A Thai worker picking decorative flower leaves on the Kibbutz Sde Nitzan flower farm, near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, July 20, 2014. (Hadas Parush/Flash90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — When Rosh Hashanah comes later this month, Israel’s Jewish farmers won’t just be celebrating the start of a new year. They’ll be marking a year in which they are prohibited from doing their jobs. Called Shmita, the Torah-mandated, yearlong farming hiatus is felt across Israel,… Read more »
Melissa Suzanne Klein and Matthew Loren Landau were married on March 23, 2014 at Reflections at the Buttes in Tucson, with Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash officiating. Melissa is the daughter of Cindy Klein of Grass Lake, Mich., and Steve Klein of Tucson. She received a Bachelor… Read more »
B’nai Tzedek Tucson Teen Philanthropy will hold its annual kick-off party on Sunday, Sept. 14 from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Teens in grades 8-12 and their parents are invited to learn about B’nai Tzedek, a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the… Read more »
Aliya Markowitz with Cubby Graham, charity: water school partnerships manager, at the organization’s office in New York City In the spirit of infusing the ethic of tikkun olam, repairing the world, into the process of becoming B’nai Mitzvah, many synagogues now require their students to complete a mitzvah project in addition to learning Hebrew and chanting from the Torah. Students typically choose their own projects based on… Read more »
(MyJewishLearning.com) — I’m advocating a new angle on Heshbon Nefesh, “soul’s accounting,” that we do in preparation to the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. This soul work begins with the ancient Greek dictum “know thyself”? Or, to put it more rabbinically, “know before whom you stand?”… Read more »
Casa Milagro Artisans 6062 N. Oracle Road • 440-2567 Hours: Tues.–Thurs. 10 a.m.–6 p.m., Fri. and Sat. 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Closed Sunday and Monday 40 local artisans represented, handmade crafts, home décor, Native American jewelry and artwork, unique Southwest art Davis Dominguez 154 E. 6th St. • 629-9759 Hours:… Read more »
If you are not at home to water pots of colorful annuals, there are a number of welcoming green succulents that will survive long periods between watering in decorative containers. A nicely designed landscape with ample shade trees can boost the sale price of a home as much as $12,000 higher than identical homes on similarly sized lots that have poor landscaping, the American Association of Nurserymen reports. If you already have nice shade trees in place… Read more »
Mindful of its rich 40-year history, Tucson Hebrew Academy has launched a new business strategy and branding project. “We want to talk with and hear input from the Jewish community,” says Jon Ben-Asher, interim head of school. Bromberg Consulting has developed a confidential questionnaire to elicit an “open dialogue… Read more »
Tucson’s Jewish schools are heading into the new school year with new programs and teachers on tap. As Tucson Hebrew High begins its 37th year, Rabbi Yudi Ceitlin joins the faculty, teaching a course on overlooked epic moments in history. Cantor Janece Cohen will direct the first Tucson Hebrew… Read more »
Deborah Kaye Online Jewish education is thriving, and the University of Arizona’s Center for Judaic Studies is part of the trend. As with other online Jewish studies programs, most of the center’s courses will be “blended learning, part in-person and part online,” says Deborah Kaye, Ph.D., a full-time adjunct lecturer at… Read more »
AJP_Gallery Guide 8.15.14… Read more »
On June 25, the Holistic Animal Care Shoppes OutReach program donated 10 gift baskets to the Tucson Police Foundation for the K9 police units. The baskets included organic treats, dry and canned food, supplements, treatments for sore muscles and cracked pads, a no-leak water bottle and toys. • •… Read more »
The Fourth of July is one of the most stressful and potentially dangerous times of the year for pets. While you and your family, friends and neighbors are celebrating the holiday with fireworks, pets are finding these activities anything but festive. Many pet parents assume that if their pet… Read more »
When I was in elementary school, on occasion I would miss school because of illness. Usually I would be suffering from a sore throat. If I had a fever, my mother would summon the doctor. In those days, the doctor made house calls, and our family doctor would give… Read more »
Dr. Richard J. Ablin In 1970, Dr. Richard J. Ablin discovered the PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, which has been widely used as a screening test for prostate cancer since 1994. That test, he says, is a terrible mistake — a disaster that spawned a multi-billion dollar industry and has destroyed millions of men’s… Read more »
“Freeing Your Mind,” painting by Julian Dombrowski It was an exciting day for Julian Dombrowski and his family in early May, when he was accepted into an online graduate program in creative writing at Southern New Hampshire University. Dombrowski, 32, is wheelchair-bound with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a muscle disease that begins in childhood. The illness affects… Read more »
Pima Animal Care Center will hold a Fourth of July “Dog Walk and Cat Cuddling” event from 8:00 am to 10:00 am. Volunteers are needed to help adoptable pets stay healthy, happy and hopeful as they wait for their forever homes. Families are welcome, but only those ages 16… Read more »
When people in their 70s or 80s walk into a hospital emergency room with no obvious physical symptoms, medical residents often think their problem must be brain impairment. But that’s “nonsense,” said Ole J. Thienhaus, M.D., of the University of Arizona department of psychiatry, speaking at the “Aging and… Read more »
Gladys Hanfling holds a Torah with a needlepoint mantle she created in 2003 for Temple Emanu-El. Gladys Hanfling, 87, isn’t afraid of anything. “I’m chutzpahdik,” she says, smiling. Life is full of experiences so why should anything stop her? As for her age, “I don’t look it. I don’t act it. I don’t think it,” Hanfling told the AJP. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., she… Read more »
Deborah Kalar-Crowder, emergency financial assistance manager at Jewish Family & Children’s Services, receives packages for Mitzvah Magic. For a family struggling to make ends meet, the gifts and holiday items provided by Tucson’s Mitzvah Magic program are “a godsend,” one recipient recently told the AJP. We’ll call her “Rachel.” Mitzvah Magic, a program of Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy and Jewish Family & Children’s… Read more »
