Vinyl Tap performs at The Gaslight Music Hall in Oro Valley Nov. 4. Last month, on Nov. 4, Northwest residents joined The Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life/Northwest Division of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona for a drive-in concert at The Gaslight Music Hall in Oro Valley. More than 50 people enjoyed a night of music under the stars… Read more »
Honorees Nancy and Stu Mellan (Damion Alexander)
On Nov. 17, the Jewish Federation of Arizona/Jewish Community Foundation held its most ambitious event of the program year, bringing the community together for a drive-in event at Park Place Mall and online to celebrate Stuart Mellan, former JFSA president and CEO, and his wife, Nancy, for 25 years… Read more »
Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging was recently awarded funding from the We Are One/Somos Uno CARES Nonprofit Continuity Grant Program. This program was created by the Mayor and Council of Tucson to support local nonprofits by addressing necessary expenditures due to the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency. The… Read more »
Cliff Shekter (left) assists Rabbi Norman T. Roman during Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley’s Simchat Torah service on Oct. 11. (Photo courtesy Beth Shalom Temple Center)
Rabbi Norman T. Roman and about 30 congregants of Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley gathered Sunday, Oct. 11, to celebrate Simchat Torah. For the sake of safety as the coronavirus pandemic continues, the service was held outside the synagogue. Everyone wore masks, kept a respectable distance, and… Read more »
Penelope Starr Penelope Starr, a local weaver and rug restorer, will be the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of The Tucson Handweavers and Spinners Guild on Oct. 21, 9:30 a.m-noon, via Zoom. Members can visit the members area of www.thsg.org for the Zoom invitation. Guests and prospective members should email… Read more »
Allison Wexler The Free Loan at the Jewish Federation received a $10,000 grant from the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona last month. Allison Wexler, executive director of the Free Loan, said the organization has made four Covid-19 Relief Loans since being notified of the award on Sept. 8. For more… Read more »
Laura McKee has been hired as executive assistant to the CEO of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. McKee began her career with an associate’s degree as a legal assistant from Pima Community College and worked as a legal secretary while earning her bachelor’s degree… Read more »
Mary Jo Pollack won the Phoenix Moth Story Slam in July. Pollack has told stories live in Tucson for Odyssey Storytelling, FST! Female Storytellers, and Tellers of Tales Tucson, where she is second vice president. Rabbi Baruch J. Cohon, vice president of the Tucson-based Rabbi Samuel S. and A.… Read more »
Jewish Arizonans on Campus, which provides classes, trips, Shabbat meals, and other programs at both the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, has raised $24,154 through Olami’s Walk to Israel pedometer fundraising challenge. Registration ends Aug. 15. JAC was founded in 2005 to provide Jewish students of all… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish Community Center appointed Sarah Singer as chair of its 31st board of directors in May. An associate at Gadarian & Cacy, PLLC, Singer has served on the J’s board for seven years. She is a longtime Tucson resident who previously worked in investment banking and proprietary… Read more »
The Arizona Board of Regents confirmed University of Arizona Professor of Psychology Jeff Greenberg as a Regents Professor along with four other UArizona faculty members, Roberta Diaz Brinton, Judith Brown, Peter Chesson, and Connie Woodhouse. Regents Professor appointments are reserved for full professors whose exceptional achievements merit national and… Read more »
A new book by Bonnie J. Golden, M.Ed, E-RYT, “Yoga for Holistic Healing: Poses and Sequences for Pain and Stress Relief” (Callisto Media) is available for preorder on Amazon. Golden is the owner of Yoga in Balance, LLC, and www.yogawithbonnie.com.… Read more »
Arizona Theatre Company and Artistic Director Sean Daniels will partner with Florida Studio Theatre in developing a new play, “Tampa,” as part of The Playwrights Project, FST’s newly launched artistic initiative featuring 32 of the nation’s top playwrights, sketch comedy writers, and musical theatre developers. For more information about… Read more »
Nancy Mellan
A fiber-arts poetry chapbook by Nancy Mellan, “Threadbare,” is on virtual display as part of Foundry Art Centre’s exhibit, Context III. View the exhibit, including Mellan’s video of her piece, at www.foundryartcentre.org/context-iii. Social Lite Creative named state Rep. Alma Hernandez of Tucson one of “The Top 50 Zionist Influencers… Read more »
Carlos Hernández, president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services
Jewish Family & Children’s Services received a grant of $20,020 from Angel Charity for Children to renovate and refurnish a play therapy room with equipment and toys to help children heal and develop in healthy ways and to provide play therapy services to over 150 children each year who… Read more »
The Tucson Board of Rabbis has elected the following officers to two-year terms for 2020-2022: Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, president; Rabbi Sandy Seltzer, vice president; Rabbi Helen Cohn, secretary; Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, acting treasurer. Tucson shoe retailer and owner of Alan’s Shoes, Alan Miklofsky, and his longtime advertising agent, Rob… Read more »
Handmaker resident Lois Waldman follows along with Facebook live Passover Festival services from Temple Emanu-El, April 9. (Photo: Angela Salmon/Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging)
Digital apps and dedicated staff have been helping Handmaker residents stay connected during the coronavirus pandemic. For Passover, Handmaker provided all interested Jewish residents with dinner, seder plates, wine or grape juice, battery operated candles, and Haggadot for one or two seders, depending on their request. Some residents joined… Read more »
Top row (L-R): Sharon Glassberg; Daniel, Alma, and Consuelo Hernandez; Theresa Dulgov. Middle: Raisa Moroz, JFCS Holocaust survivors services program manager; Barbara Agee; John Kessler. Bottom: Sidney Finkel, Pawel and Sara Lichter (not pictured). Also on the call, by phone, were Walter Feiger, Yulia Genina, and Wanda Wolosky. (Photo courtesy Jewish Family & Children’s Services) Jewish Family & Children’s Services weekly Holocaust survivors group meetings have been taking place over Zoom, sometimes with special guests, such as a recent meeting with State Reps. Alma Hernandez and Daniel Hernandez Jr. and their sister, Consuelo Hernandez, a member of the governing board for Sunnyside Unified School… Read more »
Standing (L-R): Jack Scrimer, Jared Matheson, Aidan Goldberg, Eidan Schachter-Brooks, Liam Parnaby, Ben Gerber, and Anisa Rutherford; seated: Lariella Citron, Abigail Ruskin, Alex Farbrook, Halle Hirshman, Matias Naiman-Molina, Yileana Pasillas, and Mielle Griver. (Standing (L-R): Jack Scrimer, Jared Matheson, Aidan Goldberg, Eidan Schachter-Brooks, Liam Parnaby, Ben Gerber, and Anisa Rutherford; seated: Lariella Citron, Abigail Ruskin, Alex Farbrook, Halle Hirshman, Matias Naiman-Molina, Yileana Pasillas, and Mielle Griver. (Photo courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy) Due to restrictions on large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic, Tucson Hebrew Academy will hold an online eighth-grade graduation ceremony on Monday, May 18. The 14 graduates will attend the following high schools in the fall: Catalina Foothills High School, The Gregory School, Tucson High Magnet School, and University High… Read more »
Amir Eden Amir Eden has started teaching “Israeli Spirit” classes for middle school students from all over the U.S. through the Israeli-American Council’s new Ofek Learning Hub — Looking Beyond the Horizon. For more information, visit www.ofekhub.org. Eden holds a B.A in political science and international relations from Florida Atlantic University and… Read more »
