Mazel tov

Jane Berenbeim, International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies immediate past president, center, with Southern Arizona Genealogical Society Co-Presidents Nancy Grayson, left, and Rich Schlesinger

The Southern Arizona Jewish Genealogical Society won the Member of the Year Award at the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies’ 45th International Conference on Jewish Genealogy held in Fort Wayne, Indiana, from August 10-14, 2025. The IAJGS represents more than 90 Jewish genealogical societies worldwide. Rich Schlesinger and… Read more »

A son, Jake Madden Jesselson, was born Aug. 27 to Claire and Rob Jesselson of Tucson. Jake joins his two-year-old big brother, Ari. Maternal grandparents are Michael Graham and Terry Fortunato of Tucson. This is their second grandchild. Paternal grandparents are Mark and Sue Jesselson o Northbrook, Illinois. This… Read more »

Mazel tov to OOROO founder and CEO Jeff Artzi on the opening of a new OOROO Auto location at Wetmore and 1st (behind Starbucks, at 765 E. Wetmore Road) on Aug. 1. Award-winning OOROO provides complete car care services at their shops and with their mobile services. For more… Read more »

Olivia Mitchel

The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation awarded Olivia Mitchel, a third-year medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, the Shirley D. Curson Medical Student Scholarship, a two-year award that provides $17,500 a year for a student’s third and fourth years of medical school. The… Read more »

Barbara and Larry Subrin will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on June 20. They were married in Chicago on June 20, 1965. They met as teenagers at a BBYO dance in Chicago. They now have three children, Brian, Marcy (Jacob), and Joy (Derek), and “are the best Bubbie and… Read more »

Congratulations to Lynn Davis, director of the Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project at the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center, for earning her Master of Arts in Jewish Professional Studies from the Spertus Institute. Davis completed the 18-month program along with a cohort of other Jewish professionals… Read more »

Mazel tov to Tucson composer Daniel Asia, whose opera “The Tin Angel” will premiere on June 28 and 29 with Teatro Grattacielo at the Ellen Stewart Theater at La Mama in New York City. Asia’s Jewish heritage deeply informs his music, which integrates Jewish texts and traditions, merging classical… Read more »

Emily McDonnell

Jewish Women’s Archive has named Emily McDonnell to its inaugural cohort of Pomegranate Writing Fellows, a new fellowship for Jewish Women of Color. McDonnell is a fourth-year PhD candidate at UNC Chapel Hill, where she researches Indigenous geographies, tourism, and contemporary identity. Originally from Arizona, she is a proud citizen of… Read more »

At its April 2, 2025, board of governors meeting, Pima Community College honored Lisa Grabell for 20-plus years as a student mentor in PCC’s Teacher Certification program.  Grabell is a Holocaust survivor from Vienna, Austria. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Mills College of Education in New York City,… Read more »