Rabbi Steve Leder
Success teaches us very little, other than to keep doing the things that we have already been doing with our lives,” says Rabbi Steve Leder, who Newsweek magazine twice named as one of the 10 most influential rabbis in America. “It is only pain that can disrupt us in… Read more »
Dr. Danielle Ofri, M.D.
The 10th Annual Cindy Wool Memorial Seminar on Humanism in Healthcare, honoring a decade of encouraging compassionate care, will be held next month. Dr. Danielle Ofri, an internist, acclaimed author and one of the foremost speakers about the doctor-patient relationship, will discuss the topic of her latest book, “What… Read more »
Steven J. Zipperstein, left, and Mark Hetfield A “brunch and learn” program next month, hosted by the Jewish History Museum, pairs noted author and Stanford professor Steven J. Zipperstein with Mark Hetfield, the chief executive officer of HIAS, a national refugee protection agency, for an interactive community dialogue. “The program, ‘Learning from the Past, Rising to the… Read more »
An IsraAid volunteer helps Syrian refugees come ashore on the island of Lesbos, Greece. IIsraAID)
Rachel Wallace will present “Humanitarian Heroes Around the World” as the Weintraub Israel Center’s Gertrude and Fred Rosen Memorial Lecture next month. The free lecture marks the launch of a month-long photo exhibit at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, “Stories of Courage and Resilience.” The Tucson J will host… Read more »
Josh Shenker, lower right, as young camp counselor
Playing “Ga-Ga ball” is a camp tradition that Josh Shenker, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s director of child, youth and camping services, looked forward to every year he returned to summer camp at the JCC in Houston. The game starts with a ball thrown into the “pit,” a ringed… Read more »
Ed Asner (Tim Leyes)
The 11th Annual Tucson Festival of Books will be held March 2 and 3 on the University of Arizona campus. With hundreds of authors participating each year, the AJP traditionally highlights several Jewish writers who will be presenting authors. Brenda and Bill Viner, Jewish community members who helped co-found… Read more »
Newly-minted septuagenarian When Andy Kunsberg turned 70 in mid-December, his wife, Linda, planned a late December celebration. The party wasn’t a surprise but the guest list was. Relatives — daughter Rebecca Goodman, her husband Ted and their three children, plus Andy’s brother, brothers-in-law, nieces, great niece and nephews, from… Read more »
Jewish decision-makers and funders in Israel, the United States, and around the world in part shape allocations and the dispensing of positions of influence on the basis of demographic studies. When interpretations of these studies are misapplied, too often pivotal policy mistakes are made. Jack Wertheimer’s “The New American… Read more »
Leonard Coris Leonard M. Coris, 78, died Jan. 31, 2019, of complications related to Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Mr. Coris was born March 29, 1940, in Boston, Massachusetts, to Betty and Al Coris. He attended the Brookline public schools and MIT, where he earned master’s degrees in both food science and finance. He… Read more »
Alison Feldman Friends and family of Allison Feldman will gather on the University of Arizona campus at 10:30 a.m. on Friday to celebrate her life and launch the second annual campaign to raise funds for study abroad scholarships in her memory. Feldman was murdered in her Scottsdale home on Feb. 17,… Read more »
Elizabeth George
The Brandeis National Committee Tucson Chapter presents its 23rd Annual Book & Author events on Feb. 27 and 28 with four acclaimed authors: internationally bestselling mystery writer Elizabeth George, author of the Inspector Lynley series; Reed Farrel Coleman, called the “noir poet laureate” by the Huffington Post; Tucsonan Lauren… Read more »
Erika Spivack (Courtesy Erika Spivack)
Erika Spivack, a University High School senior, will receive the 12th annual Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Connections brunch on Sunday, March 10. The Women’s Philanthropy advisory council, which includes past Women’s Philanthropy chairs and campaign chairs, created the award in… Read more »
Dan Lepow With one eye to retirement and the other to community involvement, Dan Lepow and his wife, Susie, arrived in Tucson last April from St. Paul, Minnesota. They had frequented Tucson over the years, as his sister Rebecca Crow relocated to the Old Pueblo in 1968 and his late mother… Read more »
Interfaith minister Grace Hartman blesses pets (Courtesy Grace Hartman)
Growing up in a Conservative Jewish home in Newton, Massachusetts, with her parents and brother, Lois Gail Esterman did all the right things. She attended Hebrew school through eighth grade, became a bat mitzvah, went to Hebrew high school and a Hebrew teacher’s college. She started her career as… Read more »
Tammy Strobel stands before colorful gift items on display at Congregation Anshei Israel’s gift shop. (Yvonne Ethier)
A few years back, my good friend Fran was giving me details on her upcoming adult bat mitzvah. “No gifts,” she said emphatically. As I smiled and nodded, inwardly my mind was abuzz — where could I find the perfect present? I didn’t have to look far. In what… Read more »
(L-R): Bruce and Donna Beyer, Amy and Thomas Allen Brannock, and Billie and Thomas Brannock at Skyline
Country Club, Oct. 20, 2018 (Steven Palm Photography)
Amy Rebecca Beyer, daughter of Bruce and Donna Beyer of Tucson, and Thomas Allen Brannock, son of Thomas and Billie Brannock of St. David, Arizona, were married on Oct. 20, 2018, at Skyline Country Club with Rabbi Batsheva Appel officiating. Attendants included Lisa Beyer of San Francisco, sister of… Read more »
Leslie Glaze, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Campaign co-chair, talks to Super Sunday volunteer Barbara Selznick, Jan. 27. Debe Campbell/AJP)
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona held its annual Super Sunday phone-a-thon on Jan. 27 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. During the festive, sports-themed event, 120 phone and clerical volunteers reached out to community members, collecting more than 260 pledges and donations for the 2019 Community Campaign, which… Read more »
Elise Bajohr, program manager for older adults and adults with disability services at Jewish Family & Children’s Services, talks with a client. (Courtesy Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona)
As people grow older, family relationships and resources change. “Solo seniors” is a term for older adults who feel that they do not have a significant other to act on their behalf if or when needed. Reasons vary and may include lack of family and friends in close proximity,… Read more »
Longtime Tucson resident Jami Ober Gan has released her first novel, “The Lost and Found,” about a woman who finds herself heartbroken and stranded in Tucson and is invited to stay at a ranch. Gan was raised in Tucson and attended the University of Arizona, graduating in 1981… Read more »
Bethany Sarah Zashin, daughter of Lisa Zashin and Todd Zashin will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Feb. 16 at Temple Emanu-El. She is the granddaughter of Marsha Rosenblum of Tucson, the late Robert Rosenblum, and the late Joyce Zashin. Bethany attends Tucson Waldorf School. She enjoys playing the… Read more »
