Local

A Tucson man charged with plotting a terrorist attack on a motor vehicle department office in the Phoenix area also told an undercover FBI employee in October 2015 that he wanted to target the Tucson Jewish Community Center, a federal agent testified Tuesday at a hearing in Maricopa County… Read more »

Making a Difference Every Day: The Homer Davis Project, an effort to reach out to the under-served school children in the community at Homer Davis Elementary School, is the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s signature social action program. School. This coming school year, 2016-2017, begins the seventh year… Read more »

Sharon Arkin, Ph.D., was honored as the Tucson Jewish Community Center Volunteer of the Year for her Elder Rehab program for those with mild to moderate memory impairment. The Fall 2016 semester of Elder Rehab begins the week of Sept. 19. Participants, who should be over age 50, are… Read more »

Author and publisher Arthur Naiman has no time for those without humor or creativity. The Chicago-born Tucson transplant by way of New York, Paris and the Bay Area has published more than 30 nonfiction books and started two publishing companies. A philosophy major at Brandeis University, he had no… Read more »

Love of the written word and a desire to understand and help others are the forces that have driven Joan Belzer throughout her life, and, over time, she has found a way to combine them. After discovering the power of graphology, also known as handwriting analysis, Belzer was empowered… Read more »

At 90 years young, Mort Kranitz still has a song in his heart and a spring to his step. The pacemaker he got in June inspired him to take life easier and he now gets into his office at Mort’s Auto Brokerage a little later in the day. Yes,… Read more »

Every graveyard tells its own story, says Tucsonan Richard Rosen, former owner of the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery, located about 100 yards from the U.S.-Mexico border. Regardless of its current condition, the land still radiates a strong spiritual energy, says Rosen. “There’s something right about it, and there’s also something… Read more »

The Southwest Torah Institute’s Dr. Paul W. Hoffert Spirit Program begins Monday, July 25. The two-week free learning program, “A Tree of Life for Those Who Grasp It,” which takes its title from Proverbs, runs through Sunday, Aug. 7. Now in its 16th year, the program is for Jewish… Read more »

Update July 8: This event has been postponed due to a bereavement.  JFCS hopes to reschedule on a date in August.  Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona will hold a free ethical wills workshop for the Jewish community on Thursday, July 14, from 1-3 p.m. at Handmaker… Read more »

Mitzvah Magic, a joint program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy and Jewish Family & Children’s Services, is seeking new volunteers. “As a staple program for local Jewish families in need, Mitzvah Magic continues to need your help,” says Danielle Larcom, director of Women’s Philanthropy. Three… Read more »

Danit Yona, 22, one of two Israelis working as counselors at the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s Camp J this summer, says she learned her nearly flawless, American-accented English from watching TV shows like “Full House,” “Family Matters” and “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” after school. “I also had a… Read more »

At the Shay-Shay Community Garden at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, enthusiastic amateur gardeners tend sunflowers, enormous squash, cherry tomatoes, spiky artichokes and other bounty. The 23 plots opened for use in mid-March, says site coordinator Susanne Kaplan, who has served on the board of the nonprofit Community Gardens… Read more »

The Jewish dietary laws, termed kashrut, are many and complex. According to the Torah and the Talmud, Jews may not mix meat and dairy, and may eat only fish with scales and fins, and meat from ruminants with cloven hooves. Pareve — foods containing neither meat nor dairy, including… Read more »

Temple Emanu-El’s Gan (garden) Project is growing — thanks to a $2,000 incubator grant from the Women of Reform Judaism to the WRJ of Temple Emanu-El. Temple Emanu-El was among the first to receive these grants, which range from $500 to $5,000. They were awarded to “outside the box”… Read more »

Eight colorful new murals scattered around downtown will do more than beautify Tucson — they’ll provide an economic boost by helping to brand Tucson as an exotic, world class destination, and by reducing the money spent on graffiti abatement, says Michael B. Schwartz, director of the nonprofit Tucson Arts… Read more »

“A Creature That Doesn’t Understand What He Really Is” by Curt Kiwak

Curt Kiwak will exhibit “Monsters Under the Bed,” works on paper, in the Fine Art Gallery of the Tucson Jewish Community Center, July 8-Sept. 6. An artist’s reception will be held on Sunday, Aug.28 from 2-4 p.m. Born in Chicago, Kiwak attended the Art Institute in Chicago. He moved… Read more »

The Greater Tucson Fire Foundation will host an information session about the Emergency Volunteer Project, an opportunity for professional volunteer opportunities in Israel, on Sunday, June 26, from 2-4 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The project’s mission is to recruit, train and deploy dedicated individuals who will… Read more »

As Louisa (Lulu) Youngerman waded effortlessly in the Dead Sea, making playful attempts to reach its bed, she was awestruck by the experience. “This is everything that I heard about and more,” says Lulu. “This is magical.” Lulu attended the Tucson Hebrew Academy from kindergarten through eighth grade, and… Read more »

The Weintraub Israel Center and the Tucson J, with the support and cooperation of members of Catalina Council, Boy Scouts of America, announce a free performance bythe Israeli Scouts on Monday, June 20 at 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Tucson J. The troupe of 10 Israeli Scouts are… Read more »

Dear friends, On the evening of June 26, the Jewish History Museum will host the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona (JFSA) Pride program Celebrating Marriage Equality, an event that will mark the one year anniversary of the Marriage Equality Act, a landmark moment for our country and for LGBT… Read more »