Local

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s PJ Library program is launching “My Shabbat Adventure with Friends,” a new program to help PJ Library families to reach out to other families in the local Jewish community. Host families will commit to holding three Shabbat dinners for two to four families,… Read more »

A skill Carol Sack attained as a young girl of 10 has become a lifelong treasure that brings pleasure to many. Carol Sack has crocheted a Noah’s ark-full of animals and dolls over her lifetime, an activity she now practices daily as a meditation. She gives her creations, large and… Read more »

Jim Brochu stars in “Zero Hour: The Zero Mostel Story” for the Invisible Theatre this weekend. The play is set in the legendary actor’s painting studio as a naïve reporter attempts to interview the famously volatile artist, prompting an explosion of memory, humor, outrage and juicy backstage lore.  Mostel,… Read more »

Bill Epstein

The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre will present “My Life in Sports,” written and performed by Tucsonan Bill Epstein, Jan. 17-27. “A coming-of age story, a cautionary tale, and a love story, ‘My Life in Sports’ is a dramatic memoir about the romance of men and sports, about the games… Read more »

Award-winning Tucson artist Lynn Rae Lowe; her son, Damion Alexander; and her grandson, Sam Alexander, 19, are among 13 artists featured in “United by Art,” an exhibit on display at the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, 3915 E. Broadway Blvd., through Feb. 8. “I am honored to have an opportunity… Read more »

Rain Pryor

Rain Pryor is bringing her one-woman show, “Fried Chicken and Latkes,” to Tucson next month. Pryor, 49, is the daughter of the late comedy icon Richard Pryor and a Jewish go-go dancer-turned-astronomer, Shelley R. Bonus. In the show, she plays 11 different characters, from her famous father to her… Read more »

Alma Hernandez, MPH, the first Mexican American Jew to be elected to the Arizona state legislature, was included in Lilith magazine’s “7 Jewish Feminist Highlights of 2018.” She was previously featured on the cover of the magazine’s Fall 2018 issue. Hernandez will represent Legislative District 3, on Tucson’s west… Read more »

Tucson Hebrew Academy’s lower school (kindergarten through fourth grades) put on a ’50s-style Hanukkah Hop show of song and dance on Thursday, Dec. 6. The production was attended by parents, grandparents, other family and friends.… Read more »

Rabbi Ruven Barkan and his wife, Adina Weber, hosted a dinner at their home on Wednesday, Dec. 19 for rabbis and educators who participated in a three-day border immersion program in Nogales, sponsored by the Kino Border Initiative. Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Tucson’s Congregation Or Chadash called in to… Read more »

Miriam Romero received the Arizona English Language Teacher of the Year Award at the Arizona Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition Services 2018 Conference, held Dec. 5 at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort. Romero is a teacher at Carrillo K-5 Magnet School in the Tucson Unified… Read more »

Jeremy Huw Williams

Editor’s note: A second concert, in which Argentine pianist and conductor Ricardo Hegman was to play works by the renowned Israeli composer Andres Hadju, was canceled on Jan. 10 because Hegman will not be able to get a visa in time.  Daniel Asia, a composer and University of Arizona… Read more »

Scott Zorn

The Tucson Jewish community was stunned by the news that Scott Zorn, 59, died Jan. 1, 2019, in Akron, Ohio, with hundreds of Facebook messages quickly going out to his wife, Julie; children, Haley and Dylan; and in-laws, Tucsonans Kathy and David Unger. Zorn was the director of children,… Read more »

Anyone who owns property — personal or commercial — may find themselves in need of legal services. A personal property attorney can represent you in a dispute over transfer of moveable property, such as a car, a piece of furniture, or even stocks and bonds. This differs from real… Read more »

Rabbi Shai Held, Ph. D.

Rabbi Shai Held, Ph.D. — one of the 50 most influential rabbis in America, according to Newsweek — will be the scholar-in-residence at Congregation Anshei Israel on Jan. 11 and 12. His overall theme for the weekend will be “The Heart of Jewish Spirituality.” A theologian, scholar and educator,… Read more »

This year’s Tucson International Jewish Film Festival will bring 15 full-length films, one TV show, and three shorts from around the world to local screens. TIJFF is one of the country’s longest-running Jewish film festivals, one of Arizona’s longest running film fests, and one of Tucson’s most popular cultural… Read more »

Sara Lopez

Sara Lopez, a local wife, mother and opera singer, is curating a Jewish women’s performance showcase, by and for women, at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Sunday, Jan. 6 at 6 p.m. Having an all-female audience “allows women across the spectrum of Jewish practice and belief to participate,”… Read more »

Partnership2Gether fellows celebrate the last night of Hanukkah with Jewish Federation of the Southwest staff at the Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest. Back (L-R): Ariel Miklofsky, Adi Shacham, Ravit Gedanken, Alan Kendal, Phyllis Gold, Nili Cohen Hammer, Daniealla Cohen, Nesia Regev Livne. Front (L-R): Rotem Rappaport, Amir Eden, Ron Benecort. Not pictured: Avi Hadad and Ofra Gueta. (Courtesy Olson Center)

Visiting Tucson during the week of Hanukkah, four Israeli teachers and three school principals from the Partnership2Gether region were most surprised by the effort local community members invest in maintaining their Jewish identity. “It was a very powerful experience,” says Ravit Gedanken, a principal at Netzach Israel school in… Read more »

Daniel Breen, Ph.D., J.D.

Brandeis University lecturer Daniel Breen, Ph.D., J.D., will present “Stories of Privacy: The Legal Boundaries of Public and Private Life” on Wednesday, Jan. 9 as the Tucson Chapter of Brandeis National Committee’s annual University on Wheels program, in partnership with the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The talk will take… Read more »

The Southern Arizona Jewish Genealogy Society will host Richard Hallick, Sunday, Jan. 13, offering a comprehensive look at DNA testing and how it applies to genealogy today. Hallick will discuss how to understand and interpret DNA test results, including those with Jewish ancestors. Hallick is a retired University of… Read more »

Sam Hoffman’s resoundingly funny debut feature, “Humor Me,” could be marketed thusly: Come for Elliott Gould, stay for Jemaine Clement. The New Zealand actor displays a nimble gift for wit and pathos in this smart, grown-up comedy about mid-career stumbles, aging parents, and intergenerational acceptance. An under-the-radar treat, “Humor… Read more »