Tagged Jewish Community Relations Council

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’s Jewish History Museum and Holocaust History Center will launch a migrant justice initiative in conjunction with its new annual exhibition, “Asylum Seeking at the U.S.-Mexico Border,” which opens in the Allen and Marianne Langer Contemporary Human Rights Gallery on Oct. 24. As with past annual exhibits, programming, and… Read more »

The annual community-wide Project Isaiah High Holy Days hunger project kicked off Sept. 15. It is coordinated by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council, with monetary and food donations benefiting the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Synagogues and Jewish agencies will collect donations. The… Read more »

Project Isaiah, the Jewish community’s annual High Holidays food drive benefiting the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, begins Sept. 15 and runs through Oct. 15. When asked why we fast on Yom Kippur, the prophet Isaiah responded, “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?” (Isaiah… Read more »

As Tucson grapples with a continuing influx of Central American migrants seeking asylum, and the community responds with shelter, food, and clothing, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Jewish Community Relations Council and the Jewish History Museum focused their annual local leaders’ forum on the immigration issue. The event… Read more »

Members of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Jewish Community Relations Council volunteered March 21 at Tucson Interfaith HIV/Aids Network’s Poz Café, along with other faith-based organizations. The café serves a monthly catered meal to those living with HIV. Organizations supply the food, cooked by the TIHAN chef with… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center is holding a September promotion, “State of the Heart Community.” All new members who join in September can direct half of their first month’s dues to one of three charities:  Ben’s Bells, Literacy Connects, and Youth on Their Own. For more information, visit www.tucsonjcc.org/heart.… Read more »

Alba Jaramillo, J.D., has worked for almost two decades in the field of human rights, particularly immigrant and women’s rights. She’s an expert on domestic and sexual violence, both as a professional and as a survivor herself. Yet none of that prevented her from being terrorized by a serial… Read more »

How do you create a philanthropic heart? Make an early start. Jill Rich has been a volunteer for nearly all of her 69 years. Her first foray into raising money to help others began with her curiosity.  At age 4 she wanted to understand what was meant by the… Read more »

The immigration crisis in Southern Arizona was the topic of a breakfast forum organized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona on Friday, April 28. Opening the meeting, which was held at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, JCRC Chair Richard White explained that… Read more »

Lobbying in Washington, D.C., for an increase in protections for immigrant families was an invigorating experience, says Nicolas Rios, a high school student and member of Tucson’s Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition.  Rios, 16, a junior at BASIS Tucson North, heard about the JLTC from his college preparatory counselor. Growing up… Read more »

(JTA) — For the second year in a row, the Detroit area’s Walk for Israel has rebuffed the sponsorship of left-wing pro-Israel groups because of their support for boycotting settlements. At the heart of the dispute is a question of definitions: Is support of a boycott targeting Jewish enterprises beyond… Read more »

A gravestone at the Jewish cemetery in Douglas shows signs of vandalism. (Benjamin Herman)

Touring the U.S.-Mexico border may conjure up intrigue, fear and compassion, depending on one’s perspective. For Congregation Anshei Israel’s Assistant Rabbi Benjamin Herman, checking out the border led to an adventure in Jewish pioneer history. On Nov. 29, 2012, Robert Feinman, vice president of the humanitarian organization Humane Borders,… Read more »

Traditional political issues of taxes and business growth arose at a local candidates forum on Monday, Sept. 24 at the Arizona Inn. However, many of the 15 candidates vying for seats in Legislative Districts 9, 10 and 11 and on the Pima County Board of Supervisors repeatedly harked back… Read more »

Protests against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, like this one held in June 2011 by the Iran180 group, are expected to be part of the street theater that will accompany this week's happenings at the United Nations. (Iran 180)

NEW YORK (JTA) — With the Palestinians set to submit their bid for statehood as the U.N. General Assembly convenes this week and leaders from around the world descending on New York, there’s going to be a lot going on. Here’s a rundown of what to expect in the… Read more »

Last month I had the privilege of being invited to a Ramadan “break fast” at the Tucson chapter of the Foundation for Intercultural Dialogue, a moderate Muslim Turkish organization. Ramadan is the Muslim month of fasting between sunrise and sunset, during which Muslims focus on introspection and study. FID’s… Read more »