Erika Mitnik-White Why buy local? When you buy from locally owned businesses, you support your friends and neighbors in the community. These are the people who buy homes locally, pay taxes locally and support our local charities. In fact, local businesses contribute twice their percentage of profits to charity than non-local… Read more »
The most recent gun-related murderous rampage in our country has been greeted by an outcry from families of the victims regarding the need for saner gun control policy. We all need to be more passionate about the right of Americans to live in safety and not become innocent… Read more »
Sarah Artzi Congregation Anshei Israel has appointed Sarah Artzi as interim religious school administrator. In this new role, Artzi will oversee day-to-day operations of the school and its teachers. Born and raised in Tucson, Artzi is a lifelong member of CAI. She is the daughter of Sue and the late Saul… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish Community Center is seeking to assess interest in an intergenerational fitness/volunteer program for memory-impaired seniors and teen volunteers. The program would recreate a successful Alzheimer’s disease rehabilitation program that retired research scientist Sharon Arkin, Psy.D., ran at the University of Arizona from 1996 to 2001. The… Read more »
Rabbi Yossie Shemtov, regional director of Chabad Tucson, will lead a discussion of a new book about his spiritual mentor, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, on Wednesday, June 11 at 7 p.m. at Barnes & Noble at 5130 E. Broadway. Shemtov will share his personal thoughts on “Rebbe: The Life… Read more »
A photo of Sara Kaplowitz Greenberg in the early 1940s is surrounded by a few of her beloved shul hats. (Courtesy Jewish History Museum) The Jewish History Museum’s summer exhibit, “Skullcaps and Shul Hats,” which runs through June 30, focuses on two family collections of head coverings. One is a collection of elegant shul hats worn by Tucsonan Nicki Lasky’s mother, Sara Kaplowitz Greenberg. They range from “fascinators,” small, often feathered decorative headpieces,… Read more »
Evan Mendelson Evan Mendelson has worked most of her life in Jewish philanthropy, including as the founding executive director of the Jewish Funders Network in New York. In January 2013 in Tucson, she was named the first non-family member executive director of the David C. and Lura M. Lovell Foundation. Previously,… Read more »
If you’re looking for a day or overnight trip from Tucson, Southern Arizona has plenty of options — some will even give you a bit of a respite from the summer heat. Here are a few suggestions: It’s always a cool 47 degrees underground for the Queen Mine tour… Read more »
Rose Cabat, “Feelies,” c. 1960s-1980s,
porcelain, collection of the artist (Carissa Castillo) The Tucson Museum of Art is presenting “Rose Cabat at 100: A Retrospective Exhibition of Ceramics,” through Sept. 14. Cabat, who lives in Tucson, is considered one of the most important… Read more »
Howard Kline welcomes patrons to his art gallery on the sunny side of Bisbee’s Main Street. (Heather Green) A visual artist who started out as a rock drummer in the ’60s, a bookstore owner about to make aliyah, a Harvard Law School graduate who headed west to practice on the Navajo reservation — these are three of the 40 to 50 Jews currently living in Bisbee. Although… Read more »
Rabbi Thomas Louchheim Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash was one of the 10 Tucson clergy who took part in an interfaith “Why Marriage Matters Arizona” event, voicing support for the freedom for all couples to be able to marry, on Tuesday, May 27 at 6 p.m. at Casas Adobes Congregational… Read more »
SCOTT H. GAN, a shareholder of Mesch, Clark & Rothschild PC, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. The academy was founded in 1990 to recognize outstanding appellate lawyers and promote the improvement of appellate advocacy and the administration of the appellate courts. Membership… Read more »
TEMPLE EMANU-EL PRESIDENT BONNIE GOLDEN recently joined 100 other presidents and presidents-elect from Reform congregations at the Union for Reform Judaism’s 16th Annual Scheidt Seminar. They discussed solutions to everyday congregational problems, explored Torah-based governance, improved leadership skills and networked. Speakers — and study partners — included URJ President… Read more »
Benjamin David Spiegel, son of Ester Vider-Spiegel and Ron Spiegel, will celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, May 31, 2014 at Temple Emanu-El. He is the grandson of Meira Spiegel and the late David Spiegel of Beit She’an, Israel, and Hanna Vider and the late David Vider of… Read more »
Saul Isaac Weintraub, son of Ellen Weintraub, will celebrate becoming a Bar Mitzvah on Saturday, May 24, 2014 with Rabbi Miri Fleming at the Westward Look Resort. He is the grandson of Deborah and Gerald Weintraub of Tucson and Lynda Apt of Tampa, Fla. Saul attends Orange Grove Middle… Read more »
(L-R) Donald Diamond, honorary capital campaign chair, with former JCC chairs Lex Sears, Tom Warne, Lynda Rogoff, Brenda Viner, Bill Viner, Dick Belkin, Larry Haas, Fran Katz and Gerry Tumarkin break ground for the JCC’s new sports and wellness facility upgrade. (Courtesy Bolchalk Frey Marketing) JCC renovation groundbreaking The Tucson Jewish Community Center held a groundbreaking ceremony April 29 to usher in the renovation and expansion of the facility. Along with creating a larger space for gym equipment and classes, the renovation will allow the JCC to increase programming options. The 100,000 square foot… Read more »
Rabbi Ben Herman We have now reached the series of Torah portions that is a mathematician’s dream. After all, this section of the Torah is called Numbers! In Parshat B’midbar, a census is taken of the Israelite men of military age who would later conquer the Land of Canaan. The total count… Read more »
Cyvia Evenchik, 81, died May 7, 2014. Mrs. Evenchik was preceded in death by her youngest child, Clark. Survivors include her children, Arthur Evenchik, Lynn Evenchik and Mark (Daphne) Evenchik; daughter-in-law Reena; nine grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. Mrs. Evenchik earned an LPN degree. She worked as an extra in… Read more »
It’s almost monsoon season and it’ll be raining toads — Colorado River toads (a.k.a. Sonoran Desert toads), that is! The Colorado River toad is a large, bumpy, brown amphibian that is a common nocturnal visitor to Tucson yards every monsoon season. Most of the year they live buried in… Read more »
Cats have been domesticated for thousands of years, but there are many popular myths that can hinder the care of these animals. In many cultures, including those of Russia, Japan and ancient Egypt, cats have been revered, or seen as all-knowing and good luck. Unfortunately, this reverence has led… Read more »
