Local

JFCS helps Russian Holocaust survivors share their stories

Raisa Moroz, JFCS Holocaust survivors program manager (left), talks with Yuliya Genina, a survivor from Ukraine. (Nancy Ben-Asher Ozeri/AJP)

Sitting at the kitchen table of her homey midtown apartment, Yuliya Genina offers cookies and then begins to tell her story. “People don’t know what it means, exactly, war. But we from the former Soviet Union know exactly what is war,” she says. “We are the last generation who… Read more »

Watercolorist invites viewers to invent stories

“Listening to Beauty,” watercolor by Marcie Feldman

The Tucson Jewish Com­munity Center Fine Art Gallery will present local artist Marcie Feldman with an exhibit of new watercolors, “Tell Me A Story,” Dec. 12-Jan. 18. A recent transplant to Tucson, Feldman says, “The need to create, to tell a story, comes from a place magical and primal.… Read more »

Glazier to celebrate splendor of Great American Songbook in one-man show

Richard Glazier

Award-winning pianist, storyteller and cultural historian Richard Glazier will bring his passion for the history, personalities and music of the Great American Songbook to Tucson Dec. 7 in  Invisible Theatre’s “Broadway to Hollywood.” His one-man show includes personal stories, movie clips, interview footage and — of course — piano… Read more »

Broza concert last month was joyous, unique

A big shout out to the Weintraub Israel Center and the Fox Theatre for bringing us the fantastic David Broza with a special appearance by Alberto Rios, Arizona’s first poet laureate. Their joyous performance together brought the house down. If you’ve been to Broza’s concerts, you know that his… Read more »

‘PJ Goes to School’ added to local Jewish book program

The Southern Arizona Jewish community has been chosen to participate in a special initiative called PJ Goes to School. Many local families already particpate in PJ LibraryTM, a  national Jewish engagement program that mails free, high-quality Jewish literature to families raising Jewish children. The program here is coordinated by… Read more »

Pozez lecture to probe Mideast from Arab Spring to ISIS

Asher Susser

The University of Arizona Center for Judaic Studies will present “From the Arab Spring to ISIS: The Upheavals in the Middle East and What They Mean for Israel” on Monday, Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. as part of its free Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series. Asher Susser,… Read more »

Judaic studies, common history enthrall UA Chinese students

(L-R) University of Arizona students Liao Dong, Jing Xia, Hao Jun Yang and Ming Xuan Xiao on University Boulevard in Tucson, Nov. 7, at the start of homecoming weekend. (Sheila Wilensky/AJP)

Do stereotypes vary based on traditional socialization in any given country? Yes, if you’re talking about China, at least according to four Chinese students at the University of Arizona who attribute characteristics such as intelligence, success and business acumen to being Jewish. “I didn’t know why Jews are so… Read more »

After national search, JFCS selects new CEO from Tucson

Carlos Hernandez

Carlos Hernandez’s 20-year experience in the behavioral health field has run the gamut from social worker and case manager to administrator. Recently named president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona, Hernandez, 44, says his new role is the next logical step in his career.… Read more »

Park Place Mall will host Hanukkah Mall Madness

Shalom Tucson will hold its annual Hanukkah Mall Madness event for children of all ages and their parents on Sunday, Dec. 7, from 1-3 p.m. at Park Place Mall. Local synagogues and Jewish agencies will present activities to celebrate the joyous holiday. The event will feature arts and crafts,… Read more »

UA expert to discuss water resources in Arizona, Israel

Sharon B. Megdal, Ph.D., director of the University of Arizona Water Resources Research Center, will speak at the Hadassah Southern Arizona luncheon on Sunday, Dec. 7 at noon at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive. Her presentation, “Water Management Innovations in Water-Scarce Regions,” will address Arizona and… Read more »

At G.A., federations zero in on collaboration

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly at National Harbor, Md., Nov. 10. (Ron Sachs)

There was the vice president of the United States, two Supreme Court justices and an Academy Award-winning actress with a compelling Jewish story. There were Jewish professionals, lay leaders, clergy and recent college graduates. The West Point cadets’ Jewish choir performed. The Israeli prime minister appeared via satellite from… Read more »

TSO to host world-class Israeli violinist, rare instrument

Vadim Gluzman (Marco Borggreve)

When they first handed Soviet-born Israeli musician Vadim Gluzman the violin he plays today, he had the “distinct feeling” he was being watched. This is no ordinary violin, mind you, so it’s practical to think that a number of people were looking on. But this feeling was different, supernatural… Read more »

UA fraternity suspended for attacking members of Jewish frat

(JTA) — A fraternity at the University of Arizona was put on interim suspension after 15 of its members allegedly attacked members of a Jewish fraternity. Members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity are accused of assault and discrimination in the incident at the apartment of an Alpha Epsilon… Read more »

Traveling exhibit, local play recall lives lost in Holocaust

Hélène Berr

  In commemoration of Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass), which for many marks the beginning of the Holocaust in 1938,  the Jewish History Museum will host an opening reception of an exhibit entitled “Hélène Berr, A Stolen Life” on Sunday, Nov. 9 from 3 to 5 p.m., at… Read more »

Philanthropy in brief

Since its opening almost 17 years ago, Pastiche Modern Eatery has donated almost $200,000 to local nonprofit organizations through programs such as “Philanthropy with Phlavor,” “Dine Out for Safety” and “Chicken Soup for Tucson’s Soul.”  Pastiche now holds monthly fundraisers in place of Philanthropy with Phlavor, in addition to monthly painting classes… Read more »

Community members bestow gift of music

Anna Gendler with a student at The Symphony Women’s Association

For Alexander Tent­ser, music was as much a right of passage as his Bar Mitzvah. His father was a klezmer musician and entertainer with a conservatory education in Kiev, Ukraine, and since Tentser had been playing piano since the age of four, it was only natural that he began… Read more »

A journey from pushke to philanthropy

Tracy Salkowitz

When we were little, my friends and I put our coins in a  pushke, a little metal box with a slit in the top, to raise funds for the Jewish National Fund. I remember thinking that I was personally helping to plant trees in Israel. It filled me with… Read more »

Beat Cancer Boot Camp part of JCC wellness initiatives

Joyce A. Schroeder

“There isn’t anyone who isn’t touched by cancer,” says Anita Kellman, who founded the Kellman Beat Cancer Boot Camp more than 10 years ago. The boot camp, offering twice-weekly exercise classes and monthly dinners with educational speakers, is now available at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The program is… Read more »

Australian mystic to discuss ‘Emotional Survival’ tools

Rabbi Laibl Wolf (Cinemachines)

Rabbi Laibl Wolf aims “to reroute your life back on the original track” with his lecture, “Be Strong In the Face of Crisis: Five Powerful Tools to Spiritual, Mental and Emotional Survival,” which he’ll present for Chabad Tucson on Wednesday, Nov. 12, at 7 p.m. at Congregation Young Israel.… Read more »

Series to tackle government policies, sans partisanship

Bob Harris

Bob Harris, a former policy and management expert with the federal government, will lead a four-part, non-partisan government discussion series cosponsored by Hadassah Southern Arizona and the Tucson Jewish Community Center, beginning Thursday, Nov. 13. The topics will be “The State of the U.S. Economy Today” (Nov. 13); “Social… Read more »