As an adult community day program and part of the Handmaker Family of Services, SandRuby Community Programs has been providing care for adults, and respite for their caregivers, for many years. The program moved to its current location, a beautifully remodeled 6,000 square foot clubhouse, in May of 2016,… Read more »
Kelsey Jannerson, new Assistant Director, UArizona Hillel After a vigorous search that included candidates from across North America, the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation is pleased to announce that Kelsey Jannerson will be joining as its incoming Assistant Director. In that role, she will put mission at the heart of her work to lead programming and… Read more »
13 graduates completed their prerequisites in both Judaic and secular studies and graduated from Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA) on May 18, 2022, 17 Iyar 5782. For the first time in three years, the ceremony returned home to Amster Auditorium on the THA campus after an online graduation for the… Read more »
When I was accepted into the Jewish Latino Teen Coalition (JLTC) in December of last year, I didn’t really know what I was in for. I knew it was going to be somewhat related to politics, culture, and advocacy, but at the time I saw it as a minor… Read more »
In the next five years, our incredible UArizona Hillel will double its staff and triple its revenue so that we can quintuple our student engagement. These goals are lofty but totally achievable. This academic year alone we doubled our pre-COVID engagement numbers, and as we continue to focus on… Read more »
Handmaker was a hive of activity, celebrations and opportunities for learning during the month of April, with even more happening in May. Passover dominated a big part of the month with preparation, planning, and eventually celebrating, with festive and delicious Seders both nights, led by Rabbi Richard Safran and… Read more »
Phyllis Salmon passed away March 25, 2022, just short of her 94th birthday. A dedicated wife and mother, Phyllis was preceded in death by Norman, her loving husband of 66 years, and survived by daughters Chelley Salmon and Gayle Salmon Gayle. Due to Covid, no public service was held.… Read more »
A new exhibit, “Here at Our Sunset Gates: The Life and Legacy of Rose Silver,” has opened at the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center (TJMHC). Rose Sosnowski Silver was a Jewish immigrant from Vienna, Austria, who became the second woman to graduate from the University of Arizona College… Read more »
After two consecutive years of having to cancel their trip to Israel due to Covid, Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA) has resumed the trip this year, and their 8th graders are having a blast! They arrived in Israel on Erev Yom HaZikaron (the eve of Israel’s Memorial Day) and joined… Read more »
As the crisis unfolds in Ukraine, the University of Arizona is offering unprecedented real-time online access to human rights practitioners who are actively working within Ukraine and neighboring countries. Connecting live via Zoom, these frontline activists, journalists, and ordinary citizens are documenting human rights abuses, assisting refugees and displaced… Read more »
Ed passed away April 27, 2022, at the age of 95. He was born in Chicago. He is survived by his two sons Mark and Mike, and his sister Libby Hoffman. He also leaves four beautiful grandchildren – Rosanne, Tami, Nate, and Kevin; and five great-grandchildren – Brennan, Sienna,… Read more »
Stepping back to 9:00 AM Saturday, October 27th, 2018, Ari Mittleman and countless American Jews deemed the United States of America as perhaps the greatest country for modern Jewry outside the State of Israel. This stood in contrast to the antisemitism that plagued Jewish history. Indeed, the United States… Read more »
Benjamin Thurston Aronson completed his Bar Mitzvah on April 30, 2022. Although he read his Torah portion through Congregation Or Chadash’s Zoom services in April 2020, he was grateful for an in-person service and celebration with his family and friends. This belated event was performed at a family home,… Read more »
Every student of Mission View Elementary School’s fourth grade class will have the first two years of a university or trade school paid for. Gary and Tandy Kippur, owners of Tucson Iron and Metal, decided to make a difference in the lives of children attending an elementary school near… Read more »
Sometimes a Jewish ritual object takes on a life of its own. It can trace the history of an entire family, even an entire portion of the Jewish people. When that object is returned to regular religious use, it symbolizes the eternal vitality of Judaism. So it is with… Read more »
More than one hundred Southern Arizona community members gathered in-person and virtually at the J, April 5, for a Together in Jewish Learning event. The evening began with a presentation by keynote speaker Aaron Henne. Henne is the Artistic Director of theatre dybbuk, a company whose work focuses on… Read more »
A celebration of the 90th birthday of Rabbi Sanford Seltzer was held March 31 at the Oro Valley home of Barbara Brumer. The outdoor party was arranged and attended by students in Rabbi Seltzer’s Zohar study class. The past two years of study have been conducted online, and his… Read more »
At the heart of UArizona Hillel’s mission is to help students develop a vibrant, diverse, meaningful, and empowered Jewish community here on campus. The way that mission comes to life during Passover is to take direction from students, and to have a wide variety of programming and access points,… Read more »
On April 1, the Tucson Jewish Community Center (The J) welcomed long-standing, local non-profit Arts for All Inc., to the organization under the umbrella of its Disability Program Services department. For 36 years, under the outstanding leadership of Executive Director Marcia Berger, Arts for All, Inc. has been serving… Read more »
Over the last week of March, at the Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA), we honored our 1st and 2nd graders by celebrating Hagigat HaSefer (the celebration of the book). During Hagigat HaSefer, our young students received their very first Siddur (prayer book), signaling the beginning of a lifelong love of… Read more »
