Jim Belushi Most family men spend weekends mowing the lawn or tinkering in the garage. Not Jim Belushi. He’s out almost every weekend, making audiences around the country laugh, performing with his improv troupe, the Chicago Board of Comedy. “Most guys, they golf on the weekend,” said Belushi, 58. “I go… Read more »
Author and journalist Iris Krasnow has written about women’s relationships and personal growth for 30 years. She will speak about “The Power of Passion in a Woman’s Life” at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy “Connections” brunch on March 3. The event will start at 10 a.m.… Read more »
Ann Kirschner, author of the acclaimed “Sala’s Gift” and the upcoming “Lady at the OK Corral: The True Story of Josephine Marcus Earp,” will be the keynote speaker in the Jewish History Museum’s Jewish Storytelling Festival. She will give a free lecture about her new book on Thursday, March… Read more »
Terri Freed, a local Brandeis National Committee volunteer, interacts with children during an after-school literacy enrichment project at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. (Courtesy Terri Freed) About a year ago, the Tucson chapter of the Brandeis National Committee began discussing ways to bring more parents of young children into their fold. “We were told that the way to reach this age group was through their children,” says Roz Kraft, a co-leader of the Brandeis study… Read more »
Sarah (Sue) Raizes, a resident of The Fountains who will turn 100 in May, rolls dough for hamantaschen at the Saddlebrooke home of her daughter, Sharon Triester. Raizes, whose mother was also a prolific baker, favors traditional fillings such as lekvar (prune) but also “branched out to cherry,” says Triester. Despite living in an area under constant rocket fire from Gaza, Israeli Roni Keidar helps Palestinians from Gaza get emergency health care in Israel. Keidar will present “Nurturing Peace on the Gaza Border” on Thursday, March 7 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The free Heartbeat… Read more »
In response to Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) joined with the Union for Reform Judaism and several other Jewish organizations to create one coordinated campaign to raise relief funds for Israel. To date, the JFNA Terror Relief Fund has… Read more »
Operation Elijah, a community effort to ensure that every Jew in Southern Arizona has a seat at a Seder table for Passover, is seeking participants, both guest and hosts. If you are new to the community, single, a student, have no family in the area or are alone for… Read more »
Naomi Benaron An acclaimed first-time novelist, an award-winning mystery writer, an internationally best-selling author and the reporter who wrote “A Safeway in Arizona: What the Gabrielle Giffords Shooting Tells Us About the Grand Canyon State” will highlight the Brandeis National Committee’s 17th Annual Book & Author Events. The committee’s Tucson chapter… Read more »
Irving Olson, 99, with one of his water drop photographs (Renee Claire) Irving Olson has been capturing photographic images for nearly 90 years. He continues to create pictures in a dark room, just not the “dark room” one typically associates with photo development. In a specially outfitted kitchenette in his Oro Valley home, Olson shuts out all light and digitally captures… Read more »
Arik Lubovsky Before I left for Israel, friends and family asked if I was afraid. “Not really,” I replied. It wasn’t until I was actually there, relaxing on the patio of the Mizpe Hayamim health farm … Read more »
Joshua Bell with the Gibson ex Huberman Stradivarius (Photo: Lisa-Marie Mazzucco) Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell will play with the Tucson Symphony Orchestra on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. at the Tucson Music Hall. The program of romantic classics will include the overture to Mozart’s “Marriage of Figaro,” Grieg’s “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen,” the “Wedding March” from Mendelssohn’s “A… Read more »
Bullying is an issue of concern nationally; in a 2011 study, 44 percent of 10- to 17-year-olds reported being bullied. Awareness of this problem is on the rise in response to recent violent incidents, including school shootings and highly publicized cyberbullying. To address parents’ concerns, two local Jewish organizations,… Read more »
A support group for Jewish mothers of children of any age with disabilities will hold its inaugural meeting later this month. In a letter to prospective participants, organizer Joyce Stuehringer, who has an adult son born with a disability, wrote of her hope that in discussing common experiences, “we… Read more »
The Jewish Federation-Northwest will offer Healthy-Steps chair exercise classes on Tuesday mornings from 9 to 10 a.m., beginning Feb. 12. The gentle whole body workout is set to big band, jazz and swing era music. Based on the Lebed Method, it includes deep breathing, slow stretching and therapeutic exercises.… Read more »
Holocaust survivor Klara Swimmer tells her story to a group of Tucson area high school students during the Air National Guard 162nd Fighter Wing’s Holocaust Remembrance event, March 17, 2009. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Jordan Jones) Tucsonan Klara Swimmer was a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Hungary when she read a book about Madame Curie that set the course of her life. “I decided that I wanted to do something similar she did and that was medicine.” Swimmer, 88, didn’t allow the Holocaust to knock… Read more »
Joanne Caras, author of “The Holocaust Survivor Cookbook” and “Miracles & Meals” Chabad of Tucson will host an evening with cookbook author Joanne Caras on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. at Congregation Young Israel. Caras’ cookbooks, “The Holocaust Survivor Cookbook” and its sequel, “Miracles & Meals,” memorialize lives lost in the Holocaust. The Port St Lucie, Fla., resident collected more… Read more »
Three years ago, transportation programs for Jewish seniors (60+) and adults with disabilities were begun through grants from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Task Force for Seniors and Adults with Disabilities to Congregations Or Chadash and Bet Shalom. Last year Congregations Anshei Israel, Chaverim and M’kor Hayim and… Read more »
Joe Pasternack (University of Arizona) University of Arizona Assistant Basketball Coach Joe Pasternack will talk about this year’s top-10 Wildcats team at the UA Hillel Foundation alumni and friends’ dinner on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 6:45 p.m. Pasternack is in his second year as UA assistant coach under Coach Sean Miller. The event, which… Read more »
Robert Klein will headline a live radio broadcast celebrating the 10th anniversary of "Too Jewish" (Courtesy Temple Emanu-El) The “Too Jewish” radio show with Rabbi Sam Cohon and Friends will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a live radio variety show broadcast from the Fox Theatre on March 2 at 7:45 p.m., featuring comedian Robert Klein along with Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, U.S. Rep. Ron Barber, Amy Hirshberg Lederman,… Read more »
