Special Sections

New FDA sunscreen rules simplify label language

HOUSTON — Sunscreen labels can be confusing or misleading. Dermatologists at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center applaud new U.S. Food and Drug Administration label changes that help consumers understand exactly what they’re buying. Starting this month, sunscreen makers will be required to use labels with simpler… Read more »

Tucsonan keeps high spirits — and hair — despite cancer

Pam Bridgmon adjusts a cold cap, which reduces hair loss following chemotherapy, on Sharon Arkin. (Sheila Wilensky)

Tucsonan Sharon Arkin, 72, leads an energetic life — and she has no intention of letting cancer set any limits. After missing her annual gynecological exam and Pap smear in 2011, she went in January. An examination by her doctor discovered cancer cells, or a thickening in the walls… Read more »

Local day camps promote science, fitness, leadership — and love of Judaism

Jane Hiller (left) enjoys a creative movement class at Congregation Anshei Israel’s summer camp.

Seeking an enriching day camp environment for your kids this summer? Tucson offers several Jewish day camp options. Congregation Anshei Israel’s summer camp, which serves children ages 2-6, runs through July 27. Along with water play, arts and crafts, songs and stories, the camp offers two areas of special… Read more »

Israeli microbiologist still inventing after all these years

Nathan Citri

At 91, professor Nathan Citri offers no advice on how to achieve longevity. That he’s made it this far — with a mind so sharp he is still inventing innovative medical diagnostic kits — may be thanks to long walks or good genes. He cannot know for sure, since… Read more »

Resident finds new zest for life at Handmaker: ‘I’ve never been happier’

Brian Litwak

Brian Litwak, 75, has gone through life coping with poor health. Nine years ago, following quadruple bypass surgery and suffering from diabetes, he came from Los Angeles to Handmaker Services for the Aging, brought here by his younger brother. “No one told me I was supposed to die,” says… Read more »

Practical steps to curb Alzheimer’s symptoms

Alzheimer’s disease is a dreaded brain disease that afflicts an estimated 5 million Americans — mostly people over 65 — and half of people over 85. Feared more than cancer by most people, Alzheimer’s disease is expected to increase exponentially as the baby boomer generation swells the ranks of… Read more »

Arbor Day Foundation tree booklet available

For a $3 donation, the Arbor Day Foundation is offering a booklet, “Conservation Trees,” designed to help people plant and care for trees. “Conservation Trees” features illustrations, color photos and simple descriptions. “This is an ideal resource for tree planters throughout the country,” said John Rosenow, chief executive and… Read more »

Book spins yarns on fabric crafts

The world of Jewish fabric crafts is explored in a new book, “Jewish Threads: A Hands-On Guide to Stitching Spiritual Intention into Jewish Fabric Crafts” (Jewish Lights Publishing). The book presents 30 projects created by artisans from the United States and Israel. Some of the crafts presented, such as… Read more »

Craft devotee bringing Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework to Tucson

Afikomen bag

Photographs can’t do justice to the exquisite stitchery on the table linens, wall hangings and other objects Tucsonan Barbara Esmond has created over the years as a member of The Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework. The group is named for the fruit that is one of the “seven species”… Read more »

JWI Flower Project to aid battered women

Washington, D.C. — Through its annual Flower Project, Jewish Women International will honor 30,000 women and children spending Mother’s Day in battered women’s shelters. In partnership with ProFlowers and OPI Products, Inc., JWI will send bouquets and beauty products to 150 shelters across the United States, including one in… Read more »

Smaller portions spice up Tucson restaurants for spring and summer dining

  As Tucson temperatures soar to a sizzle point, local restaurants are marking the change in seasons by offering menus with lighter fare. Pizza is perennially popular but Rocco’s Little Chicago Pizza on Broadway has added gazpacho and lighter beers to its menu specials. “We make everything from scratch,”… Read more »

From WWII to refuseniks, mom’s journals reveal active life

Tucsonan Paul Rubin with journals written by his mother, Roz Kaufmann, and a copy of his compilation, “In Her Own Words: A Life Well Lived” (Photo: Brenda Stosberg-Rubin)

Imagine Paul Rubin’s surprise when he found a suitcase full of journals penned by his mother, Roz Kaufmann, dating back to 1944. Kaufmann was 79 and suffered from dementia when her son found the journals in 2004. She died two years later at age 81. “All of a sudden… Read more »

Help for Jewish addicts, problem drinkers can begin with a mouse click

Purim and Passover, which both encourage drinking, may be behind us, but every Kiddush, every simcha is another opportunity to raise a glass and say l’chaim. And to seriously overdo things. In reality, abuse doesn’t need an excuse. And the problem doesn’t stop at alcohol. For a long time,… Read more »

Listen to patients, doctor/novelist Abraham Verghese says at Cindy Wool seminar

Abraham Verghese, M.D.

In this age of high-tech medicine compassion can often be neglected, but the annual Cindy Wool Memorial Seminar helps provide a remedy for healthcare professionals in Tucson. The third seminar and dinner on humanism in medicine, held March 28 at the Marriott University Park Hotel, sought to support physicians… Read more »

Mental illness focus of faith leaders’ conference

Interfaith Community Services will host a conference, “Faith Communities and Mental Illness: Tools for Response and Care,” on Friday, April 27, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at St. Philips in the Hills Episcopal Church. Created in response to the Jan. 8, 2011 shooting tragedy in Tucson, this “first… Read more »

Year in Tucson gives Israeli journalist new perspective

Alon Velan

Alon Velan, an Israeli reporter and editor at the Israel Broad­casting Authority, wasn’t sure what to expect on his leave of absence in Tucson. Here for a year with his wife, Hadas, who has a postdoctoral fellowship in psychology at the University of Arizona, and their two young children,… Read more »

Hasbara program boosts UA student’s passion for Israel

University of Arizona freshman Molly Katz Simon, right, with University of Texas at Austin student Tracy Frydberg, in Jerusalem. (Jeni Willenzik)

University of Arizona freshman Molly Katz Simon was the only Arizonan selected to participate in Hasbara Fellowships’ activism training program in Israel over winter break. One of 80 American students who spent more than two weeks traveling through Israel, meeting with leaders in business, politics, religion and social activism,… Read more »

Sanctuary ramp at CAI promotes inclusion

The new ramp makes it easy for wheelchair-bound members of the congregation to come up to the bimah for an aliyah.

The dream of wheelchair-bound congregants at Congregation Anshei Israel — to ascend to the bimah like everyone else — has become reality. The congregation’s new wheelchair-accessible ramp, which bridges the previous divide, was dedicated at a Saturday morning Shabbat service on March 24. “I’ve been extremely frustrated that people… Read more »

Priceless 14th-century Spanish Haggadah will be big draw at New York museum

Detail from medieval Spanish Haggadah (Courtesy University of Manchester)

A fourteenth-century Jewish religious book, preserved by experts at The University of Manchester’s John Rylands Library, hand delivered to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it will be on exhibit through Sept. 30. The masterpiece from Catalonian Spain will feature in a special installation called… Read more »