Yearly Archives 2014

Ariana Margaret Deitch, daughter of Valerie and Michael Deitch, will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, July 5 at Congregation Bet Shalom. She is the granddaughter of Nicholas Limberis and Margie Davenport of Vero Beach, Fla., Vicki Limberis of Melbourne Beach, Fla., and the late Melvin Deitch and… Read more »

MARILYN FORSTOT, a Sahuarita resident, recently published a novel, “More Precious than Rubies,” available as an e-book through amazon. com. Set during and after the American Revolution, the novel shows early American life from a Jewish perspective. Forstot is a member of Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley,… Read more »

WESTFIELD, N.J. (N.J. Jewish News) — Over the years, Temple Emanu-El of Westfield, the largest Reform synagogue in New Jersey, has been on the receiving end of public criticism for a variety of reasons. As a newly arrived rabbi in the late-1960s, I learned how our temple was upbraided… Read more »

The TUCSON JEWISH COMMUITY CENTER announced its 2014-15 board of directors at its annual meeting on May 13. BARNEY HOLTZMAN, managing director of Tucson law office Fennemore Craig, will be board chair. Holtzman, who has served on the JCC board since 2000, is also a board member of Ben’s… Read more »

(L-R) Front kneeling: Adrian Lehrman; front row: Rachel Badalov, Alyssa Lee, Rochelle Felix, Dreo Polonski, Or Shenkar, Sapir Curiel, Rebecka Sokoloff, Heidi Saxton, Emily Youngerman, Lola Maas, Rivkah Selmon, Alexis McKinstry; back row: Noah Meyer, Avin Kreisler, Rafe Centuori, Benjamin Manninen, Jacob Anderson

Tucson Hebrew Academy graduation Tucson Hebrew Academy held its eighth grade graduation on Thursday, May 8. Based on their academic achievements, the graduates had a variety of high school options from which to choose. This year’s graduates will move on to University High School, St. Gregory College Preparatory School,… Read more »

Alan Robert Pearlman, died June 11, 2014. Mr. Pearlman was preceded in death by his parents, Bernard and Shirley Pearlman. Survivors include his wife, Ann Abramson; sons, Michael Pearlman and Adam Pearlman; brother, David Pearlman; sister, Wendy (Steve) Weiss; brothers- and sisters-in-law, Daniel (Amy) Abramson and Lawrence (Laurie) Abramson;… Read more »

Bryna Shirley Ben-Asher, 78, died on June 14, 2014. Born in Buffalo, N.Y., Mrs. Ben-Asher received her bachelor’s of science in physical therapy from the University of Buffalo, where she met M. David Ben-Asher. They married in 1956 and moved to Tucson in 1964. She served on the Catalina… Read more »

“The Storyteller,” life-size bronze sculpture by David Unger

Tucson sculptor David Unger will have a one-man show July 4-31 at Bill Hester Fine Art in Santa Fe, N.M. The show will feature more than 30 of his bronze sculptures, and Unger is particularly excited about his life-size piece, “The Storyteller.” “The Storyteller” can hold children in its… Read more »

Trip members on the promenade at the port at Tel Aviv. Back row (L-R): Howard Peck, Meir Eisenman, Claire Peck, Carolyn Crowder, Esther Becker, Rabbi Israel Becker; front row: Howard Toff, Cheryl Toff, Renee Geffen, Carol Zuckert, Marcia Winick, Alayne Greenberg, Bruce Greenberg; seated: Lyn Lewis, Clifford Altfeld, Ruth Swedarsky

                        My wife, Lyn, and I recently returned from the Congregation Chofetz Chayim/Southwest Torah Institute 2014 Israel Experience, filled with enthusiasm for the trip and the many unique experiences we shared with a group of 13 led by… Read more »

