Senior Community Shlicha Yuval Malka (front) and Junior Community Shlicha Daniella Ironi with the Banai family — Uri, Noam, and Boaz — who performed at the 2025 Yom Ha’aztmaut festival in Tucson (Photo courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)

Observing the ‘Yamim’: Tucson’s Israeli Emissaries Plan Memorial Day, Independence Day Commemorations

April 10, 2026 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Feature Writer

Yuval Malka, Southern Arizona’s senior community shlicha (Israeli emissary), and Daniella Ironi, junior community shlicha, have been planning events for two of the most important dates on the Israeli calendar: Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, and Yom Ha’aztmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, known collectively as the spring “Yamim” (Hebrew for “days”).  These two holidays, Malka says, “have all of our story within them.”  Malka and Ironi have been working with a volunteer committee of Americans and Israelis living in Southern Arizona on both events, along with local synagogues… Read more »

Community and Purpose
April 17, 2026 / Judith Manelis, Special to the AJP
Judith Manelis

As many older adults know, it is often difficult to forge close personal relationships when you relocate to a new place. Most people already have an intimate circle of friends, a comfortable routine, regular work or leisure activities — organized lives. And suddenly, there you are, reaching out and… Read more »

Party Will Celebrate 18 Years of Mitzvah Magic
April 17, 2026 /
Mitzvah Magic co-chairs Danielle Larcom (left) and Katie Stellitano Rosen with some of the gifts destined for needy Jewish families in Southern Arizona this Passover. Mitzvah Magic is a joint program of Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona and Jewish Family & Children’s Services.

Mitzvah Magic, a volunteer program that supports local Jewish families in need, is celebrating its 18th year with a birthday bash on Wednesday, May 13. Marlyne Freedman, then a vice president at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, started the program in 2008 in response to the economic… Read more »

Commemorating the Holocaust at the University of Arizona
April 15, 2026 / Morgan Reimer, Hillel Engagement Associate
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of Congregation Chaverim reads the names of people who were murdered in the Holocaust during the University of Arizona Hillel Yom HaShoah vigil on April 13, 2026. (Photo courtesy UA Hillel)

To commemorate Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) for 2026, the University of Arizona Hillel gathered students and community members on the UA Mall to bear witness together. This was the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic that a name-reading vigil has occurred on the UA mall. At… Read more »

Bar Mitzvah: Cyrus Cohen
April 13, 2026 /

Cyrus Cohen will celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, April 18, at Kol Ami Synagogue. He is the son of Margaret Cohen and Matthew Adams. Cyrus attends The Gregory School, where he is in the seventh grade. In addition to his regular classes, he plays in the orchestra… Read more »

Mezuzah Case Collection Finds a Home at Center for Jewish Philanthropy
March 29, 2026 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Feature Writer
James Heuser and Carol Mintz Heuser display their mezuzah case collection at the Center for Jewish Philanthropy on March 9, 2026. (Photo courtesy JPSA)

On March 9, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona received a special donation from Carol Mintz Heuser and James Heuser. The gift was a collection of 52 mezuzah cases and scrolls James had saved from demolition over decades of working at a retirement community in New Jersey. … Read more »

JFCS of Southern Arizona Names Kseniya DeLano President & CEO
March 24, 2026 / Viviane Lovato, JFCS Development Associate
Kseniya DeLano

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona (JFCS) has named Kseniya DeLano as the agency’s president and chief executive officer, effective April 6. DeLano joined JFCS in 2024 as the agency’s finance director and most recently served as chief administrative officer. “As a member… Read more »

Yom HaShoah Commemoration to Honor Holocaust Survivor Legacies, Community Commitment to Memory and Education
March 24, 2026 / Lori Shepherd, TJMHC Executive Director

All are invited to be a part of Southern Arizona’s annual Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) commemoration on Sunday, April 12, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. This year’s event, titled ”The Legacy We Leave Behind,” will be held in the Paul and Alice Baker Ballroom at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The commemoration is… Read more »

Tucson Hebrew Academy Spanish Program Expands Curriculum
March 24, 2026 /
Tucson Hebrew Academy Spanish Teacher Miguel Montemayor reviews vocabulary with a student (Photo courtesy THA)

This fall, Tucson Hebrew Academy launched a full-fledged Spanish program, expanding on what was formerly a middle school elective. On a recent Wednesday, eight students from the fifth, seventh, and eighth grades engaged in a spirited game of Pictionary, reinforcing their vocabulary lessons on food and restaurants as… Read more »