Joanna Slusky, a professor of molecular biosciences and computational biology at the University of Kansas, at work in her lab. (Sarah Mullinax)
LAWRENCE, Kan. (JTA) – Joanna Slusky places a test tube into an incubating shaker, flips the switch, and it begins to quiver. So does she. “I’m excited,” she said, showing off another gadget in her lab, a contraption that stirs solutions using a magnetic coil and a… Read more »
If a trip abroad were in your future, you’d undoubtedly make careful plans, from financial arrangements to who’ll take care of your house and dependents during your absence. But despite the realities of aging and death, many of us are less proactive when it comes to estate planning or… Read more »
Yevgenia Kiseleva, who learned gymnastics in an orphanage in Latvia, displays her agility at age 77. (Courtesy Sharon Arkin)
Searching for a program that helps people with memory loss stay physically and mentally active, Natalija Kuznecova had one very specific requirement: she needed to find a program with a Russian speaker for mother, 77-year-old Yevgenia Kiseleva, who has been in the United States only four months and… Read more »
Claire Johnson, left, at her cafe in Catalina with customers Scott McGowen (in cowboy hat) and Wayne and Bernadette Olsen (Korene Charnofsky Cohen/AJP)
Haimish, Yiddish for friendly or homey, sums up Claire’s Cafe and Art Gallery in Catalina. Good food also figures into the picture, but the warm atmosphere created by owners Claire and Steve Johnson keeps drawing loyal customers. The cafe was awarded the 2016 Better Business Bureau Good Neighbor Award… Read more »
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Tracy Salkowitz When I was little, kids used to walk around the neighborhood asking for funds for everything from the PTA to the girl scouts. We used to have tzedakah or charity boxes (pushkes) in our homes where we would drop coins to plant trees in Israel or to support… Read more »
Stuart Mellan “Weaving … is the essential art of creating the unified out of two opposites. If the meeting of opposites does not take place, nothing is created, for each element is defined by its opposite and takes its meaning from it.” — Dario Valcarenghi as quoted in “The Art of… Read more »
October, with its record breaking heat, is finally past. With a promise of cooler weather in Southern Arizona, local restaurateurs are beginning to think about dishes that make the most of fall’s bounty. At Gusto Osteria on Tucson’s east side, where owner Gus Gerson rules the kitchen, the focus… Read more »
Adena Bank Lees (Jacquelynn Buck) Jewish Family & Children’s Services will present a Shalom in Every Home Healthy Family Lecture Series this month. The free, interactive two-part series will explore the important connection between healthy families and healthy relationships. The series will begin with “Put Your Listening Ears On: How to Create and Enhance… Read more »
Women representing Sharsheret, a support group for Jewish breast and ovarian cancer patients and their families. (Sharsheret/Facebook)
(JTA) — Five years ago, on a whim, Cindy, a 27-year-old Jewish woman, decided to pursue genetic testing through an online laboratory. She wasn’t expecting any surprises because she had no family history of cancer or increased risk factors. She was young and living a healthy lifestyle. But Cindy’s… Read more »
Planning a wedding, bar or bat mitzvah party, or another big occasion? Experts suggest you start by determining your budget, dates and the number of guests you plan to invite. That may sound fairly obvious, but Marci Rogers, director of sales at the Tucson Hilton East, says all too… Read more »
Yisrael Kristal (Screenshot from YouTube)
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The world’s oldest man, 113-year-old Yisrael Kristal, a Holocaust survivor living in Israel, celebrated his bar mitzvah a century late. Kristal, of Haifa, celebrated the rite over the weekend with his two children, grandchildren and nearly 30 great-grandchildren, The Associated Press reported. He was recognized as… Read more »
Andrea Siemens October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. This year the LEAH program (Let’s End Abusive Households) of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona is focusing on raising awareness about teen dating violence and abuse. Teen dating violence can be physical, emotional, or sexual. Dating violence can take place… Read more »
The writer, right, watching her daughter during her bat mitzvah. (Courtesy of Julie Wiener)
(Kveller via JTA) — At my daughter’s bat mitzvah last month, hundreds of people spread out to form a large circle and, together, carefully hold a completely unrolled Torah scroll. With the scroll spread out so that its entire contents were visible, my daughter found the spot on the… Read more »
Illustration by Amy Leutenberg Brodsky, LISW-S, from “Nurturing Spiritual Development in Children by Understanding Our Own Spirituality’
Spirituality encompasses wonderment, awe, caring and kindness, yet many adults have a hard time finding a spiritual path. Ester Leutenberg and Deborah Schein, Ph.D. have written a book that gives adults a road map to finding their own spirituality and directions on teaching spirituality to children. The book, “Nurturing… Read more »
(StatePoint) Prospective homebuyers can get encouraged by the current market. Nearly 68 percent of U.S. homes sales today are to individual buyers compared to 53 percent in 2011 when investor and cash deals were at their peak. Still, competition for housing is hot. “In a competitive market, your offer… Read more »
Pomegranates are ready for harvest at Sukkot.
(© Jacqueline A. Soule)
Fall can be a busy time of year with kids heading back to school, the High Holy Days, and for gardeners, fall planting. Fall is an ideal time to plant many things, especially trees. Which tree? The Torah specifically mentions seven kinds of foods (Shevah Minim) indigenous to the… Read more »
Tucson was named America’s first UNESCO City of Gastronomy last year. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s Creative Cities program — established in 2004 to promote cooperation between cities for “sustainable urban development” — has 116 member cities, and on Dec. 11, 2015, Tucson became one of… Read more »
Rabbi Robert Eisen Ma nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol halailot …? How do we read that phrase? How is this night different from all other nights … or, How different this night is from all other nights! The first is what we are taught, the latter is how it could be… Read more »
Nathan Bacal holds a photo of his great-grandfather, Harry Bacal, the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s first board president. (Julie Zorn/Tucson Jewish Community Center)
In many Jewish communities, the phrase “l’dor v’dor” (loosely translated as “from generation to generation”) is used to highlight the importance of passing values, education and history from one generation to the next. Scholars and community organizations often speak of the importance of teaching children as a way to… Read more »
