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UArizona’s Dr. Sternberg studies how office environments affect workers’ health

Esther Sternberg, M.D.

Esther Sternberg, M.D., has been a pioneer in the field of wellness in the workplace. Her research on how the built environment affects worker’s health and productivity has been a great tool for architects, building managers, and other researchers expanding the field. Sternberg was born and raised in Montreal,… Read more »

Dan Karsch, longtime Tucson doctor and community activist, dies at 78

dan_karsch-_tom_newman_large_obitAt left, Daniel Karsch (left) and Tom Newman, former partners in Old Pueblo Urology, during a visit Karsch and his wife, Carol, made to Tucson from Israel in February 2020. At right, Karsch and Newman co-host 'The Plumber's Ball' in 1974. (Courtesy Carol Karsch)

Daniel Nathan Karsch, M.D., 78, died of cancer on July 23, 2020. Dan was born in Philadelphia to Lil and Joe Karsch and grew up in the large Jewish neighborhood of Wynnefield, centered around Har Zion Temple, Jewish schools, synagogues, and Camp Ramah. A graduate of Ursinus College and Jefferson… Read more »

Partnerships with Israel, Mexico key to UArizona’s global environmental strategy

Joaquin-Ruiz-profile-article460pxJoaquin Ruiz, Ph.D.

Joaquin Ruiz, Ph.D., the University of Arizona’s first vice president for Global Environmental Futures, gets excited about the work of its partners around the world, such as farmers in Israel’s Arava region. “There are a bunch of kibbutzes in the Negev that are growing stuff on rocks and with… Read more »

Business briefs 9.11.20

laura_mckee_150x191

Laura McKee has been hired as executive assistant to the CEO of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. McKee began her career with an associate’s degree as a legal assistant from Pima Community College and worked as a legal secretary while earning her bachelor’s degree… Read more »

JCRC and JHM condemn AZ representative’s Holocaust analogy

The Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish History Museum & Holocaust History Center in Tucson today issued a statement strongly condemning statements made by Arizona Representative John Fillmore likening the tattooing of Holocaust victims to government mask-wearing mandates issued to slow… Read more »

People in the news 9.11.20

Mary Jo Pollack won the Phoenix Moth Story Slam in July. Pollack has told stories live in Tucson for Odyssey Storytelling, FST! Female Storytellers, and Tellers of Tales Tucson, where she is second vice president. Rabbi Baruch J. Cohon, vice president of the Tucson-based Rabbi Samuel S. and A.… Read more »

JFCS, partners plan suicide prevention trainings

Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona, in collaboration with the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation, the Tucson Jewish Community Center, and Arizona Youth Partnership, will present “Increased Risk in Troubling Times: Suicide Prevention for Today,” on Thursday, Sept. 10, which is World Suicide Prevention Day. The online… Read more »

Chabad of Oro Valley plans outdoor Shofar blowing

Chabad of Oro Valley will hold three socially-distanced Shofar blowing events outside its premises at 1171 E. Rancho Vistoso Blvd. #131 on Sunday, Sept. 20. The times are 9:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 6 p.m. Each will include a 10-minute service in the parking lot. No registration is required.… Read more »

CAI to hold drive-up Shofar blast

Congregation Anshei Israel will give Tucsonans an opportunity to hear the Rabbi Sara Metz sound the Shofar live on Friday, Aug. 21 at 8:30 a.m., in the northwest parking lot (facing the sanctuary doors). Members also can pick up thei High Holy Days packages. Other LIVE Shofar blast opportunities… Read more »

Author Alexander Boxer to discuss astronomy with Vail’s David Levy

The Tucson Festival of Books Authors In Conversation  series will present Tucson native Alexander Boxer, now a data scientist in Washington, D.C., and  author of “A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for our Destiny in Data” (W.W. Norton & Company, 2020), in an exclusive… Read more »

Federation plans online annual meeting and community awards celebration

James Wezelman, left, and Liz Kanter Groskind are the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona's Man and Woman of the Year

The second annual combined Jewish Community Awards Celebration and Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Annual Meeting will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 5-6:30 p.m. A Zoom invitation will be issued closer to the date. The event will include special recognition awards honoring lay or professional leaders from… Read more »

Interim rabbi takes helm at Temple Emanu-El

Rabbi Dr. Scott Saulson

Rabbi Scott Saulson, Ph.D., joined Temple Emanu-El this month as interim rabbi. With an extensive background in pastoral counseling and mediation, Saulson specializes in helping congregations in transition. This is his eighth interim rabbi position. Along with fulfilling typical rabbinic duties for a year, such as officiating at services… Read more »

Tucsonans’ ‘Way to Be’ designed to help people examine, transform lives

Shari Gootter, left, and Tejpal are coauthors of ‘Way to Be: 40 Insights and Transformative Practices in the Heart of Being.’ (Courtesy Shari Gootter)

With all the chaos and uncertainty in the outside world in recent months, many people are looking for ways to stabilize their inner lives. Tucson-based authors Shari Gootter, MA, LPC, CRC, and Tejpal, MA, MBA, have written a book, “Way to Be: 40 Insights and Transformative Practices in the… Read more »

Esther Becker’s annual book event for women takes on a new format

Esther Jungreis speaks during the 2012 National Prayer Breakfast at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, Feb. 14, 2012. (Photo: U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Tristin English via Wikimedia Commons)

For the past 16 years, hundreds of women have spent summer hours reading books selected by Esther Becker of the Women’s Academy of Jewish Studies in advance of her annual book brunch. Her selections have included novels, mysteries, biographies, essays, autobiographies, and prayer. Although the format will be different,… Read more »

Anti-Semitic stickers posted downtown Tucson and at UA

Chelsea Gutierrez

An anti-Semitic sticker was posted downtown on Tucson’s Fourth Avenue recently, and more appeared on the University of Arizona campus. “The stickers appear to be the same type that surfaced here in Tucson approximately one year ago,” says Paul Patterson, Jewish community security director (see www.azjewishpost.com/2019/tucson-is-not-immune-to-hate-messaging-fliers-show). There also is the… Read more »

Online programs aid Southern Arizona community connections

synagogues and Jewish agencies offer an assortment of virtual engagement programs for long summer days spent sheltering from the heat and the coronavirus. The list below includes some items that have crossed our desks recently but it is by no means exhaustive; check with other local organizations for additional… Read more »