Local

JFSA Maimonides to tour ‘Deadly Medicine,’ hear survivor

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 »

‘Holocaust Survivor Cookbook’ author to speak

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 »

JFSA transportation grant includes more shuls

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 »

Wildcat’s Pasternack to join Hillel dinner

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 »

“Too Jewish” to celebrate with live broadcast

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 »

Brandeis University arts expert to present ‘Truth or Beauty’

Scott Edmiston

The Brandeis National Committee will host its annual University on Wheels event on Thursday, Feb. 7, at 9 a.m. at Skyline Country Club. Scott Edmiston, director of the Office of the Arts at Brandeis University, will speak on: “Truth or Beauty: The Need for Art in the 21st Century.”… Read more »

JFSA hires campaign manager

Bryan Pisetsky

Bryan Pisetsky will join the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona as campaign manager full time beginning April 3. He will relocate to Tucson from California with his wife, Kira, and two children. Pisetsky’s professional career has included an outreach fellowship with the Las Vegas Hillel Center for Jewish Student… Read more »

Jewish camp fair will feature reps from overnight camps

Temple Emanu-El will host the annual Jewish Camp Fair on Sunday, Feb. 3, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Camp directors from more than 15 Jewish camps will be on hand to meet with parents and children from the entire Jewish community. Camps from across the United States will… Read more »

Classes to explore Israel, past and present

The Weintraub Israel Center and Temple Emanu-El will present “Israel: Past and Present,” a five-week adult education series beginning Feb. 4. Classes will meet at Temple Emanu-El on Mondays at 6:30 p.m. The topics are: Feb. 4: “Israel’s Cultures, Past and Present” with Ken Miller, University of Arizona staff… Read more »

JFSA sponsors Birthright summer 2013 trip

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is sponsoring a Birthright Israel trip for young professionals, graduate students and upperclassmen in June 2013. If you are 20-26 years old, grew up in Tucson or live here now (including attending the University of Arizona), and have never been to Israel on… Read more »

Lederman speaker for JFSA winter residents event

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold a reception for winter residents on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 5 p.m. at the home of Randee and Myron Jacobs. Casual attire is suggested. The guest speaker will be Amy Hirshberg Lederman, who will present “Every Family Has a Story to… Read more »

Kickboxing, heart health talk on tap for YWC

The Young Women’s Cabinet will kick off a healthy new year with its winter event on Wednesday, Feb. 6 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The evening will include a cardio-kickboxing class and a discussion of heart health with Claudine Messing, vice president of… Read more »

‘God is to be found everywhere,’ says Temple’s Bilgray scholar

Rabbi Arthur Green

Rabbi Arthur Green has forged his own spiritual path for a half-century. A preeminent authority on neo-Hasidism, mysticism and Jewish spirituality, Green will be in residence at Temple Emanu-El from Feb. 7 to 9 as the distinguished scholar for its 2013 Arthur T. Bilgray lecture series. Recognized as one… Read more »

Matisyahu bringing acoustic tour to Rialto

Matisyahu

Matisyahu, the no-longer-Hasidic reggae superstar, will bring his first acoustic tour to Tucson on Wednesday, Jan. 30, performing at the Rialto Theatre. The concert will feature acoustic renditions of tracks from his latest album, “Spark Seeker,” in addition to some fan favorites. While in Santa Monica earlier this month… Read more »

Bet Shalom 30th: Celebrating Rabbi Billy and Ada Lewkowicz

Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz

Congregation Bet Shalom will celebrate its 30th year by honoring Rabbi Philip (“Billy”) Lewkowicz and his wife, Ada, at a gala dinner on March 3. “Rabbi Billy has been associated with our congregation as a guest speaker, participant in study groups and panel discussions and especially as our religious… Read more »

Expanding Super Sunday: JFSA fundraiser gets mitzvah boost

Kathy Unger, chair of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona board, makes calls on Super Sunday, Jan. 30, 2011.

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold its annual fundraising phone-a-thon, renamed “Super Extraordinary Sunday,” on Jan. 27. The event will also include numerous mitzvah projects. “This is Super Sunday gone viral, reaching and bringing together more people than ever before. While dedicated volunteers man the phones, other… Read more »

Interfaith mission probes Mideast peace issues

A Palestinian boy in the town of Duma holds a signed “peace ball” from Tucson’s Muslim-Jewish Peace Walk. (Paul Afek)

It sounds like the start of a “walks into a bar” joke — four Jews, four Muslims and two Christians traveled from Tucson to Israel and the Palestinian territories. But this was a serious interfaith peace mission organized by the International Center for Peace and Justice, a local organization,… Read more »

Photo exhibit reveals Orthodox life in Israel

An Orthodox wedding in Israel (Gil Cohen-Magen)

The Weintraub Israel Center and the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will present an exhibit and lecture by Israeli photojournalist Gil Cohen-Magen on Monday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Over the past decade, Cohen-Magen was given exclusive access to the ultra-Orthodox in Israel,… Read more »

Israeli diplomat to speak at AIPAC dinner

Tal Becker

Tal Becker, the principal deputy legal advisor at the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be the featured speaker at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Tucson annual dinner on Wednesday, Jan. 30. Becker is also a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and a member… Read more »

Great Decisions will explore global issues

The Tucson Jewish Community Center will present Great Decisions, a nine-week nonpartisan discussion series on global affairs, sponsored nationally by the Foreign Policy Association and locally by Tucson Great Decisions, www.tgda.org, beginning Monday, Jan. 21, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Participants may attend one or more sessions. The eight… Read more »