Posts By PHYLLIS BRAUN - AJP Executive Editor

Dillon Gabriel Simmers, son of Leah and Steve Simmers, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 24, at Congregation Or Chadash. He is the great grandson of the late Thelma “Teddi” Barlin. Dillon attends Emily Gray Junior High School. He enjoys soccer, reading and board games. For… Read more »

Jayden Yalen, son of Wendy Yalen, will celebrate becoming a bar bitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 17, at Congregation Anshei Israel. He is the grandson of Sandra and William Yalen of Tucson. Jayden attends Tucson Hebrew Academy. He enjoys tae kwon do, Boy Scouts and reading. For his mitzvah project… Read more »

David Jurkowitz, son of Dan and Lisa Jurkowitz, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 10, at Congregation Anshei Israel. He is the grandson of Chaya and Harvey Jurkowitz of Tucson and Joan and Andre Klein of Phoenix. David attends BASIS Tucson North where he volunteers as… Read more »

MARILYN PESKIN-KAUFMAN, owner of ADOBE TRANSPORTATION, was appointed to Gov. Doug Ducey’s new statewide marketing initiative, the Arizona Zanjeros. This group of business leaders who will focus on promoting Arizona as a prime place for business takes its name from the traditional zanjeros who control water flow through Arizona’s… Read more »

DAVID ALBERTS, M.D., was one of three finalists for the Lifetime Achievement in Health Care award presented at Tucson Local Media’s Influential Health and Medical Leaders Awards on Sept. 23. Alberts is the director emeritus of the University of Arizona Cancer Center and a regent’s professor of medicine, pharmacology,… Read more »

Domestic violence thrives when we are silent; but when we take a stand, support, advocate, educate and work together, we silence domestic violence. Throughout October, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, join Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona in creating awareness to help end domestic violence. Domestic violence… Read more »

Marian Paige Segall, 92, died Sept. 25, 2015. Mrs. Segall was born in Montgomery, Ala. After high school, she traveled the country performing for the USO in an all-girl band. At 22, she was spotted by a New York agent and signed a contract with MCA. Her stage name… Read more »

Jewel Rosenthal Fishkin, 92, died Sept. 23, 2015. Mrs. Fiskin wintered in Tucson for many years and moved here permanently almost five years ago. She was involved in Jewish organizations in Chicago, including as women’s chair of State of Israel Bonds, board member of Women’s Division Jewish United Fund,… Read more »

Doris Dorfman, 89, died Sept. 19, 2015. Born in Bayonne, N.J., Mrs. Dorfman raised her children in Roselle, N.J., where she served as sisterhood president of Congregation Emanu-El. She wrote parodies and show scripts for temple and Hadassah events. After the birth of their first grandson, Mr. and Mrs.… Read more »

Carlos Hernandez

“Ethical wills” began as a Jewish oral tradition and have been a part of Jewish culture for centuries. Traditionally, the purpose of an ethical will was to pass on values such as the importance of charity (tzedakah) from one generation to the next. Today, ethical wills, also called legacy… Read more »

Anna Greenberg

Tucson Hebrew Academy has been selected to participate in the Institute for Jewish Spirituality’s Tikkun Middot Project, an initiative to integrate mindfulness practice and character development in 28 Jewish communities across America. Loosely translated, tikkun middot means the cultivation or refinement of ethical traits or measures of character. The… Read more »

The Days of Awe are a pivotal time of year, a time of introspection, of remembrance, and a time to dream anew. We stand on the ground of the entirety of our lives, looking back at the variegated landscape of our past experiences, and forward into the misty mystery… Read more »

At the farm at Echoing Hope Ranch, Jonathan Townsend writes down his schedule for the week. (Courtesy Harlie Garcia)

At first glance, Echoing Hope Ranch looks like the other farms and ranches that mark the landscape in Hereford, Ariz.; however, the programs and residents make EHR truly unique. Created six years ago, EHR was built with the goal of providing residential and in-home care for adults with autism… Read more »

J. Edward Wright

J. Edward Wright, director of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona, will give the first of five lectures in a Downtown Lecture Series on immortality offered by the UA College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. Wright will speak Oct. 14 on “The Histories and… Read more »

Israeli cellist Amit Peled with perform on Jan. 12 at the University of Arizona.

Israeli-born classical cellist Amit Peled got started playing cello late, at the age of 10, because a 14-year-old girl he loved was a cello player. He never spoke to the girl, he told the AJP, but kept on with the instrument and, at the age of 22, after a… Read more »

Anne Marie Chiasson

The CHAI Circle will host Ann Marie Chiasson, M.D., M.P.H., author of “Energy Healing: The Essentials of Self Care” at its 11th annual retreat next month. A program of Jewish Family & Children’s Services, CHAI Circle is a support group for women in the Jewish community with a history… Read more »

Lindy Bowser as Gert and Stephanie Howell as Bella (Luke Howell)

The Arizona Rose Theatre Company will present Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers” Oct. 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25 at the Temple of Music & Art Cabaret Theatre. Drawn from Simon’s experiences growing up in New York City, “Lost in Yonkers” won the Tony Award for best play and… Read more »

The University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music will present “Music + Festival 2015: Bernstein, Adams, Berio” on Oct. 17, 18 and 24. Directed by UA composer Daniel Asia, the eighth annual composers festival will feature a symposium, concerts and a film. Leonard Bernstein was “a composer, conductor,… Read more »

Ten years ago, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona became one of the first federations in North America to reach out to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jewish community by creating an LGBT Jewish Inclusion Project. On June 26, 2015, when a Supreme Court decision extended marriage rights… Read more »

Honey Manson, 1949

Hadassah Southern Arizona will honor local volunteer Honey Manson, the founder of its Nurses’ Council, with a fundraising event called “Tea with Honey” on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. “The word ‘no’ is not in Honey’s vocabulary,” says Debra Jacobs, event chair… Read more »