Local

Programs in Tucson, Israel to receive more than $325K from JCF and JFSA grants
May 26, 2016 /

On July 1, 20 nonprofit organizations will receive the first payments of grants totaling $328,335 from the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona’s competitive community grants process. Funding focused on three areas: Tucson Jewish Community, Israel and Global Jewry, and Tucson General Community. New this year were Synagogue Small… Read more »

Israeli teen emissaries to be newest link in Tucson-Israel chain

Under the auspices of the Weintraub Israel Center, Leah Avuno and Bar Alkaher, Israeli teen emissaries who will arrive in Tucson in August, hold a Skype conference with local Jewish educators. The teens are known as “Shinshinim,” from the Hebrew letter “shin’’ that starts each word in the program’s Hebrew title, “Shnat Sherut Shlishit” (third year of service). (Courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)
May 26, 2016 / Karen Schaffner, AJP Intern

A year of service will soon begin for two Israeli teens and their work will bring them here to Tucson. Leah Genei Avuno, 17, of Kiryat Malachi and Bar Alkaher, 17, of Shimshit will arrive here at the beginning of August and they cannot wait to dig in. They are… Read more »

In D.C., Tucson’s unique Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition advocates for the poor

Members of Tucson’s Jewish-Latino Teen Coalition with Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) in her office on April 13, 2016. (L-R): Samantha Ybarra, Sayanna Molino (chaperone), Emma Galligan, Slaughter, Zoe Holtzman, Michael Artzi, Sophie Gootter, Joshua Cohen, Aaron Gomez, Shari Gootter (program coordinator), Alexander Senti, Daniel Vogel, David Bracamonte (Courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona)
May 12, 2016 / Sarah Chen, Special to the AJP

“For me, it all came together when we were sitting in Sen. Cruz’s office, speaking to his chief of staff, and I realize that it’s this clash of strong opinions, this is why solutions to our most pressing social problems are so hard to find.” Strong words coming from… Read more »

Hadassah to celebrate Jerusalem Day with wine tasting, Iran nuclear update
May 12, 2016 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
Carolynn Scherer Katz

Hadassah Southern Arizona will celebrate Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) with “A Taste of Gold,” a kosher wine tasting with snacks on Sunday, June 5, 4-6 p.m. at Catavinos, 3063 N. Alvernon Way. Carolynn Scherer Katz, regional advisor for Hadassah, will speak on the recent Iran nuclear agreement and its… Read more »

Art, video at Handmaker to mark success of ‘Tracing Roots’

Sharon Glassberg, left, director of the Coalition for Jewish Education at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, views internet research with Natalie Feldman, a Tucson Hebrew High student, and Gloria Lindsman, a resident at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, as part of the “Tracing Roots and Building Trees” program, April 17 at Handmaker. (Karen Schaffner/AJP)
May 12, 2016 / Karen Schaffner, Special to the AJP

On a recent Sunday afternoon, 15-year-old Erika Spivack sat next to 93-year-old Betty Light, searching online for any information she could find about Light. First stop: ancestry.com, where she unearthed an item as valuable as any buried treasure. “Did you go to East High School in Denver?” Spivack asked… Read more »

JFSA to hold ‘Platinum Edition’ of annual awards celebration

Shelly Silverman (left) and Stuart Shatken are the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona's Woman and Man of the Year
April 28, 2016 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will launch a year of 70th anniversary celebrations at its annual meeting and awards celebration on Wednesday, May 11. The “Feddys Platinum Edition” event will be held at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Heading the list of those who will… Read more »

Chefs bringing flavors of Israel to Tucson festivities

(L-R) Chefs Yael Shamir, Maya Klein, Orli Varon Shushan and Sahar Refael from the Weintraub Israel Center’s Partnership2Gether region in Israel will spend a week in Tucson. (Courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)
April 28, 2016 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

Four celebrity chefs from Israel will arrive in Tucson next month for the third annual Tucson Celebrates Israel Week, May 9-15. “Food is known to be a great bridge between people and cultures,” says Oshrat Barel, director of the Weintraub Israel Center, which organizes the festivities. Chefs Orli Varon… Read more »

Tucson students place in top 5 in Israeli tournament

(L-R) Gregory School students Daniel Leighou, Elaine Wright, Jaiveer Katariya, Moritz Gloesslein and Tianyi Zhu, with teacher Dennis Conner, took fourth place in the International Shalhevet Freier Physics Tournament at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel.
April 28, 2016 / Kaye Patchett, Special to the AJP

