Local

The Weintraub Israel Center will hold its annual Yom Hazikaron memorial service in honor of fallen Israeli soldiers and victims of terror on Wednesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The program will include an honor guard from the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, prayers,… Read more »

The Steven A. Lightman Family Foundation has announced its 2012 call for grants. The Lightman Foundation is a supporting foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. Qualifying organizations are nonprofits whose services and programs make a difference in people’s lives. Organizations may be from Tucson or around… Read more »

Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging will present monthly events celebrating life-long learning in May, June and July. The program will kick off with “Between the Lines: A Conversation with Local Authors” on Thursday, May 10 at 1:30 p.m. Sheila Wilensky, associate editor of the Arizona Jewish Post, will… Read more »

Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold a “BEad Inspired” night of fun, social action and tasty treats on Wednesday, May 2 at 7 p.m. at the home of Melissa Goldfinger. Participants can make a bracelet for Beads of Courage and one for themselves or… Read more »

The Senior Task Force of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has changed its name to Task Force for Jewish Seniors and Adults with Disabilities. The task force has created a survey to assess the needs and interests of local Jewish adults with disabilities, which will be online through… Read more »

The Olga and Bob Strauss Center for Early Childhood Education at Temple Emanu-El will be starting a Spanish bilingual preschool program for 3-,4- and 5-year-olds beginning Aug. 1. The program was requested by ECE families. Zoila Scott, who will implement the Spanish immersion program, has a bachelor of science… Read more »

The Tucson Cardozo Society of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will present a breakfast seminar, “Ethics and Professionalism,” with speakers Stanley Feldman, Dennis Rosen and Lowell Rothschild, hosted by Mark Rubin, on Thursday, May 3 at 8:30 a.m. the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m.… Read more »

The new ramp makes it easy for wheelchair-bound members of the congregation to come up to the bimah for an aliyah.

The dream of wheelchair-bound congregants at Congregation Anshei Israel — to ascend to the bimah like everyone else — has become reality. The congregation’s new wheelchair-accessible ramp, which bridges the previous divide, was dedicated at a Saturday morning Shabbat service on March 24. “I’ve been extremely frustrated that people… Read more »

Mimuna is a traditional North African Jewish celebration held the day after Passover, marking the start of spring and the return to eating chametz ( leavened goods). Temple Emanu-El and the Weintraub Israel Center will hold a Mimuna celebration on Saturday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m. at Temple Emanu-El.… Read more »

David Brog

Christians United for Israel at the University of Arizona will host “A Night to Honor Israel: Arizona Stands with Israel” featuring David Brog, CUFI executive director, on Thursday, April 19 at 6 p.m. Before CUFI, Brog worked in the U.S. Senate for seven years, rising to be chief of… Read more »

Congregation Or Chadash will dedicate its new library on Sunday, April 22 at 9:45 a.m. Robert Klein, author of “Being First: An Informal History of the Early Peace Corps,” will sign copies of his book and answer questions about the Peace Corps. The event will honor library creators Roberta… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s nominating committee, chaired by Jennifer Miller Grant, has recommended the following slate of officers for the 2012-2013 program year: Kathryn L. Unger, chair of the board; Deanna Evenchik, vice chair; Madeline Friedman, vice chair; Larry Gellman, vice chair; Joyce Stuehringer, vice chair; Jim… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Library is looking for gently used books to sell at its annual book sale on Sunday, April 22, at 10 a.m. Proceeds will benefit library programs. Donations of everything from novels to children’s books to nonfiction are welcome. Books of Judaic content may be used… Read more »

Some 400 people attended “All That Jazz,” a party honoring Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona President and CEO Stuart Mellan, at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Saturday night, March 30. The elegant evening was briefly marred by reports of shots being fired near the JCC around 10:45 p.m.,… Read more »

Mayor Jonathan Rothschild

Being Tucson’s mayor will involve bumps in the road but Jonathan Rothschild — the fourth Jewish mayor of Tucson’s last six — is enthusiastic about his new role. He’s spent his first months in office actively promoting the city’s revitalization, despite some “tough” spending cuts. “We’ve really been able… Read more »

Congregation Or Chadash Cantor Janece Cohen and Rabbi Thomas Louchheim mark the dedication of a new Torah scroll in December 2007.

  A magnificent view of the Santa Catalina Mountains contributes to the peaceful ambiance at Congregation Or Chadash, but many congregants would say that it is Thomas Louchheim, their rabbi of almost 17 years, who provides the true inspiration. In May, Louchheim will receive an honorary Doctor of Divinity… Read more »

Dutch composer Leo Smit

Sixteen members of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra will perform the work of Leo Smit, a Dutch Jewish composer killed in the Holocaust, at the community’s annual Holocaust commemoration, “A Grave in the Air: A Musical Remembrance,” on Sunday, April 22. Smit, who was of Portuguese descent, was born in… Read more »

Gary Small, M.D.

Who knew that physical exercise may have a greater impact on the brain than so-called mind exercises? Dr. Gary Small, author of “The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program,” will discuss the latest scientific evidence on the aging brain in his presentation, “Mind Games,” Thursday, April 26 from 5 to 8 p.m.… Read more »

Sonia Reich is a Holocaust survivor who, as a child, hid from the Nazis in the forests of Poland and witnessed the murder of family members. Sixty years later, she’s transferred the horrors of her past to the present, experiencing late-onset post- traumatic stress disorder, which manifests in paranoid… Read more »

The TucsonSurvivors.org website has been updated to include the texts of 13 Russian Holocaust survivors’ testimonials, which have been translated into English. Each story is accompanied by photographs, many from the 1940s and ’50s. Richard Fenwick, a volunteer with Jewish Family & Children’s Services, provided the translations. The original… Read more »