Rabbi Elijah Schochet (left) and Rabbi Avraham Alpert at Alpert’s ordination, May 29, 2017. Rabbi Elijah Schochet will return to Congregation Bet Shalom as scholar-in-residence March 16-17, with a trio of topics exploring thorny issues in Jewish history and ethics. He will start the weekend with “The Jewish Civil War” at the 5:30 p.m. Shabbat service on March 16, exploring the schism between… Read more »
More than two decades have passed since Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination in 1995, yet he remains an intriguing and admired modern leader. Former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Itamar Rabinovich will speak about his recent biography of Rabin in an upcoming lecture in Tucson, Tuesday, March 13.… Read more »
Léon Malmed, right, with his wife, Patricia, in Dubrovnkik, Croatia, during a 2014 sailing trip (Courtesy Léon Malmed)
As a former French teacher with an enduring passion for the French language and culture and a devout cardiac Jew (Jewish in my heart), I had to attend Monsieur Léon Malmed’s talk Feb. 19 on his survival during the Holocaust in Compiègne, France. The 80-year-old was silent regarding his… Read more »
Jennifer Selco On the day of the first seder, the smell of onions from my childhood home was noticeable from halfway down the block. Inside, you could hear the songs of Cindy Paley’s “Singing Seder” cassette, the pounding of walnuts, and laughter from a funny story just shared. My parents, grandparents,… Read more »
Attracting pollinators is important for garden yields. (Andreas Ganter/Pixabay.com)
Experts in the garden and the kitchen are presenting programs at the Tucson Jewish Community Center this spring that celebrate the season’s bounty. Michael Ismail, the owner of Thrive and Grow Gardens, leads weekly gardening classes, now through June, on Fridays, which start indoors and move outside to the… Read more »
Volume 2 of “To Tell Our Stories: Holocaust Survivors of Southern Arizona” will be among hundreds of books represented at this weekend’s Tucson Festival of Books, March 10-11 at the University of Arizona. The newly-released book chronicles 45 local Holocaust survivors’ stories. It is the second book in a… Read more »
Cuddle a cockroach, go nose to nose with a skunk, or fly a drone. It’s kids’ choice at Tucson Hebrew Academy’s 4th Annual STEM Festival, Sunday, March 18. STEM encompasses science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The free, family fun fair will offer 50 different exhibits with hands-on activities or… Read more »
The replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (bringthewallaz.com)
Riverfront Park in Oro Valley was chosen as the only location in Arizona for “The Wall That Heals” exhibition, featuring a replica of the national capital’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Northwest Division is among sponsors of the exhibit, hosted March 15-18 by the Town… Read more »
Never again have wilted parsley for karpas (greens) on your seder plate. Instead, grow your own with free seeds, “borrowed” from one of several Pima County Library branches. This Seed Library was among the nation’s first circulating seed concepts, opened in 2012. Now, libraries across the country have adopted… Read more »
The International Rescue Committee in Tucson, in partnership with the Tucson Jewish Community Center, will present a “Walk a Mile in a Refugee’s Shoes” simulation event on Sunday, March 18, in the Tucson J’s Sculpture Garden. Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. and the event will run from 10 a.m.… Read more »
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 »
