Post-Its

Sophia “Sophie” Annalise Bergantino, daughter of Tamar and JR Bergantino, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on May 2, at Congregation Or Chadash. She is the granddaughter of Paul and Silvia Esrig of San Diego. Sophie attends The Gregory School, where she is an honor student. She enjoys tumbling… Read more »

Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin

It took only eight sincere words to rekindle the close connection between two American luminaries that had been shattered by political wars and opposing ideologies. Those eight words helped restore the bond of two Founding Fathers, both of whom served as presidents of the United States. Thomas Jefferson and… Read more »

Close to 700 people poured into the Tucson Jewish Community Center on April 22 to take part in a memorial service for 18-year-old Kelsey Taylor Luria, who died April 18, 2015 after battling acute myeloid leukemia for almost six months. Rabbi Stephanie Aaron, who spoke at the memorial, said… Read more »

Linda Roy, an educator at Congregation Anshei Israel for 30 years, died April 15, 2015 at age 66. Ms. Roy, a native of Southern California, came to Tucson in the early 1980s from San Bernardino, Calif. It was in Tucson that she “explored her Jewish heritage through her deep… Read more »

Elaine Lois Rapoport, 82, died April 23, 2015. Mrs. Rapoport attended Syracuse University and Washington University in St. Louis, majoring in speech and drama. Throughout high school and college, she sang with orchestras and was cast in many different lead roles as a singer and actress. Mrs. Rapoport was… Read more »

Harriet Shirley Robbins, 84, died April 20, 2015. Mrs. Robbins was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years, Harold. Survivors include her children, Jeffery (Becky) Robbins, Randy (Richard) Druitt, Dean Robbins, Eric (Kimberly) Robbins, and Matthew (Sylvia) Robbins; sister, Jean Weisman; and 12 grandchildren. Graveside services were… Read more »

Itzak Zvi Zamir, 92, died April 9, 2015. Born in Tel Aviv, Mr. Zamir spent many years in Cleveland. He graduated from Wayne State University and was a retired biomedical engineer. He earned advanced degrees from the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, where he specialized in musical instruments of… Read more »

Jack Greenman, 96, died April 15, 2015 in Boynton Beach, Fla. Born and raised in New York City, Mr. Greenman attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. After the war, he worked in the garment industry in… Read more »

Dr. Harold “Harry” Kaye, 98, died March 30, 2015. Born in Bayonne, N.J., Dr. Kaye graduated from Bayonne High School and received his B.S. and D.D.S. degrees from the University of Michigan. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army from 1941 to 1945 at the 57th Field… Read more »

Frances Nancy Wendel, 76, died March 14, 2015. Mrs. Wendel, known as “Nancy” to all, grew up in Whitestone, N.Y. She married Henry Wendel in 1961 and they had two children. Mrs. Wendel obtained a master’s degree in counseling and served as a mental health/drug prevention counselor with the… Read more »

Sanford B. Livingston, 85, died March 15, 2015. Mr. Livingston owned Livingston’s Offset Printing in downtown Tucson since 1957. Survivors include his wife, Carol Baum Livingston; and children, David (Deborah) Livingston and Randy A. Livingston. Private services were held, with burial in the Temple Emanu-El section of Evergreen Cemetery.… Read more »

Harold Leinwand, 95, died March 14, 2015. Mr. Leinwand grew up in New York City where he graduated from The City College of New York. A short time later he joined the U.S. Army and served during World War II. Upon leaving the Army, Mr. Leinwand rejoined the accounting… Read more »

Mina Veksler, 79, died March 11, 2015. Dr. Veksler was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. At the age of 6, when Kiev was occupied by Nazis, she was evacuated with her mother to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Her father did not make the train and is presumed to have died… Read more »

Rabbi Helen T. Cohn

I recently read a long document about how to make a kitchen kosher for Passover. The work involved at that level of detail took my breath away. Transforming a kitchen to the highest level of observance is on one end of a continuum.The Jews who can’t be bothered to… Read more »

SYDNEY JORDON ANDRESEN, daughter of Beth and Steve Andresen, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Saturday, March 21 at Congregation Chaverim. She is the granddaughter of Hilde and Rolf Andresen of Tucson and Irwin Ismark of Orlando, Fla. Sydney attends Basis Oro Valley. She enjoys swimming on a… Read more »

JENNA ROSE FRIEDMAN, daughter of Diana and Richard Friedman, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Saturday, March 28 at Congregation Or Chadash. She is the granddaughter of Marilyn Statland of Florham Park, N.J., Norman Statland of Sarasota, Fla., and Barbara and Joseph Friedman of New York City. Jenna… Read more »

Yale Palchick, 93, died March 3, 2015, in Rockville, Md. Dr. Palchick was born in Cleveland. He served in the Pacific theatre in World War II as part of the U.S. Army Air Corps. Upon his return in 1947, he married and moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he attended… Read more »

David Eisenberg

David Eisenberg, 89, died March 10, 2015 in Scottsdale. Mr. Eisenberg was born in Detroit. His career at Hughes Aircraft  in Tucson spanned 40 years. Survivors include his wife Natalie (Brader) Eisenberg; children Betta of Phoenix and Alan Eisenberg; sister, Leatrice (Mark) Osterloh; and two grandchildren. Graveside services were… Read more »

Judith Rose Skrill, 57, died March 7, 2015. Prior to moving to Tucson in 1992, Mrs. Skrill worked in advertising in New York City, and later worked as a floral designer. She met her husband in 1990 and together they started a chiropractic practice in Tucson. Mrs. Skrill was… Read more »

Eduard Moiseevich Ostrovskiy, 80, died Feb. 23, 2015. Mr. Ostrovsky was born in Dneprope-  trovsk, Ukraine. His family fled to Uzbekistan during World War II. When his father concluded military service, they returned to Dnepropetrovsk, where Mr. Ostrovskiy graduated from high school and dental college with honors. He also… Read more »