Sponsored content from JTA: HAIFA — At the Ruach Tova Health Center in this northern Israeli city, three medical students are hard at work trying to keep up with the steady flow of patients. Nicole Kasher, a third-year student from Los Angeles, reviews patient charts. Galilee native Neta Sagi… Read more »
Special Sections
From fashion to decor, Tucson shops contribute to sustainability efforts
When you shop local, you support your community. Your money goes into the businesses of friends and neighbors, of local artisans and designers, and is circulated here, throughout our economy. Of every $100 spent at a locally owned business, $43 remains in the local economy, vs. only $13 of… Read more »
Cooling off tips from our staff and friends
The AJP asked its staff and colleagues at Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona to share their secrets for beating the heat in Tucson’s triple-digit summers. Gail Barnhill: “Start gardening at 9 p.m. under yard lights and jump in the pool every 15 minutes. I swim with my five grandsons.… Read more »
Adopt-A-Bee program at Tohono Chul to support National Pollinator Week
Tohono Chul is holding its fourth annual Adopt-A-Bee program. The whimsical program, which allows participants to “adopt” and name a native bee, helps Tohono Chul communicate its passion for preservation and conservation. Adopt-A-Bee aims to increase awareness of the various native bee species in Southern Arizona, and to promote… Read more »
Tucson natives, plus Italian chef, make Frost gelato a hit
It was a sunny afternoon this May with temps in the ’90s, a preview of this month’s triple digit coming attractions. After lunch at a local café, I craved a dessert that was at once scrumptious and refreshing and wouldn’t break the calorie bank. Light bulb moment! I hurried… Read more »
Local First Arizona’s ‘Independents Week’ offers savings
Local First Arizona will celebrate its annual “Independents Week” June 29-July 7. During Independents Week, LFA encourages Arizonans to “go local” by supporting as many locally owned businesses as possible. For the entire week, consumers can use LFA’s Golden Coupon for 20 percent discounts at hundreds of participating businesses… Read more »
Tohono Chul prepares for 28th annual bloom night
Tucson, AZ (June 4, 2019) Every summer thousands of Tucsonans visit the gardens at Tohono Chul to catch a glimpse of the majesty and beauty of the Queen of the Night, the night-blooming cereus Peniocereus greggii. The gardens have the world’s largest collection of this plant. When the summer… Read more »
With just the right ‘Goldilocks situation,’ herbs can thrive indoors
Full disclosure: you can grow herbs indoors, but it is not easy. There are two “Goldilocks situations” that must be dealt with. These two situations are water and light. Too much or too little of either is bad — you need to get it just right. To add another… Read more »
5,000-year-old yeast used by Israeli scientists to brew a pretty good beer
Israeli scientists are using ancient yeast to brew a beer fit for a pharaoh. The researchers have isolated yeast from ancient pottery used to brew beer and used it to create the same libation that was presumably drunk by the Egyptian pharaohs, Iron Age rulers, and ancient Jewish leaders.… Read more »
Started from seed, pomegranate bears fruit
The pomegranate, said to have 613 seeds corresponding to the 613 mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah, frequently is a symbol of Israel. It is one of the seven species of Israel listed in the Torah, along with wheat, barley, grapes, figs, olives, and dates. As part of building living… Read more »
Cactus king that boosts landscaping takes centuries to mature
A sage survivor in the Sonoran desert, the stately saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) reigns over Tucson’s Southwestern landscape. The largest known cactus is symbolic of Arizona (the state flower) and iconic in classic Western films. Casting eerie, human-like shadows across the desert floor, they evoke images of solitude, expansive… Read more »
Fashions for spring and summer offer dramatic ways to play with color
Whether in psychedelic hues or more muted pastel tones, tie-dye is one of the hot trends for summer 2019, according to Cosmopolitan magazine. Tie-dye hit the runway on sneakers, jeans, and even a breezy slip dress. Cosmopolitan also sees fringe popping up everywhere, whether on skirts or the straps… Read more »
SAACA to open maker space at Tucson Mall
In August, the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance will open Catalyst, a 14,000 square foot maker and community creative art space, and a permanent home for the organization, at the Tucson Mall, 4500 N. Oracle Road. Catalyst will feature four distinct maker spaces, including an arts and crafts… Read more »
Native Tucsonan produces soulful entertainment through documentary, film
Documentaries, feature films, and animation in production by native Tucsonan Judy Ben-Asher’s Starry Sky Films focus on her discoveries about health and wellness. “These are all passion projects with the cohesive thread to uplift and educate, resolve misinformation, and find answers,” she says. The “Truthseeker®” documentary film follows Ben-Asher’s… Read more »
Local mental health writer turns tragedy into healing, prevention
Mitchell A. Leutenberg had a mental illness. The first time he tried to die by suicide, he asked his parents not to tell anyone. He died at his fourth attempt eight years later in 1986. He was 30 years old. In the years since, Mitchell’s mother, Ester Leutenberg, has… Read more »
At UA, Melamed humanizes medicine for future doctors
Ellen Melamed’s medical humanities courses at the University of Arizona are encouraging medical students to develop empathetic relationships with their future patients. Melamed, the child of Holocaust survivors, draws on her family’s history of trauma and illness, as well as her own experiences in the arts, to inform her… Read more »
9 rare photos from Israel’s War of Independence
(JTA) — May 9 was Israel’s Independence Day, which commemorates the country’s official Declaration of Independence in 1948. The country celebrated with rallies, fireworks displays, flyovers by the Israeli Air Force and family barbecues. It was a hard-fought independence — the day after the declaration, a coalition of Arab… Read more »
Want your kid to excel in college? After high school, try a break in Israel.
Within months of graduating from a Jewish high school near Boston in 2017, Asher Dale had an internship that he “absolutely loved” at Forter, an Israeli technology startup that sells online fraud protection services. The company, which processes more than $50 billion in transactions annually for a global network… Read more »
Did this beloved ancient Jewish scholar introduce the world to pizza?
In 1983, the Italian-Israeli professor Sandra Debenedetti Stow stunned the scholarly world with an explosive article that proposed that Jews introduced pizza to the European diet. She cited Yehuda Romano, a 14th-century Hebrew scholar from Italy, who translated Maimonides’ use of the word “hararah” (a type of flatbread) in… Read more »
Broadening our scope: Trends in millennial giving
We may find it convenient to believe that because young adults in our community are not exhibiting the same historically Jewish behaviors as their parents, they do not feel a strong connection to Jewish life. Nevertheless, consistently, when polled, millennial Jews report having strong, positive feelings about being Jewish.… Read more »