Earlier this month, a team of talented physics students from Tucson’s Gregory School placed fourth in the world in the April 5-6 International Shalhevet Freier Physics Tournament at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, where they displayed their outstanding skills in high-tech safecracking. Israel is an international leader in… Read more »

Downtown Shabbat: Hot music, cool venue draws more than millennials

Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon (front) and the Armon Bizman band at a Late Night Downtown Shabbat at the Jewish History Museum on March 25. (Karen Schaffner/AJP)
April 28, 2016 / Charlotte Lowe, Special to the AJP

Tucson, a.k.a. the Old Pueblo, is known for its laid back attitude, not for bucking a trend. Enter Temple Emanu-El’s Late Night Downtown Shabbat, which is roping in the millennials coming of age in the 21st century, statistically a hard group to round up for synagogue participation. According to… Read more »

In Mexico City, finding a cohesive, timeless Jewish community

Members of Tucson’s Next Generation Men’s Group atop the Teotihuacan Pyramid in Mexico City. Top row (L-R): Rob Glazer, David Goldstein, Hillel Baldwin, Stuart Gross and Bobby Present. Center: Jeff Kay, Marty Waldbaum, Peter Marcus, Jeffrey Katz, James Wezelman and Steve Silverman. Bottom: Terry Perl, Danny Gasch, Tom Warne, Larry Gellman and Barry Weisband. Not pictured: Stuart Mellan, Gary Kippur, Dan Asia, David Hameroff and Jeff Katz. (Courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona)
April 28, 2016 / Karen Schaffner, AJP Intern

Jeffrey Katz of Tucson, a retired physician, just came back from Mexico City and what he saw made quite an impression. “The most unique part (of the trip) was seeing how closely knit a Jewish community exists,” he says. “We were at what is described as a secular Jewish… Read more »

Tucson rabbis’ panel stresses similarities among Jews

Rabbi Robert Eisen speaks at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging on April 10, as panelists Rabbi Yossie Shemtov (center) and Rabbi Thomas Louchheim look on. (Nanci Levy/Handmaker)
April 25, 2016 / Korene Charnofsky Cohen, Special to the AJP

Three Tucson rabbis representing the Orthodox, Reform and Conservative branches of Judaism presented their basic beliefs at a panel discussion at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging on April 10. About 100 people, including Handmaker residents and members of the Tucson community, discovered more about the similarities rather than… Read more »

Tucson’s upcoming Yom HaShoah commemoration: ‘They Were Children Just the Same’

Isaak Koschland, director of Jewish Day School, Ichenhausen, Germany (Courtesy Holocaust History Center)
April 14, 2016 /

Child victims will be the focus of the annual community Yom HaShoah commemoration, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, which will be held Sunday, May 1, at 2 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. This year’s program, “They Were Children… Read more »

In Focus: Purim 2016
April 14, 2016 /
(L-R) Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny, Rabbi Robert Eisen and Education & Youth Director Rabbi Ruven Barkan read the Megillah at Congregation Anshei Israel’s Purim Palooza party on March 23.

Snapshots of some local Purim celebrations around Tucson.  … Read more »

Neil Simon play coming to Invisible Theatre
April 14, 2016 /
Hollywood scriptwriter Herb Tucker (David Alexander Johnston) explains to his girlfriend Steffy (Susan Kovitz) why he doesn’t want to get married again. (Tim Fuller)

Invisible Theatre will stage Neil Simon’s comedy, “I Ought to Be in Pictures,” April 19-May 1. Ticket information is available at 882-9721 or invisibletheatre.com.… Read more »

Tucson J youth experts to lead workshop at conference
April 14, 2016 /

Two members of the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s department of children, youth and family engagement will lead a workshop on “active listening” at “Adolescence to Independence,” a conference on empowering youth sponsored by Arizona’s Children Association, which will be held at the Tucson J on Friday, May 6. Scott… Read more »

JFSA names nominees for officers, board of directors
April 14, 2016 /

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s board development committee, chaired by Eric Schindler, has recommended the following slate of officers for the 2016-2017 program year: Tom Warne, chair of the board; Eric Schindler, vice chair/board development; Helaine Levy, vice chair; Jim Wezelman, treasurer/secretary; Kathryn Unger, immediate past chair.  Also… Read more »