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  JERUSALEM (JTA) — “People don’t know me,” Sarah Tuttle-Singer jokes while sitting curled up on a couch and sipping a cappuccino in the lobby of this city’s famed King David Hotel. The controversial author and blogger laughs before continuing, a smile playing across her face. “Let them get… Read more »

(Illustration by Michelle Shapiro/AJP)

Whether making a name for themselves in front of the bright lights or behind the scenes, whether they still call Southern Arizona home or have moved to far-flung cities, the 12 young people profiled here bring a wide array of talents to the fields of arts and entertainment. Some… Read more »

Robert Lopez-Hanshaw’s passion is writing music. He has been involved with music in one way or another since childhood. Along with being a composer and conductor, he is the choir director for Temple Emanu-El, and a sound designer for Winding Road Theater Company. He has had choral and instrumental… Read more »

Two things that ground Danielle Faitelson are her love for theater and her connection to her Jewish heritage. “It’s part of some bigger purpose,” she says of her Jewish roots. “It feels like a responsibility for generations past, not just two generations ago. I’d be ungrateful to drop Judaism,… Read more »

Video, photography, early childhood education and yoga all figure into the art of Grant Henry. Currently a resident of Brooklyn, New York, Henry, 35, grew up in Tucson. He gained a love of working with children through 10 years of teaching preschool at Temple Emanu-El, and his primary career… Read more »

Michael Martinez describes his young self as a “strange kid. I had trouble finding my place in this world.” That suddenly changed at Saguaro High School when he walked into drama class. When he found the stage, he finally felt at home, “a home where I could be myself… Read more »

Actor, writer and singer Sam Gasch acquired his love of acting when he was in a play in first grade at Tucson Hebrew Academy. He also acted in plays in high school and college. Now living in Los Angeles, he is still pursuing acting, although he is more interested… Read more »

Musician, performer, producer, engineer, director, band member, recording artist … Russell Wiener wears a lot of hats, on stage and behind the scenes, but he seems to like it that way. With 20 years in the Los Angeles music industry under his belt, he’s got a lot to show… Read more »

Rhonda Karson ended up in Hollywood because she thought she wanted to work in film. But she always had a calling for the stage, and that’s where she has found her muse. Born and raised in Tucson, Karson, the 27-year-old daughter of Cathy and Mitch Karson, got her first… Read more »

A winding road led Suki-Rose Simakis to the place she is meant to be and it is literally a world of horror — cinematic horror, that is. She says she has always been a film person, spending lots of time at The Loft Cinema and Catalina Theatre growing up in… Read more »

Six-term Arizona Republican Sen. John Sydney McCain III, 81, died at the family ranch in Sedona, Arizona, Aug. 26, one day after declining further treatment for brain cancer. Today, he lies in state in the U.S. Capitol, where a formal ceremony will take place in the Capitol Rotunda at… Read more »

Legendary all-star Rose Bowl running back Calvin Murray played football for the Philadelphia Eagles in the early ’80s. Yet he says his greatest touchdown was converting to Orthodox Judaism five years ago, and with his wife, Emunah, preparing to make aliyah. Murray, who now goes by the name Yosef,… Read more »

Directly out of college, Alex Caine had a great public relations job that he wound up hating. “I realized I missed performing,” he says. He took a risk, quit that job and headed to Los Angeles three years ago to make a name for himself in comedy. While most… Read more »

Some of violinist Rachel Saul’s best memories are of playing classical music at Tucson’s 4th Avenue Street Fair when she was in high school or home visiting from college, with her younger sister, Rebecca, accompanying her on viola. “What a great time that was, just performing together on the… Read more »

Claire Graham found a unique platform to make a difference in the world. She parlayed her love for animals into successful adoption of at least 600 pets and made her own rescue pooch a television star. Graham, 29, became a news anchor on a metropolitan television station just months… Read more »

Graham Hoffman

The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona will welcome Graham Hoffman as chief executive officer, beginning Sept. 17. Hoffman most recently was deputy director of development at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, D.C., as well as deputy director of the American Israel Education Foundation for the… Read more »

Michael Cooper describes Nogales, Arizona, as a small, multicultural melting pot. Nevertheless, he felt like an outsider growing up there. He carries that with him every day as he approaches life in the world’s largest melting pot, New York City. He says the border town lessons about inclusion vs.… Read more »

David Alexander Johnston plays nine characters in “The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey” by LGBT activist and Academy Award-winning author, James Lecesne, playing at the Invisible Theatre Sept. 4-16. “Absolute Brightness” tells the story of the effect a gay teen’s disappearance has on his community. These are the voices… Read more »

This summer season marked the 18th anniversary of Birthright Israel, the program that brings Diaspora Jews, ages 18-26, on a free trip to Israel. From May 24-June 4, Bus #1545 carried University of Arizona students along with participants from the University of Southern California, Arizona State University, and San… Read more »

The truth is, there is no commandment in Judaism to dip an apple in honey on Rosh Hashanah. But what would the Jewish New Year be without the custom? It’s a question that bedevils vegans, many of whom won’t eat honey because it’s an animal product. So what’s a… Read more »