Local

Weintraub Israel Center hosted its second annual multifaith mission to Israel in mid-October. A group of 43 participated in the nine-day journey from Tucson to Tel Aviv and around the nation’s interior. “We believe the most effective way to fulfill our mission to build living bridges is for participants… Read more »

Bat-Galim Shaer

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will kick off its 2019 Community Campaign by hosting three summits on Nov. 13 and 14. Bat-Galim Shaer, the mother of one of three Israeli teens kidnapped and murdered in 2014, will speak on “One People, One Heart: The Strength of the Jewish… Read more »

Hadassah Southern Arizona will present “Glimpses from 100 years of the Henrietta Szold – Hadassah School of Nursing Through the Eyes of Nursing Graduates” at a brunch on Sunday, Nov. 11. Gilat Yihye, a graduate of the Henrietta Szold Hadassah Hebrew University School of Nursing, will speak and screen… Read more »

Immanuel Abraham (courtesy The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre)

It was a Jewish adaptation of “Sesame Street” called “Shalom Sesame” that inspired Immanuel Abraham to pick up the instrument that would shape his life and career. Filmed in Tel Aviv, “Shalom Sesame” regularly featured renowned violinist Itzak Perlman performing and Abraham was amazed by his craft. “I thought… Read more »

Firefighter and co-owner of Sentinel Peak Brewing Company, left, with Samantha Berkson, Sentinel Peak general manager (Courtesy Sentinel Peak Brewing Company)

Quite a few firefighters open restaurants. But how many can say they’ve also celebrated a bar mitzvah at the Kotel? Matt Gordon of Sentinel Peak Brewing Company can. Gordon is a Tucson native who graduated from Catalina Foothills High School in 2001 and joined the Golder Ranch Fire District… Read more »

From Italian to Greek, bars to bakeries, here’s a look at what’s on the menu across the area this fall. Braised lamb at Athens on 4th Avenue is the house special, browned with extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, caramelized onions, and special herbs and spices. Jeannie Delfakis-Benavente, daughter of… Read more »

PAWS Veterinary Center celebrated its 10th anniversary with an open house party on Oct. 27. Owned by Randy Aronson, VMD, CCRT, and his wife, Geren Thurston, DVM, the facility offers holistic, integrative care, blending conventional and complementary veterinary therapies.   Bruce D. Greenberg, real estate consultant and analyst has… Read more »

Beth Braun and the University/Rincon High School Primaveras dance group have been invited to perform at the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, France, in June 2020. As official representatives of  the United States, the Primaveras will perform at the D-Day Anniversary Parade, the International Salute to Liberation, and… Read more »

This spring, 11 locally owned businesses began learning how they could become more sustainable through a Local First Arizona pilot program called SCALE UP, which stands for Sustainable Communities Accessing Lending and Expertise Upon Performance. Representatives of these businesses met weekly for six weeks with local experts to learn… Read more »

ECLECTIC CAFÉ MARK SMITH, owner Born and raised in Tucson, Mark Smith is a Catalina High School graduate. He started working in restaurants as a teenager and took that training to open the Eclectic Café in October 1980 when he was 24. Smith brings a variety of flavors to… Read more »

Prayers for peace, kindness and love, for a better world for ourselves and our children, rang out at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Monday night, as more than 1,200 people of all faiths came together for a candlelight vigil in memory of the 11 Jews killed in an attack… Read more »

In the wake of the shootings at the Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh on Saturday, the Jewish Federation of the Southern Arizona, local synagogues and Jewish agencies are holding a multifaith vigil tonight at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Sculpture Garden. An email announcement from… Read more »

Jon Simon

Jazz composer and performer Jon Simon will headline an evening of music and dining on Tuesday, Nov. 27 to launch the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Northwest Division’s annual campaign. Simon tours North America performing selections from his ninth and latest album, “SOAR,” as well as five highly successful… Read more »

"Kristallnacht: Shattered, Yet Unbroken" mandala by Robert Wertz

Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass, refers to the windows broken at  synagogues, homes, and Jewish-owned businesses that were plundered and destroyed during a wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938 throughout Germany, Austria, and the Czech Sudetenland. The event is commonly thought to be… Read more »

Nancy Johnson, left, and Tim Hartin

Two Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona affinity groups will hold a joint event next month to discuss America’s growing opioid crisis and its effects on the local community. The Tucson Maimonides Society and Tucson Cardozo Society will host two local experts on the subject. Nancy Johnson, R.N., Ph.D., the… Read more »

Between heading local organizations or sitting on  boards, volunteering with humanitarian efforts or creating art, Anne Lowe, 70, finds time for everything and shows no sign of stopping. For nine years, she served as Northwest Jewish Connections coordinator (later Northwest Division director) and outreach director for the Jewish Federation… Read more »

Honey Manson loves the people of Tucson. Along with the warm weather, they are her favorite thing about the city. Unfortunately, the hard water of Arizona has been less kind to her. A plumbing leak caused by corrosion recently left her and her husband without water for five hours.… Read more »

The Arizona Jewish Post received an award in the Arizona Newspapers Association 2018 Better Newspapers Contest. The AJP won second place for Departmental News and Copy Editing Excellence in its division, non-dailies with a circulation of 3,500 to 10,000. The ANA presented the awards Oct. 6 at its annual… Read more »

Rabbi Israel Becker

A new musical program, Music, Memories, and Mitzvot, will weave song, stories, and learning about Jewish celebrations with the mitzvah of bringing joy to the elderly, says Rabbi Israel Becker of Congregation Chofetz Chayim. The program, for children ages 5-11, includes three Sunday classes in preparation for each of four… Read more »

A middle school, elementary and special education teacher for 42 years in rural Vermont, Ellen Saltonstall pioneered Holocaust studies in her school district. “There aren’t many Jewish people in Vermont,” she notes. She won a scholarship for an educators’ tour to Israel in 2009 where she had a chance… Read more »