Post-Its

RACHEL SYDNEY RUDNER, daughter of Monica and Eric Rudner, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on May 7 at Congregation Anshei Israel. She is the granddaughter of Gail and Calman Rudner and Alberto and Sara Mirta Bien-Willner, all of Tucson.  Rachel is the great-granddaughter of Florence Liebeskind and the… Read more »

Martin Elliot Sodomsky, M.D. (Marty), 79, a resident of Chandler, Arizona, passed away on Thursday, March 31, 2016 at Dignity Health Chandler Regional Medical Center after a long battle with complications of lung disease. He was born to Gloria and Arthur Sodomsky on January 23, 1937 in Winnipeg, Manitoba,… Read more »

Herman Grunstein, 93, died March 30, 2016. Born in Paterson, N.J., Mr. Grunstein served in the U.S. Air Force medical corps from 1942-45. Following the war, he opened a fabric store with his father in Paterson. In 1954 he married Claire Weiss and they worked together at fabric stores… Read more »

Murray Leonard, 93, died March 27, 2016. Born in Scranton, Pa., Mr. Leonard grew up in the Bronx, N.Y. During World War II, he was a PFC in the US Army (83rd Reconnaissance Troop, 83rd Division), participating in the Battle of the Bulge, sustaining injuries and awarded a Purple… Read more »

Bella Ruth Wexler, daughter of Allison and Michael Wexler, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on April 16 at Congregation Or Chadash. She is the granddaughter of Charlene and Samuel Wexler of Chicago and Susan and Jerry Zandman of New York. Bella attends Esperero Canyon Middle School and is… Read more »

Rabbi Thomas Louchheim

Back in March, I had two possible meetings to attend, occurring at the same time. One was a Jewish Federation meeting and the other was a zoning hearing at City Hall. I told representatives from both that I would be out of town visiting family. Both times I hung… Read more »

Aiden Justice Glesinger, son of April and Jeff Glesinger, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on April 2 at Congregation Or Chadash. He is the grandson of Sue and Sonny Ross of Tucson and Jan and Jerry Glesinger of Papillion, Neb. Aiden is in the seventh grade at Tucson… Read more »

Art Dorfman, 91, died Feb. 23, 2016. A U.S. Marine infantry radar operator, Mr. Dorfman was a survivor of three South Pacific campaigns — Roi Namur, Saipan and Iwo Jima. He returned home to Bayonne, N.J., in 1945, and later moved to Roselle, N.J. Upon the birth of their… Read more »

Irving Rubinstein, 93, died Feb. 29, 2016. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., Mr. Rubinstein moved to Tucson in the early 1940s. After serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, he started a 40-year career in building, working for Tucson architect William Wilde. In the mid 1950s, he… Read more »

Sylvia Goldberg Daniels, 95, died Feb. 12, 2016. Born and raised in New York City, Mrs. Daniels was a first generation American. In 1945, she married Max Daniels and they moved to the Bronx, N.Y. After retiring from the men’s apparel industry in 1971, she moved to Forest Hills,… Read more »

Monique V. King, M.D., died Feb. 3, 2016. Born in Paris, France, in 1932, Dr. King survived the German occupation during World War II. In 1948, she came to the United States to study for a year on an American Field Service scholarship. She returned to the United States… Read more »

Jean Aberman, 86, died March 5, 2016. Born in Gary, Ind., Mrs. Aberman married Myles “Buddie” Aberman at the age of 21. They owned and operated the family business, Comay’s Jewelers, in Northwest Indiana for 30 years before moving to Tucson, where they opened Jean and Barb, a women’s… Read more »

Abraham Nathan Kaufman, 75, died March 2, 2016. Born in the Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Kaufman was raised in Fallsburg, N.Y. During his teenage years, he worked in the kitchen of the Concord Hotel in the Catskills. He served in the U.S. Army as a military policeman. In New York… Read more »

Rabbi Yossie Shemtov

Two consequential decisions were made by Ahasuerus, King of Persia in the 4th century BCE. Both elicited the same crisis management, as told in the Book of Esther, which we will read on the upcoming holiday of Purim (Wednesday night, March 23 and Thursday, March 24). The first was… Read more »

Joshua Aaron Quigley, son of Karen and Thomas Quigley, will celebrate becoming a bar mitzvah on Saturday, March 26, at Foothills Shul at Beis Yael. He is the grandson of Susan and Alan Marvin Levinson of Greenbrae, Calif., Gerrard and Ellen Quigley of Placitas N.M., Artur Berliner of San… Read more »

Rabbi Helen T. Cohn

A key feature of a synagogue tour is the ner tamid, the eternal light. We explain to people unfamiliar with synagogue symbolism that the light represents God’s eternal presence. But is it that simple? The Torah describes in detail the menorah, the seven-branched lamp stand, which was one of… Read more »

(JTA) — I have Tourette syndrome, a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary movements and noises called “tics.” My Tourette’s is relatively mild at this point, but I went through a turbulent adolescence when Tourette’s was the most defining thing about me. Between the constant movements and the loud, uncontrollable… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — In December, around the time my wife and I were celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary, we received an invitation to an outdoor Jewish wedding to be held on Valentine’s Day 2016. Printed on a red postcard affixed with a heart postage stamp, the couple, Lena Silver… Read more »

John E. Koretz, 76, died Jan. 16, 2016. Survivors include his wife of 53 years, Carol Provol Koretz; children, Jim “JK” Koretz of Northbrook, Ill., and Leslie Koretz Heros of Tucson; brothers, Allan (Tracy) Koretz of Las Vegas, and Bill Koretz of Sun Valley, Idaho; and four grandchildren. Services… Read more »

Roberta White, 88, died Jan. 16, 2016. Born in Chicago and raised in Minneapolis, Mrs. White graduated from North High School. When her brother Alvin returned from World War II, he introduced her to Mandell White. They were married in 1947 and built a series of successful businesses in… Read more »