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 »

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 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

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

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 »