Volunteers unload groceries for Jewish Family & Children’s Services’s 2018 Matza & More campaign. (Jewish Family & Children's Services)
For more than 40 years, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona’s Matza & More project has packed and delivered Passover bags to Tucson area families who otherwise could not afford food and items for a Seder. Volunteers and staff fill the bags with fresh vegetables, gefilte fish,… Read more »
U.S. Air Force Maj. Jason Markzon on point of his Thunderbirds Demonstration squad (USAF)
There’s always excitement when the elite Thunderbirds Demonstration Squad roars into Tucson’s Davis-Monthan U.S. Air Force Base for an air show. But this year’s “Thunder and Lightning Over Arizona,” March 23-24, brings a hometown pilot soaring into town for the performance. Maj. Jason Markzon, flying the #8 slot and… Read more »
Learn more about what’s happening along the Arizona border with an informative trip south. The Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest and Hadassah Southern Arizona will sponsor a bus journey to the border Tuesday, March 12. Stops will include Humane Border’s water station in… Read more »
The Special Abilities and Inclusion Initiative, in partnership with the Tucson Jewish Community Center, is offering a free daylong professional development opportunity next month through Matan, a New York-based organization. Matan advocates for the inclusion of diverse learners and educates Jewish leaders, educators, and communities, empowering them to create… Read more »
Rabbi Steve Leder
Success teaches us very little, other than to keep doing the things that we have already been doing with our lives,” says Rabbi Steve Leder, who Newsweek magazine twice named as one of the 10 most influential rabbis in America. “It is only pain that can disrupt us in… Read more »
Dr. Danielle Ofri, M.D.
The 10th Annual Cindy Wool Memorial Seminar on Humanism in Healthcare, honoring a decade of encouraging compassionate care, will be held next month. Dr. Danielle Ofri, an internist, acclaimed author and one of the foremost speakers about the doctor-patient relationship, will discuss the topic of her latest book, “What… Read more »
An IsraAid volunteer helps Syrian refugees come ashore on the island of Lesbos, Greece. IIsraAID)
Rachel Wallace will present “Humanitarian Heroes Around the World” as the Weintraub Israel Center’s Gertrude and Fred Rosen Memorial Lecture next month. The free lecture marks the launch of a month-long photo exhibit at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, “Stories of Courage and Resilience.” The Tucson J will host… Read more »
Noa Baum Storyteller Noa Baum is an Israeli who began a heartfelt dialogue with a Palestinian woman she met while living in the United States. Baum grew up in Jerusalem under the generational shadow of the Holocaust and ongoing wars. Past stories and fear of wars from the ’60s through the… Read more »
Ed Asner (Tim Leyes)
The 11th Annual Tucson Festival of Books will be held March 2 and 3 on the University of Arizona campus. With hundreds of authors participating each year, the AJP traditionally highlights several Jewish writers who will be presenting authors. Brenda and Bill Viner, Jewish community members who helped co-found… Read more »
Beresheet payload (at the top, in gold), the first Israeli lunar spacecraft. (Photo credit: Courtesy of SSL)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 18 – Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) today announced that Israel’s inaugural voyage to the moon – the world’s first privately funded lunar mission – will begin on Feb. 21 at approximately 8:45 p.m. EST, when the lunar lander “Beresheet” (“In the Beginning”)… Read more »
Alison Feldman Friends and family of Allison Feldman will gather on the University of Aizona campus at 10:30 a.m. on Friday to celebrate her life and launch the second annual campaign to raise funds for study abroad scholarships in her memory. Feldman was murdered in her Scottsdale home on Feb. 17,… Read more »
Elizabeth George
The Brandeis National Committee Tucson Chapter presents its 23rd Annual Book & Author events on Feb. 27 and 28 with four acclaimed authors: internationally bestselling mystery writer Elizabeth George, author of the Inspector Lynley series; Reed Farrel Coleman, called the “noir poet laureate” by the Huffington Post; Tucsonan Lauren… Read more »
Carol Leifer
Award-winning writer and producer, best-selling author, and stand-up comedian Carol Leifer will be the guest speaker at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy 26th annual Connections brunch next month. Her topic will be “Judaism is in My DNA.” “I speak about how the Jewish values imparted to… Read more »
Jessica Reese The Tucson Jewish Community Center Special Needs Initiative in partnership with Jewish Family & Children’s Services, with support from the David and Lura Lovell Foundation, will hold a professional development summit, “Developmental Disabilities and Mental Health: The Intersection of Treatment” on Thursday, Feb. 28, 8:15-3 p.m. The keynote speaker… Read more »
The Rabbi Samuel S. and A. Irma Cohon Memorial Foundation will present three awards at its 2018 award ceremony, which will take place at Congregation Beit Simcha’s Shabbat service on Friday, Feb. 8 at 6:30 p.m. The award recipients, who will describe their work at the ceremony, are Phyllis… Read more »
Susan Miller Invisible Theatre will bring Jewish playwright Susan Miller’s latest off-Broadway play, “20th Century Blues,” to Tucson to round out its 48th anniversary season, April 23-May 5. Miller has won two Obies, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and countless other awards. The play, which debuted off-Broadway in November 2017, centers on four… Read more »
Myriam Moscona
The Jewish History Museum will co-sponsor a poetry reading on Wednesday, Feb. 27 in Spanish, English and Ladino with acclaimed Mexican poet Myriam Moscona. Joining her on stage will be the translators of her book, “Tela de Sevoya” (“Onioncloth”), Jen Hofer and John Pluecker. They are co-founders of Antena,… Read more »
Rabbi Marcus Breger (left) and Morris ‘Mac’ Benisch at Anshei Israel’s 1968 groundbreaking (Congregation Anshei Israel)
Congregation Anshei Israel will hold a “L’Door V’Dor: 50 years on 5th Street” gala next month. Organizers dubbed the event the “L’Door V’Dor,” a play on l’dor v’dor, the Hebrew phrase for “from generation to generation,” because it is a chance to honor those who helped open the doors… Read more »
Sarah Bunin Benor Editor’s note: This article has been updated Jan. 25 to show that all lectures will be held at Temple Emanu-El. Temple Emanu-El’s 35th annual Bilgray Lectureship will center on language and names, with Sarah Bunin Benor, Ph.D., as the scholar in residence. The free series features three lectures, Feb.… Read more »
George Hanson The Tucson Jewish Community Center, in partnership with Tucson Desert Song Festival, will present a panel discussion, “What Is Latin Style?” on Monday, Jan. 28, 7-8:30 p.m. Desert Song Festival Director George Hanson will lead a discussion with guests including Tucson Symphony Orchestra Music Director Jose Luis Gomez, local… Read more »
