News

I would like to tell you a story. It was the last day of seventh grade. As snacks were eaten and yearbooks were passed around the room, I was content. I was looking forward to my second year at a Jewish summer camp in California, where I had the opportunity… Read more »

Deborah Kalar-Crowder

Jewish Family and Children’s Services of Southern Arizona assists Jewish individuals facing financial crises in this difficult time. Jewish Emergency Financial Assistance, sometimes referred to as LEAF (Local Emergency Assistance Fund), provides financial assistance, and case management plays a crucial role in ensuring the program effectively helps those in… Read more »

Editor’s note: To allow for the implementation of enhanced security protections, the registration links have been updated to. Visit  https://www.jewishhistorymuseum.org/yomhashoah2020 In accordance with social distancing to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Southern Arizona’s community-wide Yom HaShoah commemoration this year will take place online at www.jewishhistorymuseum.org between the hours… Read more »

In 1910, a time capsule filled with ephemera was placed in the cornerstone of the historic temple that now serves as the flagship building of the Jewish History Museum. The capsule was buried in the building as part of the inaugural set of projects, services, and celebrations that surrounded… Read more »

Time has been harsh to this graveyard. The Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery has been desecrated by vandals, student initiations, truck drivers busting through the barbed wire fence, party-goers, and more than a century of neglect. The scene is grim. Looming 100 yards to the south, the U.S.-Mexico border wall distracts.… Read more »

As a third-generation Arizonan with pioneer roots dating back to 1903, the year Phelps Dodge opened its Douglas smelter, it is difficult to match the historical pride I feel. The stories gleaned over the years are incredible. During two major 1911 Mexico Revolution battles in Agua Prieta, residents climbed… Read more »

Have you ever been engrossed in your phone, and then your phone dies, leaving you feeling at a loss? The office we run out of the door to in the mornings no longer needs us there. The big dinner we are getting a babysitter for has been postponed. The vacation… Read more »

The Banner Health Foundation is collecting donated medical supplies and personal protective equipment, or PPE. Tucson donations can be dropped off Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at the Banner Home Health Office, 575 E. River Road. Donated supplies will be deployed in Banner Health’s Arizona hospitals and medical centers. The following items… Read more »

Al Basha’s Grant Road grocery store is like a mom and pop corner shop. The neatly stacked shelves are brimming with a variety of global goodies, in these days when finding well-stocked market shelves is a challenge. And, there’s no price gouging here — the prices are extremely reasonable.… Read more »

The University of Arizona will present webinars on  the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday, April 3 and Tuesday, April 7, 9:30-11 a.m. at https://global.arizona.edu/covid-19-resources. Today’s webinar, hosted by the College of Medicine,  will feature Dr. Monica Kraft, Robert and Irene Flinn Professor of Medicine and Department of Medicine chair, and… Read more »

A group of women with passion and compassion for dogs is at the heart of Tucson’s Sol Dog Lodge and Training Center, a nonprofit organization. The community has recognized their dedication: they have garnered the annual Arizona Daily Star’s Readers’ Choice Award for best dog daycare/boarding for the past… Read more »

A man was furious at his partner for leaving the house to run errands without his permission. Knowing she was 30 minutes away, he called her and said if she did not return home within the next 10 minutes, he would put her beloved cat in the microwave. The… Read more »

(JTA) — Anti-Semitism has plagued French society for centuries, flaring up in times of crisis — especially during epidemics. In the 14th century, for instance, Jews were massacred in France during the Black Death epidemic after they were blamed for spreading the disease by poisoning water wells. In the… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — Four heavily Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn have especially high rates of the novel coronavirus, according to data released by this city’s Department of Health. The record of positive COVID-19 tests in the five boroughs shows that Borough Park, Crown Heights, Williamsburg and Midwood all have… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Orthodox mother of five whose dreams of representing Israel running the marathon in the Tokyo Olympics were almost dashed after her event was scheduled for Shabbat, is using its postponement to make sure there is no conflict in the new schedule. Beatie Deutsch told her… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — One in three residents, or 34 percent, of the mostly haredi Orthodox city of Bnei Brak in central Israel who have been tested for the coronavirus are positive. The high percentage of positive tests reported Tuesday by the Health Ministry compares to 6 percent in Tel… Read more »

(JTA) — Few people have any great solutions for this difficult moment in human history, but Sudeep Agarwala is one of them. As a yeast scientist, Agarwala spends much of his time thinking about the single-celled fungi that allow bread to rise. So when he learned that home bakers… Read more »

(JTA) — Two residents of Montefiore, a Jewish nursing home in suburban Cleveland, tested positive for coronavirus. The facility in Beachwood, Ohio, made the announcement in a statement on Saturday, the Cleveland Jewish News reported. Both of the residents are now hospitalized. More than two weeks ago the facility… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — FBI Director Christopher Wray said the agency would continue to seek answers about the fate of Robert Levinson, the Jewish former FBI agent who went missing 13 years ago in Iran and whose family now believes to be dead. “We’re going to keep working doggedly to… Read more »

(JTA) — Among the mysteries of the coronavirus is that some patients suffer and ultimately die from the disease while others experience the symptoms as akin to a mild cold. Rabbi Daniel Nevins is in the latter category. The dean of the rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary,… Read more »