Local

The Tucson Jewish Community Center and Tucson Medical Center will host their second annual family triathlon on Sunday, April 17, starting at 8 a.m. The noncompetitive triathlon is designed for children and their adult mentors or families to enjoy together.  Parents or other adult mentors can register to swim,… Read more »

Three Tucson rabbis representing three streams of Judaism will participate in “This I Believe,” part of the  rabbi lecture series at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, on Sunday, April 10, from 3:30-5 p.m. in the great room at Handmaker. Rabbi Yossi Shemtov of Congregation Young Israel-Chabad, Rabbi Thomas… Read more »

When comedian Sam Morril encounters a heckler, something that happens when he performs on the road, he knows he has to tread carefully at first. He wants to make sure the crowd knows there’s a problem. “We notice the problem in the room way before the room does,” Morril… Read more »

Dennis Ross

As a former U.S. Middle East peace negotiator, Dennis Ross understands why ISIS continues to get recruits, even though those recruits know they will die soon and violently. “It appeals to those who feel completely disaffected; it appeals to those who are alienated, who feel left out. They create… Read more »

The Matza & More program sponsored by Jewish Family & Children’s Services brings Passover bags to Tucson-area residents who otherwise could not afford food and other items for a seder. From children to seniors, volunteers find significant connections in this longstanding program. Gary Cohen’s two sons, Grant, 11, and… Read more »

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 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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »