Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging continues its annual Three Rabbis Lecture Panel next month, exploring “The Future of the Tucson Jewish Community.” Rabbi Yossie Shemtov of Orthodox Congregation Young Israel, Rabbi Robert Eisen of Conservative Congregation Anshei Israel, and Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Reform Congregation Or Chadash will… Read more »
Events
Exhibit at Phoenix Art Museum explores India’s influence on fashion

Phoenix Art Museum will present “India: Fashion’s Muse” Feb. 29- June 21, 2020. The exhibition examines the ways in which Indian dress, aesthetic, and artwork have inspired Western fashion designs from streetwear to couture. Spanning the 19th to the 21st centuries, the exhibition showcases nearly 40 garments and more… Read more »
Bet Shalom farm festival will celebrate desert garden, New Year for trees, family fun
The Midbar Project located at Congregation Bet Shalom will host a Tu B’Shevat Farm Festival on Sunday, Feb. 9. This festival will include the garden’s first plantings, painting the fence and chicken coop, clearing and pruning space for the mindfulness area, along with face-painting, music, PJ Library books, and… Read more »
Local workshops will guide unity against harassment, bias

The national Safety Respect Equity coalition examines issues of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the Jewish community. The movement addresses privilege and power inequity, and devises solutions to ensure that existing structures no longer negatively influence how community business is done. The focus is on the values and… Read more »
UA international conference to broach global anti-Semitism

The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona will host a two-day international conference, “Contradictions and Tropes of Anti-Semitism,” Feb. 23-24. “The conference will address the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism in this country,” says Gil Ribak, Ph.D., organizing committee co-chair with Ed Wright, Ph.D., and Günther… Read more »
At Jewish History Museum, author to share ideas for combating ‘anti-social’ media

Extremism has hijacked the global social media conversation. Most of our lives — not just social life but news and entertainment that form our worldview — is online. The once-beautiful dream of a free internet — now a huge, irredeemable dumpster fire — is increasingly corrupted by conspiracy and… Read more »
Mountain camp experience in April set to bond PJ Library families

PJ Library will partner with Camp Daisy and Harry Stein in Prescott, Arizona, for a family weekend getaway April 17-19. The first five families from Southern Arizona to register will get $100 off the event. “We are having family camp to give families the opportunity to spend the weekend… Read more »
‘Prostate Hoax’ topic at health seminar
Temple Emanu-El Men’s Club will hold a free health awareness seminar, “The Great Prostate Hoax,” with Richard J. Ablin, Ph.D., D.Sc. (Hon.), on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 9:30 a.m. Ablin is a research scientist and educator who serves as president of the Robert Benjamin Ablin Foundation for Cancer Research.… Read more »
Biographies, mysteries on tap for Brandeis

The Brandeis National Committee Tucson Chapter 24th Annual Book and Author Events will take place March 4 and 5, with four nationally recognized authors: journalists Todd S. Purdum and Hank Phillippi Ryan, each with a departure from their usual beats; biographer James McGrath Morris; and park ranger turned mystery… Read more »
Jewish, Muslim sisters explore border issues

The Tucson chapter of the national non-profit Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom recently hosted 52 international and local members for a fact-finding mission in Southern Arizona. The group of 26 Jewish and 26 Muslim members focused on southern border issues Jan. 26-30. The apolitical Sisterhood strives to build bridges between… Read more »
J’s varied camp experience builds character

The Tucson Jewish Community Center will offer its Camp J this summer from May 26-Aug. 27, with a variety of programs for kids of all ages. Camp activities include arts and crafts, archery, STEM, swimming, field trips, and a variety of electives. Christy Ball has been sending her sons,… Read more »
Hava Tequila party will raise the roof

Hava Tequila, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s annual Young Leadership benefit party, will be held Saturday, Feb. 29, 8-11 p.m. at a new location, the Sonoran Rooftop at the Westward Look, 245 E. Ina Road. The theme will be “A Night on the Red Carpet.” “We checked out… Read more »
Renowned therapist to headline annual Connections brunch

Ruth Westheimer promises she won’t talk about sexual satisfaction in her March 8 presentation at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy annual Connections brunch. Best known as “Dr. Ruth,” Westheimer is an American sex therapist, media personality, author, radio and television talk show host, and Holocaust survivor.… Read more »
Local artist brings 19th century cantor to life in ‘My Grandfather’s Prayers’

Relocating her well established Red Herring Puppets studio from North Carolina to Tucson last year was a big move for Lisa Amie Sturz. She brings to the Old Pueblo 40 years of experience in building, performing, and directing puppetry for film and television, theater, museums, educational institutions, and special… Read more »
Oro Valley Chabad, police to hold community safety event
Chabad of Oro Valley will host a community-wide event addressing safety and security on Sunday, Feb. 9, at 2 p.m.. The Oro Valley Police Department will present an “active shooter response” class to provide attendees with strategies for dangerous situations. Since the recent violent attacks against Jewish communities, including… Read more »
IT’s Claassen to play Dr. Ruth on stage
Susan Claassen will star in the Invisible Theatre’s production of “Becoming Dr. Ruth,” a one-woman show by Mark St. Germain, which will run Feb. 11-23. “It is a privilege and awesome responsibility to portray this amazing and iconic woman who has been a Jewish ‘She-ro’ to so many including… Read more »
Mike Pence to attend Holocaust forum in Israel
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vice President Mike Pence will attend a conference on the Holocaust in Israel. The White House announced Wednesday that Pence and his wife, Karen, would attend the Fifth World Holocaust Forum at Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial, in Jerusalem on Jan. 23. This year’s conference coincides… Read more »
Federation to host Super Sunday event in philanthropy center

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is planning its annual Super Sunday phone-a-thon this year for Jan. 26. The event, which raises funds for the 2020 Community Campaign, will be held 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in a new venue: the Deanna and Harvey Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy at 3718… Read more »
Israeli filmmaker to give Pozez lecture

Award-winning writer and director Yehonatan Indursky, co-creator of Israel’s award-winning TV series “Shtisel,” will speak on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. as part of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series. The free lecture will be held at the Tucson Jewish Community Center,… Read more »
Capitol Steps will zap both sides of the aisle for Hillel benefit

It’s another election year, and that’s a bonanza for the Capitol Steps, the singing satirists from D.C. who will take the stage at the Fox Tucson Theatre next month in a benefit performance for the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation. “That will be a fun time because that will… Read more »