The state of Arizona has suspended all in-person worship services, classes, and other programs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with many local synagogues halting live events in advance of the governor’s March 30 stay-at-home order. Local congregations have migrated programs to digital spaces, including Shabbat services for non-Orthodox congregations.… Read more »
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JFSA and JCF pandemic relief continues community focus via Free Loan, TIHAN
Responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona together with local families created a pandemic relief fund to provide resources to help the community during these challenging times. To date, more than $300,000 has been raised for pandemic relief efforts. The… Read more »
Some governors are letting houses of worship reopen. Synagogues aren’t going for it.
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(JTA) — The road to reopening for houses of worship has been paved in a handful of states, even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to kill more than 1,500 Americans a day. But synagogues in the Republican-led states that are relaxing some restrictions — including Georgia, Texas and South… Read more »
Jewish groups’ letter condemns NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio for ‘scapegoating’ entire Jewish community
(JTA) — Dozens of Jewish organizations and Jewish leaders are unhappy with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and they let him know about it in an open letter. The letter released Wednesday accused de Blasio of “scapegoating” the Jewish community in response to a large Hasidic funeral… Read more »
It’s official: Most Reform Jewish camps will cancel this summer due to COVID, affecting at least 10,000 kids
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This is a developing story. (JTA) — Nearly all Reform Jewish summer camps, and at least one Conservative camp, will remain closed for the 2020 summer due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency has learned. The landmark decision, made Thursday afternoon, will affect 15 Reform overnight… Read more »
Israeli-American entrepreneur got tens of millions for ventilators he never delivered
WASHINGTON (JTA) — New York State paid $69 million to an Israeli-American entrepreneur for ventilators he never delivered. Last month, the state paid Yaron Oren-Pines $47,656 per ventilator for 1,450 ventilators, three times the normal asking price, BuzzFeed reported Wednesday. The state suspended its usual checks of contractors as… Read more »
Domestic violence hotline doubles its hours during stay-at-home orders
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(JTA) – The change was clear as soon as New York City’s stay-at-home order went into effect: Calls to the domestic violence department at the city’s leading Jewish poverty nonprofit departed from their regular pattern. Women used to call during the day while at work or while their abusers… Read more »
No time for a breather: A nurse’s account of Israel’s first coronavirus death and life inside a COVID-19 ward
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JERUSALEM (JTA) — Nearly six weeks have passed since Arie Even, an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor, died of the coronavirus. It happened at the end of Shabbat dinner on a Friday night in March at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem. Even drew headlines as Israel’s first COVID-19 fatality.… Read more »
New York City police break up another Orthodox funeral as crowds gather
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(JTA) – Two days after New York City’s mayor called out “the Jewish community” when vowing to crack down on gatherings, city police intervened in another funeral in a Jewish neighborhood, resulting in a tense scene and at least one arrest. A video shared on Whatsapp showed a chaotic… Read more »
JWI Flower Project supports victims of domestic violence, who are even more at risk during coronavirus pandemic
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More than 45,000 women and children spend each Mother’s Day in domestic violence shelters. At this unprecedented time in the U.S., many women who have escaped abuse for the safety of shelters now find themselves stuck in place, unable to move forward with rebuilding their lives. Jewish Women International’s Flower… Read more »
‘We don’t have time’: Rabbi launches Jewish climate change initiative during coronavirus crisis
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NEW YORK (JTA) — Rabbi Jennie Rosenn has spent most of her career working on Jewish social justice causes. Until recently, however, there was one issue that didn’t resonate as strong. “The environment was something that I knew was important, but I wasn’t passionate in my kishkes about… Read more »
Video chats help local senior living facility residents stay connected during pandemic
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Senior living facilities in Southern Arizona and all across the country have been on lockdown for several weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, with non-essential visitors not allowed. “This means no family and friends, and it also means no exercise teachers, musical performers, Shabbat service leaders, lecturers, Torah study… Read more »
B’nai B’rith homes seek DVDs, art supplies
B’nai B’rith Strauss Manor requests donations of DVDs/Blu-Rays and art supplies to occupy residents during the coronavirus pandemic. The Gerd and Inge Strauss Manor is a federally assisted multi-family senior housing project with 81 apartments. “I’ve started a library where residents can check out movies,” says Luz E. Gallego, Strauss… Read more »
Local scholar finds wisdom in Mi Shebeirach, the Jewish prayer for healing
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The last few weeks have been difficult, as our entire world has changed in response to the coronavirus. There have been times recently when I have been overwhelmed by fear and sadness and grief. At other times, I have savored the quiet of a slowed-down life and been awed… Read more »
UArizona’s Slepian designs three low-cost ventilators — one using basketball
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A renowned researcher at the University of Arizona Health Sciences has taken the university’s reputation as a basketball powerhouse to a new level — designing an easily manufactured and low-cost ventilator prototype that uses a basketball to respond to the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic. “We are in a period where ventilators… Read more »
Departure of Dean Emeritus Jeffrey Goldberg from University of Arizona will leave gap
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The University of Arizona will lose one of its stars in May as Jeffrey Goldberg, Ph.D., dean emeritus of the College of Engineering, retires. Speaking prior to the coronavirus pandemic, he said he planned to travel, see his grandkids more often, and practice a healthier lifestyle in his golden… Read more »
For Tucson newcomer, literature, law, religion, and family are keys to life well lived
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Bob Schwartz has been involved with the Jewish community since he was a child growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey. He has been a part of nine congregations in six states and has been active within the Jewish community in Tucson for two years. A former attorney,… Read more »
32 residents die of coronavirus at 2 Massachusetts Jewish senior living facilities
BOSTON (JTA) – Thirty-two residents at two Jewish senior living facilities that are part of the same nonprofit network have died from COVID-19, and scores of other residents and staff have tested positive for the virus. Eleven residents of Chelsea Jewish Life Care, across its three Boston-area locations, and… Read more »
The upside to celebrating in isolation: This might be the holiest Passover ever
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NEW YORK (JTA) — Sitting at my Seder table with my two eldest daughters and my wife, I was struggling to find something to say that would provide meaning to this moment. Here we were: alone, beginning a Passover unlike any other we had ever experienced and, please God, will… Read more »
Passover demands we remember the Exodus. That means taking care of our most vulnerable.
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NEW YORK (JTA) — Every Passover, we strive to experience Egypt in our own lives. Locating the suffering of our Egypt wasn’t hard this year: It seems like most days my husband and I share the names of new people we personally know who have passed away from COVID-19… Read more »