Local

Congregation Anshei Israel will present its third annual “Wisdom of Jewish Tucson” adult education series on Wednesdays, February 10, 17 and 24, from 7-9 p.m. This year’s program, “What We Need to Know About … Islam, Mormonism & Catholicism” provides an opportunity for interfaith conversations and greater understanding of… Read more »

Have you been asking yourself when you are finally going to get around to researching your Jewish family roots? The opportunity to jump-start your genealogical quest will be available at the Feb. 21 re-opening of Tucson’s Holocaust History Center on the Jewish History Museum Campus. Joel Alpert will have… Read more »

In just over two weeks, Tucsonans will get their first look at the Rose and Maurice Silverman Jewish History Museum Campus, home to the newly expanded Gould Family Holocaust History Center as well as the Friedman Family Jewish History Museum, which also has been refurbished. The grand re-opening on… Read more »

The musical group Simply Tsfat will give a concert on Thursday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. at Congregation Chofetz Chayim. Simply Tsfat features Israeli musicians Elyahu Reiter, Yehonasan Lipshutz and Yonatan Tzarum playing classic Hasidic and klezmer music on guitars and violin. “Our aim is to spreat the joy… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center will present “Why We Keep Going Back to Auschwitz-Birkenau,” a lecture exploring the confluence of the Jewish, Buddhist and human experience in song, story and silence, by the Rev. Francisco Genkoji “Paco” Lugoviña and Reb Shir Yaakov Feit on Thursday, Feb. 25, from 6-9… Read more »

John Messing, a practicing local attorney, will compete in tai chi at the Senior Olympics in Phoenix next month. Messing, 72, started doing tai chi about four years ago, primarily in response to a painful condition that suddenly developed in his left hip due to an IT-band injury, which… Read more »

Certified health coach and author Freddi Pakier will present “It’s the Little Things that Create a Heart Healthy Life­style” at a Hadassah Southern Arizona luncheon on Sunday, Feb. 14. Pakier, a former Tucsonan, is the author of “52 Weeks of Food for the Soul,” a cookbook that features gluten… Read more »

Invisible Theatre will stage the world premier of Tucson playwright Warren Bodow’s “Deelmayker” Feb. 9-21. “Deelmayker” (the spelling refers to an Internet account) tells the story of Bernie Harris, a charismatic 65-year-old wheeler-dealer living in Palm Springs with a wife he adores. Harris realizes that as he’s been getting… Read more »

Rabbi Adam Chalom

The Secular Humanist Jewish Circle has planned two lectures this month by Rabbi Adam Chalom of the Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in Lincolnshire, Ill. The first, “Holidays Without the Holy: Secular Approaches to Religious Tradition,”will be held Thursday, Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. at the University of Arizona Hillel… Read more »

When the performers of the Capitol Steps take the stage at the Fox Tucson Theater, there’s a good chance Barack Obama will sing a rock song, Joe Biden will sing a show tune and Chris Christie will dance. Even Vladimir Putin, shirtless, of course, cannot stay off the stage.… Read more »

Shockwaves were sent throughout the Tucson community on Jan. 18 following the death of local businessman and philanthropist Donald Baker, 59, co-owner of commercial real estate firm Larsen Baker L.L.C., and his wife, Dawn Hunter-Baker, 55, in a plane crash. Baker was piloting his Cessna Citation 525, returning to… Read more »

If she didn’t have it all, Elaine Hall had a lot of it. A Hollywood acting coach at the top of her game, Hall worked with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and John Goodman. Her specialty was coaching children. Only one thing was missing. What she really wanted was… Read more »

The March of Remembrance is an international event honoring the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust. The Tucson event, organized by Pastor Steve Shermett of Book of Life Community Church and Congregation Beth Sar Shalom (a Messianic congregation), will be held on Sunday, Jan. 31 at the… Read more »

Alan Morinis

Alan Morinis was not looking to become a spiritual leader when he discovered Judaism’s Mussar tradition at the age of 47. “I’m a little chagrined to admit it,” he says of stumbling over the millennia-old tradition almost 20 years ago, “but I was really searching for something in my… Read more »

Say the name Adolf Hitler and an immediate reaction is evoked in the hearts and minds of many, based on the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi dictator specifically against those of Jewish descent. Now that name has reemerged as an annotated edition of his autobiography, “Mein Kampf,” or “My… Read more »

The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation has joined the solar revolution. Its 42.5 kilowatt photovoltaic system, designed and installed by the Tucson-based Technicians for Sustainability, consists of 135 solar modules mounted on the roof of the Hillel building. The panels will produce over 6,000 kW per month, covering approximately… Read more »

Israel Pickholtz

Professional genealogist Israel Pickholtz will discuss the challenges of working with information provided by DNA testing in his talk, “Endogamy: Genetic Genealogy — Challenges for Jewish Research,” at the Southern Arizona Jewish Genealogy Society’s meeting on Sunday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. at Congregation Bet Shalom. Pickholtz says that… Read more »

The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will present two free lectures next month by Michael Kagan, associate professor of law at the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. The first, “Finding Refuge: Can Non-Jews Seek Asylum in the Jewish State?” will be… Read more »

Rabbi Harold Kushner

Making good on a desire expressed in 2014 to visit Tucson more often, Rabbi Harold Kushner will discuss his new book, “Nine Essential Things I’ve Learned About Life,” at a Temple Emanu-El event on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 6:30 p.m. A congregational rabbi for 50 years, Kushner is the… Read more »

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy will hold two events early next month. First up is a new event, “Taste with a Twist,” on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in the new multi-purpose room at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Participants will sample mini martinis and… Read more »