Masha Gessen Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen is intent on exposing injustice, whether in her three talks in Tucson on Feb. 2, her books or articles in the New York Times, Slate and other publications. Her personal family history has run head-on into conflict with both the former Soviet Union and the… Read more »
Mindy Bernstein, executive director of the Coyote Task Force, at Café 54 in downtown Tucson, a work training project for people with mental illness (Scott Greissel/Creatista)
Mindy Bernstein, executive director of the Coyote Task Force, a local behavioral health agency, landed in Tucson in 1976. She wasn’t sure then what her path would be, but she never imagined a career in mental health advocacy. “I’ve been working in public behavioral health since 1986,” Bernstein told… Read more »
At the Ethiopian Cultural Center in Beit Shean, Israel, Nina Isaac (left) and Sandi Henderson watch as Lyana Rotstein, tour guide for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy mission, and Chava Alamo display traditional breads. (Courtesy Melissa Goldfinger) For Nina Isaac, the impact of spending 10 days in Israel with Jewish women from Tucson and around the United States was brought into sharp contrast after she spent the next three days in Dubai, training Muslim nurses. “It was a huge shift, being in Israel, the land of… Read more »
David Cohen, seen here at a Capitol Hill hearing on Iran sanctions in 2011, was recently named to the No. 2 position at the Central Intelligence Agency. (Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images) WASHINGTON (JTA) — David Cohen’s path to second in command at the Central Intelligence Agency is, in many respects, a typical one in Washington. A seasoned Ivy League lawyer who began his career defending the right of religious groups to display menorahs on government property, Cohen was the Obama… Read more »
Chabad emissaries won't set foot in Havana's Orthodox synagogue, Adath Israel. (Josh Tapper) HAVANA (JTA) — On the freshly painted, salmon-colored walls of Alberto and Rebeca Meshulam’s apartment, two portraits of the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, frame the entranceway leading to a wide, airy vestibule. Miniatures of the same portrait sit atop a glass-covered countertop near an image of the… Read more »
Ashton Carter, President Obama's nominee for defense secretary, at his confirmation hearing, Feb. 4, 2015. The hearing had none of the sharp exchanges over Israel that were featured in the confirmation proceedings of the last defense secretary, Chuck Hagel. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — American-Israeli relations may be enduring a challenging period due to the political drama surrounding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress, but you’d never know it from the recent confirmation hearing for defense secretary nominee Ashton Carter. Carter’s appearance on Feb. 4… Read more »
Sarri Singer Sarri Singer has always been closely connected to her Jewish community, whether in New Jersey, New York or Israel. On Sept. 11, 2001, at age 28, she was director of recruitment for the National Conference of Synagogue Youth summer programs, two blocks from Ground Zero. Since that date surviving… Read more »
Copenhagen's main synagogue, where a guard was shot and killed early Feb. 15, 2015. (Wikimedia Commons) (JTA) — From the window of the Jewish Community of Copenhagen’s crisis center, Finn Schwarz can see his country changing before his eyes. Hours after the slaying of a guard outside the Danish capital’s main synagogue early Sunday morning, two police officers toting machine guns were on patrol outside… Read more »
Bonnie Golden, Temple Emanu-El president and yoga teacher, and Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon lead a yoga routine at the Old Stone House on the David Yetman Trail during Temple’s Wandering Jews Shabbat hike on Nov. 1. There’s a passage in the Talmud that asks “Why didn’t you take advantage of all the beauty I’ve provided for you in the world?” says Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash, one of several local synagogues that includes hikes and other opportunities for congregants to worship in the… Read more »
Israeli army veteran Yinon Cohen, 31, surprised his ski instructors at Challenge Aspen with his determination to ski unaided except for his prosthetic legs. (Nina Zale) (JTA) — After Yinon Cohen lost his legs in an accident involving a rocket-propelled grenade, it wasn’t clear he’d ever be able to walk again, much less ski down a peak in the Rocky Mountains. A fresh-faced soldier in the Israel Defense Forces’ elite Golani brigade, Cohen was in… Read more »
