Vice President Joe Biden addresses a memorial for Shimon Peres in Washington, D.C., Oct. 6, 2016. (Ron Kampeas)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vice President Joe Biden said Shimon Peres’ legacy should be one of tolerance at a time of rising bigotry. “At a time when the currents of bigotry and anger and isolationism are on the rise, when too many are quick to cast blame on the outsider,… Read more »
(Wikimedia Commons)
(JTA) — Building up to Sukkot, with its temporary, shaky sukkah, it’s easy to forget that the holiday comes with something more substantial: its own book, Ecclesiastes — Kohelet in Hebrew — which is read during the festival and gives us a solid sampling of earthly wisdom. “A season… Read more »
Don Baker (Martha Lochert)
Tucson Hebrew Academy’s “Developer of Dreams” Tikkun Olam Celebration honoring the late Donald Baker will be a promotion of visionary ideals, says Deborah Baker (no relation), alumni coordinator at THA. This year will be an intimate community event because of Baker’s untimely death, she says. “There are people who… Read more »
Hans Winterberg “Forbidden Composers” is the theme for the 9th annual Music + Festival which will be presented by the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music later this month. The festival will focus on the music, lives and cultural impact of three Jews whose music was banned by the… Read more »
Nathan Bacal holds a photo of his great-grandfather, Harry Bacal, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s first board president. (Julie Zorn/Tucson Jewish Community Center)
In many Jewish communities, the phrase “l’dor v’dor” (loosely translated as “from generation to generation”) is used to highlight the importance of passing values, education and history from one generation to the next. Scholars and community organizations often speak of the importance of teaching children as a way to… Read more »
Paulette and Joe Gootter
The Jewish History Museum will honor Joe and Paulette Gootter at its 8th annual fall fundraiser, “Over the Rainbow: Songs of Conscience & Hope.” The luncheon and silent auction will be held Sunday, Oct. 30, at noon at Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, with entertainment by Richard Hanson.… Read more »
Amy Hirshberg Lederman
Amy Hirshberg Lederman will speak on “Living with No Regrets” at the 12th Annual CHAI Circle Retreat on Sunday, Oct. 30, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Canyon Ranch Health Resort, 8600 E. Rockcliff Road. CHAI Circle (Cancer, Healing and Inspiration), a program of Jewish Family & Children’s Services,… Read more »
Tucson women at the International Lion of Judah Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 12, (L-R): Ellyn Gold, Shelly Silverman, Phyllis Maizlish, Leslie Glaze, Karen Katz, Judy Berman, Jody Gross, Melissa Goldfinger and Fran Katz (Courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona)
A delegation of nine Lions of Judah from Tucson attended the biennial international conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss philanthropic programs, ideas and stories of strength. Judy Berman, a local philanthropist, has been a Lion for about 10 years. She has attended three conferences thus far but this year’s… Read more »
The Cavatina Duo, Eugenia Moliner and Denis Azabagic, will present “Sephardic Journey” as part of the UA Presents series on Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. at Crowder Hall, 1017 Olive Road (in the music building). Moliner, a flutist from Spain, and Azabagic, a guitarist from Bosnia, together have… Read more »
TMC's germ squad
The third annual Family Wellness Festival, produced by the Tucson Jewish Community Center in collaboration with Tucson Medical Center, will be held Sunday, Oct. 16, from noon to 4 p.m. at The J. The keynote speaker for the free, interactive event will be Dan Johnson, executive director of the… Read more »
Art Almquist as Aryeh Lev, Carrie Hill as Rivkeh Lev and Steve Wood as Asher Lev in Live Theatre Workshop’s production of ‘My Name Is Asher Lev’
Live Theatre Workshop will present “My Name Is Asher Lev” by Aaron Posner, adapted from the novel by Chaim Potok, through Nov. 12, with a preview performance Oct. 7. Set in post-war Brooklyn, “My Name Is Asher Lev” is the story of a boy’s passionate desire to follow his… Read more »
Democrat Tim Kaine, left, and Republican Mike Pence, facing off during the vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Virginia, Oct. 4, 2016. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(JTA) – Seven times during the vice presidential debate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the deal his running mate, Hillary Clinton, worked on had helped “stop Iranian nuclear weapons.” Seven times, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said no, it did not. Twice, Kaine said Israel’s military “says it stopped.” Both… Read more »
Vaybertaytsh is a Yiddish-language podcast created by Sandy Fox, a millennial American graduate student. (Shifra Whiteman)
(JTA) — If you’re a Yiddish-speaking woman, Sandy Fox wants you on her podcast. Fox is the millennial “balaboosta,” or host, of Vaybertaytsh, a new feminist, Yiddish-language podcast that aired its first episode on Tuesday. She hopes to interview women and feature their music, writing and other creative work… Read more »
Donald Trump addressing the crowd at a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 6, 2016. (John Sommers II/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Yom Kippur, despite its solemnity and self-abnegation, seems almost anti-climactic if you’ve spent the 10 days since Rosh Hashanah engaging in person-to-person apologies. We would never admit it to non-Jewish friends, who stand in awe of our 25-hour fast, but Yom Kippur is a dodge, an… Read more »
President Barack Obama viewing the coffin of Shimon Peres after speaking during his funeral at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery, Sept. 30, 2016. (Abir Sultan/AFP/Getty Images)
JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli and world leaders gathered atop Mount Herzl on Friday to say goodbye to Shimon Peres, Israel’s last founding father. In addition to fond personal recollections, many of those who took the stage alongside Peres’ Israeli-flag-draped coffin offered their visions of the peace that eluded the… Read more »
Shimon Peres in New York City, Oct. 24, 2014 (Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Shimon Peres, the former defense hawk turned Nobel Peace Prize winner and the last of Israel’s founders, has died. Peres died before dawn Wednesday at 93, Israel Radio reported. The former president suffered a massive stroke earlier this month and was reported initially to be… Read more »
An interactive map by the American Jewish Population Project breaks down the Jewish population by state and even county. (American Jewish Population Project)
BOSTON (JTA) — A new study, touted as the first-ever state-by-state, county-by-county Jewish population estimate, shows how the Jewish vote could play a crucial role in key battleground states. The study, released Thursday and conducted by the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University in suburban Boston, found that in Bucks County, Pennsylvania — one of the areas… Read more »
A New York City police officer standing guard outside Grand Central Station in New York City, Sept. 20, 2016. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — “I heard the explosion, then I went to the deli.” In the hours after the bombings Saturday in New York and on the Jersey Shore, the phrase became an instant slogan for New Yorkers’ purported coolness under fire. Attributed to a witness of the bombing that… Read more »
{David J. Del Grande/AJP)
In his 1971 Yom Kippur sermon, Rabbi Arthur R. Oleisky of Congregation Anshei Israel called for the formation of a Jewish day school in Tucson. Rising to the challenge, Bertie and the late Jack Levkowitz and David and Judy Leonard joined the rabbi and his wife, Betejoy, as the… Read more »
Kathleen Mueller, M.D., (left) and Gloria “Gigi” Dunn, M.D. (Courtesy Tucson Jewish Community Center)
The Tucson Jewish Community Center will host Simply Well for Women, a two-day seminar with Drs. Kathleen N. Mueller and Gloria “Gigi” Dunn, on Oct. 8 and 9, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Two of only 1,000 physicians in the world to have completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship… Read more »
