News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov in Jerusalem, Sept. 11, 2012. (Itay Beit-On/GPO)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In the U.S.-Israel relationship, “daylight” is back, but this time it’s Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is being called on to draw down the shades. Netanyahu’s recent sharp rebuke of the Obama administration’s Iran policies has drawn equally pointed pushback from Jewish Democrats. The back… Read more »

Jews from Copenhagen and Malmo attending a Holocaust commermoration ceremony in Malmo's Jewish cemetary, Sept. 23, 2012. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

MALMO, Sweden (JTA) — Across Scandinavia, the kipah is becoming a symbol of Jewish defiance. On Sunday, about 70 Danish Jews took a double-decker bus from Copenhagen on a 10-mile bridge across the Strait of Øresund, on the Baltic Sea, to go to Malmo in a show of solidarity… Read more »

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaking at a rally in Nashua, N.H., Sept. 7, 2012. (Marc Nozell via Creative Commons)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Mitt Romney’s pessimistic take on Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects drew some media attention but not much noise from centrist Jewish groups. Only groups on the right and the left ends of the communal spectrum issued statements in response to the revelations this week of Romney’s remarks, respectively… Read more »

The Jewish Federation-Northwest will celebrate its grand opening with an open house Sunday, Oct. 7 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring a ribbon-cutting and mezuzah ceremony. The Hanukat HaíBayit (mezuzah ceremony) will be held at 11 a.m. with a D’var Torah by Rabbi Jason Holtz of Temple Emanu-El… Read more »

In light of the upcoming presidential election, the Tucson Jewish Community Library, the Black Chamber of Commerce and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will host a workshop, “How Minorities Vote in America,” on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. We are a nation… Read more »

Handmaker Youth Leadership Team participants will begin a Farm to Table project on Sunday, Sept. 30. The group will meet at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging at 9 a.m., then carpool to Phire Heart Farms, a local cooperative farm where they will plant vegetable seeds and seedlings. Participants… Read more »

When world leaders converge on New York this month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will again be present. The occasion is the opening of the United Nations General Assembly session. This time, though, Ahmadinejad comes with enhanced diplomatic credentials. He is no longer just head of Iran; he also chairs… Read more »

Meryl Press

Volunteers — defined as those “who perform a service willingly and without pay” — are the backbone of many organizations, helping them fulfill and sometimes expand upon their core missions. In this special “Volunteer Salute,” the AJP presents brief snapshots of volunteers from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona… Read more »

Marjorie Hochberg

Some are native Tucsonans, one grew up in Moscow, all dreamed of singing — and Tucson’s cantorial soloists also all are women. A few of the younger soloists began singing at local congregations following their B’not Mitzvah, connecting them more deeply to their Judaism. During this High Holiday season,… Read more »

(Jewish Ideas Daily) — For those who have been taught—by Peter Beinart or some other recent chronicler of Israel’s history—that Zionism only began to go awry after 1967, Patrick Tyler’s new book, “Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite who Run the Country—and Why They Can’t Make Peace,”… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The debate over an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities has heated up in recent weeks, with several current and former Israeli security chiefs coming out against an attack. Here are some of the debate’s most prominent figures, plus what President Obama and his Republican challenger,… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — On the ground floor of a building on a leafy residential street in southern Jerusalem, two men squeeze past each other in a crowded foyer. One is wearing a small, flat, glistening black hat and a long coat, the typical dress of some Chasidim even in… Read more »

Left to right, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah, President Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressing the U.N. General Assembly in 2011. Israeli officials told the Israeli media that Obama's refusal to meet with Netanyahu at this year's General Assembly is a sign of tension over Iran policy. (Courtesy U.N./design by Uri Fintzy)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Between the red lines, the deadlines, the diplomacy and the dress downs, the vaunted cooperation between Israel and the United States on whether and when to strike Iran seems to be in a free fall. In an unusually blunt outburst, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept.… Read more »

French citizens in Israel voting at the French consulate in Tel Aviv during the first round of a presidential election. April 22, 2012. (Gideon Markowicz/FLASH90)

NETANYA, Israel (JTA) — On a street off Independence Square, storefronts advertise “La Creperie Galette,” “Nouvel’hair” and “Agence Immobiliere.” Families lounging under parasols at cafe tables chat in French and enjoy a sunny afternoon, Nearby, the Mediterranean waves lap up against tranquil beaches. But in the local language, Independence… Read more »

Left to right, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu and newly ordained Rabbis Dani Fabian, Reuven Konnik, Naftoly Surovtsev and Jonathan Konits, following their ordination ceremony at the Synagogue Community Center in Cologne, Germany, Sept. 13, 2012. (Photo by Uri Strauss)

(JTA) — For four men in Germany, this Jewish New Year will be like no other. It will be their first year as ordained rabbis, working to help build Jewish life in the very country that nearly succeeded in wiping out European Jewry. In ceremonies held Thursday at the… Read more »

Right to left: Jakob Staszevski, Tyson Herberger and Rebecca Herberger at Kalatowki Lodge in southern Poland, Sept. 6, 2012. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

ZAKOPANE, Poland (JTA) — In southern Polish woods, an unfamiliar blast alarms hikers and wildlife as it pierces the still of a misty morning. It has been a long time since a shofar echoed in these mountains. At the narrow end of the traditional Jewish horn are the puckered… Read more »

Palestinians demonstrating against the high costs of living in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sept. 11, 2012. (Issam Rimawi/Flash90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Could the Palestinian Authority’s budget woes end up costing Israel? Growing economic protests in the West Bank could lead to increased regional instability and perhaps even the end of the Palestinian Authority, experts are warning. At this point, however, they say the protests are unlikely… Read more »

Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens was one of four U.S. diplomats killed in a rocket attack in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012. (U.S. Department of State)

NEW YORK (JTA) — There was no Israeli-American real estate developer named Sam Bacile, and the 100 Jews he claimed had financed his anti-Islam film were fictitious as well. Both fabrications were offered to the media apparently to hide the true identity of the Egyptian Christian from Southern California… Read more »

Participants celebrating during services at the World Union for Progressive Judaism Conference of Jewish Communities in Buenos Aires, Argentina, August, 2012. (Diego Melamed)

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — When the Sao Paulo Hebraica Sports Club and Community Center in Brazil opened the Aleph School earlier this month, it welcomed 450 students and had 120 more on the waiting list for next year. Hebraica, which is similar to an American Jewish community center,… Read more »

In these heated months before the presidential election, we step back to pray during the High Holidays and hope for the best for our country, Israel and the world. Throughout the year, many Jewish Tucsonans are engaged in social activism and involved in politics on a local or national… Read more »