Rev. Dr. John Kitagawa, Jake Gordon and Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon celebrate Jake’s Bar Mitzvah in Jerusalem. ( Photo: Bruno Charbit Photography) Instead of a traditional Jewish mission to Israel, Temple Emanu-El and St. Philip’s in the Hills Episcopal Church joined forces to expand their congregants’ understanding of the Holy Land. Twelve Jews and 11 Christians participated in the interfaith mission led by Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon and Rev. Dr. John… Read more »
Barbara Shore and her daughter Deborah Shore participate in a project at Handmaker during the Israeli Artists Exchange in February. (Photo: Lori Riegel) Coming from a Jewish family that valued education propelled Barbara Shore, now 91, into academia. Becoming a feminist happened along the way. Her husband, Jack Shore, whom she married in 1942, was instrumental in that progression. “We didn’t call it then,” Shore told the AJP in her apartment… Read more »
Tucson Jewish Community Center President and CEO Ken Light Twenty-six years ago, when Ken Light took the helm of the Tucson Jewish Community Center, the landmark edifice on River Road hadn’t even been built. Light had come to town with the understanding that financing and permits were all in place, but it would take three more years of… Read more »
New mom (Susan Kovitz) shares the joys and woes of parenting in a scene from ‘Motherhood Out Loud’ coming to the Invisible Theatre. (Susan Claassen) The Invisible Theatre will begin its 2012-2013 “Season of Love” with the Southwest premiere of “Motherhood Out Loud.” A series of vignettes covering every aspect of motherhood — from stepmoms to single mothers, immigrant moms to grandmothers, new moms to empty nesters, — “Motherhood Out Loud” was written by… Read more »
Following the early start of Tucson’s schools, Tucson Hebrew High will begin on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 at its host synagogue, Congregation Anshei Israel. The first session will include a welcome back pizza and last minute registration party, classes, a storytelling slam by Hebrew High faculty, and an ice… Read more »
When the school year starts at Tucson Hebrew Academy on Aug. 16, every middle school student will have a laptop computer that they can take with them from class to class — and home with them at night. Lesson plans will be designed around this technology, which will… Read more »
The Women’s Academy for Jewish Studies at Congregation Chofetz Chayim will hold a free brunch and presentation next month, “What Does G-d Have in Mind for You?” with Esther Becker, based on the book “As Long as I Live: The Life Story of Aharon Margalit.” By age 7, Margalit’s… Read more »
Jewish youth ages 7-14 are invited to join the Tucson Jewish Youth Choir, which will kick off its 13th season on Aug. 22 at 3:45 p.m. with a rehearsal at Tucson Hebrew Academy. No prior musical experience is necessary. Under the direction of Cantor Janece Cohen, the TJYC performs… Read more »
Alexis Sokoloff holds the Torah at her Bat Mitzvah ceremony (Courtesy Gwen Sokolof) Fourteen-year-old Alexis Sokoloff smiles as she recalls her Bat Mitzvah on June 9. “I wasn’t nervous at all,” she told the AJP. “I really love learning Hebrew.” Sokoloff was born with Down syndrome, but with the support of her parents, Gwen and Mitchell Sokoloff, and her younger sister, Rebecka,… Read more »
The Tucsonans on the first Birthright Israel trip sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona had heard rave reviews from friends who’d been on one of Birthright’s free, 10-day trips to Israel — and they were at least a bit skeptical. But this group came back believers. “Everyone… Read more »
(L-R) Tucsonans Donna Moser, Audrey Brooks, Marlyne Freedman and Deanna Evenchik at the Birthright Israel Mega Event at Haifa Naval Base July 12 The faces of our grandparents are with me in early July as I leave for the Jewish Federations of North America Campaign Chairs and Directors Mission to Odessa and Israel with my sister, Donna Moser. Grandpa Nathan and Grandma Sadie came to the United States in 1899 from Odessa;… Read more »
Suzi Hileman Jared Lee Loughner will spend life in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to 19 charges stemming from the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 13, including former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. “Thank God that he pled guilty and there won’t be a trial,” said… Read more »
Dr. Paul W. Hoffert with the 2009 Spirit program team Congregation Chofetz Chayim will offer the Dr. Paul W. Hoffert Spirit Program for two weeks beginning July 25. The program gives men and boys the opportunity to study, yeshiva-style, with five visiting students from the Rabbinical Seminary of America. The program has been named “in memory of our beloved… Read more »
Temple Emanu-El is celebrating Taste of Judaism’s 13th year in Tucson. Led by Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon and Rabbi Jason Holtz, Taste of Judaism is a free, interactive three-part series on Jewish spirituality, values and community. It is open to all who want to deepen their knowledge of Jewish… Read more »
The Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has a new space to call home. On July 2, the Jewish Federation — Northwest will open at 190 W. Magee Road, Suite 162, at the northeast corner of Magee and Oracle Roads. The Northwest Division will share the… Read more »
Paul Ash in 1957, when he won the U.S. national weightlifting championship (Courtesy Bruce Ash) Real estate executive, world-class athlete and Tucson community leader Paul Ash, 81, died in Encinitas, Calif., on June 24, 2012. “When the term ‘the greatest generation’ was coined, Paul Ash could very well have been the prototype,” says Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern… Read more »
Cantor Avraham Alpert Congregation Bet Shalom has hired Cantor Avraham Alpert as its full-time clergy, starting July 14. An Arizona native, Alpert was most recently cantor at Temple Beth Sholom in Las Vegas and had previously served as cantor of the Mosaic Law Congregation in Sacramento, Calif. He holds a bachelor’s… Read more »
Rabbi Robert Eisen Congregation Anshei Israel will hold a Siyum HaShas celebration on Thursday, Aug. 2 at 7 p.m. to mark Rabbi Robert Eisen’s completion of studying the entire Talmud. In the early part of the 20th century, the practice called Daf Yomi (page-a-day) of reading one two-side page of the Talmud… Read more »
(L-R) Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Young Men’s Leadership Mission participants Ed Baruch, Andrew Isaac, Jeff Wortzel, Guy Gelbart (JFSA staff), Michael Wexler, Daniel Nadowo (Ethiopian National Project staff), Nadav Kersh (tour guide), Todd Sadow and Adisu Tzahai (ENP staff) in the Alma Cave in Israel’s Naphtali Mountains. Not pictured: David Plotkin, Grace Rodnitzki (ENP staff), Larry Tishkoff (Jewish Federations of North America staff) A life changing week — that’s how participants in Tucson’s first Young Men’s Leadership Mission described their eight days in Israel earlier this month. This mission, which was tailored to meet the interests of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Young Men’s Group, integrated Jewish history, visits to JFSA… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Most Jewish groups who have weighed in on Arizona’s controversial immigration law saw progress in the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling to repeal three of the law’s four parts, but had concerns that law enforcement officials would still be allowed to check the legal immigration status of… Read more »
