Special Sections

September is National Preparedness Month. It’s a great time to plan for an emergency or disaster. It is a myth that “nothing ever happens in Tucson!” We are fortunate to live where few natural disasters occur. Earthquakes are very rare, hurricanes don’t come our way and a tsunami just… Read more »

Arlene Barth with a few of the thousands of dolls in her collection (Renee Claire)

Walk around Arlene Barth’s eastside Tucson home and you will find over 2,300 pairs of eyes looking your way. Barth, RN, MSN and captain (retired) from the U.S. Public Health Service began collecting dolls in 1996. They are present in every room of her home; organized on tables, spilling… Read more »

Chicken Rolls with Orange Sauce, which adds some sweetness to the poultry -- perfect for Rosh Hashanah. ("Helen Nash's New Kosher Cuisine," Overlook Press)

  NEW YORK (JTA) — Nearly 30 years ago, when my first cookbook was published, I wrote that kosher cooking wasn’t just about traditional recipes like gefilte fish and chopped liver, that you could make gourmet meals and international dishes using kosher ingredients.  Since then, many new kosher ingredients… Read more »

An illustration from "Jewish Fairy Tale Feasts: A Literary Cookbook," which offers recipes along with its collection of Jewish folk tales. (Courtesy Interlink Publishing Group)

(JTA) — Shofars, apples and honey, make room for pomegranates, couscous and pumpkins. The new crop of children’s books for the High Holidays opens a world beyond the beloved traditional symbols of the New Year (Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Sept. 4). From ancient times to today, the savory,… Read more »

Rabbi Sandra Wortzel

It was easy for Sandra Wortzel to identify as Jewish growing up in New York City. It took years for her spiritual journey to sway her into becoming a rabbi. “I grew up completely secular,” Wortzel, 58, told the AJP. “My brother became a Bar Mitzvah but that’s it”… Read more »

Margot and Gunther Marx

Over the past 18 years in Tucson, Gunther Marx and his wife, Margot, have racked up more than 10,000 volunteer hours with organizations ranging from Tucson Medical Center to the Tucson Botanical Gardens to Project Linus. The Marxes began spending winters in Tucson in 1995 and moved here full-time… Read more »

Emberly Davis

Emberly Davis, 11, has been volunteering at the Forever Wild wildlife animal rehabilitation center for three years. “I’m mostly in charge of the night birds and creatures,” she says, explaining that she feeds the hawks, falcons and owls on her weekly visits to the center with her mother, Shanna… Read more »

Soralé Fortman

The Tucson chapter of Brandeis National Committee honored Soralé “Sorkey” Fortman as a Woman of Valor in 1997. Now, having celebrated her 80th birthday in April, she shows little sign of slowing down. Since she retired from teaching 20 years ago, Fortman has held every position available in the… Read more »

Nathan Shapiro in his apartment at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, with a promotional flyer and photograph from his days as a boy cantor in New York. (Sheila Wilensky/AJP)

Nathan Shapiro, 95, served in World War II, was married for 61 years and still drives his own car. “I’m a very lucky guy in many respects,” was the first thing he told the AJP in his apartment at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. “If I have years,… Read more »

Participants at the Isabella Freedman Senior Camp in Falls Village, Conn., dancing next to the tree mural they created, with notes expressing the accomplishments in which they take the most pride and their hopes serving as the leaves. (Courtesy Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center)

Not many people attend summer camp with their parents. Mindelle Pierce went with her mom when her mother was in her 90s. They chose a two-week program for senior adults at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, Conn. Aside from typical camp activities such as swimming… Read more »

When confronted with a large collection of similar items you should: a) Shove it all in a trash can when no one is looking; b) Drop them off at a neighbor’s front door like a zucchini bumper crop; c) Make something cool. We here at 1st Rate 2nd Hand… Read more »

Renee Gutman, Ph.D., has a thriving practice as a pediatric and adolescent neuropsychologist in Tucson, but her family’s relocation from Mamaroneck, N.Y., wasn’t for professional reasons. Their 2004 move depended on finding the right Orthodox shul for her grieving father. When Gutman’s mother lay dying in her arms, her… Read more »

Marian Salzman

May is Brain Tumor Awareness Month. After having two brain tumors removed in the last four years, Tucsonan Marian Salzman, 53, is celebrating being alive. And she’s not just alive, she’s vibrant, creative and has a prominent role in the world of public relations and newscrafting. Salzman, the CEO… Read more »

Rachel Baumann

Rachel Baumann, a University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson student, has won the Shandel Medical Endowment Scholarship from the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation. The merit-based, $20,000 biennial scholarship is awarded to Jewish second-year medical students attending the UA College of Medicine in either Tucson or Phoenix.… Read more »

Palestinian Authority Minister of Health Dr. Hani Abdeen visits 8-year-old Sarah Ghanem, from the village of Durah near Hebron, while she is treated at Hadassah Hospital’s pediatric oncology-hematology department in Jerusalem on Sunday, May 5. (Courtesy Hadassah)

Palestinian Authority Minister of Health Dr. Hani Abdeen visited Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem on May 5. The hospital said Abdeen was the first P.A. health minister to visit the facility. Abdeen, accompanied by other senior officials from the Palestinian Authority, met some of the dozens of Palestinian physicians who… Read more »

Spicing up new menus for summer dining often means lighter fare, especially in Tucson’s sweltering heat, and healthy eating has become de rigueur everywhere. Even for meat-eaters, the mantra has become smaller is better. “Portions have gotten out of control. Really good, grass-fed beef has gotten very expensive,” says… Read more »

AARP Arizona is seeking nominations for its 2013 AARP State Andrus Award for Community Service. The annual award honors individuals whose community service makes a unique and valuable contribution to society. Last year, AARP recognized 52 outstanding individuals from around the country. Award nominees will be screened by the… Read more »

The University of Arizona’s Humanities Seminars program presents learning opportunities for seniors this summer ranging from ancient myth to modern global environmental law. All of the four- or five-week courses are taught by UA professors. Five perspectives on the core issues in environmental law will be taught by professors… Read more »

Josh Schachter: photographer, educator, environmentalist, storyteller

It’s a big deal when any organization wins a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant. In November, Pima County Public Library learned that it did just that, receiving $100,000 from the foundation and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to design a mobile media lab, youth… Read more »

Mary Peachin, right, with fishing boat captain, Adolpho, and a rooster fish she caught in Zihuatenejo, on the Pacific coast of Mexico. (Courtesy Mary Peachin)

Mary Peachin is proud to be a third-generation Tucsonan, a granddaughter of the pioneer Jewish Levy family. She’s also forged her own path. At 72, she can count flying her own plane, sky diving, bungee jumping and swimming with sharks among her experiences. Her life of adventure traveling began… Read more »