Local

With matzah for racers, Everyone Runs to mark 10th year

Steve, Matt (in chicken suit) and Brenda Landau at a “Run With the Roosters Kinney Road 5 Miler at Old Tucson”

When Steve Landau started Everyone Runs, Everyone Walks 10 years ago, he hoped to provide runners of all levels with a race that they could finish and feel positive about. “I went to other races and I would hear runners say that they weren’t good enough to finish in… Read more »

Tucson Festival of Books wows readers for 7th year

Eugene Yelchin

Who knew seven years ago that the Tucson Festival of Books would rank as one of the top celebrations of authors and reading in the United States? Kudos to its founders, Bill and Brenda Viner, members of the Tucson Jewish community, and Bruce Beach, Frank Farias and John Humenik.… Read more »

From pop icon to humanitarian: Henry Winkler to headline JFCS fundraiser

Henry Winkler will speak at Jewish Family & Children's Services Celebration of Caring dinner on Tuesday, April 14, 2015.

Known to the world as “The Fonz,” the character he played for a decade on TV’s “Happy Days,” Henry Winkler fulfilled a childhood dream by becoming an actor. He won two Golden Globe Awards, received three Emmy nominations and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Fonzie’s… Read more »

UA Hillel will sponsor annual Holocaust vigil

The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation will hold its 24th Annual Holocaust Vigil March 25-26. During this student-led event, thousands of names of people murdered in the Holocaust will be read aloud. This 24-hour reading will take place from noon on Wednesday, March 25 through noon on Thursday, March… Read more »

Families embrace Shabbat at The J’s class

The Tucson  Jewish Community Center has launched Shabbat & Me, a new program for families and children. The free weekly class meets Fridays at 10 a.m. Shabbat & Me encourages families to spend quality time together without the use of electronics, taking the opportunity to consider family priorities and… Read more »

Jewish understudy hopes to enliven Tony Award-winning play

Zander Meisner

Zander Meisner knows the Tony Award-winning musical “Once” inside and out. In fact, given his unusual position as an understudy for four of the eight male roles in the play, it’s possible that Meisner is more intimately familiar with the show than anyone else, period. Now that the current… Read more »

Passover wines, seder tips and crafts highlight Chabad event

Chabad Tucson will host a Passover 101 event in preparation for the upcoming holiday, Sunday, March 22 from 2-4 p.m. at Congregation Young Israel. The event will feature a tasting and sale of a variety of kosher for Passover wines from the United States, Israel, France and Italy. Traditional… Read more »

JFSA Young Women’s Cabinet invites prospective members

Interested in being part of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Young Women’s Cabinet? There will be an opportunity to meet current participants on Wednesday, March 25, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Tucson Hebrew Academy’s art studio, 3888 E. River Road. Participants will paint ceramic tiles to send to the Federation’s… Read more »

A transformed Berlin beckons to Jewish Federation representatives

Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, at the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin on Feb. 19. “The photo,” he says, “does not even begin to capture the power of walking through and finding the pillars dwarfing you as they grow to 15 feet in the center of the installation.”

I sat between Grandmother and Aunt Etta. I never had a chance. Grandmother would point to her forearm, the numbers tattooed there … and that’s how I learned to count.   I sat between Grandmother and Aunt Etta. Between spoonfuls of regret they fed me: “From this you shouldn’t… Read more »

Pulitzer Prize-winning oncologist to lecture

The Cindy Wool Memorial Seminar on Humanism in Medicine will take place on Tuesday, March 31 at 7 p.m. at the Fox Tucson Theatre. The keynote speaker will be Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., author of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer.” In his… Read more »

Revamped Tucson J stresses myriad pathways to wellness

New treadmills in The J’s modernized sports and wellness center look out at the Tucson Mountains.

After several years of planning and fundraising and more than nine months of construction, the Tucson Jewish Community Center will hold the official grand opening of its new 15,000-square-foot sports and wellness center on Sunday, March 29, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The day will start with a… Read more »

Expanded Holocaust History Center will be dream come true

The new entrance of the Holocaust History Center, sharing a plaza with the Jewish History Museum, will allow for easy traffic flow from one museum to the other.

More than 250 Holocaust survivors have lived in Southern Arizona since the 1950s. Following decades of hoping for an institution that would archive the stories and memorabilia of survivors’ lives, the dream will become a reality when a greatly expanded Holocaust History Center opens in early 2016. “By creating… Read more »

Woodwind virtuoso Anat Cohen to bring jazz quartet to JCC

Anat Cohen

Israeli-born clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen will bring her quartet to the Tucson Jewish Community Center sculpture garden on March 22 for an evening of jazz under the stars. The concert, hosted by UA Presents, starts at 7 p.m. and will showcase her new CD “Luminosa,” with its Brazilian… Read more »

Interfaith retreat will explore pilgrimage

Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook

Temple Emanu-El and St. Philip’s In The Hills Episcopal Church will join together to present a Spring Retreat Weekend: Exploring the Pil­grimage of Life, March 20-22, featuring the Rev. Dr. Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook. Kujawa-Holbrook is vice president of academic affairs, dean of the faculty and professor of practical theology and… Read more »

Teen honored with Bryna Zehngut award

Sarah Schultz, right, presents the Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award to Sarah Cassius at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Connections brunch. (Martha Lochert)

The advisory council of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy awarded Sarah Cassius its ninth annual Bryna Zehngut Mitzvot Award at the annual Connections brunch on Sunday, Feb. 22. The award recognizes an outstanding Jewish teenage girl. The council, which includes past Womenís Philanthropy chairs and campaign… Read more »

Add beauty, whimsy to Passover table

Seder plates, kiddish cups and Elijah cups are among the Passover wares at Congregation Anshei Israel’s gift shop. (Korean Charnofsky Cohen)

Passover surrounds us with beauty. The spiritual concepts of struggle, freedom and renewal are timeless and universal. Our wishes for freedom include all people and not just Jews. Our family traditions keep the spirit alive and connect us to all the generations that have come before us. The cleaning… Read more »

THA tidbits: Passport to Peace event shines light on local, global nonprofits

Tucson Hebrew Academy fourth-grader Dahlia Tolby and art teacher Amy Pozez add tiles to the students’ peace wall mosaic.

Tucson Hebrew Academy students consistently learn how Jewish values help them make a difference in the world, and at the 8th annual Passport to Peace day on Jan. 28, everyone participated. THA students spent the afternoon visiting booths in the school courtyard to learn about a variety of service… Read more »

Men’s poker tournament will benefit school

The Young Men’s Group of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will take over a private dining room at Sullivan’s Steakhouse, 1785 E. River Road, for its 5th Annual Poker Tournament on Tuesday, March 10, 5:30-8:30 p.m. All men ages 21+ are invited to play in the Texas Hold… Read more »