News

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy will celebrate local women with “13 Extraordinary Women Share Their Secrets” on Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. at Skyline Country Club. The 13 women will have three minutes each to share their formulas for success in their personal, professional and… Read more »

Congregation Anshei Israel’s cantorial soloist Nichole Chorny is forming two new choirs: one for adults and another for children. An interest meeting for the adult choir will be held Sunday, Oct. 14, 12:30-1:30 p.m. in the synagogue’s sanctuary. Open to all adults, the choir’s repertoire will include a full… Read more »

Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy and CHAI Circle will hold a Sharsheret Pink Shabbat Weekend Oct. 25-28. The events will kick off Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. with a “Think Pink” challah baking program and panel discussion at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, “What’s Jewish about… Read more »

Joel Chasnoff

Tucson Hebrew Academy will honor Tom Warne with its 2012 Tikkun Olam Award at a gala dinner featuring entertainment by comedian Joel Chasnoff on Oct. 28. Warne is known in the Jewish community as a lay leader and philanthropist. He is chair of the Tucson Jewish Community Center board… Read more »

Congregation Anshei Israel’s ‘Wall of History’ details milestones in the synagogue’s history.

Congregation Anshei Israel will hold a “Wall of History” dedication on Saturday, Oct. 13. Three panels recounting milestones in the history of the synagogue will be dedicated after years of work to produce them, an effort spearheaded by CAI’s art committee chairperson, Eleanor Jeck. The panels were donated by… Read more »

Michelle Levine, outreach director for the American Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel

Michelle Levine had long dreamed of influencing environmental issues in Israel. When the perfect job – as the English spokesperson and marketing manager for the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel — materialized in 2004, she made aliyah from Tucson. She will speak about “Environmental Victories in… Read more »

Holocaust survivor Larisa Rakovskaya in her Odessa apartment, Sept. 14, 2012. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

ODESSA, Ukraine (JTA) — In her dilapidated apartment, Larisa Rakovskaya examines a stack of unpaid heating bills. Sick and alone, the 86-year-old Holocaust survivor and widow is preparing for another encounter with the cold, her “worst and only fear.” Rakovskaya says her hope of staying warm this winter lies… Read more »

U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an offsite bilateral meeting as part of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Sept. 28, 2012. (Avi Ohayon/GPO/Flash90/JTA)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not meet, but they ended up sounding not so far apart. Netanyahu’s address to the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 28 in many ways echoed Obama’s speech there on Sept. 25, with both ratcheting up the heat… Read more »

Dancers outside the 13th century Scolanova synagogues in Trani, during the Lech Lecha Jewish culture festival, September 2012. (Ruth Ellen Gruber)

TRANI, Italy (JTA) — Francesco Lotoro resurrects the music of the dead. Since 1991 the Italian pianist has traveled the globe to seek out and bring to light symphonies, songs, sonatas, operas, lullabies and even jazz riffs that were composed and often performed in Nazi-era concentration camps. “This music… Read more »

Josh Mandel, the state treasurer of Ohio, is running for the Republican nomination to challenge the incumbent Democratic senator, Sherrod Brown. (Citizens for Josh Mandel)

NEW YORK (JTA) — JTA has identified eight congressional races of particular Jewish interest and four others featuring potentially viable Jewish contenders. Top eight congressional races to watch: U.S. Senate: Hawaii — Mazie Hirono (D) vs. Linda Lingle (R) Strongly Democratic Hawaii is tough turf for Republicans, but picking… Read more »

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… Read more »