It’s not just the free popcorn that draws hundreds of moviegoers to the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival, which will run for its 21st year at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Jan. 12-22. It’s the lineup of films, from dramas to comedies to animated shorts, with themes that are… Read more »
News
Ketubah exhibit to open with champagne
The Jewish History Museum will hold the grand opening of its fourth annual ketubah exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. The exhibit will be on display Jan. 4 through Feb. 5 on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. and Fridays from… Read more »
JFSA grants for senior transportation expanded
Transportation programs for local Jewish seniors are increasing, thanks to grants from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Senior Task Force. This grant program is a major expansion of services for the Jewish elderly that began last year when the Federation funded Jewish Elder Access, which is administered by… Read more »
Langs contribute to food bank challenge
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083948/Janet_Lang_and_Jim_Peebles-12-12-409x600.jpg)
Tucsonans Barry and Janet Lang have teamed up with Jim and Sandy Peebles to launch the “Lang/Peebles $60,000 Fill the Shelves Challenge” to benefit the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. One in four children in Pima County is at risk of hunger. Increased demand, coupled with decreased government… Read more »
JFSA lead gifts event named for Diamonds
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083949/diamonds-heads.jpg)
To recognize the continuing leadership of Joan and Donald Diamond in supporting the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s philanthropic efforts, JFSA has named one of its annual campaign events the Joan and Donald Diamond Lead Gifts Event. Thirteen years ago, Joan and Donald Diamond hosted what would become the… Read more »
JFSA young men plan Israel adventure trip
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083949/mens-group-mission-chairs.jpg)
Drive ATVs across the Golan Heights. Take a segway tour of Jerusalem. Climb Masada. Take speed boats near Caesarea. Float in the Dead Sea. Spurred by the success of the Young Women’s Mission to Israel in 2010, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona created the first Young Men’s Mission… Read more »
Teen nominees sought for Zehngut award
The Women’s Philanthropy Advisory Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is accepting nominations for the Sixth Annual Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award, recognizing an outstanding Jewish girl who is currently a high school junior or senior. The award, named for the late community leader, will honor a teen… Read more »
Congregation M’kor Hayim: Tucson’s new Mussar hotspot
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083949/rabbi-pam-fox.jpg)
Mussar is making a comeback, at least here in Tucson. Traditionally an Orthodox approach to daily life that developed in 19th century Eastern Europe, the introspective spiritual practice adds another layer of participation to Judaism. “There are many ways that Judaism brings fulfillment to our lives through Torah, mitzvot… Read more »
Israeli officials escalate war of words with N.Y. Times
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083950/FriedmanDermercomposite-460x307.jpg)
Israeli officials are stepping up their criticism of The New York Times, slamming columnist Thomas Friedman and arguing that the newspaper is an unfit venue for an Op-Ed from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a scathing letter first leaked last week to The Jerusalem Post, Ron Dermer, a top… Read more »
Healing and hope for Tucsonans on Jan. 8 anniversary
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083951/gabby-and-mark-serving-e1324578932726-460x388.jpg)
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of Tucson’s Congregation Chaverim has plenty of “Gabby moments” on her mind these days. Aaron, who has been Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ rabbi for a decade, will never forget the sight of Giffords lying gravely wounded at the University Medical Center when Aaron visited her on Jan.… Read more »
For Jews, Vaclav Havel wasn’t just a friend but a champion of freedom
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083952/havel-memorial-460x345.jpg)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vaclav Havel was a friend of the Jews and of Israel, but prominent Jews who mourned his passing this week said the Czech leader’s greatest legacy was his universal message of freedom. “Vaclav Havel was one of the few islands of intellectual freedom in the sea… Read more »
Amid tensions with allies abroad, Netanyahu shoring up power at home
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083952/Netanyahu-460x307.jpg)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — He may be a lightning rod for criticism abroad, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is consolidating power at home. On Dec. 5, Netanyahu announced that elections for leadership of his Likud Party would be held Jan. 31. The decision came as something of a surprise; primaries… Read more »
New Yorkers producing film on Israel’s Six-Day War victory
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The Six-Day War in 1967 was a brilliant military victory, a turning point in Israel’s history. Similar glory by Americans on the battlefield no doubt would have led to the production of a half-dozen films with John Wayne single-handedly wiping out the Arab armies. Yet… Read more »
West Point’s Jewish choir sings for the president and diversity
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083952/West-Point-Jewish-choir-460x307.jpg)
LOS ANGELES (JTA) — It doesn’t get more “only in America” than this: A Christian president with an African-born Muslim father throws a Chanukah party at the White House, and the featured act is the West Point Jewish Chapel Cadet Choir — a group that serves as a beacon of Jewish pride… Read more »
In Mallorca, a year of breakthrough for descendants of Jews
PALMA, Spain (JTA) — A stone’s throw from the majestic Cathedral of Santa Maria of Palma, commonly referred to as La Seu, is a dusty cobblestoned alleyway that serves as a hidden reminder of Mallorca’s complex Jewish past. Carrer de Monti-Sion, or Mount Zion Street, has borne witness to… Read more »
Attacks by radical settlers on Israeli army spark debate
YITZHAR, West Bank (JTA) — Charred tires and boulders pushed to the sides of the road leading to Yitzhar, a West Bank Jewish community near Nablus, were among the signs that residents had made an effort to prevent Israeli soldiers and police from entering the settlement. Patches of grease… Read more »
Can Reform Jews be politically conservative? Yes, say the “1 percent”
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083953/reform-biennial-460x306.jpg)
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (JTA) — It’s not easy being a political conservative in the most liberal of Jewish religious denominations. Just ask the 40 or so people among the more than 5,000 attendees at last week’s biennial conference of the Union for Reform Judaism who showed up for a… Read more »
New Iran sanctions: administration gets some of the leeway it sought
WASHINGTON (JTA) — New sanctions targeting Iran’s financial sector and its sale of crude oil give President Obama leeway to moderate their possible impact on oil markets and to use carrots as well as sticks to sway third parties into isolating the Islamic Republic. The sanctions target any foreign… Read more »
What’s daily life like for Palestinians in Israeli prisons?
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083953/Samar-al-Issawi-460x345.jpg)
OFER, West Bank (JTA) — When Israel releases 550 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday in the second phase of the Gilad Shalit exchange deal, the freed men and women will be leaving behind thousands of fellow Palestinians in Israeli jails. According to the Israeli Prison Service, there are 6,640 Palestinian… Read more »
At RJC forum, Republican hopefuls preview their lines of attack
![](https://cdn-15011.jigsawanalyticsgroup.cloud/20240223083954/RJC__1016-Romney-460x307.jpg)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Iran’s nuclear program appears to be racing ahead. The Middle East peace process is in shambles. And a series of recent flare-ups have highlighted ongoing tensions between the Obama administration and elements of the pro-Israel community. It was against this backdrop that six Republican candidates took… Read more »