Nitay Bar, left, and Yuval Malka listen to speakers at their lehitraot party on May 6, 2026. (Photo: Phyllis Braun/AJP)

Farewell from Southern Arizona’s Senior Community Shlicha

May 11, 2026 / Yuval Malka, Weintraub Israel Center

I’m sitting down to write my final communication as Southern Arizona’s senior community shlicha, and I honestly can’t believe the time has come. It feels like only yesterday that Nitay and I arrived here, but looking back at everything we’ve been through together, it also feels like a whole lifetime.  When we first chose to come to Tucson, it felt so natural to us. Back when we signed our Ketubah at our wedding, we promised each other that we would always look for adventures that allow us to give back and grow. From the moment… Read more »

High School Baseball Star Looking Forward to Future at UA
May 7, 2026 / Michael Murra, Special to the AJP

Benjamin Ball, an 18-year-old senior outfielder at Hamilton High School in Chandler, starts each day by wrapping tefillin with his father. He wears his Star of David necklace on and off the baseball diamond and says the Shema before each game. Ball, the fifth-rated Arizona high school senior baseball… Read more »

Bat Mitzvah: Rosalind Kose
April 30, 2026 /

Rosalind Kose will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on May 2, 2026, at Kol Ami Synagogue. She is the daughter of Frank Kose and Dara Oseran. Rosalind attends Emily Gray Middle School. Her hobbies include dancing, cooking, artistic design, and creating art projects. She also likes to explore nature… Read more »

Bat Mitzvah: Vivian Hanley
April 30, 2026 /

Vivian Hanley will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on May 2, 2026, at Kol Ami Synagogue. She is the daughter of Todd and Rebecca Hanley. Vivian attends Dodge Middle School. She is an athlete who plays soccer year-round and recently helped her Dodge Middle School team win the… Read more »

Birth: Ari Dean Tobin
April 30, 2026 /

A son, Ari Dean Tobin, was born April 28, 2026, to Tracy and Scott Tobin. Ari joins his big sister, Shayla. Grandparents are Debra Jacobs, Eric Tobin, and Nancy and Bob (of blessed memory) Ammann, all of Tucson.… Read more »

Southern Arizona’s Yom HaShoah Commemoration Focuses on Survivors’ Legacies
April 21, 2026 / Sharon Glassberg, JFCS Coordinator of Holocaust Survivor Services & Jewish Inclusion
An older woman lights a candle on a candelabra. To her left and right are a teenage girl and boy. A woman stands at a podium behind the candlelighting scene.Theresa Dulgov, a Holocaust survivor from Hungary, lights a candle with her great-grandchildren Fabian Ybarra (left) and Adacelia Figueroa at the Southern Arizona community Yom HaShoah commemoration on April 12, 2026. Raisa Moroz, JFCS director for Holocaust services, looks on from the podium. (Photo: Tucson J)

Community members, clergy, and other local leaders came together with Holocaust survivors and members of the second and third generations on Sunday, April 12, in the Paul and Alice Baker Ballroom at the Tucson Jewish Community Center to honor the survivors, the flickers of light that came out of… Read more »

TJMHC’s Lakin Lecture Series Will Present ‘Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom’
April 20, 2026 / Lori Shepherd, TJMHC Executive Director
A headshot of a man with a book cover inset.Ariel Burger with his book, "Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel's Classroom"

Every student who tours Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center will hear the words of Elie Wiesel, “When you listen to a witness, you become a witness.” On Thursday, May 7 at 6:00 p.m. in the Paul & Alice Baker Ballroom at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, the Lakin… Read more »

Celebrating Four Years of Better Together
April 20, 2026 / Nanci Levy, Handmaker Community Outreach Coordinator
An older woman seated holds up a card. Behind and to her left are two teenagers.Handmaker resident Karen Green with Better Together participants Avey Hanshaw and Oliver Sheinbein (Photo: Nanci Levy/Handmaker)

On Friday, April 10, Handmaker residents gathered in the Great Room alongside BBYO teens, Tucson Hebrew Academy students, and family members for a truly special evening — celebrating Shabbat, marking the conclusion of Passover, and honoring four remarkable years of the Better Together intergenerational program. More than four… Read more »

‘All You Need is Love: A Tikkun Leil Shavuot Experience’ Communal Gathering Planned
April 20, 2026 / Jennifer Lorch Selco, Tucson J Senior Director of Jewish Life + Engagement
shavuot book only

Each year, as the holiday of Shavuot approaches, Jewish communities around the world prepare to revisit a defining moment in their collective story: The receiving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Traditionally understood as a spiritual marriage between God and the Jewish people, Shavuot has also come to be… Read more »