Local

Pinchas Zohav, community chaplain for the Ruth & Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life (Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Northwest Division); his wife, Rita Zohav; Northwest Director Phyllis Gold; and Northwest staff member Carol Nudelman celebrated Shabbat on Friday, Oct. 4, with residents at Sunrise Senior Living. Zohav celebrates… Read more »

Jonathan Mosher, the chief criminal deputy at the Pima County Attorney’s Office, will run for Pima County Attorney in 2020. Mosher has been a lawyer for 25 years and an Arizona prosecutor for 15 years, serving more than a decade under Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall. For more information,… Read more »

Andrew Gale

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has hired Andrew Gale as campaign manager. Gale grew up in Southern Arizona and attended Northern Arizona University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management.  Most recently, he was the donor relations manager at Habitat for Humanity Tucson, where… Read more »

On Oct. 27, 2018, in was the most brutal anti-Semitic attack in the history of the United States, a gunman opened fire in the Tree of Life building in Pittsburgh, taking the lives of 11 innocent people from three congregations: Dor Hadash, New Light and Tree of Life *… Read more »

The Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has launched a special campaign called “The Next Step” to support its expansion to larger premises and operation of The Ruth & Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life. The center’s new facility now in use at 180 W. Magee… Read more »

Educating the community — that’s our real campaign task,” says Melissa Goldfinger, chair of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s 2020 fundraising drive. “We kick off our 100 Days of Impact on Oct. 24, with our 2020 theme: Powered by You — Stronger Together. Our job is to help… Read more »

The Jewish History Museum and Jewish Community Relations Council will formally launch the Jewish Community Migrant Justice Initiative on Thursday, Oct. 24. The project will coordinate Jewish community efforts in response to the humanitarian needs of asylum seekers and refugees in Southern Arizona, says Bryan Davis, JHM executive director.… Read more »

If you are a Tucson Hebrew Academy student, you have probably met, or at least heard of, Gertrude Shankman, a resident at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. THA students have been celebrating Shankman’s birthday every year since she turned 100. On Oct. 26, Shankman will turn 105. “It… Read more »

When I first spot Bill Kugelman across the room at a local senior living community, he is sitting in a chair, waving his arms in the air and stomping his feet to lively Zumba music. Surrounded by a group of grey-headed women, he is one of very few men… Read more »

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona is initiating a free support group for Jewish women of all ages who have been impacted by domestic violence. The LEAH (Let’s End Abusive Households) Support Group represents a safe environment for healing and support. Group activities may help in anxiety… Read more »

Health and fitness coach and author Laurie Rein will present a Healthy Aging for Women program for a Congregation Or Chadash Sisterhood Girl’s Night Out on Nov. 13.  Rein brings 30 years of experience in health training and a career in professional dance to her talk. Growing up in… Read more »

As part of its balanced care method, Tucson’s Home Care Assistance caregivers offer adult clients care to help them live longer, happier, more balanced lives. That’s why the caregivers are trained in kosher care, to deliver a Jewish perspective to services and conform with Jewish laws and customs, according… Read more »

Hundreds of women and girls gathered at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Thursday, Sept. 26, for the sixth annual Mega Challah Bake, co-sponsored by Chabad Tucson. Participants learned how to make and shape dough for round challahs in advance of the Rosh Hashanah holiday, enjoyed a buffet of… Read more »

In an effort to boost global agriculture, the University of Arizona has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Jewish National Fund and Israel’s Arava region to establish The JNF Joint Institute for Global Food, Water and Energy Security. The memorandum was signed on Sept. 12 by JNF President… Read more »

Former Catalina Foothills High School swimmer Hannah Orbach-Mandel is one of nine finalists chosen from a field of 585 nominees for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Woman of the Year Award, which will be announced Oct. 20 at a ceremony in Indianapolis. The finalists demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics,… Read more »

The Arizona Jewish Post won two awards at the Arizona Newspapers Association convention, held Sept. 28 in Phoenix. Executive Editor Phyllis Braun and staff won a third-place award for “Fall Arts Preview” in the Special Section category, Division 2 (non-daily circulation 3,500-10,000). Michelle Shapiro, AJP graphic designer, won a… Read more »

Using a recipe Handmaker resident Betty Light shared, Bonnie Gottesman (left) and Rabbi Richard Safran were among a group of residents at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging who enjoyed making honey cakes Sept. 25 in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. Some added nuts and/or raisins, depending on their individual… Read more »

The Ruth & Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest opened its new facility at 180 W. Magee Road, Suite 140, on Sept. 24. About 40 people gathered as Rabbi Avraham Alpert (above) hung a mezuzah on the outer door and another on the interior office door.… Read more »

Children will be able to release their sins the really old-fashioned way by sending them away with a goat at Temple Emanu-El’s Yom Kippur morning family service, Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 8:30 a.m. During Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, repentance is achieved by prayer, repentance, and fasting, but… Read more »

The Jewish New Year is a time for reflection and commitment toward a more just world. The six Holocaust survivors we feature in this issue are a few among the approximately 75 survivors currently living in Southern Arizona, most of whom were children or teens when the war broke… Read more »