Club course, breaking only for a lunch of fish and borscht. Sitting atop a hill on the outskirts of Glasgow, Bonnyton was then… Read more »

The Civic Orchestra of Tucson, the oldest community orchestra in the region, will begin its 2014-2015 season with a free concert at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The concert, on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m., also marks the orchestra’s participation in Daniel Pearl World Music Days to honor… Read more »

Yoram Bauman

Yoram Bauman, Ph.D., “the world’s first and only stand-up economist,” will present “Comedy, Economics and Climate Change” at the University of Arizona on Monday, Sept. 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Berger auditorium, 1130 E. Helen St. “It turns out that comedy actually pays better than teaching,”… Read more »

Paul Reiser

The Hearth Foundation will present its 2nd Annual “Comedy for a Cause” starring Paul Reiser on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fox Tucson Theatre. A seasoned actor, writer, producer and stand-up comedian, Reiser co-created and starred in the critically acclaimed NBC series “Mad About You,” which… Read more »

Vivian Ackerman, left, and Selma Paul Marks (Sheila Wilensky/AJP)

Friendships may be coveted throughout life, but how many span more than 65 years? Selma Paul Marks, now 91, was pregnant with her first child when she attended her friend Vivian’s wedding to Harry Ackerman at the Stone Avenue Temple on March 23, 1947. Years later, Marks and Ackerman,… Read more »

Interfaith Community Services will present a lunch and learn forum on “Mental Health and Aging,” on Wednesday, Oct. 22 from noon to 2 p.m. at Congregation Anshei Israel. Some 20 percent of adults ages 55 and over experience mental health concerns. For example, what’s the difference between signs of… Read more »

Summer’s over but worldwide trouble spots rage on. The influx into Arizona of Central American migrants fleeing violence, the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine, and the Israel-Gaza conflict were the subjects of an educational forum on Sept. 10, hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of… Read more »