Rabbi Stephanie Aaron celebrates her birthday during a special oneg Shabbat with members of Congregation Chaverim on June 19.
A Reform rabbi and an Orthodox rabbi were my mentors, my guides and my inspirations to become a rabbi. Rabbi Joseph Weizenbaum, z’l, the Reform rabbi of my youth, my bat mitzvah, and my teenage understanding of Judaism, was certainly the rabbi who led the way, who motivated me… Read more »
Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz, right, with Rabbi Moshe Klein at the writing of a Sefer Torah for the Foothills Shul at Bais Yael, Oct. 19, 2014.
I grew up in South Africa in a vibrant Jewish community. As a child I was encouraged to join Jewish youth groups. I loved the activities and discussions. However, about Judaism I had many unanswered questions. Then it all unraveled. There was a youth Shabbaton in Johannesburg. It was… Read more »
Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin of Chabad Tucson holds a Sunshine Club program at Atria Valley Manor in December 2014.
The spacious room was lined up with green cushioned chairs ready for another session of “Chat with Rabbi Yudi” at a retirement community in Tucson. As I walk in, I found a single person sitting there. “It’s just me …” she sheepishly said. “Will you still stay?” “Of course!”… Read more »
Rabbi Thomas Louchheim teaches in the Congregation Or Chadash Religious School on Sept. 29, 2013, using the St. Joseph Torah Scroll that had been donated by a congregation in Missouri, which Or Chadash had repaired in 2013.
I always wanted to be a lawyer. As a project in elementary school, we were asked to determine what classes in high school and college we would need to take to prepare us for our chosen professions. I interviewed one lawyer, sent letters to a few law schools and… Read more »
Rabbi Batsheva Appel, left, and Temple Emanu-El congregant Susan Brish hold the lulav during Sukkot services on Oct. 10, 2014.
It was either astronaut or rabbi. As a fifth grade student, the homework assignment was to prepare a drawing about what we would like to be when we grew up, and I handed in two very different drawings. One of me as an astronaut and the other of me… Read more »
Rabbi Robert Eisen points to the Torah being held by Fay Green, left, and Hyla Windham at Congregation Anshei Israel’s Mitzvah 613 Celebration on Dec. 16, 2012.
How I became a rabbi is easy to describe: I went to undergraduate school and rabbinic school; spent the requisite number of hours studying, writing papers and preparing for exams; and had a student pulpit for three years of “hands-on training.” But why I became a rabbi is something… Read more »
Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman and Esta Goldstein of Saddlebrooke hold an old Megillah scroll at Oro Valley Meet Yourself: A Celebration of Diverse Cultures on March 22.
I grew up in Chicago, number seven in a family of 11 children. Being that I was born into a Chabad family, I was involved in Jewish outreach since I was in elementary school. My first experiences were when my father used to take me with him to the… Read more »
Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon with members of the Temple Emanu-El Youth Choir during the "Greatest Hanukkah on Earth XVI" celebration in December 2014.
My grandfather was an important Reform rabbi — he wrote one of the four platforms the movement has ever produced — and my father is a prominent cantor and rabbi, but I never thought about becoming a rabbi growing up. When I began singing in my teens I did… Read more »
Rabbi Helen Cohn, left, talks with Congregation M’kor Hayim congregants Ann Markewitz, Grace Hartman and Bob Chasan earlier this summer.
I grew up in a secular but Jewishly identified home. Once I left for college, and later married a man who wasn’t Jewish, my connection to Judaism was limited to occasional family seders. Years later, single again and on a business trip in New England, I decided on a… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker celebrates with young congregants at Congregation Chofetz Chayim’s Chanukah party on Dec. 16, 2014.
The triumph of my parents’ survival from the Holocaust was to raise a Jewish family and live a vibrant Jewish life. Their deep love of Judaism, their understanding of the need to protect it and their joy in sharing it proved to be formative influences in ways that I… Read more »
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona recently received a $25,000 gift from a donor advised fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, which it forwarded to the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Relief to aid the swelling population of migrants and Syrian refugees in Europe and the Middle… Read more »
Broadway in Tucson Centennial Hall 1020 E. University Blvd. 903-2929 broadwayintucson.com The season begins with America’s favorite redhead in a new incarnation of the iconic “Annie.” “The Phantom of the Opera” returns with new scenic and lighting designs, including the show’s legendary chandelier, followed by the 20th anniversary world… Read more »
Irving Berlin left an indelible mark on the classic American songbook with hits like “White Christmas,” “Puttin’ on the Ritz,” “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “God Bless America.” Arizona Theatre Company will bring Berlin’s story to life in “Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin,” which opens ATC’s 2015-16… Read more »
Jewish Family & Children’s Services, in collaboration with experts from the University of Arizona Center on Aging, will present the Mel Sherman Institute on Mental Health lecture series this fall, with free talks on Fridays, Sept. 18 and Nov. 13, from 1-3 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.… Read more »
Congregation Bet Shalom will hold its 12th annual Wine Tasting at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19 at CataVinos Wine Shoppe & Tasting Room, 3063 N. Alvernon Way. The event will feature tastings of kosher wines from around the world. Rosa Cohen, president of the synagogue, notes that in… Read more »
Chabad Tucson will sample and sell a variety of kosher wine for the High Holidays on Sunday, Sept. 6, from 1-3 p.m. at Congregation Young Israel/Chabad. Single bottles and cases of wines from the United States, Israel, France and Italy will be available “for tasting and purchase at attractive… Read more »
Justice Richard Bernstein He is an Ironman. He’s run 18 marathons, including one just a year after shattering his hip and pelvis in an accident. He’s a graduate of the distinguished Northwestern University School of Law and, since passing the bar, he’s developed into a civil rights powerhouse, having earned numerous verdicts… Read more »
Rep. Martha McSally on the 2015 Republican congressional trip to Israel, after a briefing about the operation of an Iron Dome missile defense battery, seen behind her. (Courtesy Office of U.S. Rep. Martha McSally)
U.S. Rep. Martha McSally joined 25 Republican legislators on a whirlwind trip to Israel earlier this month. McSally, who was elected to represent Arizona’s Second Congressional District last fall and serves on the Armed Services and Homeland Security committees, said she chose to participate in the trip to get… Read more »
Philip A. Pinto The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona, together with the College of Science and the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, will present a free panel lecture, “The Iranian Nuclear Agreement: Containment or Catastrophe?” on Thursday, Sept. 17, from 7-8 p.m. in Crowder Hall. Three… Read more »
Project Isaiah, Tucson’s annual High Holy Days food drive benefiting the Community Food bank, begins Sept. 1. The project is named for the Prophet Isaiah, who when asked why we fast on Yom Kippur, responded, “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry?” (Isaiah 58:6). It is… Read more »
