"Cereusly" by Dot Kret The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona will host an artists’ reception featuring the work of Mendocino photographer Julie Masterson and Tucson photographer Dot Kret on Monday, Feb. 16 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the JCF office, 3567 E. Sunrise Dr., Suite 143. Masterson’s passion for photography has… Read more »
Omri Margalit, an Israeli serving as a counselor at Tucson’s Camp J, with Tucsonan and fellow counselor Rachel Fox in 2009 (Courtesy Rachel Margalit) For the Margalit family, the Tucson Jewish Community Center was the setting for a true camp love story: a Tucson camp counselor meets and falls for a visiting Israeli. Rachel Fox and Omri Margalit met at the JCC’s summer camp as teenagers serving as counselors. Rachel, a University of… Read more »
Bonnie Golden, Temple Emanu-El president and yoga teacher, and Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon lead a yoga routine at the Old Stone House on the David Yetman Trail during Temple’s Wandering Jews Shabbat hike on Nov. 1. There’s a passage in the Talmud that asks “Why didn’t you take advantage of all the beauty I’ve provided for you in the world?” says Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash, one of several local synagogues that includes hikes and other opportunities for congregants to worship in the… Read more »
Kevin, Stacy and Ethan Goldstein take a break while walking the Loop. (Damion Alexander) For more than two decades, Pima County has been building a multi-use trail system along the washes in Southern Arizona, officially known as “The Loop.” When completed, The Loop will total 131 miles and connect the Rillito River Park, Santa Cruz River Park and Pantano River Park with the… Read more »
Auschwitz survivor Marcel Tuchman, 93, meets with Jewish students in
Krakow on eve of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp by
Soviet soldiers, Jan. 26, 2015. (Courtesy of Jeffrey Tuchman) KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — What kept you alive? Did your non-Jewish friends reject you? Could you ever forgive? Those were some of the questions posed by Jewish young adults to Holocaust survivor Marcel Tuchman on Jan. 26 at the Galicia Jewish Museum here. “What kept me alive was having my… Read more »
(L-R): Johnny Pekats (U.S.); Mordechai Ronen (Canada); Ronald Lauder; Rose Schindler (U.S.); Joseph Madrowitz (U.S.) (Courtesy Shahar Azran) AUSCHWITZ, POLAND– Fifteen Auschwitz survivors, aged 80-94, returned this morning, Monday January 26, to the infamous death camp, Auschwitz, some for the first time. Ahead of the 70th anniversary celebration of the Auschwitz liberation on January 27, the World Jewish Congress (WJC), the USC Shoah Foundation, organized the historic visit… Read more »
The HT Challenge is a social media campaign initiated by the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking and supported by Women’s Philanthropy Social Action of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona in an effort to create awareness and abolish modern day slavery. Sex trafficking is often associated with large sporting events… Read more »
Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva Religious ideas can be used both constructively and destructively, says Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva, Ph.D., the upcoming Rabbi Albert T. Bilgray scholar-in-residence at Temple Emanu-El. Mikva aims to encourage critical thinking about “Dangerous Religious Ideas” in the 29th Bilgray Memorial Lectureship series from Feb. 5 to 7, in collaboration… Read more »
KRAKOW, Poland (JTA) — Holocaust survivors gathered in Krakow on the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz amid unease regarding the safety of Jews in Europe. Some 100 survivors from 19 countries — each with a child, grandchild or companion — are expected to attend official ceremonies on… Read more »
Bobbie Roffman, 93, died Jan. 3, 2015. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Mrs. Roffman moved to Tucson in 1949. She was a member of Congregation Anshei Israel and was Sisterhood president for many years. She was a facilitator for the Arizona Lung Association in their smoking cessation classes and volunteered… Read more »
Matthew S. Gentle, 54, died Nov. 17, 2014. Born in Bay City, Mich., Mr. Gentle was a member of the U.S. Air Force. He moved to Florida where he met his wife Beth Abelson. They moved to Oro Valley in 2004. Survivors include his wife of almost 20 years,… Read more »
Oshrat Barel Elections in Israel — why now? During my recent visit to Israel, many of the conversations I had with family and friends were about the upcoming elections in Israel. The fact that the elections are being held prematurely did not come as a surprise, especially given that Israel has… Read more »
Tucsonans Elyse Pincus (currently a Masa Israel teaching fellow in Rehovot) and Birthright participants Tanya Hetlinger and Adam Knox at the Path to Peace mosaic wall
Birthright update The Birthright Israel Foundation asks: “What has four wheels and takes 40 young Jewish adults on the experience of a lifetime?” Answer: A Taglit-Birthright Israel bus. During this winter season, Birthright brought more than 14,000 young Jews, ages 18-26, from 21 countries to our homeland for the… Read more »
The Institute for the Study of Religion and Culture at the University of Arizona College of Humanities will present the first of a series of conversations entitled “The Abrahamic Family Reunion: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Perspectives on Moses, Jesus and Muhammad”on Tuesday, Jan. 27 from 4 to 6 p.m.… Read more »
Hadassah Southern Arizona will sponsor a mah jongg tournament on Sunday, Feb. 15, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive. The entry fee of $40 includes lunch. There will be cash prizes for the top three scorers, plus each round winner will receive… Read more »
Limmud, a day of learning for the Jewish community, will be held at Arizona State University in Tempe on Sunday, Feb. 8. Limmud (Hebrew for “to learn”) is part of a worldwide movement that began in Great Britain in 1980. The Arizona program will feature over 40 presenters with… Read more »
Rabbi Benjamin Blech, in “Before Hawking, Golem story warned of dangers of intelligent machines” (AJP, 1/9/15), ponders the possibility that the “artificial intelligence” that science and technology produces may lead to “creations capable of destroying our world because we doubt our creator.” Over the centuries millions of people have… Read more »
‘Carlo Giantomassi, Lead Curator of the 1997 San Xavier Del Bac Mission Restoration,’ platinum photograph by Gary Auerbach The Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery is showing “A Retrospective of Photography by Gary Auerbach” through Feb. 9. More than 60 prints spanning 25 years are on display. Auerbach, a doctor of chiropractic, is most widely known for his photographs of Native American. His works are in… Read more »
Avraham Infeld “Together: A Community Event” is an appropriate title for Avraham Infeld’s presentation next month at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s free event. Infeld, president emeritus of Hillel International, will focus on “connecting the Jewish people in Israel to the Jewish people in America” in his talk on Tuesday,… Read more »
Daniel Katzen Daniel Katzen blows a mean shofar. As a professional French horn player, you might expect he’d be a natural on the ram’s horn. But that’s not the case, says Katzen, associate professor of horn at the University of Arizona. “Brass players find it particularly challenging to play the shofar,”… Read more »
