When Josephine Marcus ran away from home in 1880, it is hard to imagine just how shocked her California-based parents must have felt. Teenage Josephine dreamt of becoming an actress and a dancer. These weren’t exactly the plans made by her Jewish immigrant family and Hollywood didn’t yet exist.… Read more »
Adar was a busy month at Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA)! THA, together with the JCC and Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA) collected food for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona in the Chai (18) days leading to Purim! Mishloach Manot : משלוח מנות , also called a Purim basket, is a… Read more »
Tucson Hebrew Academy is gearing up for Hanukkah! To celebrate, our teachers and students have planned fun and meaningful activities to take place over the eight-day festival that include: Starting the day with an all-school Hanukkah candle lighting. Making Hanukkah Judaica in Art class (ceramic oil jugs, Hanukkiot, and… Read more »
Registration for the 2021 JFSA/JCF Joint Annual Meeting is now closed. We will post a video online after the meeting has taken place. We hope to see you at future events. The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona (JFSA) and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona (JCF) will hold… Read more »
Hundreds of women came together on March 14, 2021 at Connections, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s (JFSA) signature Women’s Philanthropy event, to honor the Jewish community’s continued philanthropic work and address the growing problem of food insecurity in Southern Arizona in ways both big and small. After a year unlike any other, hunger is… Read more »
Howard Kline is a kinesthetic artist. “Music inspires my art,” he says, and it has been a major influence on his paintings. Visual artists work with their sense of touch or sight, but Kline warms up and initiates his day in the studio by first stepping into a soundproof… Read more »
Suzi Weiss-Fischmann The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s signature Women’s Philanthropy event, Connections, will be headlined this year by Suzi Weiss-Fischmann. Born in communist Hungary to Holocaust survivors, Weiss-Fischmann learned Hebrew in secret as a child. After promising her mother she’d keep kosher and observe Shabbat each week, she immigrated first… Read more »
Rabbi Stephanie Aaron speaks June 6, 2017 at the Jewish History Museum in Tucson. [Photo: Steven Michael Braun)
“Be Strong and of Good Courage” (Deuteronomy 31:7) is the title for the Jewish History Museum’s 10th annual fall benefit, which will be held virtually on Sunday, Nov. 1. This year’s benefit honors Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of Congregation Chaverim. “I think of Rabbi Aaron as my primary partner in… Read more »
Cutline: New and established works will be on display at the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Sculpture Garden opening on Oct. 25. (Photo: Jacob Kaufman)
The Tucson Jewish Community Center will hold a physically distanced opening for its Sculpture Garden on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. The Sculpture Garden, created in 2009, includes new and established artists and is a cornerstone of the J’s arts programming. The opening will feature nine new… Read more »
(L-R) Professors Marc Dollinger, Jerome Dotson, and Gil Ribak will kick off the Amplifying Voices series with a Zoom discussion of Dollinger’s book, “Black Power, Jewish Politics” on Oct. 18.
This month, the Tucson Jewish Community Center will launch Amplifying Voices, a six-part virtual series designed to help explore the intersectional relationship between Black and Jewish identity and community. The series will begin Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. with Professors Marc Dollinger of San Francisco State University and Jerome… Read more »
(Photo: Adobestock.com/ sewcream)
Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona will present a free Zoom workshop, “The Impact of Violence on Young Children and Their Families: We Can All Make a Difference,” on Tuesday, Oct. 20, from noon to 1:15 p.m. All children who have lived with interpersonal violence are affected… Read more »
(Photo: Korene Charnofsky Cohen)
The Chabad Oro Valley Sukkah Mobile arrived at the Dove Mountain Walgreens on Tuesday morning, Oct. 6. “When you are inside the sukkah, the walls surround you like a hug from G-d, reminding us of G-d’s love, protection, and the themes of Sukkot – joy and Jewish unity,” says… Read more »
U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo (Shawn Miller)
The University of Arizona Poetry Center, part of the College of Humanities, is launching a new, virtual Institute for Inquiry and Poetics. The inaugural convening, offered in partnership with the Hurand Connection Fund, will feature U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo and poets Jennifer Foerster and LeAnne Howe, editors of… Read more »
Jeremy Huw Williams, baritone, and Paula Fan, pianist, perform at the St. Augustine Cathedral in Tucson on Oct.13, 2015. (Solaris Photography)
The Fred Fox School of Music at the University of Arizona College of Fine Arts will present its 13th annual Music+Festival, featuring the music of George Gershwin (1898-1937), Steve Reich (b. 1936), and William Bolcom (b. 1938), from Oct. 9-12. All festival events will be online, with free admission.… Read more »
Taika Waititi will write, direct and executive produce two series based on the work of Roald Dahl for Netflix, starting with "Charlie and the Chocolate Factor." (Albert L. Ortega/Getty Images)
This story originally appeared on Alma. Netflix just announced that the Academy Award-winning Maori-Jewish filmmaker Taika Waititi will write, direct and executive produce two series based on the work of author Roald Dahl for the streaming platform. The first is based on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” focusing specifically… Read more »
The Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery after a 2016 cleanup effort.
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish History Museum/Holocaust History Center are sponsoring a bus tour, “Preserving Jewish History in Southern Arizona: An Experiential and Mobile Day of Learning,” on Wednesday, March 11, led by Stuart Mellan, JFSA president and CEO, and Bryan Davis, JHM executive director.… Read more »
Gloria Goldman and Teresa Cavendish
Editor’s note: Due to the spread of coronavirus, Congregation M’kor Hayim has postponed this event. HIAS’ National Refugee Shabbat is a call to congregations across the country to dedicate sacred time on the March 20-21 Shabbat to honor refugees and asylum seekers. Congregation M’kor Hayim will hold a special Friday,… Read more »
Leah Koenig Leah Koenig will be representing Jewish cuisine at the Tucson Festival of Books with her new cookbook, “The Jewish Cookbook,” which includes recipes from around the globe. Koenig’s recipes have been featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, New York Magazine’s Grub Street, and other popular… Read more »
Folk dancers, musicians, and singers will join the Arizona Balalaika Orchestra for its 40th anniversary concert in Tucson on Saturday, March 7.
The Arizona Balalaika Orchestra’s 40th Anniversary Concert of traditional music and dance of Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and other Slavic countries is Saturday, March 7, at 7 p.m. at Pima Community College Center for the Arts. The 25-member orchestra, founded in 1980 by Mia Bulgarin Gay, presents a wide spectrum… Read more »
Steve Solomon with a high school relic.
Editor’s note: Due to precautions against the spread of COVID-19 announced by Tucson Mayor Regina Romero, the performances of “From Brooklyn to Broadway in Only 50 Years!” have been postponed to Saturday, May 16 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. For more information visit www.invisibletheatre.com. Invisible Theatre will present… Read more »
