HEADLINES | 4
HEADLINES | 18
POWER OF ‘REACH’
TUCSON COMMEMORATES OCT. 7
Jewish TV producer Arthur Smith to speak at NowGen event
The Tucson community gathered for “With Broken Hearts, and Heads Held High.”
OCTOBER 25, 2024 | TISHREI 23, 5785 | VOLUME 77, NUMBER 2
$1.50
Temple Chai members clean up local West Valley synagogue hosts lake to welcome new Jewish year interfaith service to commemorate T Oct. 7 SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
T
emple Beth Shalom of the West Valley hosted interfaith clergy at its Monday, Oct. 7 commemoration event in Sun City. About 200 congregants gathered with Rabbi Dana Evan Kaplan, Cantor Baruch Koritan and leaders from Jewish, Christian and Buddhist communities to show solidarity with Israel on the anniversary of the horrific Hamas attack, which left nearly 1,200 people dead and more than 250 held captive in Gaza. Kaplan strongly believes in the importance of interfaith dialogue, which interfaith services help to create. It helps build understanding and trust, something that is more critical than ever. “We live in a country where we Jews are a small minority, and therefore interacting with other religious groups is of critical importance. We want to understand what they are thinking and feeling and convey the same to them,” Kaplan told Jewish News in an email. This type of discussion does not mean people will agree, but Kaplan believes that “there are ways to discuss who we are and what we stand for in a respectful manner that acknowledges these differences while seeking to build bridges between our communities,” he said. On Monday, people of different faiths prayed and sang together in memory of Oct. 7’s victims. “It was so gratifying to see
his year, a group of Temple Chai members held their first “Reverse Tashlich,” a unique take on the traditional Jewish High Holiday atonement ceremony in which people gather at a large, natural body of flowing water and symbolically cast off their sins by tossing something in, often bits of bread, in a bid to have a clean slate for a new year. On Sunday, Sept. 29, a dozen people gathered at Tempe Town Lake to pick up garbage and detritus from the water’s edge. Nona Siegel and Bethjoy (BJ) Bor ris, members of Group of Temple Chai members gathered to pick up trash, marking a reverse Tashlich. Temple Chai’s Eco Chai COURTESY OF NONA SIEGEL group, first learned about the environmental spin on the ceremony last year through Lisa Malachowsky, a friend and board member for Repair the Sea, a Jewish organization committed to raising awareness of the plethora of threats to the world’s oceans and natural waterways and taking action to preserve them. SEE CLEAN UP, PAGE 3
Big ballot for AZ Arizona Jews for Justice held several events to break down each proposition on the ballot to its basics, ensuring voters feel confident about what’s being asked of them. See page 14. PHOTO COURTESY OF JEWISH NEWS
SEE INTERFAITH, PAGE 2
KEEP YOUR EYE ON jewishaz.com
NATIONAL
In twin events for Michigan Jewish voters, Doug Emhoff and Ritchie Torres stress Kamala Harris’ pro-Israel bona fides
INTERNATIONAL
Lufthansa ordered to pay $4M penalty for denying boarding to 128 Jewish passengers in 2022
ISRAEL
Will Sinwar’s death end the Gaza war? The US hopes so, but Hamas and Netanyahu say they’ll keep fighting.