Magda Havas, Ph.D., is an expert on environmental toxicology. (Courtesy Electromagnetic Safety Alliance Inc.) Fourteen years ago, Jenny Baldwin, wife of Tucson neurosurgeon Hillel Baldwin, was having sleep problems and was diagnosed with restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder, making it almost impossible for her to get deep, restorative sleep. But over the past three years, she says, her symptoms “became… Read more »
Andrew S. Kraft, M.D. The University of Arizona Cancer Center performed experiments indicating that a triple-combination therapy might significantly boost the immune system’s ability to fight cancer and improve patient survival. Collaborating with researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina, the team published its results online in “Clinical Cancer Research” in October… Read more »
Irene Gefter, Jewish Family & Children's Services executive office Aaministrator; Helene Rothstein, CHAI Circle volunteer; Alice Steinfeld, CHAI Circle volunteer; Susan Kasle, JFCS vice president of community services.(Courtesy Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona)
One Sunday each month, two dedicated psychotherapists come together to provide a salutary space for female cancer patients and survivors in the Tucson Jewish community. Alice Steinfeld and Helene Rothstein are therapists and friends who facilitate the cancer support group, CHAI Circle. CHAI (Cancer, Healing and Inspiration) Circle has… Read more »
(L-R): Medical volunteers Audrey Russell-Kibble, D.N.P., F.N.P.C., F.A.A.N.P.; Richard Wahl, M.D.; and Kenneth Iserson, M.D., on Feb. 24, in the Benedictine monastery chapel in Tucson that serves as a dormitory for asylum-seekers.
(Debe Campbell/AJP)
Disembarking without fanfare and frequently no forewarning, asylum-seekers file, dozens at a time, into the old Benedictine monastery in midtown Tucson. Since Jan. 26, the monastery has been a makeshift “hospitality center” providing a safe place for families released from custody after applying for asylum at the Mexican border.… Read more »
(L-R): Gila Ben-Jamin, Arlene Kutoroff, and Sheryl Boris at a recent University of Arizona women’s basketball game where cancer survivors were recognized, with Tucson Cancer Conquerors participating.(Courtesy Marlyne Freedman)
For nearly a half-century, Gila Ben-Jamin had a secret she refused to share. She reluctantly accompanied a friend to a meeting of Tucson Cancer Conquerors 17 months ago and called it life-changing. There, for the first time, she was able to talk about what had once been a taboo… Read more »
Holocaust survivor Yulia Geninatalk makes a tile at the 28th Annual Holocaust Vigil on the University of Arizona mall. At least 500 people stopped by the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation’s 28th Annual Holocaust Vigil, held over 24 hours beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 13. Volunteers read the names of victims throughout the vigil. Visitors also had the opportunity to participate in an art project, meet… Read more »
Rabbi Hazzan Avraham Alpert Do you get frustrated from reading the news? If you are like me, you find it difficult to restrain yourself from posting and reposting on social media in response to the stories that upset you. It’s good, though, to have other ways to answer the irritations that come with… Read more »
Students in Melissa Landau’s third-grade class at Tucson Hebrew Academy won a SARSEF first place Grand Award for their project at the Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Foundation fair on March 7 in the animal and plant sciences category. The project, “Germination Station,” allowed students to use the… Read more »
Anna Howe will play the role of Mary Lennox in Arts Express’ production of “The Secret Garden,” March 22-31 at the Berger Performing Arts Center. Howe, a sixth-grader at Orange Grove Middle School, is a former Tucson Hebrew Academy student. Howe began performing with Kids Unlimited when she was… Read more »
Paul Patterson The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has hired Paul Patterson as a community security consultant. His office is located at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy, but he is available to synagogues and Jewish agencies and organizations throughout the community. Patterson, a 23-year veteran of law… Read more »
Israel is the 10th healthiest country in the world — 54 spots ahead of the United States. The Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, published Feb. 24, ranked 169 nations based on factors such as life expectancy and access to sanitation and medical care. Countries were penalized for tobacco use and… Read more »
(L-R) PJ Library volunteers Jane Ash, Karen Katz, and Lee Surwit; Rosalie Eisen, PJ Library national senior program officer; Mary Ellen Loebl, Tucson PJ Library coordinator; and Deborah Oseran, incoming Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona board chair, at the Federation Feb. 19 (Debe Campbell)
In Southern Arizona, nearly 900 families with children from 6 months to 11 years old receive free books monthly from PJ Library and PJ Our Way programs. And 98 percent of those parents say PJ Library has been a valuable parenting tool. “This is the largest cohort of young… Read more »
The late Pearl Kitay and her foster cat, Ringo (Courtesy Hearts That Purr Sanctuary)
Ringo the cat spent the past two glorious years with his foster “mom,” Pearl Kitay. Kitay was a dog person and Ringo was her first cat. But it didn’t take long for them to adjust to one another. In fact, they became best friends and housemates. “My routine is… Read more »
Volunteers unload groceries for Jewish Family & Children’s Services’s 2018 Matza & More campaign. (Jewish Family & Children's Services)
For more than 40 years, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona’s Matza & More project has packed and delivered Passover bags to Tucson area families who otherwise could not afford food and items for a Seder. Volunteers and staff fill the bags with fresh vegetables, gefilte fish,… Read more »
James Reid performs (Courtesy Chofetz Chayim)
Congregation Chofetz Chayim will present a Purim Palooza on Thursday, March 21 at 5 p.m. The palooza — defined as an exaggerated event — starts with wine and hors d’oeuvres on the synagogue patio, followed by a full course dinner, including hamantashen and other dessert selections. There will be… Read more »
Singer Max Raabe, in white tie, with the Palast Orchester [Frank Eidel)
Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester will play the Fox Tucson Theatre on March 15. Raabe founded the Palast Orchester in 1986 in Berlin, with fellow music students who loved to play music from Germany’s Golden 1920s. Their style and showmanship struck a chord with the public and their… Read more »
Mourners at the Mount of Olives in February 2019 (Amy Hirshberg Lederman)
On a cold and windy day in February, I drove an hour and a half from Haifa to Jerusalem in search of my great-great-grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Yehudah Franco. I had learned about him from stories my mother told me and a family tree carefully constructed by relatives who were… Read more »
Many members of the bromeliad family do well as house plants. (Photos courtesy: Pixbay.com)
Houseplants are trendy once more — which is “groovy” or “cool beans” or maybe just plain super. Not only do plants make oxygen for us to breathe, they bring nature indoors and can help us relax. And there are so many pretty ones to choose from. BUT! Here in… Read more »
With a name like Batsheva, I also have a Starbucks name, “Beth,” for ordering in person. I know that the name Batsheva is not easy for people. It might be the first time that they encounter the name and that it is hard to spell if you are not… Read more »
Looking to stretch your dollar a little further this year? If you live in a city where you paid less rent than the average American and get to keep more of your paycheck — you’re essentially earning more than you would in a city where rent was steeper. The… Read more »
