Tagged FRONT

Tucson migrants benefit from generous donations by Wisconsin congregations

(L-R) Shelter coordinators Diego Piña Lopez and Francis Wheeler, Jim Rich, Jill Rich, and volunteer driver Seth Ruskin unload coats and goods donated by Milwaukee’s Congregation Shalom at the Casa Alitas migrant shelter in Tucson. (Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP)
October 25, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

A sermon at Congregation Shalom in Milwaukee translated into generosity from that community to Tucson. It all began when Rabbi Ronald Shapiro joined a group of rabbis visiting a migrant detention center in San Diego in the spring. Returning to Milwaukee to share what he witnessed, he relayed how… Read more »

Federation’s Olson Center to commemorate Kristallnacht

Shops damaged in Magdeburg, Germany, on Kristallnacht. (Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1970-083-42 / CC-BY-SA 3.0)
October 25, 2019 /

The Ruth & Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life (Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Northwest Division) will commemorate Kristallnacht, the “night of broken glass” that took place in Nazi Germany Nov. 8-9, 1938, with a program on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 10 a.m.-noon. Many historians view Kristallnacht, in which… Read more »

Shlicha’s view: After 24 years, Israel still grappling with Rabin assassination

‘Yitzhak Rabin: Forged Identity’ by Martha L. Dunham was donated to the Sculpture Garden at the Tucson Jewish Community Center in 2011 by Jill and Herschel Rosenzweig. (Courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)
October 25, 2019 / Inbal Shtivi, Weintraub Israel Center

Next week, on Nov. 4, Israel will mark 24 years since the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin, a leader, politician, and army commander, was killed by a Jewish assassin as he was walking down the stairs from the stage at what is now called Rabin Square… Read more »

CHAI Circle retreat to focus on mindfulness
October 25, 2019 /
Dawn Messer

Dawn Messer, founder of Mindful Meanderings, will be the keynote speaker for the 15th annual CHAI Circle retreat on Sunday, Nov. 10, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, 5501 N. Hacienda del Sol Road. CHAI Circle, a program of Jewish Family… Read more »

Acclaimed Israeli author to address innovation
October 25, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor
Israeli author Avi Jorisch

Israeli author Avi Jorisch will discuss his best-selling book, “Thou Shalt Innovate: How Israeli Ingenuity Repairs the World,” on Thursday, Nov. 7 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The book was published by Gefen Publishing House in 2018. It is being translated into more than 30 languages. Jorisch, an… Read more »

From ‘Antcars’ to ‘Mousecars,’ Tucson’s Truly Nolen delivers smiles worldwide

Vickie and the late Truly David Nolen (Photos: Courtesy Truley Nolen Pest Control)
October 25, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

If you’ve spent any time in Tucson you’ve seen the swarms of quirky yellow VW bugs dressed up with floppy black ears and a tail. They’re the iconic Truly Nolen Pest Control Mousecars. But, did you know there really was a man called Truly David Nolen … and that… Read more »

Tucson doctors get satisfaction from diverse sidelines to medical careers

Dr. Tedd Goldfinger assists aspiring medical assistants in a classroom at Kino College. Courtesy Todd Goldfinger
October 25, 2019 / Barbara Russek, Special to the AJP

One of every person’s most important decisions is the choice of a future profession. Tedd Goldfinger, D.O., FACC, FESC, FCCP, and Ronald Mann, M.D., chose rewarding careers in the field of medicine with specialties in cardiology and dermatology, respectively. In addition, both have upped the ante in their busy… Read more »

This medical school is putting a uniquely Jewish spin on doctor training

Founded in 1860, New York Medical College was an affiliate of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese from 1971 until Touro, a Jewish-run university, took over in 2011. (Courtesy of NYMC/JTA Photo Service)
October 25, 2019 / Ben Harris

For her final project in a course on the history of medicine, first-year medical student Raeesa Hossain joined with four fellow students from New York Medical College to interview a Holocaust survivor deported to Auschwitz as a child. The survivor told the students how his experience during the war… Read more »

There’s a long history of Jews playing Nazis on screen

(Kveller)
October 24, 2019 / Lior Zaltzman

This story originally appeared on Kveller. Taika Waititi’s satirical film “Jojo Rabbit” is finally out! It is set in Nazi Germany,  and the Jewish MaoLior Zaltzmanri director famously plays Adolf Hitler. “What better way to insult Hitler than having him played by a Polynesian Jew,” Waititi himself tweeted. When… Read more »

