Vida and Eliot Barron outside the Jewish Federation Northwest office (Anne Lowe)
Vida and Eliot Barron have not wasted a minute since they started coming to Tucson 19 winters ago in 1998. Motivated by all of the blessings they have had in their 57 years of marriage, the bottom line for them is to share good things with people who need… Read more »
Mel Cohen Volunteering to lead Shabbat and holiday services for the residents of Handmaker began as a way for Mel Cohen to give back to the assisted living facility where his father was a resident, but 22 years later, Cohen continues to lead services as a way to connect to Jewish… Read more »
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin made history in 1987 when she won an Academy Award for “Children of a Lesser God,” becoming the only deaf person to win an Oscar and, at 21, the youngest recipient of the Best Actress award. She owes much of that record-breaking achievement to her Jewish upbringing,… Read more »
The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies and the University of Arizona School of Dance will present “An Evening with Yaniv Abraham & Guy Shomroni” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 31 at the Stevie Eller Dance Theatre, 1737 E. University Blvd. The event is free and open to the… Read more »
Amy Hirshberg Lederman When her husband, Ray, was diagnosed with terminal cancer in late 2011, award-winning local author and columnist Amy Hirshberg Lederman says that they decided as a family to live with “no regrets.” It was three years, seven months, and six days later that Ray passed away as a result… Read more »
Rabbi William Cutter An information fair for Jewish seniors, families and friends will be held Sunday, April 3, 1-5 p.m. at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. The fair will cover topics from health and wellness to financial and legal matters, says Rabbi Sandy Seltzer, chair of the Senior Task Force, which… Read more »
Bernie Sanders, the first Jewish presidential candidate to win a primary contest, will hold a rally tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. His visit comes days before the Arizona Presidential Preference election on Tuesday, March 22. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Tickets… Read more »
Purim is one of the most joyous holidays on the Jewish calendar, commemorating Queen Esther’s triumph, with the help of the wise Mordechai, in saving the Jews of ancient Persia from the wicked plot of Haman, evil adviser to the king. The holiday begins on March 23 this year… Read more »
Rabbi Eliezer Eidlitz Rabbi Eliezer Eidlitz, the Kosher Information Bureau’s rabbinic administrator, will return to Tucson on Sunday, April 3 for the “Is It Kosher?” supermarket tour from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Albertsons, 6600 E. Grant Road (at East Tanque Verde Road). Attendees will learn what foods and beverages are kosher… Read more »
Rotraut Klein Moquay
An exhibition of small sculpture and works on paper by international artist and sculptor Rotraut (Rotraut Klein Moquay) is on display at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery through April 13. Born in East Germany in 1938, Rotraut spent much of her life and career in France.… Read more »
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, will be honored with the Rabbi Samuel S. and A. Irma Cohon Memorial Foundation Award at Temple Emanu-El’s Shabbat service on Friday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m. The annual award honors individuals for outstanding service to… Read more »
Students at the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation will hold the 25th annual Holocaust vigil from 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 30 to 10 a.m. Thursday, March 31 on the UA Mall. Dedicated to remembrance, the vigil includes the reading of Holocaust victims’ names throughout the 24 hours. Holocaust survivors… Read more »
At one of the Tucson Hebrew Academy STEM festival’s student-run booths, students play Dance Dance Revolution by completing circuits with their feet. (Phillip McCauley/THA)
Tucson Hebrew Academy will hold its second annual family-friendly STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Festival on Sunday, April 3, with expanded hours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the THA campus, 3888 E. River Road. Presented by THA’s STEM program, led by science teacher Jennifer Lehrfeld, the… Read more »
Tucson Jewish Singles Over 40, for ages 40-65, will hold its inaugural meeting on Sunday, March 27 at 4 p.m. at Five Palms Restaurant, 3500 E. Sunrise Drive, with a free dinner (no-host beverages available). The group will meet on the fourth Sunday of every month for dinner, happy… Read more »
Weintraub Israel Center trip participants at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. Kneeling (L-R): Jane Rodda, Fernanda Quintanilla, Oshrat Barel, Steve Weintraub, Jeff Artzi (standing, wth wreath) and Nicky Anspach. Standing, first row: Carlos Hernandez, Nora Navarro-Hernandez, Deborah Yoklic, James Whitehill, Sally Trattner, Iris Posin, Conrad Plimpton, Stephen Caine, Barbara Yamada, Linda Behr, Stan Behr, Marcia Wiener, Irene Watkins, Linda Horowitz, Martin Horowitz, Phyllis Mack, Ray Carroll and Muki Jankelowitz (guide). Second row: Carol Weinstein, Judith Brown, Richard Fertal, Ken Miller, Karen Paulsen-Balch, Marisa Balch and Riann Balch. Third row: Morris Riback, Paula Riback, Rebecca Crow, Rick Edwards, Neal Savage, Marilyn Medwied, Heather Caine, Myles Beck and Richard Spears. Not pictured: John Crow, Sherry Hoffman-Blum, Tracy Salkowitz, John Winchester and Denise Wolf. (Courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)
When Tucsonan Nora Navarro-Hernandez, who is not Jewish, visited the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem for the first time, she had a real awakening. She was there for Shabbat. “I thought it was going to be quiet and really solemn,” she says. “I didn’t think there was going to be… Read more »
Talya Simha Fanger-Vexler is learning to walk with her new prosthesis. (Courtesy Talya Simha Fanger-Vexler)
My whole body trembled as I tried to fight back the tears that were streaming down my face. “Wait!” I screamed. “One more, just one more photo … please?” I said meekly as I tried my best to swallow through a dry and swollen throat. The pre-op nurses nodded… Read more »
When local Jewish writer Joni Rubinstein’s children were babies, she began a birthday practice that became a cherished family tradition. “When my first daughter, who is 35 now, was born, I found this tiny little poem that was about birthdays,” says Rubinstein, an elementary school counselor in the Marana… Read more »
Coach Martin Reichgott, far left, with the U.S. swim team at the 13th Pan American Maccabi Games in Chile (Courtesy Martin Reichgott)
While the Tucson Jewish Community Center continues to build momentum and rosters for this summer’s Maccabi Games for Jewish teen athletes in Columbus, Ohio, another member of the community was able to experience Maccabi on an international scale. Martin Reichgott spent Dec. 26-Jan.5 in Santiago, Chile, as a coach… Read more »
(L-R): Congregation Chaverim cantorial soloist Diana Povolotskaya, Cynthia Busby, Ellie Maas, Bill Kugelman, Barbara Holtzman, Michael Lex and Rabbi Stephanie Aaron. The first and second time b’nai mitzvah celebrants, dubbed ‘Thirteeners,’ range in age from Maas, 26, to Kugelman, 91. (Michael Miklofsky)
When Mike Lex turned 13 he did not celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah. He grew up in a remote part of Wyoming, a place where he says as a Jew he was in a tiny minority and because his parents did not practice, his 13th birthday came and went.… Read more »
A Jewish section has been established at Marana Mortuary and Cemetery, with Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman of Chabad of Oro Valley overseeing religious aspects of the section. “Until now Jewish burial was available in Tucson in two cemeteries, Evergreen and East Lawn. figured I was the obvious… Read more »
