Michael Markowitz, Joyce Luna, Bat Florence Portugal, and Eric Schaffer (Photo courtesy SpryTime)
On Saturday, June 15, Tucson Jews for Justice hosted the Tucson Jewish Summer Arts Festival at the Jewish History Museum. The event raised over $500 for local migrant shelters, which will be matched by Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. About 75 people attended, enjoying music from Joyce Luna with… Read more »
Inbal Shtivi, her husband, Eran Falach, and their children look forward to a new experience sharing Israel with Tucson. (Courtesy Shtivi)
Twenty-first century technology can go a long way toward bridging distances between people thousands of miles apart, but there is no replacement for personal and cross-community connections, says Inbal Shtivi. Shtivi, 43, who will be Tucson’s new shlicha (Israeli emissary) and director of the Weintraub Israel Center, will arrive… Read more »
As Jews, we have a special responsibility to stand up for the migrants currently being held under deplorable conditions in ICE detention centers. The situation is completely untenable. A Trump administration lawyer recently argued to a court that the government’s obligation to provide “safe and sanitary” conditions for child… Read more »
I wish to thank the Arizona Jewish Post and interviewer Debe Campbell for the well-written article (“Retiree takes social justice to heart,” 6/28/19). She provided important information I shared with her when we met at the monastery. She has seen firsthand the role that so many volunteers and Catholic… Read more »
Alma Hernandez at the Arizona State Capitol, June 18 (Courtesy Hernandez)
Children and teens at public schools throughout the state will be safer thanks to the efforts of Rep. Alma Hernandez, Arizona’s first Jewish Latina lawmaker. Working with the office of Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, Hernandez, a Democrat, secured an agreement to begin mandatory training in de-escalation and crisis intervention… Read more »
Arizona State Rep. Tony Rivero spearheaded the new legislation to establish a trade office in Israel. (Gage Skidmore) Arizona lawmakers approved an $11.8 billion budget last month that will include funding for the establishment of an Arizona trade office in Israel. Gov. Doug Ducey signed the budget on Friday, May 31. The budget includes nearly $500,000 dedicated to three trade offices: one in Israel and two in… Read more »
Dina Rosengarten stands at an overlook point in Jerusalem on a visit to Israel in October 2018. (Andrea Crane)
After 30 years as a public behavioral health social worker, Dina Rosengarten is still in love with her role. She has a new position as director at a large, private, non-profit behavioral health center in Tucson. She counsels residential clients, mostly those in substance abuse recovery and with severe… Read more »
It is no secret that Steve Teichner is a humanitarian. His car, parked at a Tucson migrant shelter on June 14, proudly announces his passion wherever he goes. (Debe Campbell) It is 3 p.m. on a Friday, and Steve Teichner has already put in more than 40 hours of work this week. He will leave around 5:30 p.m., if no more migrants show up at the shelter. “It’s not a job, it’s a passion,” says the retired educator. “It’s… Read more »
Tucson Police Officer Rob McCusker delivered a community training on suspicious package recognition at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona on June 13. With about 25 in attendance, the explosives and hazardous device technician discussed ways to recognize potential dangers and manage bomb threats, and suggestions for managing lockdowns… Read more »
Andy Kunsberg
This is the final part of a series on the Jewish agency volunteers who received 2019 Special Recognition Awards at the Jewish Community Awards celebration held May 9 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The evening also included the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s annual meeting. Andy Kunsberg, Jewish… Read more »
Greg Gadarian
The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona will present “Hot Topics for Tax and Legal Professionals” sessions in July and August. The July 31 session, “Charitable Developments: Recent Developments, Rules, and Landmines” will be presented in honor of Greg Gadarian, JCF Professional Advisory Group founder, to thank him for… Read more »
Visiting Israel or other parts of the Middle East this summer? The University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies is seeking photo submissions for its 29th annual exhibit, “Ordinary and Extraordinary.” Each year, the UA Center for Middle Eastern Studies organizes a photography exhibit featuring images from the… Read more »
Rotem Rapaport (L) and Ron Benacot cherish their year as Israeli emissaries to Tucson. (Courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)
Weintraub Israel Center’s shinshiniyot (Israeli teen emissaries), Ron Benacot and Rotem Rapaport, will be called to the Torah as b’not mitzvah Saturday, June 15 at Temple Emanu-El. “I had my bat mitzvah when I was 12,” said Benacot, “but where I grew up in Israel, it’s not common for… Read more »
Ellen Sa This is part two of a series on the Jewish agency volunteers who received 2019 Special Recognition Awards at the Jewish Community Awards celebration held May 9 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The evening also included the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s annual meeting. Ellen Saltonstall, Jewish History… Read more »
Nancy Rudner, left, with fellow volunteer Dr. Linn Larson, in the sanctuary of Tucson’s former Benedictine monastery, where medical intake takes place when migrants arrive from detention. (Courtesy Nancy Rudner)
Nancy Rudner volunteered at Tucson’s old Benedictine monastery in March, rendering medical aid to asylum-seeking migrants from Central America. It was her first stint at Casa Alitas, the shelter operated by Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, and as a volunteer with RNRN, the Registered Nurse Response Network, a… Read more »
Shay Friedwald and Danielle Levy
Danielle Levy and Shay Friedwald will arrive in Tucson in early August as Tucson’s shinshinim (Israeli teen ambassadors) for the coming year. These 18 year-olds are emissaries through the Jewish Agency for Israel, sponsored by the Weintraub Israel Center. They will work with day schools, congregations, and Jewish organizations… Read more »
Jim and Jill Rich display one of 1,000 backpacks purchased with donated funds. (Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP)
Thanks to community generosity between May 3-June 6, $47,000 has been donated to the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Migrant Relief Services Emergency Fund for Central American asylum seekers transiting Tucson. Combined with an initial anonymous $25,000 matching grant donation, that’s $72,000 to assist with emergency expenses. Expenditures are… Read more »
A linen pleat-front jacket from Laura Tanzer (Courtesy Laura Tanzer)
When you shop local, you support your community. Your money goes into the businesses of friends and neighbors, of local artisans and designers, and is circulated here, throughout our economy. Of every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $43 remains in the local economy, vs. only $13 of… Read more »
Jacquelyn Hoffman Jacquelyn Hoffman, a second-year medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, has been awarded the two-year, Shirley D. Curson Medical Student Scholarship. The scholarship, of about $15,000 per year in a student’s third and fourth years of medical school, is awarded through the UA… Read more »
Michelle Shapiro, left, with Wil Thomas, loves to cool off with gelato. She’s tried every flavor at Blue Ice Gelato. It’s the only gelateria in Arizona that pasteurizes its milk in-house. (Photo courtesy Michelle Shapiro)
The AJP asked its staff and colleagues at Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona to share their secrets for beating the heat in Tucson’s triple-digit summers. Gail Barnhill: “Start gardening at 9 p.m. under yard lights and jump in the pool every 15 minutes. I swim with my five grandsons.… Read more »
