Rabbi Israel Becker, left, and Auguspine Fong, founder of Fong’s Wing Chun A Purim season full of family fun and festivities starts tomorrow in Tucson, with celebrations, costume parades and food for all. JPride takes on a ’90s costume theme for its Saturday, Feb. 24 Purim party. Dress “as if” it were the ’90s and come party like it’s 1999 at the… Read more »
Beverly Gray “We’re rapidly preparing for the 10th Annual Tucson Festival of Books. We expect this to be the best festival ever,” says Brenda Viner, a member of the local Jewish community and one of the festival founders. This year’s festival will be held March 10 and 11 on the University… Read more »
Tucson delegates at the BBYO International Convention in Orlando, Florida, held Feb. 14-19. Front row: Joshua Kaufmann, Aliya Markowitz, Gabriel Friedman, Sam Goldfinger; back row: Joshua Cohen, Avin Kreisler, Richard Fisher, Aaron Green, Maxwell Silverman, Jaden Boling
Mike Signer, who was mayor of Charlottesville, Va., during the rally last August that brought white supremacists to the forefront of international attention, recalled that he was about 8 or 9 when he heard his first anti-Semitic slur. “Growing up in Northern Virginia, the last thing I wanted to… Read more »
Whether they’re serving up meals at a soup kitchen, helping a child learn to read or lacing up their sneakers for a charity walk-a-thon, most people volunteer for a simple reason: they want to help others. And there’s probably not a single community group, from local synagogues to the… Read more »
Arthur Posner, as Elvis, volunteers at the IMPACT food bank on Halloween. “This is the last thing I thought I’d be doing after retiring,” says Arthur Posner of his almost full-time volunteer work. He’s wrapping up four years as board president for IMPACT of Southern Arizona. But he’s still a “roll up the shirtsleeves” kind of president, continuing his weekly volunteer… Read more »
Brenna Lacey, center, with Jewish Community Foundation Executive Director Tracy Salkowitz (left) and Andy Rush, founder of The Drawing Studio Eighteen years ago Brenna Lacey walked into The Drawing Studio as a student and since then, her relationship with the organization has only become more colorful. Now she is the president of the nonprofit organization bringing relaxation, community and an artistic outlet to everyone who enters its doors. “The… Read more »
Frustration was the catalyst for Miriam Furst’s creative approach to giving back to others. After the hurricanes this fall, she felt compelled to help. “I was upset to see the suffering,” she says. But at age 77, she was unable to be there physically. When the people in Texas… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker Usually when you write an article, you hope that there will be numerous readers and that your message will be well received, however, this article is being written for the benefit of those who I am certain will not read it because they are no longer on this earth.… Read more »
Yochi Azran, a teacher from Israel, uses a ‘sabra’ puppet to talk to Crystal Lucha’s students at the Tucson Jewish Community Center in December 2017.
There are many living bridges forming between Tucson and Israel. One is in the shape of a classroom. The Weintraub Israel Center began its school twinning program in 2014 between Tucson and the Israeli communities of Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon as an opportunity to connect classrooms and children… Read more »
Lights, popcorn, action… Magnificent,” “incredibly moving,” “great film choices,” “We’ve been to many and this was the best.” These were among attendee comments at the 2018 Tucson International Jewish Film Festival. The festival, in its 27th year is one of the longest-running Jewish film festivals in the country, bringing… Read more »
(L-R): Ron and Gail Isaacs, Rep. Austin Scott, Betty Anne Sarver and Leonard Schultz
Photo courtesy Desert Caucus
Georgia congressman addresses Desert Caucus U.S. Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA) spoke to the Desert Caucus on Sunday, Feb. 11 at Skyline Country Club. The Desert Caucus, Inc., is a bipartisan, single issue Jewish political action committee supporting federal congressional candidates outside of Arizona who support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship.… Read more »
JAX LARCOM, son of Danielle and Guy Larcom, was one of two students chosen as winners in the third through fifth grade category of the Tucson Festival of Books 10th Annual Young Authors Competition, for his poem “Rainbow.” Jax is a third grade student at Canyon View Elementary School… Read more »
The ARIZONA JEWISH POST has hired MARLA HANDLER as an advertising sales representative. Handler grew up in Plainview, N.Y. She received an associate’s degree in marketing from Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, N.Y., and a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business from Florida State University. She has… Read more »
Riley Jo Silvyn, daughter of Keri and Jeff Silvyn, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Saturday, March 3 at Congregation Or Chadash. She is the granddaughter of Benita Silvyn and Charles Whitehill of Tucson, and Marlys and Larry Lazarus of Phoenix. Riley attends Esperero Canyon Middle School. She… Read more »
Ethan Samuel Silvyn, son of Keri and Jeff Silvyn, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on Saturday, March 3 at Congregation Or Chadash. He is the grandson of Benita Silvyn and Charles Whitehill of Tucson, and Marlys and Larry Lazarus of Phoenix. Ethan attends Esperero Canyon Middle School. He… Read more »
Nathan Daniel Cherkis, son of Brenda Frye and Sergey Cherkis, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on Saturday, March 3 at Congregation Anshei Israel. He is the grandson of Norma Frye of Maricopa, F. Scott Frye of San Tan Valley, Margarita Lazareva of Tucson, and Alexander Cherkis of Brooklyn,… Read more »
Sanders “Sonny” Solot, 91, died Feb. 5, 2018. Mr. Solot was a real estate appraiser who taught and mentored many of Southern Arizona’s appraisers. A native Tucsonan, he got his real estate license at age 16 and began working with his father, Ben H. Solot. He served in the… Read more »
Florence (Hass) Liebeskind, 90, died Feb. 6, 2018. Mrs. Liebeskind was preceded in death by her husband, Sidney Liebeskind. Survivors include her children, Gail (Cal) Rudner of Tucson and Wayne Liebeskind of Springfield, New Jersey; three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Graveside services were held in the Congregation Anshei Israel… Read more »
Lavan's cohort of 25 fellows is examining the intersection between impact investing and Judaism. (Courtesy of Lavan)
NEW YORK (JTA) — For all of its modern history, the American Jewish community has pursued most of its goals through philanthropy — funding programs and institutions through donations and charitable giving that relies heavily on the generosity of wealthy people. But what if the community could achieve those… Read more »
Amar'e Stoudemire showing one of the wines in his collection of Israeli kosher wines, in New York, Feb. 20, 2018. (Courtesy of Jewish National Fund-USA)
NEW YORK (JTA) — Six-time NBA All-Star Amar’e Stoudemire has launched a line of kosher-for-Passover Israeli wines.The 6-foot-10 former player, who returned earlier this month from a trip to the Jewish state, spoke glowingly about the wines and his connection to Israel at a news conference here Tuesday. “It’s… Read more »
