Local

“Zero Motivation,” a new film by Israeli filmmaker Talya Lavie, will have its Southwest premiere at the Loft Cinema on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 2:15 p.m. The film is described as a “zany, dark comedic portrait of everyday life for a unit of young, female Israeli soldiers” who work… Read more »

Auguste Rodin's "Adam"

The Tucson Museum of Art will host one of its most prestigious exhibitions, “The Figure Examined: Masterworks from the Kasser Mochary Art Foundation,” Oct. 18 through Feb. 22, 2015. The exhibit will include some 120 works of art by more than 70 noted artists from the 19th and 20th… Read more »

Rabbi Israel Becker claps to the music as Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild carries Congregation Chofetz Chayim’s newly written Torah scroll to be welcomed by men holding the congregation’s existing Torah scrolls. (Rogelio Garcia)

“We are all here today to witness the birth of a new sefer Torah,” said scribe Rabbi Zvi Chaim Pincus of New York, to 150 men, women and children gathered in the courtyard of Congregation Chofetz Chayim on Sunday, Sept. 14 to celebrate the completion and dedication of the… Read more »

Michael Hewitt, Ph.D.

What we can do to “live younger longer” will be discussed in “Optimal Aging, Rewinding the Clock,” a University of Arizona Arthritis Center presentation by Michael Hewitt, Ph.D., Canyon Ranch Health Resort research director for exercise science, on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 6 to 7:15 p.m., at  the University of… Read more »

Penelope Starr

Odyssey Storytelling, a monthly array of six Tucsonans each telling a true life story, began 10 years ago. “It’s all about the stories, the unique ways people figure out how to do life,” says founder and artist Penelope Starr. “It’s fascinating and so complicated.” Complexity has never stopped Starr… Read more »

Sheila Rothenberg

As “author wrangler” for the annual Book and Author event benefitting the Brandeis National Committee Tucson Chapter, Sheila Rothenberg translates her three decades of publishing experience into a meaningful volunteer activity. “I’m very pleased to be able to do it,” Rothenberg says. “For me, participating in Tucson’s Brandeis chap­ter… Read more »

Sabrina Plattner

Sabrina Plattner has been promoting better health in children for the past nine years. Her last professional position, with Healthy Children Arizona at the University of Arizona, introduced positive health, nutrition and sun safety concepts to children, putting her in contact with 25,000 local kids. In June, Plattner began… Read more »

Simon Rosenblatt

Simon Rosenblatt is emphatic as he speaks about volunteering with the Tucson Jewish community: “Make no mistake, Jewish Tucson is our family.” Rosenblatt spreads his energy and time across a trifecta of local and national Jewish efforts: Temple Emanu-El, the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Union for Reform… Read more »

Laura Green

Laura Green of Ha­dassah’s Desert Mountain Region will present “Israel’s Ups and Downs, Ins and Outs: The Whole Lowdown,” at Hadassah Southern Arizona’s opening luncheon meeting Sunday, Oct. 12 at noon at Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive. Green made her first visit to Israel, as well… Read more »

Women’s Philanthropy of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona will hold its annual welcome and board installations on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Lodge at Ventana Canyon, 6200 N. Clubhouse Lane. The event will focus on challenging sex trafficking in Arizona, as the state gears up… Read more »

Brandeis National Committee, Tucson Chapter, will host local author John Maley at its fall opening lunch Monday, Oct. 20, 11 a.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel at Reid Park. Maley has been a soldier, peace officer, corrections officer, probation officer and has worked as a private investigator in… Read more »

Jewish National Fund has announced the Schwartz-Hammer Alexander Muss High School in Israel Impact Fellowship Program, which provides scholarships to send Arizona teenagers on a summer program to Israel.  Applicants must raise $1,000 through JNF’s “Plant Your Way” program. The fellowship, which includes everything from on-campus housing to field-… Read more »

The Civic Orchestra of Tucson, the oldest community orchestra in the region, will begin its 2014-2015 season with a free concert at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The concert, on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m., also marks the orchestra’s participation in Daniel Pearl World Music Days to honor… Read more »

Yoram Bauman

Yoram Bauman, Ph.D., “the world’s first and only stand-up economist,” will present “Comedy, Economics and Climate Change” at the University of Arizona on Monday, Sept. 29 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Berger auditorium, 1130 E. Helen St. “It turns out that comedy actually pays better than teaching,”… Read more »

Paul Reiser

The Hearth Foundation will present its 2nd Annual “Comedy for a Cause” starring Paul Reiser on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fox Tucson Theatre. A seasoned actor, writer, producer and stand-up comedian, Reiser co-created and starred in the critically acclaimed NBC series “Mad About You,” which… Read more »

Vivian Ackerman, left, and Selma Paul Marks (Sheila Wilensky/AJP)

Friendships may be coveted throughout life, but how many span more than 65 years? Selma Paul Marks, now 91, was pregnant with her first child when she attended her friend Vivian’s wedding to Harry Ackerman at the Stone Avenue Temple on March 23, 1947. Years later, Marks and Ackerman,… Read more »

Interfaith Community Services will present a lunch and learn forum on “Mental Health and Aging,” on Wednesday, Oct. 22 from noon to 2 p.m. at Congregation Anshei Israel. Some 20 percent of adults ages 55 and over experience mental health concerns. For example, what’s the difference between signs of… Read more »

Summer’s over but worldwide trouble spots rage on. The influx into Arizona of Central American migrants fleeing violence, the ongoing turmoil in Ukraine, and the Israel-Gaza conflict were the subjects of an educational forum on Sept. 10, hosted by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of… Read more »

Who knows what Tucson’s energetic young Jewish leaders may accomplish in the next 30 years? Four of those leaders profiled here, Amy Beyer, Adam Goldstein, Ben Pozez and Sarah Heisler Singer, have already contributed a great deal to the future of Jewish Tucson, belying the stereotype of apathetic young… Read more »

As Jews are known as “the People of the Book, “ the Arizona Jewish Post asked Tucson’s congregational rabbis to recommend a book that would inspire their congregants for the new year. Here are some intriguing suggestions: I recommend “John Lennon and the Jews: A Philosophical Rampage” by Ze’ev… Read more »