Local

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 »

Hebrew calligraphy adorns Tucsonan’s art

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 »

Domestic violence topic for Hadassah event

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 »

JFSA council explores ‘new paradigm’

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 »

For CAI guest scholar, music touches the soul

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 »

Young Israeli at heart of ‘Handle With Care,’ comedy hit coming to Invisible Theatre

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 »

Cholla High to stage verbatim theatre piece, ‘The Arab-Israeli Cookbook’

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 »

Bisbee Holocaust survivor transfers long-suppressed memories to sculptures

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 »

‘Their Lives are in Our Hands’ theme for JFSA 2015 Campaign

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 »

Pet grants, events on tap for local groups

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 »

Service dogs and therapy dogs have different roles in helping humans

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 »

Despite myths, domestic violence occurs in Jewish homes

To you, a Jewish woman of any age who has been abused by her loved one. You may be feeling despair, sadness, anger, anxiety or overwhelming fear, but know that you are not alone. There is hope for a new life for you! Dream about a happier life for… Read more »

Recovery changed my life, inspired career helping others

Doron Sears

Two weeks ago, at the gym, I met a man who had lost both feet to frostbite after getting lost while snowboarding. He was a professional hockey player who had become a professional snowboarder, until suddenly this happened. There was nothing about his appearance or personality to indicate that… Read more »

JFSA Women’s Philanthropy to fight sex trafficking in Arizona

Speakers at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy event on Oct. 14 (L-R): Savannah Sanders, survivor advocate and training coordinator at the SAFE Action Project in Tempe; Melanie Roth Gorelick, Community Relations Commitee director at the Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest NJ; and Kathleen Winn, direcor of community outreach and education at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (Roberta Elliott)

“I am an abolitionist,” proclaimed Melanie Roth Gorelick at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Annual Welcome earlier this month. Gorelick, Community Relations Committee director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Metrowest NJ, spoke along with two other “abolitionists” to increase awareness of the sex trafficking of… Read more »

‘Shuk’ puts myriad classes under one roof

On Sunday evening, Nov. 16, 11 local rabbis and Jewish educators will teach 11 classes on a range of topics, all under one roof. The Jewish Culture Shuk, presented by the Coalition for Jewish Education of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Synagogue-Federation Dialogue, will take place… Read more »

THA to honor Carroll with Tikkun Olam Award

Ray Carroll

On Sunday, Nov. 2, at 5:30 p.m., Tucson Hebrew Academy will honor Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll at its annual Tikkun Olam event. “Ray Carroll served as a hardworking and much beloved trustee on the Tucson Hebrew Academy board for many years, and has truly become an honorary member… Read more »