Our Town

MARILYN PESKIN-KAUFMAN, owner of ADOBE TRANSPORTATION, was appointed to Gov. Doug Ducey’s new statewide marketing initiative, the Arizona Zanjeros. This group of business leaders who will focus on promoting Arizona as a prime place for business takes its name from the traditional zanjeros who control water flow through Arizona’s… Read more »

DAVID ALBERTS, M.D., was one of three finalists for the Lifetime Achievement in Health Care award presented at Tucson Local Media’s Influential Health and Medical Leaders Awards on Sept. 23. Alberts is the director emeritus of the University of Arizona Cancer Center and a regent’s professor of medicine, pharmacology,… Read more »

Chaverim cemetery dedication Congregation Chaverim dedicated a new sign and consecrated an expanded section of Evergreen Cemetery on Sunday, Sept. 6. Pictured (left to right): Naomi Present, Jill Shover, Jack Aaron, Ann Revelle, Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, Bob Schwartz, Judith Brown, Dina Rosengarten and Dave More.   Rosh Hashanah at… Read more »

REBECCA CROW has been named director of education for CONGREGATION CHAVERIM. She is a past director of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s department of outreach, past president of the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation and Congregation Cha­verim, and has over 30 years experience as a social worker in… Read more »

CLARE LINDNER, M.D., has joined the University of Arizona department of pediatrics and Banner Children’s — Diamond Children’s Medical Center as a pediatric nephrologist. Lindner received her medical degree from Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University. She completed her residency in pediatrics from Cohen Children’s Medical Center of… Read more »

Local filmmaker, actor and health coach JUDY BEN-ASHER is one of 25 authors featured in “Menopause Mavens: Master the Mystery of Menopause,” published last month by Flower of Life Press. Ben-Asher’s work on the book also ties in with her documentary in progress,“TruthSeeker, Shedding Layers and Shifting Forward,” which… Read more »

THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA has hired DANIELLE LARCOM as director of Women’s Philanthropy. Larcom recently moved from Boston to Tucson with her husband and two sons. She was the marketing communications specialist at Temple Emanuel in Andover, Mass., where she also was active in the preschool and… Read more »

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA HILLEL FOUNDATION has hired two new staff members to increase Israel engagement. ELYSE PINCUS, a UA alumna who grew up in Tucson, is the IACT coordinator for Israel engagement, which is a new position sponsored by the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston. The program originated… Read more »

Pima County Attorney BARBARA LaWALL was honored at a recent Arizona’s Children Association VIP celebration for her dedication to children and families and her advocacy efforts in Pima County. ITZIK BECHER was named major gifts director at the Jewish National Fund. He will work with the Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tucson… Read more »

(L-R) Rachel, Maya, Nanci and Douglas Levy with Irving Silverman

A visit with a former Tucsonan Irving Silverman, 95, hosted the Levy family of Tucson for dinner on Saturday, July 25 at Newbridge on the Charles — Hebrew Senior Life campus in Dedham, Mass., where Silverman has primarily resided since leaving Tucson in 2011 to be closer to his… Read more »

RABBI BENZION SHEMTOV was recently featured in the Sierra Vista Herald, which reported on his 10-day visit to Jews in Southern Arizona communities including Sierra Vista, Bisbee and Green Valley (http:// svherald.com/content/sierra-vista-news/2015/07/27/397799). Shemtov, the son of Rabbi Yossie and Chanie Shemtov of Chabad of Tucson, grew up in Tucson… Read more »

TUCSON HEBREW ACADEMY has hired several new teachers. JENNIFER GOULD will fill the new position of mathematics department chair and teach middle school mathematics. Gould received her Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Education degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles. She comes to THA from Fay School… Read more »

PHYLLIS LEVIN GOLD has been named director of the Northwest Division of the JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. Gold served as executive director of Satori School for 23 years. Prior to that, she was director of undergraduate student advising for the psychology department at the University of Arizona. She… Read more »

Jill Rich

JILL RICH will receive the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Southern Arizona Chapter at its 27th Annual National Philanthropy Day luncheon on Nov. 19 at the Westin La Paloma. Rich has been volunteering and raising funds for causes and social services in Tucson for… Read more »

The Tucson Hebrew Academy 2015 trip to Israel marked the 13th such trip for the school, bringing the total of THA students who have visited Israel with their eighth grade classmates to 300. This year, 15 students along with Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz, the school’s director of Judaics/Hebrew studies, and… Read more »

(L-R) Rabbi Jack Silver, Susan Rubin, Cathy Becskehazy, Peter Becskehazy

Secular Humanist Jewish Circle Affirmation Shabbat On May 30, the Secular Humanist Jewish Circle celebrated the long term identification of Cathy Becskehazy as a secular humanist Jew. Becskehazy chose her Jewish name and spoke about her journey as a Jew by choice. Rabbi Jack Silver of Tempe, member of… Read more »

KITTY WU has been promoted to fiscal and administrative coordinator at the JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. Wu has been the JFSA bookkeeping and data management assistant for 16 years. CARRIE ADLER-WHEELER has been hired as database manager at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. Most recently she worked… Read more »

ADAM BUKANI, a junior at the University of Arizona, presented his findings from the 2015 Tucson Wellbeing Survey at a community forum on Friday, May 15 at Habitat for Humanity Tucson. The forum was hosted by the UA School of Sociology; the study was part of the 2015 Poverty… Read more »

Back row: Michael Gibson, Sarah Jones, Joshua Arden, Kacie Bauer, Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon, Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Cantorial Soloist Marjorie Hochberg. Front row: Gabriel Cohon, Isabella Brody, Dalya Parker, Meghan Ramirez, Athena Focazio-Moran, Rebecca Bauer (Joe Steiner)

Temple Emanu-El confirmation Temple Emanu-El’s 5775 confirmation class led the Shabbat evening service on Friday, May 22.         Music of the Night On May 9, Congregation Or Chadash honored Cantor Janece Cohen on the 25th anniversary of her ordination as a cantor and the receipt of… Read more »

ROBYN DAFOE has been named vice president for clinical services for JEWISH FAMILY & CHILDREN’S SERVICES OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA. Previously, she was the director for quality management and utilization management at Pantano Behavioral Health Services, where she worked for the past 10 years. Dafoe also has worked for Child… Read more »