EAST LAWN PALMS MORTUARY AND CEMETERY, a Dignity Memorial provider, has named Michael Landy as family service counselor with special responsibility for Jewish funeral and cemetery needs. Landy, the former executive director of Congregation Anshei Israel in Tucson and Congregation Ohev Shalom in Maitland, Fla., has over 20 years… Read more »
MARIAN SALZMAN has been named the new executive chair of Tucson Values Teachers. Salzman has been CEO of Havas PR North America since 2009 and has been named PRWeek’s U.S. PR Professional of the Year (2012) and Global PR Professional of the Year (2014), among other honors. Salzman also… Read more »
Rabbi Gedaliah Druin talks to University of Arizona students and other members of the community at the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation about the restoration of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies’ Torah scroll on Feb. 10. (John Winchester/Arizona Center for Judaic Studies) Rabbi Gedaliah Druin, a master scribe, spent Feb. 10 and 11 working on the restoration of a Torah scroll owned by the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona (left). The scroll, which is thought to be nearly 200 years old and originally used by… Read more »
Michael Goldman and actress Gwyneth Paltrow at the White House Chanukah Party A coveted invitation Tucsonans Gloria and Michael Goldman were among the approximately 500 guests at the White House Chanukah party on the evening of Dec. 17, the same day Alan Gross was released from a Cuban prison. The Goldmans secured the email invitation through a friend’s son, Matthew Nosanchuk,… Read more »
Carol Ann Cohen, 68, died Jan. 28, 2015 in Fairfax, Va. Mrs. Cohen was born in Oak Park, Ill., and moved to Tucson in 1956. She taught Sunday school for Temple Emanu-El in Nogales, Ariz. Mrs. Cohen graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in journalism and… Read more »
Norman Dritch, 74, died Feb. 1, 2015. Mr. Dritch was born in Ponca City, Okla., and moved to Tulsa with his mother when he was 3 years old. He graduated from Will Rogers High School and was an active member of AZA, BBYO’s program for Jewish teenage boys, serving… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker Two weeks ago, we read that Moses’ father-in-law Yisro’s life changed forever when he heard of the massive miracles that occurred for the Jewish people as they left Egypt. At our Pesach seder, we remember these miracles, the 10 plagues, the splitting of the sea, etc. But one dimension… Read more »
Bari Ross Continuing strife in the Middle East, the worldwide growth of terrorism, economic struggles from a complex global marketplace … there is no shortage of stress inducers in today’s world. We can dwell on the dark side, or focus our thoughts and actions on what’s good in the world and… Read more »
Rabbi Barry Freundel, left, with his lawyer, Dmitriy Shapiro, outside the Washington courthouse where he pleaded guilty to 52 misdemeanor counts of voyeurism for spying on women at his Orthodox synagogue's mikvah, Feb. 19, 2015. (Dmitriy Shapiro / Washington Jewish Week) WASHINGTON (JTA/Washington Jewish Week) — Rabbi Barry Freundel, the former spiritual leader at a prominent Washington synagogue, pleaded guilty to 52 counts of misdemeanor voyeurism. The plea Thursday means that Freundel could be sentenced to a maximum penalty of 52 years in prison and ordered to pay tens of… Read more »
A weekly Jewish sobriety group will start on Tuesday, Feb. 24 from 7:30-9 p.m. at Congregation Bet Shalom, 3881 E. River Road. Group facilitator David Mack, who’s Jewish, notes that the group isn’t part of Alcoholics Anonymous, but will act as a similar support group for Jewish participants with… Read more »
Steve Solomon in “Cannoli, Latkes & Guilt ... the therapy continues” Invisible Theatre is bringing award-winning author/actor Steve Solomon back to Tucson in a new comedy, “Cannoli, Latkes & Guilt … the therapy continues.” The new show features such characters as Uncle Willie, stuttering Cousin Bob, demented Cousin Kenny, Steve’s new therapist Cousin Sal (and Sal’s parole officer). It combines… Read more »
Hadassah Southern Arizona will hold a Hamantashen High Tea for men, women and children on Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m. at Congregation Bet Shalom. Costumes are optional. Entertainment will be provided by The Gatekeepers, a musical family from Ironwood Hill Church. One of the group leaders is John… Read more »
Norm Marini Congregation Chofetz Chayim will hold a Magical Purim Party II on Thursday, March 5 at 5 p.m., featuring award-winning magician and comedian Norm Marini. He is a past president of the Society of American Magicians. His honors include Close-Up Magician of the Year and three-time winner of Stage Magician… Read more »
Jane Lynch Fresh from her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Sue Sylvester on “Glee” and her 2013 Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in “Annie,” Jane Lynch will bring her comedic skills and musical talent to the University of Arizona’s Centennial Hall on Sunday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The evening, “See Jane… Read more »
Masha Gessen Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen is intent on exposing injustice, whether in her three talks in Tucson on Feb. 2, her books or articles in the New York Times, Slate and other publications. Her personal family history has run head-on into conflict with both the former Soviet Union and the… Read more »
Mindy Bernstein, executive director of the Coyote Task Force, at Café 54 in downtown Tucson, a work training project for people with mental illness (Scott Greissel/Creatista)
Mindy Bernstein, executive director of the Coyote Task Force, a local behavioral health agency, landed in Tucson in 1976. She wasn’t sure then what her path would be, but she never imagined a career in mental health advocacy. “I’ve been working in public behavioral health since 1986,” Bernstein told… Read more »
At the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, we welcome the introduction in Congress earlier this month of the Healthy Families Act and applaud Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro’s (D-Conn.) commitment to ensuring paid sick leave for American workers. The Healthy Families Act would set a… Read more »
Michael Paulson reported in The New York Times on the “Pay What You Want” model that some synagogues are implementing to reduce the financial barrier to membership. Paulson estimated that about 30 synagogues across the United States are trying voluntary dues. These changes, Paulson wrote Feb. 2, have come… Read more »
The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona is accepting applications for the 2015 Goldman Family Israel Scholarship through March 11. The Elliot S. Goldman Family Israel Scholarship Fund and the Goldman Family Israel Scholarship Fund, both endowment funds held at JCF, together provide an annual Goldman Family Israel Scholarship… Read more »
At the Ethiopian Cultural Center in Beit Shean, Israel, Nina Isaac (left) and Sandi Henderson watch as Lyana Rotstein, tour guide for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy mission, and Chava Alamo display traditional breads. (Courtesy Melissa Goldfinger) For Nina Isaac, the impact of spending 10 days in Israel with Jewish women from Tucson and around the United States was brought into sharp contrast after she spent the next three days in Dubai, training Muslim nurses. “It was a huge shift, being in Israel, the land of… Read more »
