This month, as I am finishing my tenth year as CEO + President of the Tucson J – what I know to be one of the pre-eminent JCC’s in North America – I’d be remiss not to take a moment to honor all we have built and accomplished together.… Read more »

This month, as I am finishing my tenth year as CEO + President of the Tucson J – what I know to be one of the pre-eminent JCC’s in North America – I’d be remiss not to take a moment to honor all we have built and accomplished together.… Read more »
As Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA) prepares for a year filled with celebration, they reflect on the expansive network of parents, grandparents, alumni families, and friends that make up fifty years of a global school-community. The 2023-24 school year will bring the THA community together like never before with four… Read more »
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Arizona Jewish Post or its publisher, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona. At a Pima County (Arizona) Board of Supervisors meeting in early June, an attendee made a straight-arm… Read more »
Thanks to a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation, Handmaker will be hosting a monthly Shabbat Lunch & Learn program for older adults in our community. This year-long outreach program begins this fall, on the second Friday of each month. This program is part of an effort by the… Read more »
After six months working together to develop and enhance skills designed to help lead and further the Jewish community, the inaugural class of the Tobin Board Leadership Program graduated 19 participants this May. The Program, funded by The Saul Tobin Fund for Jewish Continuity, honors the legacy of the… Read more »
As the entire student body enthusiastically cheered, Tucson Hebrew Academy’s (THA’s) Teacher Excellence award was presented by Head of School, Johanna Shlomovich, to Hayley Lionheart, Middle School Humanities Teacher on Friday, May 19. Ms. Lionheart is concluding her second year at THA. This award was established at the Jewish… Read more »
Liz Kanter Groskind, JPSA Board Chair 2023-24 Following its annual Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA) announced a new Executive Committee for 2023-24 and introduced six new Board members. Liz Kanter Groskind was elected as the new Board Chair, replacing outgoing Chair Bruce Ash, who will remain on the… Read more »
As I have referred to in a variety of different circles, the Weintraub Israel Center, a partnership between the Tucson J and Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA), has developed a generative mission statement that invites each of us to go on a self-propelled journey to individually connect in… Read more »
Since 2004, nonprofit organizations around the country, including many in our local Jewish community, have benefited from the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program. This initiative, spearheaded by Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), provides support for physical security enhancements and activities, including planning and training, to nonprofit organizations that… Read more »
The Jewish Ecosystem of Southern Arizona held its third meeting, May 2 at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. The meeting, attended by 37 representatives from various local Jewish organizations, furthered the mission and agenda of the Ecosystem’s first two meetings (here and here) in 2022. The goal of… Read more »
The Hebrew High program at Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA) is designed to provide continued education in Hebrew language studies and to promote an immersion in Israeli culture. The curriculum offers high school students in 9th through 12th grades a path in which they can further explore and expand upon… Read more »
To commemorate Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), the Tucson Hebrew Academy’s (THA’s) Hebrew and Humanities departments collaborated to design an assembly presented by the sixth-grade students to acknowledge the 1.2 million children that were murdered by the Nazis. The assembly began with the students reminding the audience that a butterfly… Read more »
Why is the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center (TJMHC) hosting a book club that is reading Beyond Magenta: Transgender and Nonbinary Teens Speak Out? This question was posed to me recently and honestly, it’s a question that I was happy to answer. Why is an organization that focuses… Read more »
As Jewish people, we are connected with a global Jewish peoplehood past and present; as a Jewish Community Center, one way we maintain and deepen that connection is by strengthening our bond with other JCC’s in the JCC Movement. On Sunday, March 26, the Tucson J had the honor… Read more »
On Sunday, March 26, Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA) reintroduced Super Sunday, the largest annual, one-day fundraising event for the organization. The event, shuttered in 2020 due to the COVID outbreak, returned this year and raised nearly double its goal of $60,000. A total of $118,785 will be… Read more »
Thomas Alan Louchheim was born on February 9, 1957, in Los Angeles, California, the third child of Sandy z”l and Marlene Louchheim. He graduated Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Finance in 1979. Tom remained in Washington, where he… Read more »
Congratulations to the THA students who brought home awards at SARSEF last weekend! SARSEF is the Southern Arizona Research, Science, and Engineering Fair. Sixth graders in Mrs. Lehrfeld’s class worked tirelessly throughout the third quarter to identify personal interests and research topics, ultimately coming up with a testable scientific… Read more »
Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA) and other partner organizations warmly welcome the newest little members of our community with a wonderful box full of baby items and resources about the Tucson Jewish community. JPSA Interim CEO Emily Richman explains, “JPSA is involved in every stage of Jewish… Read more »
As a result of recent community work around the Jewish Community Ecosystem of Southern Arizona, the Tucson J has is pleased to announce the hiring of a Director of Community Engagement. Naomi Sandweiss has accepted and after working remotely, recently begun her position at the Tucson J. The position… Read more »
Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA) has selected a cohort of 10 women to take part in the MOMentum Year-Long Journey, a program for mothers raising Jewish children 18 years and younger that includes an 8-day trip to Israel. The 10 women selected are Shelly Kippur (co-chair), Emily Lazarus… Read more »