Samuel George Arcus, 95, died Jan. 5, 2017. Mr. Arcus was born in New York. When he was 7 his mother died and he was placed in the Hebrew National Orphan Home. He stayed there for almost 12 years. He went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree… Read more »
Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor
Doris M. Rosenkrantz
Doris M. Rosenkrantz, 90, died Jan. 4, 2017. Mrs. Rosenkrantz was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. She moved to Tucson in 1980 and was a longtime member of Temple Emanu-El and a life member of Hadassah. Mrs. Rosenkrantz was preceded in death by her husband, Sidney, known as El Cid;… Read more »
James S. Levy
James S. Levy, 84, died Dec. 26, 2016 in Kona, Hawaii. Born in Tucson, Mr. Levy was a descendent of the pioneer Levy family of Southern Arizona. He was a graduate of Tucson High School and the University of Arizona. He worked for Levy’s Department Store as a buyer… Read more »
JFSA ‘Purse and Paint Party’ will benefit homeless women
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy social action committee will hold a Purse and Paint Party to benefit Sister Jose Women’s Center next month. The party will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m. at Tucson Hebrew Academy. Women are asked to donate new or… Read more »
CJE accepting scholarship applications for Jewish camps
The Coalition for Jewish Education of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is accepting applications for scholarships to Jewish overnight camps for the summer of 2017. The need-based camp scholarship is funded by the Mo and Frances Beren Family Scholarship Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.… Read more »
True Concord to bring ‘Elijah’ to Desert Song Festival
True Concord Voices & Orchestra will perform Felix Mendelssohn’s “Elijah” at the 5th annual Tucson Desert Song Festival later this month. Mendelssohn’s oratorio retells events from the life of Prophet Elijah in the Books of Kings. “‘Elijah’ is, like its composer, complex,” says True Concord Musical Director Eric Holtan.… Read more »
Balalaika orchestra to bring familiar folk sounds to PCC
The Arizona Balalaika Orchestra will present its 37th annual concert of traditional folk music from Russia, Poland, Ukraine and other Slavic countries, on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at Pima Community College Center for the Arts Proscenium Theater, West Campus, 2202 W. Anklam Road. “The audience will certainly… Read more »
Airport gallery to show ‘Tucson Portrait Story’ series
Local artist Lauri Kaye’s “A Tucson Portrait Story” series will be displayed in the Upper Link Gallery at the Tucson International Airport from Feb. 6-March 16. The drawings depict iconic Tucson people, places and events, from the Loft Cinema to street musicians to monsoon rains, in a graphic journalistic… Read more »
Local quilt artist coming to Tucson J
Thelma Scudi, a self-trained artist from Tucson, works in cloth and mixed media and credits her talent to her ability to see wonder and beauty in spite of reality. An exhibit of her art quilts, “The Left Turn Lane,” will be on display at the Tucson Jewish Community Center… Read more »
Arsenio Hall, UA Hillel benefit performer, believes in power of laughter
Arsenio Hall, a comedian, actor and television star, believes in the healing power of laughter, and he surrounds himself with like-minded people. “The greatest thing in the world is laughter, from my son to my friends, laughter keeps you young and it keeps you alive,” says Hall. Nothing impedes… Read more »
UA Hillel director continues to grow Jewish community
Michelle Blumenberg, executive director at the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation, has spent her career helping to secure and expand a vibrant Jewish community in Tucson and beyond. “I feel that it’s important to give what I can to help ensure that we have a Jewish community in the… Read more »
Pondering the Tesla dilemma
At a recent meal with friends, someone shared that Elon Musk plans for all Tesla electric vehicles to feature fully autonomous driving by the end of 2017. I was asked, “Would you ride in a driverless car?” Good question! Self-driving cars seem to be the way of the future.… Read more »
Two-state solution could have happened decades ago
In the most recent Post there was an opinion piece that noticed the lack of the words “two state solution” in some official pronouncement (“In Congress, a new battle emerges: two states or not two states” (AJP 1/6/17). In 1948, the United Nations declared a “two state solution.” The… Read more »
Exhibit on hunger informs, moves Tucsonans
The statistics are disturbing, but it is the faces and the stories of “This Is Hunger” that remain with viewers. The double trailer that houses “This Is Hunger,” a multimedia exhibit created by the national nonprofit MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, was parked at the Tucson Jewish Community… Read more »
Chance meeting on restaurant patio led couple to chuppah
Tiffany Marie Eldredge, daughter of Lori and Steven Eldredge, and Joshua Kaiser Mussman, son of Suzanne Kaiser and Michael Mussman, were married on Oct. 9, 2016 at their ranch on the east side of Tucson. The groom’s father, Michael, officiated, with his wife, Sara, singing alongside him. The bride… Read more »
Consul general on hand to thank firefighters
At a ceremony on Jan. 8 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center honoring local firefighters who helped battle fires in Israel in November, Sam Grundwerg, consul general of Israel to the Southwest United States, commended the volunteers on being their “brother’s keeper,” comparing them to Judah, who, according to… Read more »
Cohon awards honor leaders in rescue, unity
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, says as his career began he realized creating a partnership between Jews and Evangelical Christian had huge potential. “I looked at it in terms of the Jewish people, and the need to have relationships between… Read more »
Tucson shlicha’s late father honored in Israeli ceremony
Oshrat Barel, who serves as director of the Weintraub Israel Center and Tucson’s community shlicha (Israeli emissary), visited her hometown of Beit She’an last month for a memorial ceremony marking 14 years since the murder of her father and five others in a terrorist attack on the Likud party… Read more »
‘Accidental actor’ to speak on award-winning film, Holocaust
Despite receiving critical acclaim for masterfully portraying the lead role in the Academy Award-winning film “Son of Saul,” Hungarian-born Geza Rohrig does not identify as an actor. “I’m an accidental actor. I’m a writer, that’s what I do. It gives me much more freedom, because I can write whatever… Read more »
Children’s hospital benefactor and community volunteer Joan Diamond dies
Joan B. Diamond, 87, philanthropist and Jewish community volunteer, died Dec. 28, 2016. Diamond was an early supporter of the University of Arizona Steele Children’s Research Center, which opened in 1992, and joined her husband, real estate developer Donald Diamond, in providing the lead gift to establish the Diamond… Read more »