Don Baker (Martha Lochert)
Tucson Hebrew Academy’s “Developer of Dreams” Tikkun Olam Celebration honoring the late Donald Baker will be a promotion of visionary ideals, says Deborah Baker (no relation), alumni coordinator at THA. This year will be an intimate community event because of Baker’s untimely death, she says. “There are people who… Read more »
Hans Winterberg “Forbidden Composers” is the theme for the 9th annual Music + Festival which will be presented by the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music later this month. The festival will focus on the music, lives and cultural impact of three Jews whose music was banned by the… Read more »
Nathan Bacal holds a photo of his great-grandfather, Harry Bacal, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s first board president. (Julie Zorn/Tucson Jewish Community Center)
In many Jewish communities, the phrase “l’dor v’dor” (loosely translated as “from generation to generation”) is used to highlight the importance of passing values, education and history from one generation to the next. Scholars and community organizations often speak of the importance of teaching children as a way to… Read more »
Paulette and Joe Gootter
The Jewish History Museum will honor Joe and Paulette Gootter at its 8th annual fall fundraiser, “Over the Rainbow: Songs of Conscience & Hope.” The luncheon and silent auction will be held Sunday, Oct. 30, at noon at Hacienda Del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, with entertainment by Richard Hanson.… Read more »
Amy Hirshberg Lederman
Amy Hirshberg Lederman will speak on “Living with No Regrets” at the 12th Annual CHAI Circle Retreat on Sunday, Oct. 30, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Canyon Ranch Health Resort, 8600 E. Rockcliff Road. CHAI Circle (Cancer, Healing and Inspiration), a program of Jewish Family & Children’s Services,… Read more »
Tucson women at the International Lion of Judah Conference in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 12, (L-R): Ellyn Gold, Shelly Silverman, Phyllis Maizlish, Leslie Glaze, Karen Katz, Judy Berman, Jody Gross, Melissa Goldfinger and Fran Katz (Courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona)
A delegation of nine Lions of Judah from Tucson attended the biennial international conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss philanthropic programs, ideas and stories of strength. Judy Berman, a local philanthropist, has been a Lion for about 10 years. She has attended three conferences thus far but this year’s… Read more »
The Cavatina Duo, Eugenia Moliner and Denis Azabagic, will present “Sephardic Journey” as part of the UA Presents series on Friday, Oct. 21 at 8 p.m. at Crowder Hall, 1017 Olive Road (in the music building). Moliner, a flutist from Spain, and Azabagic, a guitarist from Bosnia, together have… Read more »
TMC's germ squad
The third annual Family Wellness Festival, produced by the Tucson Jewish Community Center in collaboration with Tucson Medical Center, will be held Sunday, Oct. 16, from noon to 4 p.m. at The J. The keynote speaker for the free, interactive event will be Dan Johnson, executive director of the… Read more »
Art Almquist as Aryeh Lev, Carrie Hill as Rivkeh Lev and Steve Wood as Asher Lev in Live Theatre Workshop’s production of ‘My Name Is Asher Lev’
Live Theatre Workshop will present “My Name Is Asher Lev” by Aaron Posner, adapted from the novel by Chaim Potok, through Nov. 12, with a preview performance Oct. 7. Set in post-war Brooklyn, “My Name Is Asher Lev” is the story of a boy’s passionate desire to follow his… Read more »
(Katt Grigg/ Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
CLEVELAND (JTA) — Thank you: two simple words with tremendous meaning. Thank you for being part of our community. Thank you for raising your children with us. Thank you for being with us. Many of us are seeking meaning in our lives and wish to be valued for… Read more »
Democrat Tim Kaine, left, and Republican Mike Pence, facing off during the vice presidential debate at Longwood University in Virginia, Oct. 4, 2016. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
(JTA) – Seven times during the vice presidential debate, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said the deal his running mate, Hillary Clinton, worked on had helped “stop Iranian nuclear weapons.” Seven times, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence said no, it did not. Twice, Kaine said Israel’s military “says it stopped.” Both… Read more »
A woman in Lithuania marking the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust at a ceremony in Veliucionys, on the outskirts of Vilna, one of the most neglected of the 227 mass graves of Holocaust victims in the country, Sept. 23, 2016. (Courtesy of Efraim Zuroff)
(JTA) — Residents of Vilna (Vilnius), Lithuania’s capital, had their pick of two events to mark the 75th anniversary of the Holocaust held this year on Sept. 23, their country’s official Shoah memorial day. The choice was rather simple because of the stark differences between the ceremonies, and… Read more »
Donald Trump addressing the crowd at a campaign rally in Cincinnati, Ohio, July 6, 2016. (John Sommers II/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Yom Kippur, despite its solemnity and self-abnegation, seems almost anti-climactic if you’ve spent the 10 days since Rosh Hashanah engaging in person-to-person apologies. We would never admit it to non-Jewish friends, who stand in awe of our 25-hour fast, but Yom Kippur is a dodge, an… Read more »
The casket of Shimon Peres was brought from Tel Aviv to be presented at the Knesset Plaza with a military cavalcade, so mourners can pay their respects, Sept. 29. (The casket of Shimon Peres was brought from Tel Aviv to be presented at the Knesset Plaza with a military cavalcade, so mourners can pay their respects. (Hillel Maier/TPS)
Jerusalem (TPS) – A military cavalcade delivered the coffin of former President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres to the Knesset early Thursday, where the deceased will lie in state in the parliament courtyard until his funeral procession tomorrow. Jerusalem police and Knesset security officials said they expect up to 1 million Israelis… Read more »
Shimon Peres in New York City, Oct. 24, 2014 (Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Shimon Peres, the former defense hawk turned Nobel Peace Prize winner and the last of Israel’s founders, has died. Peres died before dawn Wednesday at 93, Israel Radio reported. The former president suffered a massive stroke earlier this month and was reported initially to be… Read more »
Over 30,000 participants were expected to travel with Taglit-Birthright Israel this past summer. Following the University of Arizona graduation in May, 28 UA students traveled on Birthright. Other schools represented on the bus included the University of Southern California, University of Wisconsin, Washington University, and Arizona State University. Elyse… Read more »
{David J. Del Grande/AJP)
In his 1971 Yom Kippur sermon, Rabbi Arthur R. Oleisky of Congregation Anshei Israel called for the formation of a Jewish day school in Tucson. Rising to the challenge, Bertie and the late Jack Levkowitz and David and Judy Leonard joined the rabbi and his wife, Betejoy, as the… Read more »
Jon Ben-Asher
Back when he attended Tucson Hebrew Academy, Head of School Jon Ben-Asher was a bit of a Dungeons & Dragons geek. Ben-Asher, one of nine students in THA’s 1982 graduating class, remembers “this whole life of connectedness,” which encompassed the school, Congregation Anshei Israel (where classes were held and… Read more »
Lindsey Baker at graduation from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2015 (Courtesy Lindsey Baker)
Lindsey Baker, director of program development at Feeding America, says millions of fond memories flood her thoughts when she recalls her time at Tucson Hebrew Academy. But most important is the powerful feeling of belonging to a community that still resonates today. “THA gave me a sense of identity… Read more »
Miriam Meyers with her husband, Rabbi Ron-Ami Meyers (Courtesy Miriam Meyers)
In 1977, Miriam Geffen Meyers was among the first students to graduate from Tucson Hebrew Academy. As THA did not yet have its River Road campus, the school leased classrooms and office space from Congregation Anshei Israel. Meyers, 53, says that because the number of students in each grade… Read more »
