(copyright Irving Olson) The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Northwest Division will hold a fundraising event, You Gotta Have Heart, on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 5:30 p.m. The evening will include a 100th birthday celebration for Irving Olson, the honorary event chair, as well as a live and silent auction of art… Read more »
Rabbi Ethan Tucker will serve as scholar-in-residence at Congregation Anshei Israel Nov. 8 and 9. His topic will be “Judaism and Ethics.” Tucker is co-founder, rosh yeshiva and chair in Jewish law at Mechon Hadar, a New York-based educational institution. Named one of America’s Top 50 Rabbis by Newsweek… Read more »
The 9th annual CHAI Circle Retreat, “A Day for Healing and Spirituality,” will take place on Sunday, Nov. 3 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Canyon Ranch Health Resort, 8600 E. Rockcliff Road. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided. There is no registration fee for… Read more »
Rabbi Wayne Dosick, Ph.D., author of eight books including “The Real Name of God: Embracing the Full Essence of the Divine,” will present a workshop at Congregation Chaverim on Sunday, Nov. 3 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dosick is the founder and spiritual leader of the Elijah Minyan,… Read more »
Hadassah Southern Arizona will sponsor a free education seminar, “Be Your Own Health Advocate,” on Sunday, Nov. 10, 9 a.m. to noon at Tucson Medical Center’s Marshall Auditorium, 5301 E. Grant Road. The emphasis of the seminar will be on lifestyle choices and preventive measures that promote wellness. The… Read more »
A gravestone at the Jewish cemetery in Douglas shows signs of vandalism. (Benjamin Herman) Touring the U.S.-Mexico border may conjure up intrigue, fear and compassion, depending on one’s perspective. For Congregation Anshei Israel’s Assistant Rabbi Benjamin Herman, checking out the border led to an adventure in Jewish pioneer history. On Nov. 29, 2012, Robert Feinman, vice president of the humanitarian organization Humane Borders,… Read more »
Spend five minutes with Oshrat Barel, the new director of the Weintraub Israel Center and community shlicha (Israeli emissary), and you realize that this is a woman who radiates joy. It is not surprising that the title of Barel’s talk for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy… Read more »
Handmaker will recognize volunteers Michael and Allison Wexler and their daughters, (L-R), Lily, Sage and Bella, at its “Celebration of Tucson’s Oldest Jewish Residents” on Oct. 22. Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging will hold its fifth annual “Celebration of Tucson’s Oldest Jewish Residents” on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at 11 a.m. The lunch is a celebration of Jewish Tucsonans ages 88 and older. The Wexler family will be recognized for their spirit of volunteerism and commitment… Read more »
I.H. “Murf” and Mae Handmaker started the process for a Jewish geriatric home in Tucson in the 1950s. Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging is celebrating its 50th anniversary jubilee with a black-tie gala next month. Hirsch Handmaker, a physician in Phoenix, remembers how his parents, Mae and I. H. “Murf” Handmaker, came up with the idea for a Jewish geriatric home in Tucson. “My maternal grandmother,… Read more »
Anna Greenberg Tucson Hebrew Academy will celebrate its 40th anniversary at the Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) dinner on Sunday, Oct. 27 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. The annual event will honor the memory of Anna Greenberg with the 2013 Tikkun Olam Award. Greenberg, a… Read more »
The “I Heart Jenny” film crew (L-R): Shani Rajesh, sound and camera operator; Katie Harris, director of photography; Jenny Vanderlinden; Blake Babbit, director and producer Jenny Vanderlinden, 51, is battling stage 3 ovarian cancer. She will speak about her struggle — and her ongoing sense of adventure —on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Vanderlinden and filmmaker Blake Babbitt are creating a documentary to raise awareness of the… Read more »
Hedy Feuer Hedy Feuer is a two-time breast cancer survivor. She knows that makes her one of the lucky ones. Feuer was diagnosed the first time 16 years ago, and again two years ago. The advances in treatment that saved her life a second time underscore why breast cancer research is… Read more »
The Jerusalem Quartet The Arizona Friends of Chamber Music will open its 66th season with the Jerusalem Quartet in two performances. The quartet will perform an all-Shostakovich concert on Wednesday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee on Thursday, Oct. 17 at 3 p.m. in the Leo Rich Theater at the… Read more »
Israelpalooza, a one-day Israeli culture fest at the University of Arizona, will be held Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This year, the UA Hillel Foundation is partnering with Chabad of Tucson, Jewish Arizonans on Campus, the World Zionist Organization, Associated Students of the University of Arizona… Read more »
Todd Rockoff Shalom Tucson, a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Tucson Jewish Community Center, will hold a “Gateway to our Jewish Community” bagel brunch on Sunday, Oct. 20, 10 a.m. to noon, at the JCC. Representatives from synagogues, Jewish agencies and organizations will be on hand.… Read more »
David Sadker Congregation Or Chadash will hold a retreat, “Courage & Renewal: A Sabbath Dedicated to Our Hidden Wholeness” Friday, Oct. 18 through Sunday, Oct. 20 at the Redemptorist Renewal Center, 7101 W. Picture Rocks Road. “It is said that on the Sabbath we are given an extra soul — the… Read more »
Holocaust survivors Meyer and Susan Neuman with their children, Rosie (left) and Phillip upon arrival in Tucson. (Courtesy Rosie Eilat-Kahn) Although the mission of Tucson’s Jewish History Museum is to tell the stories of Jewish settlers in the American Southwest, the museum is about to highlight another imperative. After raising funds for expansion and purchasing the building on the adjoining Stone Avenue property four years ago, “we started doing… Read more »
Idan Raichel (Yeara Livny) On Oct. 9, the Idan Raichel Project, Israeli world music pioneers, will kick off their U.S. tour with a live concert at the Fox Tucson Theatre. Voted “Musical Group of the Decade” in an Israeli national media poll, the Project blends a range of cultures, languages and musical influences… Read more »
Dorothy Kret (Sheila Wilensky) Dorothy (Dot) Kret isn’t your typical matchmaker. For the past 25 years she’s been helping people with disabilities “become employable and employed,” as the DK Advocates mission statement puts it. “My mother always said what my company does is today’s version of a yenta,” she says, using the word… Read more »
Ryan Ballis, center, with award from the Wounded Warrior Project, is flanked by Quentin Irion, the group’s outreach coordinator (left) and Derek L. Duplisea, Wounded Warrior alumni director for the Western United States. (Courtesy Mark Ballis) Each year, caring and energetic 12- and 13-year-olds contribute immeasurably to the social action efforts of the Jewish community in Tucson and around the world. These B’nai Mitzvah students participate in a “mitzvah project,” as these endeavors have come to be known, adding another layer of meaning to the… Read more »
