Darkaynu Tucson Jewish Montessori is making changes for the new school year, adding a new covered playground, new staff members and a toddler program. The preschool now accepts children ages 1-6. Darkaynu will become the first preschool in the area with Imagination Playground Blue Blocks (as seen at the… Read more »
Special Sections
Good landscaping can help save money
This small side yard has a Tombstone rose-covered arbor that provides shade in summer and offers an insulating space of non-moving air in winter. (© Jacqueline A. Soule)
A well-designed landscape can save you money in three major ways. Properly designed, installed and maintained, a landscape can help you reduce energy use, reduce water use, and increase the usable space you are paying the mortgage on. This last benefit also increases the resale value of your… Read more »
Smoking is making a comeback in Israel
Smoking in Israel is on the increase, partially due to lower taxes on loose tobacco. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel has one of the highest life expectancies in the world — 82.5 years, on average. But a surprising increase in smoking rates may threaten that status. In line with with global trends, the smoking rate in Israel fell from about 45… Read more »
Tucson boutiques offer great customer service — a value that’s always in style
La Contessa Boutique Thirty-two years ago, father–daughter team Bob Couchman and Kara Moeller opened La Contessa Boutique in Plaza Palomino, offering a wide selection of women’s casual and formal… Read more »
The three cancers Jews need to worry about most — and how to reduce the risks
Better education about the dangers of sun exposure is credited for helping bring Israel's skin cancer rate down from the world's second-highest a decade ago to 18th today. ( Miriam Alster/Flash 90)
As if Jews don’t have enough to worry about. Geopolitical threats to the Jewish people may wax and wane, but there’s another lethal danger particular to the Jewish people that shows no signs of disappearing anytime soon: cancer. Specifically, Jews are at elevated risk for three types of the… Read more »
Gift of Life chairman and bride choose marrow registry over wedding registry
Bill Begal and Kira Epstein at their nuptials, April 2. (Clay Blackmore)
What wedding gift do you give the couple that doesn’t need anything? Bill Begal, chairman of the board of Gift of Life Marrow Registry (giftoflife.org), and his bride, Kira Epstein, decided that in lieu of a wedding registry they would make the marrow registry the centerpiece of their wedding… Read more »
Special abilities coordinator offers resources for local families
Members of the Sparks club, aa new group for youngsters with special needs, with residents of Handmaker. The kids and senior citizens played board games together on Sunday, June 4. (Allison Wexler)
Caring for a child or young adult with physical or mental challenges means negotiating a world geared primarily for a differently-abled majority. So where do you start in locating a therapist, a school for a child with learning disabilities, a supervised social environment, or simply a salon to give… Read more »
AJP Pet pages 5.26.17
Tzeitel, owners Larry and Melanie Rogovein To see many more pet pictures from our readers, staff and colleagues, click the link below. And please patronize our advertisers! Pages 11-12-13… Read more »
Tucson J creates week of day camp for adults
The Tucson Jewish Community Center will hold a weeklong day camp for adults, “Around the World,” June 12-16. The camp will explore the languages, cultures, and cuisines of Mexico, China, Italy, France and Israel, with each day devoted to a different country. Participants can register for the entire week… Read more »
Prescott is site for Jewish outdoor club event
The Mosaic Outdoor Clubs of America, the nation’s oldest and largest Jewish organization dedicated to fun and adventure in the outdoors, will hold its annual five-day international event in Prescott, Ariz., Aug. 31-Sept. 4. . The 27th annual Jewish Outdoor Escape, dubbed “r-AZ-ma-t’AZ: An Arizona Adventure,” will be based… Read more »
From Navajo reservation to exotic cruises, medical career is window to world
Dr. Seneca Erman and Cantor Janece Cohen at Congregation Or Chadash in 2016 (Elliot Framan)
The Navajo cradleboard at Tucson’s Jewish History Museum held Cantor Janece Cohen when she was a baby. It continues to hold many stories for her and her father, Dr. Seneca Erman, 88, who gave a gallery chat at the museum on Feb. 3. Erman had done a two-month internship… Read more »
Tracing Roots celebrates two years linking teens, seniors
Handmaker resident Les Waldman, third from left, with the Gibly family: Haya, Yochanan, Zakai, Raquel, Nati and Ayelet, at the April 30 Tracing Roots and Building Trees reception at Handmaker. (Nanci Levy)
Tracing Roots and Building Trees, an intergenerational program that brings together residents of Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging with students from Tucson Hebrew High, wrapped up its second year with a reception at Handmaker on Sunday, April 30. Fifteen Handmaker residents and 13 teens participated in the… Read more »
Well-traveled entrepreneur finds culinary niche with Roma Imports
Lilian Spieth at Roma Imports ( Photo: Koreen Johannessen)
When Lilian Spieth bought Roma Imports in 1999, she had never run a business or worked in a restaurant. But her kids were in college and she was bored. “I was a little bit intimidated at starting something from scratch,” she says, but she figured she could take an… Read more »
Tucson sisters launch first Woops! in the West
Sisters Naomi Lippel (left) and Ellie Lippel at Woops! Bakeshop (Courtesy Woops!)
Tucson’s Main Gate Square sports a chic new bakery called Woops! The Woops! phenomenon got its start in 2012 with a pop-up holiday kiosk in New York’s Bryant Square Park selling nothing but macarons, the petite, colorful French sandwich cookies (as opposed to macaroons, the chewy coconut cookies often… Read more »
‘Nosh & More’ furnishes fun for Jewish foodies
Looking to give your mom a little extra love on Mother’s Day? If she’s a foodie —or you are — the “Nosh & More” section of jewishtucson.org can provide sweet and savory inspiration, with recipes contributed by members of the local Jewish community. Reading the accompanying “Why I Love… Read more »
Booking and packing tips that make world travels easier
Baggage for three weeks of travel
Let’s face it — international travel has become less fun and more of an ordeal. These days air travel can be so arduous that it impacts our desire to visit distant “bucket list” destinations. Airplanes are jammed, routes are indirect, fares are higher, and a variety of fees for… Read more »
Local chefs dish on dream dinners for mom and the vegetable joys of spring
Ah, asparagus! As Mother’s Day approaches, local chefs and restaurateurs are turning their thoughts to burgeoning spring produce — and time spent in the kitchen with their mothers and grandmothers. “I’m excited to cook with artichokes, asparagus and peas,” says Tyler Fenton, chef/co-owner at Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink.… Read more »
AJP Dining Out Guide, April 14, 2017
Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18… Read more »
JWI aims to bring comfort to women living in domestic violence shelters on Mother’s Day
More than 40,000 women and children find safety in domestic violence shelters every day. Since 1999, Jewish Women International’s Flower Project has delivered bouquets of flowers and financial literacy materials to domestic violence shelters on Mother’s Day, showing women fleeing violence that they are remembered and loved, and providing… Read more »
Mother’s Day memories: It’s all in the cards
(Courtesy Helen Zegerman Schwimmer)
Where can you find the memories of a lifetime? They are stored in several large plastic containers neatly arranged on the shelves in my den. The time has come to revisit these mementos and as I begin to wade through more than 60 years of birthday, anniversary and holiday… Read more »




