News

Environmentalist to discuss Tu B’Shevat link

Lori Ann Burd

In honor of Tu B’Shevat, the Secular Humanist Jewish Circle will host Lori Ann Burd, environmental health program director and staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, a Tucson-based national conservation group focused on endangered species protection. Her talk will take place Saturday, Jan. 26, at 1:30 p.m.… Read more »

Women to join for evening of creativity, giving

Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy will host Filling Empty Bowls Feb. 13.

Filling Empty Bowls is a new interactive event for Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Women’s Philanthropy, hosted by its Pomegranate Division. The event on Wednesday, Feb. 13 promises opportunities for creative fun, food, drinks, and a chance to enjoy connecting with women of all ages. The evening kicks off… Read more »

Golan Heights Winery impresses Tucson travelers, including culinary expert

Tucson travelers enjoy a wine-pairing luncheon at Israel’s Golan Heights Winery, Oct. 17, 2018. Visible from left, front: Jil Feldhausen, Edward Feldhausen, Lawrence Kinet, Michelle Kinet, Wendy Weinberg, Jeff Weinberg. From front right: Janice Brundage, Dawn Gunter, Steve Wool, Debe Campbell. Weintraub Israel Center)

Viniculture isn’t new; it’s perhaps as old as history itself. The first winery discovered dates back to 4100 BCE in Armenia. Some wine historians date the origins of winemaking back as early as 8000 BCE. Grapes are one of the seven biblical species (Deuteronomy 8:8). With 221 mentions in… Read more »

Business briefs 1.25.19

Friendly Pines Camp will hold a free sleepaway camp information night on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 7-8:30 p.m., at Homewood Suites by Hilton, 4250 N. Campbell Ave. For more information, call 928-445-2128 or visit www.friendlypines.com. The Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block was awarded a $100,000 technology grant from… Read more »

Violins of Hope resonate with stories of Shoah

Israeli Amnon Weinstein, who has restored more than 60 violins that survived the Holocaust, will be in Tucson for Violins of Hope Feb. 17. (Daniel Levin)

Israeli violin maker Amnon Weinstein and his son Avshi have spent the last two decades locating and restoring violins from the Holocaust as a tribute to those who were lost, including 400 of their own relatives. Amnon calls these the Violins of Hope. Violins of Hope will be at… Read more »

Green Valley synagogue gallery to display Tucson artist’s ‘Sacred Intention’

‘Mazal Tov’ by Marlene Burns. ‘Most often used when offering congratulations or wishing good luck, Mazal Tov has a deeper message. Mazal means an alignment of the stars. Our tradition sees our mazal as the influence of the stars trickling down on us,’ says Burns. (Marlene Burns)

The Beth Shalom Temple Center Art Gallery will present “Sacred Intention” by Tucson artist and educator Marlene Burns, Feb. 1-April 1.    A reception with the artist will be held at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 3, following the temple’s monthly bagel breakfast. Burns has been a professional artist… Read more »

Local screening OF ‘Who Will Write Our History’ will be part of global event

Julia Lewenfisz-Gorka, Wojciech Zielinski, and Marta Ormaniec portray Ora, Abraham and Luba Lewin in ‘Who Will Write Our History.’ (Anna Wolch)

The Jewish History Museum and Holocaust History Center will join hundreds of partners on Sunday, Jan. 27, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, for a global screening event of “Who Will Write Our History.” The film will be shown at 200 venues in 40 countries; U.S. locations include the United States… Read more »

In Focus 1.25.19

JFNA chief updates JFSA leaders Jewish Federations of North America President and Chief Executive Officer Jerry Silverman briefed the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s national and overseas planning and allocation committee at a working lunch Wednesday, Jan. 9. Silverman highlighted JFNA’s activities as a convener and supporter of 147… Read more »

These fashionistas help Tucsonans stay in style

Uptown Cheapskate owner Heather Martinez’ love for resale fashion started as a hobby. Now, five years later, her dream became a reality. “I always had an interest in fashion and wanted somewhere to express it. I now run Uptown Cheapskate. It’s been such an exciting journey so far,” says… Read more »

Ilhan Omar endorses the Israel boycott and is on the influential Foreign Affairs Committee. Here’s what she and her colleagues say.

Rep. Ilhan Omar listens during a news conference on prescription drugs at the Capitol, Jan. 10, 2019. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The top two Jewish members of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee revile BDS, the boycott Israel movement. Its newest member, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has embraced the movement. It’s not a big deal, the Jewish Democrats say. Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the committee… Read more »

Insisting it is not anti-Semitic, NJ group sees haredi Orthodox as a threat to ‘quality of life’

An Orthodox woman pushes a stroller in Lakewood, N.J., in 2013. The population in the largely haredi Orthodox town has boomed in the past couple of decades, and haredi families are looking to move to neighboring towns. (Dennis Fraevich/Flickr)

(JTA) — The video, with suspenseful music playing in the background, opens with footage of a crowd of Orthodox Jews. Then it paraphrases a classic poem about the Holocaust. “First they came for my house, but I did not speak up,” the narrator says. “I said I am not… Read more »

How a Jewish brother and sister are making political history

Rabbi Yehiel Kalish attending the swearing-in of Dafna Michaelson Jenet, his sister, at the Colorado House of Representatives in Denver, Jan. 11, 2017. (Courtesy of Michaelson Jenet)

(JTA) — Only days after being sworn into the Illinois House of Representatives on Sunday, Rabbi Yehiel Kalish paid a visit to Israel. The father of six said he needed guidance from rabbis in the Jewish state to serve in his new role. “The immediate reaction of the Chicago political… Read more »

German Jewish leader gets threats after criticizing far-right party

(JTA) — A German Jewish leader has been receiving verbal threats since she criticized Germany’s strongest right-populist party in a Holocaust Remembrance Day address. “Since then, almost every minute, I have received wild insults, threats and insults by email and telephone,” Charlotte Knobloch, 86, head of the Jewish community… Read more »

People in the news 1.25.19

Tedd Goldfinger, D.O., founder of Desert Cardiology of Tucson, has received the title of Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology. He is one of only two Tucson-area physicians to receive this distinction. In addition to his practice at Desert Cardiology of Tucson and Northwest Medical Center for more… Read more »

Free loans available to furloughed federal workers in Tucson, other cities

Jewish federal employees who are struggling with expenses due to the government shutdown can now find some relief. The Hebrew Free Loan Association of Greater Washington approved an emergency program in early January to provide loans of up to $2,000 per household to affected Jews living in the Washington,… Read more »

40 years later, the ‘Holocaust’ miniseries returns to Germany

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 07: Actress Tovah Feldshuh attends the "Queen Of The Mean: The Rise And Fall Of Leona Helmsley" Play Reading at the Actors Temple Theatre on April 7, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Steven A Henry/Getty Images)

BERLIN (JTA) — For Sigmount Koenigsberg, the most searing scene in the U.S.-made “Holocaust” miniseries broadcast here 40 years ago was when a German child throws photos of a Jewish family into a fireplace. The pictures curl up and melt in the flames. The moment “somehow burned into me,” recalls… Read more »

Poland’s main Jewish umbrella group elects its first woman leader

WARSAW, Poland (JTA) — The main Jewish umbrella group in Poland has elected its first woman leader. Monika Krawczyk was chosen as the board chairman of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, which deals with restitution matters, among other issues. “I think it is a great honor… Read more »