Rabbi’s Corner: Finding Joy in this Month of Adar

March 21, 2025 / Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, Congregation Chaverim

Chazal, our sages, teach that often after having celebrated a holiday, we want to linger a few days, remaining in the essence of the holy day. Our days in Shushan have ended for this year, yet there is a way of staying here a bit longer because Purim is in the month of Adar. Our rabbis stated: “Mi-shenikhnas Adar marbim b’simcha; when Adar enters, we greatly increase joy.” We still have the rest of the month of Adar to increase… Read more »

Daniella Ironi Will Amp Up Israeli Connection at Tucson’s Maccabi Games
March 12, 2025 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Feature Writer

Daniella Ironi is Tucson’s newest shlicha, or Israeli emissary, here to support this summer’s JCC Maccabi Games & Access® at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Ironi is helping design fun yet educational programs for the “Hang Time” space, where athletes will spend time socializing when they are not competing.… Read more »

Scarlet Van Damme and Jacob Meyer are Wed
March 10, 2025 /

Scarlett Van Damme and Jacob Meyer were married on Saturday, February 15, 2025, at Wild Horse Ranch in Tucson, Arizona. Rabbi Malcolm Cohen of Kol Ami Synagogue officiated the ceremony beautifully following sunset. The happy couple did not host a traditional wedding party, but were honored by the attendance… Read more »

Chef Shares Story of Resilience, Forgiveness, and Empowerment at JPSA Women’s Connections lunch
March 7, 2025 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Feature Writer

International chef and author Debbie Matzkin says she was born “in a palace of shadows.” “My family lived in a world of elegance and affluence,” she told almost 300 women gathered March 2 at Tanque Verde Ranch for Connections, the signature program of Women’s Philanthropy at Jewish Philanthropies of… Read more »

A Tucson Portrait: Old Man with a Dog
March 6, 2025 / Judith Manelis, Special to the AJP

He was standing at a busy intersection when I drove by.  What caught my attention was the small dog wrapped in a blanket that he pushed in a stroller. Also, his sign had a name on it: Leo. It seemed every major intersection had people with signs, pleading for… Read more »

With Chesed and Social Action Committees, Local Congregations Support Congregants, Community
March 5, 2025 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Feature Writer

When David Wien’s wife, Fran, died of cancer in 2020, he found it hard to cope. But after 18 months, he says, “All of a sudden, I got this, maybe message from HaShem, I don’t know, but I got this thought in my head that said, ‘Take the focus… Read more »

Shaping Israel and the Jewish World After October 7
March 5, 2025 / Nancy Auslander, CAI Communications & Events Coordinator

“Israel is forever changed after the attacks on October 7, 2023. What does the future hold for Israel and the Jewish people throughout the world?” asks Rabbi Sara Metz of Congregation Anshei Israel. Join Vice Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Dr. Yizhar Hess to discuss the roles American… Read more »

I Remember Willy
February 28, 2025 / Helen Leon Gendler

The Arizona Jewish Post issue of September 27, 2019, has a wonderful article on Willy Halpert, a nonagenarian living in Southern Arizona who had escaped the Holocaust as a young boy. I happened to be looking up names from my past and came upon the story.  I didn’t know… Read more »

My Trip to Poland for the 80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz
February 25, 2025 / Lori Shepherd, Executive Director, Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center

In January, I traveled with thirty-five of my colleagues in Holocaust education to Poland for the 80th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. This trip was arranged for members of the Association of Holocaust Organizations and led by renowned Holocaust scholar and professor, Rabbi Michael Berenbaum. This was a… Read more »