News

In Western culture today, Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, is a time to celebrate romance and love.  Despite its commercial appeal of candy, Cupid and romantic dinners, its origins are actually much darker. Dating back to the 3rd century CE, on Feb. 14, Roman Emperor Claudius Gothicus beheaded at least… Read more »

Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging offers a variety of enrichment opportunities for residents, many of them open to the public. Monthly Handmaker Lectures Each month from October-April features lectures by a rabbi, Judaic studies professor or other local Jewish educators on a topic of their choosing, related to… Read more »

Whether you want to stay fit, learn a new artistic skill or enjoy concerts and lectures, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s jam-packed schedule has you covered. Some classes are designed specifically for seniors; others are “open to everyone ages 18-100.” Here are some options for those with a yen… Read more »

Award-winning writer and producer, best-selling author, and stand-up comedian Carol Leifer will be the guest speaker at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy 26th annual Connections brunch next month. Her topic will be “Judaism is in My DNA.” “I speak about how the Jewish values imparted to… Read more »

Jessica Reese

The Tucson Jewish Community Center Special Needs Initiative in partnership with Jewish Family & Children’s Services, with support from the David and Lura Lovell Foundation, will hold a professional development summit, “Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health: The Intersection of Treatment” on Thursday, Feb. 28, 8:15-3 p.m. The keynote speaker… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Four lawmakers who have clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the top spots in the Likud party primary. Netanyahu was given a pass in Tuesday’s voting by party members and will still lead the Likud ticket in national elections scheduled for April 9. The top… Read more »

BRUSSELS (JTA) — Growing up, Joel Rubinfeld was always up for going with his parents to their downtown synagogue here. The sermons were OK, he said, but the real clincher was the full-size ping-pong table at the Sephardic Synagogue on Pavillion Street. “Placing that table was a stroke of… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Senate approved in a 77-23 vote a bill that codifies $38 billion in defense assistance to Israel and which provides legal cover to states that target the boycott Israel movement. The bill, sponsored by Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., had… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Elan Carr’s career until now has been equal parts prosecutor, policy wonk, politico and performance artist. That makes him perfect for his new job as the State Department’s special envoy to monitor anti-Semitism, according to people most familiar with his appointment, which was made public on… Read more »

(JTA) — The United States will buy at least two batteries of the Iron Dome short-range missile defense systems from Israel. Israel’s Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that the U.S. military will purchase the system from its developer, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., under an agreement between the ministry and the U.S.… Read more »

(JTA) – Police in Rochester, New York, arrested four young men last month before they could commit a terror attack against the small Muslim town of Islamberg. The men were armed with dozens of guns and several explosives. Preventing the assault, however, hardly alleviated the fears of residents, who have… Read more »

This article originally appeared on Alma. A typical Friday night for me used to consist of cooking myself a nicer than usual dinner and lighting the Shabbat candles alone before proceeding on as if it were any other night. Maybe I would relax by re-watching “Broad City” or going out… Read more »

(JTA) — To the many colleagues and supporters of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, who died Wednesday at the age of 67, he was a man of vision whose enormous drive to succeed both facilitated and complicated his relentless efforts on behalf of the Jewish people. As head of the International Fellowship… Read more »

(JTA) — Swastikas were spray-painted on the inside and outside of a suburban Atlanta public high school. The blue swastikas were painted on the outside of the Centennial High in Roswell, Georgia, the Atlanta Jewish Times and other local publications reported. School employees discovered the vandalism when they arrived… Read more »

(JTA) — A yeshiva in upstate New York was set on fire and swastikas were spray painted on the building. The incident at the Yeshiva Deah Yoreh, located on a former farm in White Sulphur Springs, occurred on Jan. 28 but was first reported by the Rockland/Westchester Journal News… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The race for the Democratic presidential nomination is starting to look like a CNN panel — more people fit than you think possible. Up next is Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. She’s committed to bipartisanship, close to Republicans like her late Senate colleague John McCain from Arizona… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Shalva Band, a group of musicians with various disabilities, didn’t expect to advance so far in the competition to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest in May. But they made it all the way to the finals — and won’t find out if they… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A bipartisan slate of House members introduced a bill that would grant money to Holocaust education in schools. The Never Again Education Act would establish the Holocaust Education Assistance Program Fund in the U.S. Treasury. The bill would combine appropriated funds and private donations. A release… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump linked his actions on Iran to the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, pivoting during his State of the Union address from his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal to a declaration that anti-Semitism must be confronted “anywhere and everywhere it occurs.” Trump… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is accepting applications for scholarships to Jewish overnight summer camps for the summer of 2019. The need-based scholarship is funded by the Mo and Frances Beren Family Scholarship Fund and the Loebl Family Scholarship Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.… Read more »