Former Israeli President Shimon Peres, with microphone, meeting in Tel Aviv with, from left, Sayyid Syeed of the Islamic Society of North America, Rabbi Steve Gutow of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States, Jan. 20, 2015. (JCPA) WASHINGTON (JTA) — After the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris last month, Kari Alterman heard from every one of her Detroit-area Muslim dialogue partners, all of them calling to express their sadness and concern. They just didn’t do so publicly. Statements condemning violence are normally made after formal dialogues… Read more »
Amos Oz revisits interviews with soldiers he recorded almost 50 years ago in 'Censored Voices.' (Dogwoof) PARK CITY, Utah (JTA) — In the wake of Israel’s seemingly miraculous triumph in the Six-Day War in 1967, the country’s victorious soldiers were lionized as heroes. But in private, even just one week after the conflict, many of them didn’t feel that way. One describes feeling sick to… Read more »
Avraham Infeld “Together: A Community Event” is an appropriate title for Avraham Infeld’s presentation next month at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s free event. Infeld, president emeritus of Hillel International, will focus on “connecting the Jewish people in Israel to the Jewish people in America” in his talk on Tuesday,… Read more »
Daniel Katzen Daniel Katzen blows a mean shofar. As a professional French horn player, you might expect he’d be a natural on the ram’s horn. But that’s not the case, says Katzen, associate professor of horn at the University of Arizona. “Brass players find it particularly challenging to play the shofar,”… Read more »
Yaakov Lehman A former Tucsonan is the mastermind behind a multimedia Israeli tour book app (see www.theisraelapp.com). Yaakov Lehman, 29, made aliyah in 2008, after a spiritual, philosophical and physical journey that took him from California to Europe to yeshiva. Lehman grew up as Jake in Tucson and graduated from Catalina… Read more »
Ex-Israeli President Shimon Peres: "We call on Jews to immigrate to Israel when there's no crime and no other reason." (Taylor Hill/Getty Images) TEL AVIV (JTA) — Former Israeli President Shimon Peres said he is confident in France’s ability to fight anti-Semitism on its own soil. Immigration to Israel, he said, should be encouraged for positive reasons, not only as a response to persecution abroad. “We call on Jews to immigrate to… Read more »
Demonstrators gather at the Place de la Nation square in Paris following a mass unity rally protesting the recent terrorist attacks in the French capital, Jan. 11, 2015. (Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images) PARIS (JTA) — As he marched through Paris with some 1.5 million people, Philippe Schmidt felt he was experiencing a “beautiful moment of unity.” For Schmidt, a Jewish human rights lawyer and vice president of the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, Sunday’s so-called Republican March was “a sign… Read more »
Masha Gessen “Speaking truth to power” is a way of life for Russian-American Jewish journalist Masha Gessen. An outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a staunch supporter of gay rights and a chronicler for the voiceless, the award-winning author will speak at four community events during “A Day With Masha… Read more »
Max Goldschmid It’s cool. It’s funky. And, if you ask local musician, producer and owner of 11:11 Studios, Mike Levy, its rhythm can be visualized something “like an egg rolling” — slightly off-kilter, yet quasi-sober — “steady, but swinging,” he calls it. We’re talking about jazz and, later this month, Tucson… Read more »
Mary Kate Callahan (front) and her teammates (L-R): Abigail Will, Laura Haley, Jessica Honea, Kimberly Nicolai, Molly Supple and Halli Schmittenberg celebrate the end of a successful season for the University of Arizona Women’s triathlon team. (Photo: Jimmy Song Photography) The Tucson Jewish Community Center will present “Consider Yourself Challenged,” a family friendly fundraiser on Sunday, Feb. 8 from 4 to 6:30 p.m. The University of Arizona TriCats will be on hand to conduct children’s activities and discuss equipment and training required to participate in a triathlon. Mary Kate… Read more »
