News

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Trump administration is deploying air and sea strike forces to the Middle East in response to what it described as “troubling and escalatory indications and warnings” from Iran. It’s not clear what Iranian escalations National Security Adviser John Bolton was referring to Sunday evening in… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An American citizen killed while running for cover from a Hamas rocket was laid to rest in Jerusalem on Sunday evening. Hundreds turned out to bury Pinchas Menachem Prezuazman, a 21-year old American-Israeli from Ashdod. A member of the Ger Hasidic sect, he leaves behind a wife and… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Despite Monday morning’s ceasefire, which ended two days of intense fighting between Israel and Hamas, the “campaign is not over,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. “Over the last two days we struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad with great force,” Netanyahu said. “We hit… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A 21-year-old man became the fourth Israeli civilian to be killed by Gaza rocket fire, after a rocket struck an apartment building in the southern coastal city of Ashdod. The man was in the stairwell of the building when it was struck by a rocket late… Read more »

Cody Blumenthal

Cody Blumenthal was selected to play on the Maccabi USA Youth Men’s Basketball Team for the 14th Pan American Maccabi Games July 5-15 in Mexico City. Playing 16 games as a sophomore guard for Catalina Foothills High School varsity Falcons this season, he averaged 11.4 points per game and… Read more »

Updated May 6 The Jewish and greater Tucson communities routinely step up and volunteer to meet the needs of migrant families passing through the Old Pueblo. In the past eight months, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council has provided roughly 750 hot meals at shelters housing… Read more »

As Tucson grapples with a continuing influx of Central American migrants seeking asylum, and the community responds with shelter, food, and clothing, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish History Museum focused their annual local leaders’ forum on the immigration issue. The event… Read more »

Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s official Memorial Day dedicated to fallen soldiers and victims of terror, will be observed in Tucson on Tuesday, May 7 with song and remembrances at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, 6:30-8 p.m. Enacted into Israeli law in 1963, Yom Hazikaron traditionally is observed by the sounding… Read more »

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona is hosting a free, family-friendly event, “Celebration of Caring for Tucson’s Children” on Sunday, May 19, from 12-3 p.m. at the Scottish Rite, 160 S. Scott Ave. Children of all ages are welcome. There will be food and music for parents… Read more »

Graham Hoffman

We may find it convenient to believe that because young adults in our community are not exhibiting the same historically Jewish behaviors as their parents, they do not feel a strong connection to Jewish life. Nevertheless, consistently, when polled, millennial Jews report having strong, positive feelings about being Jewish.… Read more »

Rabbi Menachem Nissel

Congregation Chofetz Chayim and the Southwest Torah Institute will host author, educator and historian Rabbi Menachem Nissel at a fundraiser Sunday, May 5 at 5:30 p.m. Nissel will present “Messiah: What We Believe, Why We Believe.” “This topic holds so much meaning for me,” says Rabbi Israel Becker, explaining… Read more »

In the past year, the Jewish History Museum has continued conversations started by its “Invisibility & Resistance: Violence Against LGBTQIA+ People” exhibit, which was on display in the Holocaust History Center’s Contemporary Human Rights space from September 2017 through May 2018. Along with continuing to highlight violence, JHM programs… Read more »

Mike Wexler reigned over the Young Men’s Group Poker Tournament April 21. Other top finishers, in order of rank, were Peter DeLuca, Josh Silverman, Myles Levine, and Mckenzie Carlat. Fifty players raised $1,800 at the event for “Making a Difference Every Day: The Homer Davis Project.” Proceeds will provide… Read more »

The Sisterhood of Congregation Or Chadash honored Kathylynn Saboda as its first Eshet Or (Woman of Light) at a luncheon and end of year meeting on Sunday, April 14. Saboda served as Sisterhood president in 2004. She served on the congregation’s board of directors from 2005-2008; since 2008 she… Read more »

The Invisible Theatre’s Pastime Players, an award-winning, multi-disciplinary arts education program for mentally and physically challenged students, will present a free performance of “The Me Inside of Me” on Wednesday, May 8 at 7 p.m. at Doolen Middle School, 2400 N. Country Club Road. Pastime Players started as a… Read more »

Spring is here, and Mother’s Day is just around the corner on May 12. The AJP asked some local chefs to spill the beans on their favorite spring ingredients, ideal dishes for mom, and other culinary convictions. … Chef McKenzie Taylor, Forty Niner Country Club Describe one new dish… Read more »

POWAY, Calif. (JTA)— With hundreds gathered to show support for the victims of a shooting inside his synagogue, Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein recounted the moment when he came face to face with the gunman and what happened next: He described watching a congregant’s husband, a doctor, faint as he attempted… Read more »

(JTA) — For critics of how the largest social media platforms have handled anti-Semitic and racist rhetoric, it has been a long time coming: David Duke, Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones, and their ilk are no longer welcome on Facebook. A statement from a Facebook spokesperson confirmed that several bigoted… Read more »

(JTA) — Woody Allen can’t get a book deal. In the latest step of his precipitous fall from grace, the prolific director has been unable to find a publisher for a memoir he’s shopping around. This comes after Netflix canceled a multi-movie deal and some of his former stars… Read more »

(JTA) — One night years ago, when a Jewish man was driving to his parents’ house in Caracas, Venezuela, two cars blocked off the street he was on and held him up at gunpoint. He got into their car and began answering questions: who he was, where he lived,… Read more »