JPSA Announces New Board Leadership for 2023-24

May 31, 2023 /

Following its annual Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA) announced a new Executive Committee for 2023-24 and introduced six new Board members. Liz Kanter Groskind was elected as the new Board Chair, replacing outgoing Chair Bruce Ash, who will remain on the Board as a trustee. In his concluding remarks, Ash cited many accomplishments at JPSA, “We raised nearly a million additional dollars to aid Jews here during Covid and Jews in Ukraine… Read more »

Liz Kanter Groskind, JPSA Board Chair 2023-24

Of Blessed Memory: Melanie Pozez
June 1, 2023 /

Melanie Pozez, beloved wife, sister, mother, grandmother, aunt, cousin, philanthropist, activist and friend died May 27, 2023 at her home in Los Angeles. Melanie was born August 4, 1950, in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Shaol and Evie Pozez. A veritable Jewish Francis of Assisi, Melanie rescued thousands of… Read more »

Israel at 75 Fuels Momentum Around Israel Engagement
May 23, 2023 / Abbii Cook, Director of the Weintraub Israel Center

As I have referred to in a variety of different circles, the Weintraub Israel Center, a partnership between the Tucson J and Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA), has developed a generative mission statement that invites each of us to go on a self-propelled journey to individually connect in… Read more »

New State Budget to Greatly Aid Non-Profits, TJMHC
May 23, 2023 / Lynn Davis, JCRC Director

Since 2004, nonprofit organizations around the country, including many in our local Jewish community, have benefited from the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program. This initiative, spearheaded by Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), provides support for physical security enhancements and activities, including planning and training, to nonprofit organizations that… Read more »

Jewish Ecosystem of Southern Arizona Holds Third Meeting; Embraces Relationship Building
May 23, 2023 /

The Jewish Ecosystem of Southern Arizona held its third meeting, May 2 at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. The meeting, attended by 37 representatives from various local Jewish organizations, furthered the mission and agenda of the Ecosystem’s first two meetings (here and here) in 2022. The goal of… Read more »

Project Shalom to Bring Joy and Community to Local Older Adults
May 23, 2023 / Jessica E. Mattix, JFCS Director of Marketing and Communications

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona (JFCS) is partnering with Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona on a new endeavor—Project Shalom. Project Shalom is a volunteer-based holiday program for Jewish older adults and adults with disabilities. “We came up with the idea for Project Shalom as a result… Read more »

Hebrew High in Tucson Celebrates 45 Years
May 23, 2023 / Natasia Hansen, THA Director of Marketing, Communications, & Admissions

The Hebrew High program at Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA) is designed to provide continued education in Hebrew language studies and to promote an immersion in Israeli culture. The curriculum offers high school students in 9th through 12th grades a path in which they can further explore and expand upon… Read more »

A Busy Month as Handmaker Connects to the Jewish Community
May 19, 2023 / Nanci Levy, Handmaker Community Outreach Coordinator

P. Elayne Poston, Handmaker VP of Operations, attended her first ever Israel Festival at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on April 30. It was a wonderful introduction to the Tucson Jewish Community. She met so many people and had her very first taste of falafel too! Elayne was joined… Read more »

Sybil Offen, My Late-in-Life Lesbian Friend, Was the Best Jewish Mother a Baby Dyke Could Have
May 11, 2023 / Deb Sinness

This article first appeared on PrideSource.com and in Between The Lines, Detroit Metro’s award-winning biweekly LGBTQ+ print publication. The nametag stopped me in my tracks. I immediately swung around to talk to the gray-haired woman with a friendly face sitting in the author booth at the March 2023 Tucson… Read more »