Tagged HEADLINES

Flags placed by University of Arizona Hillel staff and students represent the fallen victims and hostages of the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks in Israel. (Photo courtesy UA Hillel)

On October 16 at the University of Arizona, students and staff from the Hillel Foundation joined to commemorate the brutal attack and massacre in Israel that occurred on October 7, 2023. Several Jewish organizations and student groups, including Students Supporting Israel, Homeland, Stand With Us, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Chabad,… Read more »

Anna Cohen will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, Oct. 25. 2025 at Kol Ami Synagogue. She is the daughter of Noah Cohen and Havah Haskell z”l. Anna attends Esperero Canyon Middle School. She loves music, animals, national parks, and Japanese anime. For her mitzvah project, Anna is… Read more »

Farfel

One morning during COVID, I went for a morning walk with my dog, Farfel. I saw three dogs, five birds, two rabbits, eight snails, and two fish. I am not making this up! I live on a pond in the middle of Tucson. It was a relief and a… Read more »

Brian Alterowitz

Tucson Hebrew Academy recently hired Brian Alterowitz as director of operations. Alterowitz is a dedicated and highly skilled organizer with a deep-rooted passion for community, education, and public service. With over 25 years of distinguished service in the United States Army, he retired at the rank of Chief Warrant… Read more »

Rachel Fish, Ph.D.

Scholar/activist Dr. Rachel Fish is a renowned expert on antisemitism in America. She will be in Tucson on Sunday, October 26, to lead Southwest Institute 2025, a program from the Center for Jewish Resilience at Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona designed to help educators and administrators identify and address… Read more »

Liora Lee Abrams Dunn will celebrate becoming a Bat Mitzvah at Kol Ami Synagogue on Saturday, October 18, 2025. She is the daughter of Rina Abrams-Dunn and Christopher Dunn. Liora attends Desert Sky Middle School, and she is also enrolled in the Madrichim training program at the Kol Ami… Read more »

Jonathan Breakstone of Phoenix,, StandWithUs Regional Director Jake Bennett, Rabbi Benzion Shemtov of Chabad of Cochise County, and Doug Levy of Tucson (Photo courtesy CJR/JPSA)

The Bisbee city council tabled a resolution Sept. 16 that called for a ceasefire in Gaza. The seven-member council agreed in an executive meeting to table the resolution indefinitely. The biased, anti-Israel resolution was authored by freshman councilmembers Pete Skinner and Trish Damon. Mayor Ken Budge and other council… Read more »

Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford in her Tucson home with her bilingual children’s books. (Courtesy Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford)

  Tucson resident and author Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford originally wrote “What Color is Your Hand?/ De qué color es tu mano?” 24 years ago, after a poignant moment with her 4-year-old grandson, Jordan. She and her husband, Daniel, had taken Jordan to Legoland in California on vacation. When Rivera-Ashford… Read more »

London Ahava Emerson, daughter of Jordan Emerson and Dr. Miriam Geoffroy, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah at Congregation Anshei Israel on Nov. 22, 2025. She is the granddaughter of Randy Emerson and Bonnie Sedlmayr-Emerson of Tucson, and George and Irina Gurevich of Scottsdale. London is a seventh grader… Read more »

A son, Shalom Dovber Shanowitz, was born Sept. 9 to Sarah and Shmulie Shanowitz of Tucson. Shalom joins his siblings, Risha and Mushka. Grandparents are Rabbi David and Mrs. Chanie Kugel of Brooklyn, New York, and Rabbi Chaim and Mrs. Sterna Sanowicz of Los Angeles, California.… Read more »

Judith Manelis and Jerry Kaplan in the sukkah. (Photo courtesy Judith Manelis)

Fifty-plus years ago, I wrote a story on Sukkot for The Jewish News of Metropolitan New Jersey. Although I complained a great deal about the small-town nature of my Jewish immigrant community, New Bedford, Massachusetts, where I was one of only 13 Jewish girls my age, I have learned… Read more »

Adelle Abrahams, age 102, passed away peacefully, surrounded by love on September 4, 2025. Born Adelle Bickart on October 17, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio. Adelle lived a remarkable life filled with creativity, intelligence and an unwavering commitment to her family and to a large and diverse circle of friends.… Read more »

Sarah Tolar

Acclaimed jazz singer Sarah Tolar will lend her signature smooth vocals and heartfelt style to Rhapsody in Hope, a special benefit concert for Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona (JFCS). The performance will be held Sunday, Nov. 9, at 4 p.m. at the Berger Theater. Joined by… Read more »

Klezmerkaba

Following a successful 30th-anniversary gala last November, Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley is planning a new event, “Uniting the Community Through Music.” “We are living in a time of terrible anger and a great divide of ideas that separate us from each other. Kindness seems to have… Read more »

The Center for Jewish Resilience (CJR) at Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona will host its inaugural Southwest Institute on Sunday, October 26, which seeks to bring together community stakeholders for educational programming about Jewish peoplehood, contemporary antisemitism, and pushing back against this and other forms of hatred. For its… Read more »

From left, Tucson Jewish Community Center President and CEO Todd Rockoff, Tucson J Senior Director of Marketing, Communications and Public Relations Rachael Mitchell, and Tucson J Board Member Tamar Kugler at the 2024 Z3 Conference in Palo Alto, California.

The Z3 Conference, an initiative of the Oshman Family JCC, brings Jews from across the political and religious spectrum together to explore Israel, Zionism, identity, and the future of Jewish life. The conference will celebrate 10 years this fall. For several years, Todd Rockoff, Tucson J President and CEO,… Read more »

A son, Jake Madden Jesselson, was born Aug. 27 to Claire and Rob Jesselson of Tucson. Jake joins his two-year-old big brother, Ari. Maternal grandparents are Michael Graham and Terry Fortunato of Tucson. This is their second grandchild. Paternal grandparents are Mark and Sue Jesselson o Northbrook, Illinois. This… Read more »

Hiking throughout Israel helped Gabe Melson connect with the land. (Courtesy Gabe Melson)

This summer, local teen Gabe Melson went on a meaningful and inspiring journey to Israel through the Ramah Israel Seminar, supported by the Shaol & Evelyn Pozez Endowment Fund held at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. Before his departure, Gabe met with Yuval Malka, Southern Arizona’s Senior… Read more »

Larry passed away peacefully in his home in Tucson, Arizona, looking out at the view of the mountains that he so cherished. He was 87 years old. He is survived by his wife of over 60 years Gail Leiken, daughters Karen Farley and Julie Leiken in Boulder, Colorado, son… Read more »

Project Isaiah, the Jewish community’s annual High Holidays food and fund drive benefiting the Community Food Bank, begins on Monday, Sept. 8, and will continue through Friday, Oct. 17. The project is named for the Prophet Isaiah, who, when asked why we fast on Yom Kippur, responded, “Is it… Read more »