David Graizbord Editor’s note: This event has been postponed until November due the spread of COVID-19. The Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona have canceled all public events through April 16 out of an abundance of caution. Israeli politics, water scarcity, and medical advances will highlight “Israel… Read more »
Brain surgeon Allan Hamilton, M.D., pictured at one of his TED talks, will speak to the Tucson Maimonides Society March 16.
Editor’s note: Due to the spread of COVID-19, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona on March 13 has cancelled all public events through April 16. Tucson Maimonides Society’s March presentation sounds like it comes straight from the set of a television medical drama. Indeed, speaker Allan Hamilton, M.D., is… Read more »
Rabbi Moshe Peretz Gilden
“Tucson Mezuzah Week’ is the first community-wide opportunity, offered by Congregation Chofetz Chayim and the Southwest Torah Institute, to have every Jewish home in Tucson protected by the mitzvah of placing mezuzot on every doorpost,” says the congregation’s Rabbi Israel Becker. Often called the “Jewish security system,” the mezuzah is… 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 »
David Tannenbaum isn’t weighted down by his bevy of Senior Olympics medals. He’ll be competing again at the national games in 2021. (Courtesy David Tannenbaum)
Senior athlete David Tannenbaum of Hereford, Arizona, recently completed a “decathlon” of his own making. “I set a goal to win 10 medals in three different sports,” he says. Achieving that goal at the 2020 Arizona Senior Olympics in February wasn’t easy but it qualified him for participation in… Read more »
Sara Lopez Arizona Theatre Company launched a new program this year as another way to involve the local community. The program, called the Cohorts Club, gives citizens of Tucson and Phoenix the opportunity to see everything that encompasses a show ATC puts on. Designated members of the public attend rehearsals, tech… Read more »
‘Catch and Release’ by Barbara Brandel
The Spaces We Inhabit” encourages art enthusiasts to explore the points of view of seven local female artists. The exhibit will be on display March 16-April 27 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery. The seven artists, members of group called “Women Who Art,” use a variety… 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 »
A javelina sprints past a Tucson apartment complex in Damion Alexander’s Feb. 22 video, which went viral.
Tucsonan Damion Alexander posted a short video of a running javelina on Facebook Feb. 22, and it has gone viral, spawning countless memes and global news coverage, from the New York Times to news.com.au in Australia, which took pains to explain that a javelina is “also known as a… Read more »
The J now offers professional massage therapy by appointment.
The Tucson Jewish Community Center recently added rest and relaxation to its vast array of services and activities. iBalance Wellness Spa now delivers on-the-spot massage services, with regularly scheduled appointments. Therapies include therapeutic, deep tissue, and rehabilitative massage with therapists professionally trained in acute and chronic pain and stress… Read more »
Melissa Zimmerman
After the findings from a national Adverse Childhood Experience Study recognized that a third of the population of the United States suffers from trauma, Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona worked to make the organization a more trauma-informed space. Melissa Zimmerman, vice president of clinical services at… Read more »
Bella Wexler Editor’s note: The March 8 Connections event has been postponed to the fall due to concerns about the spread of coronavirus. Bella Wexler, a junior at Catalina Foothills High School, will receive the Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award March 8. The Women’s Philanthropy advisory council created the award, which recognizes… Read more »
From left, Aviva Zeltzer-Zubida, Ph.D., Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona vice president; Graham Hoffman, Jewish Community Foundation president and CEO; and JCF Project Manager Maya Horowitz, review a community planning timeline at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, Jan. 28.
Last spring, community leaders from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation began a community visioning project that was soon dubbed “2020 and Beyond: Reimagining Jewish Life in Southern Arizona.” After initial stages that included hiring an outside consultant and holding meetings with stakeholder groups… Read more »
Siblings Sara and Josh Hurand in Tucson in fall 2017
Sara Hurand says she’s never known anyone like her brother, Josh Hurand, a psychotherapist in Tucson who has a gift for connecting people. “He makes business connections, creative connections, light and fun connections, and deep and enduring connections. He is meaningfully close with family members both near and far,… Read more »
The cast of Unscrewed Theater’s Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed comedy troop
Unscrewed Theater and Beth Shalom Temple Center in Green Valley will partner for a BSTC fund-raiser next month, “Dine and Laugh!” Comedy troops from Unscrewed Theater, an improv club based in Tucson, will perform while attendees enjoy a three-course dinner on Saturday, March 21, at the Madera Crystal Ballroom… Read more »
To cut down on pollution created by gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment, the Pima County Department of Environmental Quality, in partnership with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, has created the “Cut Down Pollution” program. “Our region exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s health standard for ground-level ozone on… Read more »
Kenny Mirman and Marlene Burns celebrate Purim at Chabad Oro Valley. (Photo courtesy Chabad Oro Valley)
A full array of Southern Arizona Purim parties will ensure that this most fun holiday of the Jewish calendar is action-packed. Take your pick from a string of family-friendly events, submitted by area synagogues and agencies. Friday, March 6 6 p.m.: Purim Shabbat Early Shabbat tot and child-friendly service;… Read more »
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 »
Girl Scout Troop 613 meets at Congregation Anshei Israel. (Photo courtesy Nichole Chorny)
There is a nationally recognized Girl Scout program for Jewish troops across the United States and Tucson has its own troop. Girl Scout Troop 613, which includes girls in second to fourth grades, is led by one of the girls’ mothers, Nichole Chorny, who is the cantorial soloist at… Read more »
