Yearly Archives 2019

My heart jumped when I saw the phone number of my oldest son’s school on the screen. “Hello?” “Is this Dr. Skinazi?” “Yes.” “Don’t worry, Lucas is fine. Only — I just wanted to let you know that there was a little anti-Semitic incident at school today.” Breathe in,… Read more »

With anywhere from 1,000-2,000 people walking Tumamoc Hill daily — whether for the cardio workout or to commune with nature — a new program is being developed to focus on protecting the site. Tumamoc Stewards, or Guardianes de Tumamoc, will be a physical presence on the hill, helping maintain… Read more »

More than 400 Jewish teens from around the world gathered for the sixth annual Active Jewish Teens Conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 7-10, organized by the JDC, the global Jewish humanitarian organization also known as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. A bar/bat mitzvah ceremony for five teens, a conference… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center will expand its capacity to serve people with disabilities by integrating Arts for All, a Tucson-based organization founded in 1985, into its programming early next year. Arts for All provides opportunities for adults and children with and without disabilities to participate in performing and… Read more »

Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny, left, and Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny

Update 11.22.19: This scholar-in-residence weekend is supported by The Rabbi Marcus Breger Fund at Congregation Anshei Israel. Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny of Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles will bring new music and innovative, interactive Shabbat services to Tucson as Congregation Anshei Israel’s scholar-in-residence, Dec. 13 and 14. Her… Read more »

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona recently partnered with a national initiative that provides emergency funding to local Holocaust survivors. Assistance from the Seed the Dream Foundation and KAVOD-Ensuring Dignity for Holocaust Survivors now is available for any Holocaust survivor through the new KAVOD Survivors of the… Read more »

Beth Shalom Temple Center in Green Valley will host a star-gazing evening with acclaimed astronomer and author David H. Levy, Ph.D., on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Levy is among the most successful comet discoverers in history, having discovered or co-discovered 23 comets, nine of them using his own backyard telescopes.… Read more »

David Hazony

David Hazony, Ph.D., will present “Aliyah of the Mind: Zionism as Jewish Emancipation” on Monday, Dec. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, as part of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies’ Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series. Most people think Zionism is about supporting… Read more »

The Tracing Roots intergenerational program, a partnership between Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging and Tucson Hebrew High, will be held at Handmaker again in 2020, beginning Sunday, Jan. 12. High school student participants will be paired with Handmaker residents and get to know them through the Jan. 12… Read more »

Robert Schwebel, Ph.D., a Tucsonan since 1981, is the author of ‘Leap of Power.’

Imagine telling adolescents, “You don’t have to say you’re going to quit using drugs” and then dealing with their parents and community. Imagine encouraging young clients to talk about what they like about drugs instead of focusing on the harm drugs can cause. Counter-intuitive and certainly non-traditional, these approaches… Read more »

Teresa Corbin

Women caring for children of all ages with disabilities can find support with the Jewish Mothers/Grandmothers Special Needs Support Group, which meets at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. “It really doesn’t matter what the special need or disability is, the feelings around it are very similar,” says Joyce Stuehringer,… Read more »

(JTA) — A decade ago, the tiny Jewish Community of Porto didn’t have enough money to hire a rabbi or even fix the roof of its synagogue. Today, this Orthodox congregation of 400 people in northern Portugal has enough for both, along with a kosher hotel, a ritual bath,… Read more »

RAMAPO, N.Y. (JTA) — On the street where a man was stabbed to within an inch of his life on Wednesday, yellow buses waited to ferry young children to elementary school. Steps away from where his blood had splattered on the asphalt, young men shuffled in and out of… Read more »

Harry Victor Katz, 81, died Oct. 31, 2019, in Coral Gables, Florida. Mr. Katz was born on June 14, 1938, in Los Angeles, where he spent the first 26 years of his life with his parents, Alfred and Lillian Katz, and his brother, Roger Katz. He attended John Marshall… Read more »

(L-R): Howard Levkowitz, Ella Levkowitz, Elayne Levkowitz, Tom Herz, Bertie Levkowitz, Helene Goodman, and Dan Goodman at the Tucson Hebrew Academy Tikkun Olam dinner Oct. 27. (Courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy)

Tucson’s Jewish History Museum hosted a panel of local Holocaust survivors on Friday, Nov. 8, in commemoration of Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass,” a series of pogroms on Nov. 9, 1938 that signaled the beginning of the Holocaust. The survivors read from “To Tell Our Stories: Holocaust Survivors… Read more »

(L-R): Howard Levkowitz, Ella Levkowitz, Elayne Levkowitz, Tom Herz, Bertie Levkowitz, Helene Goodman, and Dan Goodman at the Tucson Hebrew Academy Tikkun Olam dinner Oct. 27. (Courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy)

More than 250 people joined Tucson Hebrew Academy in celebrating one of its primary founders and supporters, Bertie Levkowitz, at its annual Tikkun Olam gala on Sunday, Oct. 27. The night began with a cocktail hour and silent auction, followed by dinner and a tribute award program. Howard Levkowitz,… Read more »

Photojournalist Linda Solomon will celebrate the launch of her new book, “The Queen Next Door: An Intimate Portrait of Aretha Franklin” at the Tucson Museum of Art’s “A Night With Aretha” on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 6-8 p.m. The evening will include performances by Ann Hampton Callaway and Charity Lockhart,… Read more »

The Rialto Theatre will present “The Arroyo Café Radio Show” on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 1 p.m., taping the show for broadcast on Dec. 24 on NPR 89.1. Tickets are $20; proceeds will benefit Casa Alitas Aid to Migrant Families, The U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants, HIAS (founded… Read more »

Erika Spivack

The Women’s Philanthropy Advisory Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is seeking nominations for the 14th annual Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award, recognizing an outstanding Jewish teenage girl. The award honors Zehngut, a community leader who died in 2005. Nominees should be high school juniors or seniors who… Read more »

Hadassah Southern Arizona will announce its Woman of the Year for 2019 and install its 2020 officers at a wine and chocolate philanthropy event on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 1:30 p.m. at the Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life, 180 W. Magee Road, Suite 140. The Enchanted… Read more »