Invisible Theatre is bringing award-winning author/actor Steve Solomon back to Tucson in a new comedy, “Cannoli, Latkes & Guilt … the therapy continues.” The new show features such characters as Uncle Willie, stuttering Cousin Bob, demented Cousin Kenny, Steve’s new therapist Cousin Sal (and Sal’s parole officer). It combines… Read more »
Local
‘Gatekeepers’ to perform at Hadassah Purim tea party
Hadassah Southern Arizona will hold a Hamantashen High Tea for men, women and children on Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m. at Congregation Bet Shalom. Costumes are optional. Entertainment will be provided by The Gatekeepers, a musical family from Ironwood Hill Church. One of the group leaders is John… Read more »
Chofetz Chayim plans magic, music for Purim
Congregation Chofetz Chayim will hold a Magical Purim Party II on Thursday, March 5 at 5 p.m., featuring award-winning magician and comedian Norm Marini. He is a past president of the Society of American Magicians. His honors include Close-Up Magician of the Year and three-time winner of Stage Magician… Read more »
Jane Lynch to showcase song stylings, wit at UA Hillel benefit
Fresh from her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Sue Sylvester on “Glee” and her 2013 Broadway debut as Miss Hannigan in “Annie,” Jane Lynch will bring her comedic skills and musical talent to the University of Arizona’s Centennial Hall on Sunday, March 8 at 7 p.m. The evening, “See Jane… Read more »
To be blacklisted by Putin was ‘great honor,’ journalist Gessen tells Tucson audience
Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen is intent on exposing injustice, whether in her three talks in Tucson on Feb. 2, her books or articles in the New York Times, Slate and other publications. Her personal family history has run head-on into conflict with both the former Soviet Union and the… Read more »
Local woman is champion for mental health recovery
Mindy Bernstein, executive director of the Coyote Task Force, a local behavioral health agency, landed in Tucson in 1976. She wasn’t sure then what her path would be, but she never imagined a career in mental health advocacy. “I’ve been working in public behavioral health since 1986,” Bernstein told… Read more »
JCF accepting applications for Israel trip scholarship
The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona is accepting applications for the 2015 Goldman Family Israel Scholarship through March 11. The Elliot S. Goldman Family Israel Scholarship Fund and the Goldman Family Israel Scholarship Fund, both endowment funds held at JCF, together provide an annual Goldman Family Israel Scholarship… Read more »
On Israel mission, JFSA women strengthen ties
For Nina Isaac, the impact of spending 10 days in Israel with Jewish women from Tucson and around the United States was brought into sharp contrast after she spent the next three days in Dubai, training Muslim nurses. “It was a huge shift, being in Israel, the land of… Read more »
Coming to JFSA Connections: ‘Strength to Strength’ is personal
Sarri Singer has always been closely connected to her Jewish community, whether in New Jersey, New York or Israel. On Sept. 11, 2001, at age 28, she was director of recruitment for the National Conference of Synagogue Youth summer programs, two blocks from Ground Zero. Since that date surviving… Read more »
Jewish Tucsonans expand social activism away from home
Both Lonnie Kleinman and Molly Rothschild grew up immersed in Tucson’s Jewish community. But like many college graduates in their 20s, each felt compelled to broaden her life experience by leaving home, working with Jewish nonprofits in other parts of the country. Kleinman, 23, who attended Tucson Hebrew Academy… Read more »
Brandeis used book sale to raise scholarship funds
The Tucson chapter of the Brandeis National Committee will hold its annual used book sale Feb. 13-22 at the Foothills Mall. Admission is free except for a special preview to be held Thursday, Feb. 12, from 5-9 p.m., which requires a $10 tax-deductible donation to the BNC. Proceeds of… Read more »
Scribe to restore UA Judaic studies center’s Torah scroll
On Feb. 10-11, the University of Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will bring master sofer (scribe) Rabbi Gedaliah Druin to campus to resume work on the restoration of its 200-year-old Torah scroll. The scroll was donated anonymously; the center’s Beth Alpert Nakhai, Ph.D., acquired it in 2009. The scroll… Read more »
Shmita classes relate justice to issues of food, land
Temple Emanu-El is holding a series of classes to honor the Shmita, or Sabbatical year. In biblical times the seventh year was a time to let the land lie fallow, for debts to be forgiven and for all who worked the land to rest and rejuvenate. If the Sabbatical… Read more »
Mitzvah club for grades 4-7 to be ‘kid-driven’
Melissa Goldfinger, a volunteer with the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, has launched a new club for children in grades 4-7 called Many Mitzvah Makers – 3M for short. The mission of 3M is to engage kids in the mitzvot of tzedakah, tikkun olam and chesed (charity, repairing the… Read more »
JHM ketubah, gown show to highlight local treasures
The Jewish History Museum’s seventh annual ketubah and wedding gown exhibit will open on Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2 p.m. with a champagne and chocolate reception. Models will wear several gowns from the permanent collection, including new acquisitions, as well as gowns on loan. Some of the local brides… Read more »
JFCS ‘Matza & More’ goes green, seeks help
Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona has coordinated Matza & More, a volunteer-driven program to collect and deliver Passover items to more than 200 local Jewish families and individuals in need, for more than 40 years. Local businesses, synagogues and Jewish organizations support the effort. JFCS is… Read more »
Brothers bringing ‘Twintastic’ to Fox Theatre
“We were put on this earth to entertain people!” Anthony Edwards exclaims. Twins Anthony and Eddie Edwards, who spent some of their formative years in the Old Pueblo, will return next month for two shows at the Fox Tucson Theatre (Sunday, March 8 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.), featuring… Read more »
Scholar to parse debate on Israel’s proposed National Identity Law, human rights
As an Israeli lawyer and legal scholar for more than two decades, Leonard Hammer, Ph.D., is well-equipped to discuss Israel’s complex juncture of religion and democracy. Hammer, the David and Andrea Stein visiting professor of modern Israel studies at the University of Arizona, will speak on “Israel’s Proposed National… Read more »
Photographers’ work to be celebrated at JCF
The Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona will host an artists’ reception featuring the work of Mendocino photographer Julie Masterson and Tucson photographer Dot Kret on Monday, Feb. 16 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the JCF office, 3567 E. Sunrise Dr., Suite 143. Masterson’s passion for photography has… Read more »
Israeli-American romance bloomed at Tucson’s ‘Camp J’
For the Margalit family, the Tucson Jewish Community Center was the setting for a true camp love story: a Tucson camp counselor meets and falls for a visiting Israeli. Rachel Fox and Omri Margalit met at the JCC’s summer camp as teenagers serving as counselors. Rachel, a University of… Read more »