Carlos Galindo-Elvira The number of anti-Semitic incidents in Arizona surged to 26 in 2017, with the largest single-year increase on record for the region, the Anti-Defamation League said in a new report released Feb. 27. Nineteen percent of the incidents occurred in Tucson, including the bomb threats to the Tucson Jewish… Read more »
(L-R) Eva Schloss, third from left, receives a proclamation in her honor from Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild at Tucson High Magnet School Feb. 18. Flanking them are Chabad Tucson's Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin and Feigie Ceitlin (left) and Rabbi Yossie Shemtov and Chanie Shemtov. (Britta Van Vranken Photography)
One of 10 films on the March 4 Academy Awards shortlist for best short documentary is “116 Cameras.” It is a behind-the-scenes look at how filmmakers preserve Holocaust survivors’ memories in testimony. Featuring Eva Schloss, it uses “New Dimensions in Testimony” technology and interactive, 3-D, holographic imagery. It wasn’t… Read more »
Talia Carner
Talia Carner’s psychological suspense novels always revolve around long-ignored social issues, indignities and atrocities. “Knowledge is so valuable,” she says. “When people start looking at those issues and start sharing them, the feeling you get when you change someone’s life, it is magic.” Carner is one of four nationally… Read more »
David Tofield cuts cardboard in the garage at Clutch Auto Repair.
David Tofield, a 35-year-old member of Tucson’s Jewish community, has an intellectual disability. He can often be found volunteering at the Tucson Jewish Community Center and at Congregation Young Israel services. Tofield finds his volunteer experiences rewarding, but what he was really looking for was a “real paying job,”… Read more »
Stuart Mellan This year’s Jewish Community Awards Celebration will take an expanded approach to recognizing outstanding service. Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona President and CEO Stuart Mellan largely credits Federation board chair Shelly Silverman with the impetus for the new concept. “Our slogan, ‘Stronger Together,’ is what we try to actualize… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker, left, and Auguspine Fong, founder of Fong’s Wing Chun A Purim season full of family fun and festivities starts tomorrow in Tucson, with celebrations, costume parades and food for all. JPride takes on a ’90s costume theme for its Saturday, Feb. 24 Purim party. Dress “as if” it were the ’90s and come party like it’s 1999 at the… Read more »
Beverly Gray “We’re rapidly preparing for the 10th Annual Tucson Festival of Books. We expect this to be the best festival ever,” says Brenda Viner, a member of the local Jewish community and one of the festival founders. This year’s festival will be held March 10 and 11 on the University… Read more »
Arthur Posner, as Elvis, volunteers at the IMPACT food bank on Halloween. “This is the last thing I thought I’d be doing after retiring,” says Arthur Posner of his almost full-time volunteer work. He’s wrapping up four years as board president for IMPACT of Southern Arizona. But he’s still a “roll up the shirtsleeves” kind of president, continuing his weekly volunteer… Read more »
Brenna Lacey, center, with Jewish Community Foundation Executive Director Tracy Salkowitz (left) and Andy Rush, founder of The Drawing Studio Eighteen years ago Brenna Lacey walked into The Drawing Studio as a student and since then, her relationship with the organization has only become more colorful. Now she is the president of the nonprofit organization bringing relaxation, community and an artistic outlet to everyone who enters its doors. “The… Read more »
Frustration was the catalyst for Miriam Furst’s creative approach to giving back to others. After the hurricanes this fall, she felt compelled to help. “I was upset to see the suffering,” she says. But at age 77, she was unable to be there physically. When the people in Texas… Read more »
Yochi Azran, a teacher from Israel, uses a ‘sabra’ puppet to talk to Crystal Lucha’s students at the Tucson Jewish Community Center in December 2017.
There are many living bridges forming between Tucson and Israel. One is in the shape of a classroom. The Weintraub Israel Center began its school twinning program in 2014 between Tucson and the Israeli communities of Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon as an opportunity to connect classrooms and children… Read more »
Pictured, left to right, Ruben Rosthenhausler as Louie, Stephanie Howell as Bella, and Michelle Holland as Gert in a scene from the Arizona Rose Theatre production of “Lost in Yonkers.” The Arizona Rose Theatre is bringing back one of its most popular shows, Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers,” beginning Feb. 24. Winner of the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize, this heartfelt comedy is drawn from Simon’s experiences growing up in New York City. Set during… Read more »
Pawel Lichter, a Holocaust survivor who lives in Tucson, will present “A Polish Jew’s Story of Survival” at a community event sponsored by the Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Northwest office, 190 W. Magee Road, Suite… Read more »
Jewish Family & Children’s Services will sponsor a free screening of the 2016 film “Denial,” starring Rachel Weisz and Tom Wilkinson, on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The film recounts the true story of historian Deborah Lipstadt, played by Weisz. The screening… Read more »
Dr. BJ Miller Dr. BJ Miller seeks to change the way we die. This preeminent speaker will share his thoughts on maximizing quality of life and minimizing unnecessary suffering at the Ninth Annual Cindy Wool Memorial Seminar on Humanism in Healthcare on Thursday, March 29. An expert on patient-centered, palliative, and end-of-life… Read more »
Chefs Mike Felde (left) and Alan Sanchez outside of Fuison'z Cafe at the University of Arizona's Hillel Foundation.
Fusion’z Café is offering a new take on kosher favorites, from dressing up falafel with wild mushrooms and caramelized onions to offering five variations on avocado toast. This is not your grandma’s spread. Fusion’z is the new installment inside the University of Arizona Hillel, replacing the Oy Vey Café,… Read more »
The Sparks cheer team practices a pyramid formation, with Peter Ruiz at the center, at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
In August, Allison Wexler, Tucson’s Jewish community special abilities coordinator, was exploring athletic programming ideas for individuals with special needs. When she learned the Tucson Jewish Community Center would be forming a flag football league, she thought, “What does football need? Cheerleaders.” Wexler created a new program at the… Read more »
Neva Small, right, as Chava in 'Fiddler on the Roof,' with, from left, Rosalind Harris, as Tzeitel and Michele Marsh as Hodel.
“Tradition, tradition, tradition!” sings out the cast in the opening number of “Fiddler on the Roof.” Neva Small, the woman who played Tevye’s third daughter, Chava, in the film version of the beloved musical, has always taken this entreaty to heart. Now Small, who has created her own traditions… Read more »
Roza Simkhovich
Roza Simkhovich is proud to say that she has been an American for nearly 39 years. She and her family came from Latvia, a Baltic country formerly part of the Soviet Union, to the United States looking for relief from anti-Semitism. As an educator for nearly 30 years, she… Read more »
It’s never too late to learn and grow. The Tucson Jewish Community Center provides numerous opportunities to help people discover their passions later in life. Here are a few highlights of events and classes coming up. “Inside Writing a Mystery” is a free discussion with local author and retired… Read more »
