Yearly Archives 2017

Tips for keeping a busy family organized

(jolopes/stock.Adobe.com)

(StatePoint) When it comes to busy families, things have a habit of becoming scattered quickly. Here are five ways to keep everything and everyone organized, all the time. 1. Centralize information. Hang an erasable calendar or family to-do list in a high-traffic area of the home where everyone can… Read more »

Business briefs 12.1.17

JESSE CHARLES has opened MAVERICK DESIGN & CONSULTING, featuring a demo theater to help clients design a new audio/video system or improve their current one. Visit avmaverick.com for more information. ELYSA CRUM and SHERRY WEISS have created TASTE OF TUCSON DOWNTOWN CULINARY AND CULTURE TOURS. Longtime Tucson residents with a… Read more »

People in the news 12.1.17

MARK ROBERT GORDON has filed to run for Arizona Secretary of State in the 2018 election. Born in Phoenix, he spent much of his youth participating in programs at the old Phoenix Jewish Community Center, Beth El, and Phoenix High School for Jewish Studies. He earned degrees from Princeton… Read more »

Ava Ilana Silverman

Ava Ilana Silverman, daughter of Breann and Mark Silverman, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Saturday, Dec. 16 at Congregation Or Chadash. She is the granddaughter of Marsha and Mel Silverman of Tucson and Lynn and Bruce Schmidt of Prescott. Ava attends Emily Gray Junior High where she… Read more »

Peter Constable

Peter Graham Constable, 87, died Nov. 16, 2017.     Mr. Constable was born in Chelmsford, England. After a number of years as a seaman, first on tankers and then as a steward on luxury passenger ships (including the Queen of Bermuda and the Queen Mary), he immigrated to… Read more »

Local woman’s Israel trip focuses on people-to-people connections

Back row (L-R): Bob and Peggy Feinman, Nancy Rubin, Nancy Vornholt; front row: Ginny Spencer, Rachel Rabin Yaacov, Marlyne Freedman (Courtesy Marlyne Freedman)

Marlyne Freedman, past senior vice president of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, has traveled to Israel many times. A few friends asked her to assemble and lead a small, intimate group of first-timers to visit our homeland. From Oct. 14-28, Tucsonans Peggy and Bob Feinman, Ginny Spencer and… Read more »

Local expert: mitigating climate change is way to practice tikkun olam

Gregg Garfin, Ph.D.

Climate change is happening in the Southwestern United States and across the globe, and Judaism gives us an incentive to address environmental problems, says Gregg Garfin, Ph.D., university director of the Southwest Climate Science Center at the University of Arizona. Garfin presented “The Changing Climate of Arizona and the… Read more »

Theater maven to be JFSA Lions’ guest speaker

Susan Claassen

Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy will present an event for Lion of Judah and Pomegranate members, “Jewish Arts & Culture: From the Historical to the Hysterical with Susan Claassen,” on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at a private home. Claassen is celebrating her 43rd year with Invisible… Read more »

Holiday concert to highlight Jewish composers

Editor’s note: The time of this concert has been changed to 6:30 p.m. Many holiday songs were written by Jewish composers, including Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas”; “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!” by Sammy Cahn (born Cohen) and Jule Styne (who also wrote “The Christmas Waltz”… Read more »

Journalism professors to explore election, fake news at Brandeis ‘University on Wheels’

Eileen McNamara, left, and Maura Jane Farrelly, Ph.D.

The Tucson Chapter of Brandeis National Committee and the Tucson Jewish Community Center will sponsor a BNC University On Wheels program next month, “From Election to Investigation and all the ‘Fake News’ in Between: Media Coverage of This Presidency.” Eileen McNamara, Brandeis University professor of the practice of journalism… Read more »

Men’s fishing trip a chance to share wisdom

Tucson’s Men’s Next Gen Group and Chai Life Men’s Group on a San Diego fishing boat. Back row (L-R): Rob Glaser, Alex Chaffin, David Goldstein, Gary Kippur, Nolan Shifren, Barry Baker, Christian Yoder, Jeff Katz, Matt Landau, Daniel Ash, Mike Ash, Doron Sears, Lex Sears, Paul Baker, Michael Shiner; front row: Tom Warne, Steve Silverman, Larry Selig, Josh Hurand, Jeff Wortzel, Bobby Present, Adam Goldstein, Stuart Mellan, Mitch Pozez, Ben Pozez, Josh Silverman, Ben Silverman, Damion Alexander, Todd Sadow

The Tucson Jewish community’s Men’s Next Gen group and the Chai Life Men’s Group took a weekend in San Diego Nov. 3-5 to build intergenerational relationships. While the trip included a fishing excursion (perhaps with a small wager on who would haul in the largest fish), great food, and… Read more »

‘MeshugaNutcracker’ film coming to theaters for Hanukkah

A scene from 'The MeshugaNutrcracker!' (Betsy Kershner)

“The MeshugaNutcracker!,” featuring a Klezmer-ized orchestration of Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” debuts in movie theatres nationwide for one night, on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Called an “enchanting festival of light-hearted glee and meaningful warmth” (Los Angeles Times), this Hanukkah-themed musical comedy arrives on the last night of the holiday, presented by… Read more »

A child shall lead them on ‘Fanny’s Journey’

A scene from 'Fanny's Journey,' coming to the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival

Movies about Jews evading the Holocaust are, frankly, irresistible. We never tire of these celluloid beacons of hope, not least because we can never forget that the victims greatly outnumbered the escapees. The challenge that filmmakers face in this area is keeping the rays of light in proportion to… Read more »

It’s always Hanukkah in this picture-perfect Italian town

This is one of the nearly 200 menorahs at the Museum of Lights in Casale Monferrato (Foundation for Jewish Art, History, and Culture at Casale Monferrato and in Eastern Piedmont - Onlus)

It’s always Hanukkah in this picturesque town in northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Jews have lived in Casale Monferrato for more than 500 years, with the community reaching its peak of 850 members at about the time Jews here were granted civil rights in 1848. The town still boasts one… Read more »

Garden books for Hanukkah offer options from cookery to yard design

Books make a great gift because they contain the precious gift of knowledge. Here are eight gardening books for all types of folks, whether they garden outside or indoors, or just cook with vegetables that others grow. To start off — who doesn’t like a cookbook? “The Renee’s Garden… Read more »

Artful touches in new building express Federation mission

A view from the second floor of the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy. (David J. Del Grande/AJP)

When the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona began designing its new building, not only did Federation leaders want to modernize their workspace, they wanted to create a sacred landmark, says President and CEO Stuart Mellan. “We really wanted the building to be a place of meaning,” says Mellan. “We… Read more »