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 »
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 »
(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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
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 »
Garden of Eden bowl - cut paper collage by Carolee Asia Tucsonan Carolee Asia will be the featured artist at the Tohono Chul Park Welcome Gallery Nov. 14 through Feb. 15. In her colorful cut paper collages, “I enjoy the play of images on all kinds of structures such as cubes and vases, platters and gourds,” Asia says in her… Read more »
Shoshana Elkins Hadassah Southern Arizona will hold a luncheon meeting on Sunday, Nov. 16 at noon at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. Saint Andrews Drive. Shoshana Elkins, MSW, LCSW, vice president of clinical services at Jewish Family & Children’s Services, will speak on “Understanding the True Impact of Domestic Violence and… Read more »
Rabbi Hayim Herring sparked discussion at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona council on Oct. 22 with this illustration of social networks. (2014 Copyright. HayimHerring.com. All rights reserved.) An organization is “a container for meaning,” Rabbi Hayim Herring told more than 80 people gathered for the first Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona council meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 22. Herring, an organizational consultant specializing in synagogues and Jewish agencies, presented “Jewish Organization 3.0: New Generations, New Paradigm” to… Read more »
Joey Weisenberg Joey Weisenberg grew up in Milwaukee, performing in blues clubs at the same time he was preparing for his Bar Mitzvah. Now 33, Weisenberg has transferred his musical and spiritual passion to nigunim (wordless Jewish melodies), and will be musician-in-residence at Congregation Anshei Israel during the weekend of Nov.… Read more »
Lois Lederman and Noga Panai rehearse ‘Handle With Care’ at Invisible Theatre. (Tim Fuller) Tucson’s Invisible Theater will celebrate its 44th anniversary season with the Southwestern premiere of Jason Odell Williams’ comedy, “Handle With Care.” Described as the “Jewish ‘Christmas Carol’ play for all audiences” by the playwright, “Handle With Care” is the story of a young Israeli woman, with little command of… Read more »
Promoting global awareness — as well as culinary coexistence — played a part in the choice of Cholla High Magnet School’s 2014 fall presentation of “The Arab-Israeli Cookbook” by Robin Soans, directed by Julian Martinez, the play is produced in partnership with the Qatar Foundation International. Assembled from first-person… Read more »
Maria Jutasi Coleman began sculpting five years ago. Her work is “made of the dust of the earth, as my beloveds have since become,” she says. (Pat Wick, Sierra Vista Herald) Psychologist Maria Jutasi Coleman didn’t mean to revive her Holocaust images from childhood. When she and her partner moved from Phoenix to retire in Bisbee five years ago, she began taking ceramics classes at Cochise College. Creating sculptures depicting the Holocaust “just happened,” Coleman told the AJP. “I was… Read more »
Donna Moser, left, and her sister, Audrey Brooks, are co-chairs of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona 2015 Community Campaign. Visiting Greece, Israel, Russia and Ukraine on Federation missions, sisters Audrey Brooks and Donna Moser recognized that while the landscapes and languages may vary, the problems people face are similar all over the world. That led them to create a new theme, “Their Lives are in Our Hands,” for… Read more »
Pima Animal Care Center is a winner in the ASPCA 100K Challenge, held June 1-Aug. 31. PACC ranked first in Arizona in its year-over-year increase of total lives saved, and sixth in its division nationwide. PACC will receive $5,000 in prize money from the ASPCA. PACC is also the… Read more »
Chablis, a therapy dog, visits hospitals and other facilities. The term “service dog” has become a generic term for describing the activities of three types of working dogs: service, therapy and emotional support. They are, however, all different. Service dogs A college student with visual impairment, an older adult with mobility issues, a teenager who is a type… Read more »