People gather for a vigil for three kidnapped Israeli teens outside the Israeli consulate in New York City on June 16. According to the Israeli defense Forces (IDF), Gilad Shaar (16) Naftali Frenkel, (16) and Eyal Yifrach (19) have been missing since late Thursday or Friday and were last seen around Gush Etzion. Israeli soldiers have detained over 150 Palestinian suspects in the search for the three teens. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Since the three teenagers were abducted last week, Israel’s goals have been simple: Find them and punish their kidnappers. Realizing those goals, though, is far from a simple task. The international community has condemned the kidnappings, and Israel has spread its forces across the West Bank to search for… Read more »

This year, the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona combined multiple grant programs into one, the 2014 Community Impact Grants. Through the new, aligned grants program, the JCF and the JFSA awarded more than $410,000, which includes $268,472 to Jewish organizations in… Read more »

When people in their 70s or 80s walk into a hospital emergency room with no obvious physical symptoms, medical residents often think their problem must be brain impairment. But that’s “nonsense,” said Ole J. Thienhaus, M.D., of the University of Arizona department of psychiatry, speaking at the “Aging and… Read more »

Gladys Hanfling holds a Torah with a needlepoint mantle she created in 2003 for Temple Emanu-El.

Gladys Hanfling, 87, isn’t afraid of anything. “I’m chutzpahdik,” she says, smiling. Life is full of experiences so why should anything stop her? As for her age, “I don’t look it. I don’t act it. I don’t think it,” Hanfling told the AJP. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., she… Read more »

Deborah Kalar-Crowder, emergency financial assistance manager at Jewish Family & Children’s Services, receives packages for Mitzvah Magic.

For a family struggling to make ends meet, the gifts and holiday items provided by Tucson’s Mitzvah Magic program are “a godsend,” one recipient recently told the AJP. We’ll call her “Rachel.” Mitzvah Magic, a program of Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy and Jewish Family & Children’s… Read more »

Seth Galena and Hindy Poupko, at his right shoulder, celebrate the birth of their son Akiva at his bris, June 15, 2014. (Piha Studio)

NEW YORK (JTA) – Even before their daughter, Ayelet Galena, was diagnosed with a rare bone marrow disease called dyskeratosis congenita around her first birthday, parents Hindy Poupko and Seth Galena knew they wanted to have more children. But once the diagnosis arrived, the couple had a dilemma: There… Read more »

Here are some hot summer reading suggestions from your AJP editors. For me, the public library is an Aladdin’s cave of treasures waiting to be discovered. A recent find on a recommended reading display was “Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment,” a 2009 title by A.J. Jacobs, author… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — A special panel tasked with examining the governance and strategic vision of the Claims Conference is recommending that the organization shift its long-term focus to Holocaust education and remembrance, JTA has learned. The panel was appointed last year following a scandal involving the Claims Conference’s… Read more »

Misha Gurbachov, deputy director of the Jewish Community of Chisinau, and Limmud Maldova co-organizer Julia Seinman in Chisinau, May 23, 2014. (George Omen/Limmud FSU(

CHISINAU, Moldova (JTA) — Standing opposite the house at Romana Street 13 in the Moldovan capital, a group of tourists is struggling to hear Irina Shihova’s account of the horrors that transpired here more than a century ago, but her voice is drowned out by a pop song playing… Read more »

In response to the kidnapping of three boys last week, some Israelis have prayed. Some have voiced support on social media. And some have done what they do best: they made an app. Prompted by the kidnapping and set to launch in the near future, the SOS Israel app will allow anyone in… Read more »

Demonstrators rally outside the Israeli consulate in Manhattan to express solidarity with three Israeli teens who were abducted in the West Bank, June 16, 2014. (Miriam Moster/JTA)

NEW YORK (JTA) – The Reform movement posted a prayer. Chabad asked followers to pledge to do a mitzvah. The Jewish Federations of North America set up a Web page to express solidarity. The disappearance of three Israeli teens in the West Bank last week is being taken as a call to action uniting… Read more »