Arts and Culture | In Focus | Local | News | Our Town

TJJ entertains with Jewish Summer Arts Festival

Michael Markowitz, Joyce Luna, Bat Florence Portugal, and Eric Schaffer (Photo courtesy SpryTime)

On Saturday, June 15, Tucson Jews for Justice hosted the Tucson Jewish Summer Arts Festival at the Jewish History Museum. The event raised over $500 for local migrant shelters, which will be matched by Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. About 75 people attended, enjoying music from Joyce Luna with Michael Markowitz, Bat Florence Portugal, and Eric Schaffer; comedy from Gordy Spike Rutman, Rafi Herreras-Zinman, Jessie Stapp, and Roxy Merrari; and poetry from Mayor Jonathan Rothschild. Daniel and Alma Hernandez were emcees. The event was conceived by Portugal and Tucson Jews for Justice co-founder Tony Zinman as a creative response to the synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh and Poway, California, that struck the American Jewish community in the past year.