A new book takes readers on a journey through Jewish Latin America

Ilan Stavans and his new book, "Seventh Heaven" (Courtesy of Stavans/JTA Montage)
October 24, 2019 / Alan Grabinsky, JTA

MEXICO CITY (JTA) —More than 10 years ago, Ilan Stavans scandalized language purists of the Spanish-speaking world by translating a chapter of “Don Quixote” — into Spanglish. Since then, the so-called czar of Latino culture has become one of the most important interlocutors for Hispanics in the United States. In… Read more »

A year after disaster, Pittsburgh is so much more than a site of tragedy

A group of volunteers takes to the streets to beautify Pittsburgh. (Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh)
October 24, 2019 / Jeffrey Finkelstein, JTA

PITTSBURGH (JTA) —As we approach the one year since the worst anti-Semitic attack in American history, I am grateful for the outpouring of support for the Pittsburgh Jewish community. Over the last year, people across the world have stood shoulder to shoulder with all of us in the 412.… Read more »

Squeezed for burial space, Jerusalem prepares to open an underground city of the dead

At capacity, a new tunnel network will hold some 23,000 bodies and is expected to be filled within a decade. (Sam Sokol)
October 24, 2019 / Sam Sokol, JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Carved into the rock on the side of a mountain directly under the Har HaMenuchot cemetery here lies the entrance to Jerusalem’s newest necropolis, a city of the dead that its designers hope will relieve a shortage of burial space in the capital. A local engineering… Read more »

How Bernie Sanders became a favorite among Muslim Americans

Muslim women attend a Bernie Sanders campaign rally at the Riverside Municipal Auditorium in Riverside, Calif., May 24, 2016. (David McNew/AFP/Getty Images)
October 24, 2019 / Josefin Dolsten, JTA

(JTA) — Bernie Sanders was one of only two Democratic presidential candidates to address the Islamic Society of North America Convention in August, the largest annual gathering of Muslim Americans in the country. Organizers invited the 10 highest-polling contenders at the time to the Houston event, but the Vermont… Read more »

A Rosh Hashanah ritual — in space

Daniel Shorr, far right, and other members of Stanford’s Student Space Initiative escort a rocket he built. (Courtesy of Shorr)
October 24, 2019 / David A.M. Wilensky, JTA

SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — Typically, Jews gather after Rosh Hashanah services to recite a brief prayer and then symbolically cast away their sins by tossing breadcrumbs into a body of water. The ritual, called tashlich, isn’t mandated by Jewish law — it’s just… Read more »

5 female Jewish superheroes everyone should know

(Collage by Alma)
October 24, 2019 / Cali Halperin

This story originally appeared on Alma. Over the past decade, comic books and superheroes have become a staple for mainstream pop culture. But did you know that they are super Jewish? The industry was created by Jews who were prevented from working at American newspapers in the 1930s by… Read more »

Migrant justice learning session to kick off initiative

A new mural by JJ Dardano, unveiled outside the Jewish History Museum Sept. 6, underscores the institution’s focus this year on humanitarian issues. Photo Debe Campbell
October 11, 2019 /

The Jewish History Museum and Jewish Community Relations Council will formally launch the Jewish Community Migrant Justice Initiative on Thursday, Oct. 24. The project will coordinate Jewish community efforts in response to the humanitarian needs of asylum seekers and refugees in Southern Arizona, says Bryan Davis, JHM executive director.… Read more »

Tucson teens’ b’nai mitzvah projects celebrate community, giving
October 11, 2019 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

The b’nai mitzvah project has become an important part of the traditional coming of age ritual for many Jewish teens. Whether they volunteer in the local community or raise funds for a worthy cause, it’s a chance to exercise compassion and responsibility. Sometimes, it’s also a lesson in flexibility,… Read more »

At COC Sisterhood Girls’ Night Out, fitness coach to discuss healthy aging

Laurie Rein, right, works on balance practice with friend and client Jenny Fisk. (Debe Campbell/AJP)
October 11, 2019 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

Health and fitness coach and author Laurie Rein will present a Healthy Aging for Women program for a Congregation Or Chadash Sisterhood Girl’s Night Out on Nov. 13.  Rein brings 30 years of experience in health training and a career in professional dance to her talk. Growing up in… Read more »