Congregation B’nai Midbar is Southern Arizona’s newest Jewish congregation — with a 25-year history. The congregation began when three SaddleBrooke residents formed the Institute for Judaic Services and Studies in 2000. Its primary purpose was to hold monthly Shabbat services and High Holiday celebrations. Over the years, the IJSS employed several rabbis, cantorial soloists, and musical accompanists, with Rabbi Sanford Seltzer leading the group the longest, including in 2006, from 2013-2020, and 2022-2024, when he retired at age 92. Along… Read more »
Congregation B'nai Midbar Cantorial Soloist Eliyanah Powers and Rabbi Daniel Price lead a Shabbat service on Feb. 21, 2025. (Photo courtesy B'nai Midbar) Community Invited to Celebrate With the J at Annual Meeting
The Tucson Jewish Community Center (the J) will honor volunteers and staff, elect new board members, and celebrate the organization’s 2024 accomplishments in the Alice and Paul Baker Ballroom on Thursday, May 15 from 5:30-7:30pm. The entire community is invited to join for a celebratory evening. Honorees include Amy… Read more »
Handmaker Upgrades Great Room AV Thanks to JPSA Community Impact Grant
Handmaker has hosted countless events and programs in the Great Room. For the last several years, attendees of programs held there have frequently commented that the program was good, but the speaker was difficult to hear or the image on the screen was hard to see. This was very… Read more »
Southern Arizona’s Community Yom HaShoah Commemoration – Liberation: Life After Loss
On Sunday, April 27, at this year’s Southern Arizona Yom HaShoah Commemoration, we will come together as a community to commemorate 80 years since the end of the Holocaust. As in years past, we will gather to memorialize the more than six million Jews, including one and a half… Read more »
PCC Board Honors Lisa Grabell
At its April 2, 2025, board of governors meeting, Pima Community College honored Lisa Grabell for 20-plus years as a student mentor in PCC’s Teacher Certification program. Grabell is a Holocaust survivor from Vienna, Austria. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Mills College of Education in New York City,… Read more »
Jewish Latino Teen Coalition Commemorates Congressman Raul Grijalva
The 2019 Jewish Latino Teen Coalition with Congressman Raúl Grijalva in Washington, D.C. The Jewish Latino Teen Coalition extends its most heartfelt condolences regarding the passing of Congressman Raúl Grijalva. Congressman Grijalva and his office were instrumental in founding and supporting this program, which represents a unique partnership between the Tucson Jewish and Latino communities and has helped shape the lives of many… Read more »
Tucson Native Proud to Be Team Israel Baseball Manager Again Next Year
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: Ian Kinsler #3 of Team Israel throws to first base in the fifth inning during the baseball Opening Round Group B game between Team Israel and Team Republic of Korea on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Yokohama Baseball Stadium on July 29, 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images) Two years after he retired from a 14-year Major League Baseball career as a second baseman, Tucson native Ian Kinsler’s time with Team Israel began. “My Jewish heritage means a lot to me — it’s part of who I am,” said the 42-year-old Kinsler, who graduated from Oro Valley’s… Read more »
The Three Redemptions of Passover
We’ve just come out of the Seders on Passover — the festival of freedom. We sat at the Seder table, retold the story, tasted the bitter and the sweet, and declared once again, “In every generation, a person must see themselves as if they personally left Egypt.” But if… Read more »
Tucsonans Lobby Congress to Protect Social Safety Net
(L-R): E. Lee Bernick, professor of public policy at University of Nevada Las Vegas; Jessica Mehlman, associate vice president of impact and planning at Jewish Federations of North America; Sen. Ruben Gallego; Carlos A. Hernández, president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona; Andrew Gale, legacy officer at Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona; and Sophie German, director of older adult and community services at JFCS.
Three Tucsonans traveled to Washington, D.C., last week for a “Financial Vulnerability Fly-In” sponsored by Jewish Federations of North America. Fifty participants from across the country, including Carlos A. Hernández, president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona; Sophie German, director of older adult and… Read more »
MORE HEADLINES
- Emily McDonnell Named to JWA Writing Fellowship
- Chaim Grade Manuscript Discovered: Where Has It Been and Why Do I Care?
- Tucson J International Film Festival Anniversary is Coming Up
- Letter to the Editor: Now More Than Ever, Invest in Jewish Education
- JFCS Responds to the Growing Economic Crisis in Southern Arizona
- THA Middle Schoolers Shine Bright — and There’s More to Come
- Rabbi’s Corner: Finding Joy in this Month of Adar
- Daniella Ironi Will Amp Up Israeli Connection at Tucson’s Maccabi Games
- Chef Shares Story of Resilience, Forgiveness, and Empowerment at JPSA Women’s Connections lunch
