Rabbi Harold Kushner There is a universal human craving for significance, says Rabbi Harold Kushner. The world-renowned rabbi and author will speak on this idea when Temple Emanu-El presents “Making a Difference in Your Life and in Our City,” a brunch next month honoring Mayor Jonathan Rothschild. “We want to know that… Read more »
Models pose at the home of Catherene Morton prior to the Jewish History Museum’s bridal style show on Jan. 1. (Athol Cline/JHM) Exotic gowns in red, purple and gold as well as the traditional white are on display at the Jewish History Museum’s sixth annual ketubah (Jewish wedding contract) and wedding dress exhibit, which continues through March 30. The exhibit features gowns from the 1500s to 2010, with origins from New… Read more »
Hava Tirosh-Samuelson Jewish thinkers focus on happiness as the quality of life as a whole, not a few moments in the accrual of pleasure or money. So said Hava Tirosh-Samuelson in her talk “Judaism and the Contemporary Pursuit of Happiness” on Jan. 13 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The Irving… Read more »
Cantor Janece Cohen Congregation Or Chadash will celebrate its 18th anniversary with “Chai Hopes: a musical celebration honoring 18 years of life, faith, and community” on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 3:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The number 18 is significant in Jewish tradition because it is the sum of… Read more »
The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona will hold a community signing event for its Endowment Book of Life on Tuesday, Feb. 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Tucson’s Endowment Book of Life, now in its 23rd year, is a living document that… Read more »
A color-enhanced image shows outcrops that are likely volcanic (basalt) in origin, in Mars’ Valles Marineris canyon. Ari Espinoza, outreach coordinator for HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) at the University of Arizona, wants to help Hebrew speakers learn about Mars. The HiRISE camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been taking photos of the planet since 2006. In 2010, HiRISE started working with volunteers… Read more »
In conjunction with its performing arts department’s spring musical, “Fiddler on the Roof,” Pima Community College is creating a Family Heritage Celebration. The college is seeking submissions for a multimedia presentation showcasing the heritage of its students, faculty, staff and community, which will culminate in a public celebration on… Read more »
Chabad of Tucson will hold a “Spa for the Soul” event for women on Sunday, Feb. 16, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort. The event will begin with an hour of mini spa treatments and health and beauty consultations, plus vendor tables and… Read more »
Scholarships for Jewish overnight summer camp are available through the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Coalition for Jewish Education. Forms are available for need-based scholarships for students currently attending Tucson’s religious schools or Tucson Hebrew Academy. The scholarships, funded by the Moe and Frances Beren Family Scholarship Fund at… Read more »
Rabbi David Wolpe David Wolpe — named the most influential rabbi in America by Newsweek magazine and one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by the Jerusalem Post — will speak in support of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona 2014 Community Campaign on Wednesday, Feb. 12.… Read more »
When the Israeli mobile maps start-up Waze accepted a buyout from Google for more than $1 billion in June, each of the company’s 100 employees walked away with an average of $1.2 million from the sale. An even bigger check, though, went to Baruch Lipner, a Canadian Israeli who… Read more »
Fifty-eight Israeli lawmakers marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day at Auschwitz, Jan. 27, 2014. (Cnaan Liphshiz) OSWIECIM, Poland (JTA) — Watching thousands of Poles dance to Klezmer music just 50 miles from the Auschwitz death camp, Johnny Daniels could feel an ambitious plan taking shape. The experience last year at Krakow’s annual Jewish Culture Festival prompted Daniels, a 28-year-old Israeli and Holocaust educator, to organize… Read more »
BUCHAREST, Romania (JTA) — Touring the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2005, Romanian President Traian Basescu was unprepared to confront some painful truths. Facing a photograph showing pro-Nazi Romanian troops offloading their Jewish countrymen from cargo trains, Basescu was shocked and saddened. For decades, his country’s educational system had… Read more »
The first fuel is loaded at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant on Aug. 21, 2010. (Iran International Photo Agency via Getty Images) WASHINGTON (JTA) — A loose coalition of advocacy groups and policy experts, including a pair of dovish Jewish organizations, have been coordinating messaging in support of the Obama administration’s Iran strategy. The coalition was convened by the Ploughshares Fund, which advocates for a nuclear-free world. Coalition participants — J… Read more »
Examples of Anne Frank abound in Japanese popular culture. (Courtesy of Alan Lewkowicz) AMSTERDAM (JTA) — She speaks only Japanese and is not entirely sure what country she’s in, but 18-year-old Haruna Matsui is happy to stand in the rain for an hour with two friends to see the home of a person she has never met yet nonetheless considers her… Read more »
Mosab Hassan Yousef, right, is the subject of "The Green Prince" by filmmaker Nadav Schirman, left, a documentary about Yosef's work spying for Israel and his friendship with his Israeli handler Gonen ben Itzhak, center. (Larry Busacca/Getty Images) PARK CITY, Utah (JTA) — Perhaps the most difficult thing about watching the new documentary “The Green Prince” is feeling that you should not be there, that everyone in the theater should be asked to leave before any more Israeli intelligence secrets are divulged. When the Israeli newspaper Haaretz… Read more »
The Taglit-Birthright Israel program has expanded eligibility for its free 10-day trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18-26, JNS.org has learned. Teenagers who went on an educational trip to Israel during high school were previously not eligible for Birthright trips, but can now participate, confirmed Noa Bauer,… Read more »
The 2006 kidnapping and murder of Ilan Halimi, who is pictured here, is the subject of a forthcoming feature film from the director Alexandre Arcady. (Courtesy of Stephanie Yin) SAINTE-GENEVIEVE-DES-BOIS, France (JTA) — The phone calls from Africa, the calm demeanor of the suspects and their extreme caution left no doubt in the minds of detectives working the Ilan Halimi case: They were up against an international ring of professional kidnappers. It would be more more than three… Read more »
Sen. Robert Menendez WASHINGTON (JTA) — In previous AIPAC vs. White House dustups, the pro-Israel lobbying group’s strategy was to speak softly and let Congress carry the big stick. But in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s face-off with the Obama administration over new Iran sanctions, congressional support may not be so… Read more »
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Ottawa in 2012. TORONTO (JTA) — It took seven years, but one of Israel’s staunchest allies among world leaders has made his maiden voyage to the Jewish state. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper arrived in Israel on Sunday with his wife, Laureen. On Tuesday, Harper and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed… Read more »
