Posts By Lauren Bookwalter

People in the news 3.6.20

HB2682, a bill submitted by Tucson Rep. Alma Hernandez to make Holocaust education mandatory in Arizona, passed the State House of Representatives on Feb. 19.  Members and staff from Jewish Family & Children’s Services Holocaust Survivors program, who traveled to Phoenix Jan. 27 when the education committee voted on… Read more »

Or Chadash salutes JFSA’s Stuart Mellan- In Focus

Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona President and CEO Stuart Mellan, left, and Rabbi Thomas Louchheim with the September 1995 Arizona Jewish Posts announcing their respective endeavors, at Congregation Or Chadash’s Feb. 21 dinner honoring Mellan.

Eighty people attended Congregation Or Chadash’s “Celebrating 25 Years of Gratitude,” a dinner honoring Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, on Friday, Feb. 21. Mellan will retire at the end of May. Following the dinner, held at Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for… Read more »

In focus- Handmaker residents help Homer Davis kids

Handmaker residents and staff with weekend food packs for Homer Davis Elementary Schol, Feb. 18. Back row (L-R): Nahid Nematollahi, Elaine McLain, Carol Donisi, Norma Friel, and Brayton Person; front row: Roslyn Friedman and Donald Tuttle

Residents of Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging had an opportunity to do a mitzvah Feb. 18. They built weekend food packs for 96 food insecure students at Homer Davis Elementary School, as part of the Homer Davis Project of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, coordinated by Mary… Read more »

Purim fun should not eclipse message on education

Rabbi Yossie Shemtov

Two thousand five hundred years ago, Haman — then prime minister of the Persian Empire — succeeded in convincing King Ahasuerus to issue a decree to destroy the Jews throughout the land.  Following the issuance of this decree, Haman and his comrades went strolling with jovial hearts and encountered the… Read more »

Tucson, Phoenix are best cities for sunshine

It’s no surprise to us who live in the Sonoran Desert that, on average, we enjoy 286 sunny days a year in Tucson — while the U.S. average is 205. Old Pueblo residents can get ample doses of vitamin D while those in the Pacific Northwest are depleted. We… Read more »

Sanders and Trump skip AIPAC conference but take center stage anyway

Joe Biden made an appearance via video and Mike Bloomberg turned up in person. So did Mike Pence. Even the coronavirus got a shoutout. Despite threats of a boycott by Democrats and anxieties about communicable diseases, this year’s annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was… Read more »

Local, Israeli experts to discuss modern Israel at NW symposium

David Graizbord

Editor’s note: This event has been postponed until November due the spread of COVID-19. The Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona have canceled all public events through April 16 out of an abundance of caution.   Israeli politics, water scarcity, and medical advances will highlight “Israel… Read more »

Shane Preston Glesinger

Shane Preston Glesinger, son of Dr. April Glesinger and Jeff Glesinger, will celebrate becoming a b’nai mitzvah with his cousin Brady Bayard on March 7 at Temple Solel in Cardiff by the Sea, California. He is the grandson of Sue and Sonny Ross of Tucson and Jan and the late Jerry… Read more »

Surgeon looks to shed light on serial killers at medical professionals’ dinner

Brain surgeon Allan Hamilton, M.D., pictured at one of his TED talks, will speak to the Tucson Maimonides Society March 16.

Editor’s note: Due to the spread of COVID-19, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona on March 13 has cancelled all public events through April 16.  Tucson Maimonides Society’s March presentation sounds like it comes straight from the set of a television medical drama. Indeed, speaker Allan Hamilton, M.D., is… Read more »

Tucson’s first mezuzah week set to ensure spiritual security

Rabbi Moshe Peretz Gilden

“Tucson Mezuzah Week’ is the first community-wide opportunity, offered by Congregation Chofetz Chayim and the Southwest Torah Institute, to have every Jewish home in Tucson protected by the mitzvah of placing mezuzot on every doorpost,” says the congregation’s Rabbi Israel Becker. Often called the “Jewish security system,” the mezuzah is… Read more »

Congregation M’kor Hayim will focus on refugees for special Shabbat service

Gloria Goldman and Teresa Cavendish

Editor’s note: Due to the spread of coronavirus, Congregation M’kor Hayim has postponed this event. HIAS’ National Refugee Shabbat is a call to congregations across the country to dedicate sacred time on the March 20-21 Shabbat to honor refugees and asylum seekers. Congregation M’kor Hayim will hold a special Friday,… Read more »

Southern Arizona athlete racks up medals in Senior Olympics competition

David Tannenbaum isn’t weighted down by his bevy of Senior Olympics medals. He’ll be competing again at the national games in 2021. (Courtesy David Tannenbaum)

Senior athlete David Tannenbaum of Hereford, Arizona, recently completed a “decathlon” of his own making. “I set a goal to win 10 medals in three different sports,” he says. Achieving that goal at the 2020 Arizona Senior Olympics in February wasn’t easy but it qualified him for participation in… Read more »

ATC Cohorts Club promotes love of theater

Sara Lopez

Arizona Theatre Company launched a new program this year as another way to involve the local community. The program, called the Cohorts Club, gives citizens of Tucson and Phoenix the opportunity to see everything that encompasses a show ATC puts on. Designated members of the public attend rehearsals, tech… Read more »

Rugelach, Syrian pepper dip on menu for Tucson Festival of Books demo

Leah Koenig

Leah Koenig will be representing Jewish cuisine at the Tucson Festival of Books with her new cookbook, “The Jewish Cookbook,” which includes recipes from around the globe. Koenig’s recipes have been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine’s Grub Street, and other popular… Read more »