Our Town

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, area synagogues, and community members recently conducted the annual Project Isaiah food drive, collecting more than 3,636 pounds of food and $512 in donations for the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. Many other donations were collected directly from local synagogues.… Read more »

Rabbi Norman T. Roman

Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley has hired Rabbi Norman T. Roman as its first part-time rabbi, beginning Jan. 1. Roman was rabbi emeritus at Temple Kol Ami in West Bloomfield, Michigan, after serving as senior rabbi there for 30 years. Roman, born in New York City and… Read more »

Congregation M’kor Hayim has joined the Union for Reform Judaism, the association of nearly 900 Reform congregations in North America.  “Our congregation began in 2008. Now that we are fully established locally, we felt it was time to connect with the wider Jewish community,” Rabbi Helen Cohn said. She… Read more »

About 85 community members joined a trip to the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Nogales, Arizona, on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The bus trip, hosted by the Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life and Hadassah Southern Arizona, included several speakers along the journey: immigration attorneys Alexandra Miller from Humane… Read more »

A son, Asher Jax Goldstein, was born Oct. 15, 2019 to Steffany and Joseph Goldstein of Scottsdale. Grandparents are Ellen and David Goldstein and Tess and Mark Holcomb, all of Tucson.… Read more »

Jeffrey Jacobson has been elected to the board of directors of the Alpha Epsilon Pi Foundation. Last year, he became the 74th supreme master (international president) of Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. Jacobson is a member of the Tucson Hebrew Academy board of trustees and co-founder of the Will for… Read more »

(L-R): Howard Levkowitz, Ella Levkowitz, Elayne Levkowitz, Tom Herz, Bertie Levkowitz, Helene Goodman, and Dan Goodman at the Tucson Hebrew Academy Tikkun Olam dinner Oct. 27. (Courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy)

Tucson’s Jewish History Museum hosted a panel of local Holocaust survivors on Friday, Nov. 8, in commemoration of Kristallnacht, “The Night of Broken Glass,” a series of pogroms on Nov. 9, 1938 that signaled the beginning of the Holocaust. The survivors read from “To Tell Our Stories: Holocaust Survivors… Read more »

(L-R): Howard Levkowitz, Ella Levkowitz, Elayne Levkowitz, Tom Herz, Bertie Levkowitz, Helene Goodman, and Dan Goodman at the Tucson Hebrew Academy Tikkun Olam dinner Oct. 27. (Courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy)

More than 250 people joined Tucson Hebrew Academy in celebrating one of its primary founders and supporters, Bertie Levkowitz, at its annual Tikkun Olam gala on Sunday, Oct. 27. The night began with a cocktail hour and silent auction, followed by dinner and a tribute award program. Howard Levkowitz,… Read more »

Photojournalist Linda Solomon will celebrate the launch of her new book, “The Queen Next Door: An Intimate Portrait of Aretha Franklin” at the Tucson Museum of Art’s “A Night With Aretha” on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 6-8 p.m. The evening will include performances by Ann Hampton Callaway and Charity Lockhart,… Read more »

The Rialto Theatre will present “The Arroyo Café Radio Show” on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 1 p.m., taping the show for broadcast on Dec. 24 on NPR 89.1. Tickets are $20; proceeds will benefit Casa Alitas Aid to Migrant Families, The U.S. Committee for Refugees & Immigrants, HIAS (founded… Read more »

Jenny Davenport, a PJ Library mother, reports that her daughter, Charlotte, age 9, received PJ’s “Once Upon an Apple Cake: A Rosh Hashanah Story,” and read it in one sitting. She then chose it as her book club selection for the next month. Seven girls in the book club… Read more »

Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy held its fall kickoff event, “Salsa in the Sukkah,” on Wednesday, Oct. 16. Youth On Their Own Development Director Bethany Neumann and Youth Ambassador Hope Sherise spoke about YOTO, Women’s Philanthropy social action beneficiary, which helps homeless or unaccompanied students graduate high… Read more »

Andrew Pawlicki-Sinclair has joined the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona as the assistant director for leadership development and engagement. He has worked for Arizona Serve and the Arizona Conservation Corps managing AmeriCorps national service grants. Before that, Pawlicki-Sinclair served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member at Santa Rita High School… Read more »

Tidhar Ozeri was awarded a 2019 Gabe Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship by Arizona State University’s School of Social Work. The five scholarship recipients were recognized at a luncheon on Sept. 20. Ozeri is in his final year of ASU’s Masters in Social Work program in Tucson. He completed his first-year… Read more »

Pinchas Zohav, community chaplain for the Ruth & Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life (Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Northwest Division); his wife, Rita Zohav; Northwest Director Phyllis Gold; and Northwest staff member Carol Nudelman celebrated Shabbat on Friday, Oct. 4, with residents at Sunrise Senior Living. Zohav celebrates… Read more »

Jonathan Mosher, the chief criminal deputy at the Pima County Attorney’s Office, will run for Pima County Attorney in 2020. Mosher has been a lawyer for 25 years and an Arizona prosecutor for 15 years, serving more than a decade under Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall. For more information,… Read more »

Andrew Gale

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has hired Andrew Gale as campaign manager. Gale grew up in Southern Arizona and attended Northern Arizona University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management.  Most recently, he was the donor relations manager at Habitat for Humanity Tucson, where… Read more »

Former Catalina Foothills High School swimmer Hannah Orbach-Mandel is one of nine finalists chosen from a field of 585 nominees for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Woman of the Year Award, which will be announced Oct. 20 at a ceremony in Indianapolis. The finalists demonstrated excellence in academics, athletics,… Read more »

The Arizona Jewish Post won two awards at the Arizona Newspapers Association convention, held Sept. 28 in Phoenix. Executive Editor Phyllis Braun and staff won a third-place award for “Fall Arts Preview” in the Special Section category, Division 2 (non-daily circulation 3,500-10,000). Michelle Shapiro, AJP graphic designer, won a… Read more »

Using a recipe Handmaker resident Betty Light shared, Bonnie Gottesman (left) and Rabbi Richard Safran were among a group of residents at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging who enjoyed making honey cakes Sept. 25 in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. Some added nuts and/or raisins, depending on their individual… Read more »