Tucson-area Jewish facilities have received 75% of the current Nonprofit Security Grant Program National Security Supplement (NSGP-NSS) funding awarded to the state of Arizona for the 2025 grant cycle, for a total of $477,417. Tucson Torah Center will receive a $200,000 grant allocation, the Tucson Torah Day School will… Read more »
From left, Tucsonans Jessica E. Mattix, Sophie German, Ital Ironstone, and Nate Weisband in Tel Aviv during a Jewish Federations of North America LGBTQ+ Pride Mission, June 12, 2025. (Photo courtesy Nate Weisband/JPSA)
Four Tucson Jewish community professionals, Ital Ironstone and Nate Weisband of Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona, and Sophie German and Jessica E. Mattix of Jewish Family & Children’s Services, traveled to Israel for a Jewish Federations of North America LGBTQ+ Pride Mission June 8-12, joining almost 100 leaders from… Read more »
Olivia Mitchel The University of Arizona Hillel Foundation awarded Olivia Mitchel, a third-year medical student at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, the Shirley D. Curson Medical Student Scholarship, a two-year award that provides $17,500 a year for a student’s third and fourth years of medical school. The… Read more »
Judith Manelis In a recent issue of the New York Times, a writer talked about how to prepare for retirement and aging with a focus on the various emotions one can experience late in life: depression, sadness, loneliness, alienation and a lack of purpose. Many of these are brought on by… Read more »
Helmut Etzel holds his certificate of conversion to Judaism on May 15, the day of his Beit Din at Kol Ami Synagogue. (Photo courtesy of Rabbi Malcolm Cohen)
“That’s the most off-the-wall thing I’ve ever heard.” That was Helmut Etzel’s initial reaction 25 years ago, when his mother, Marina, a devout Catholic from the mountainous Antioquia region of Colombia, told him, “Mijo, I believe strongly we are from Jewish heritage.” “I also thought this would not be… Read more »
The Tucson Jewish Community Center is proud to host former UA Women’s Basketball & Phoenix Mercury star, Sam Thomas, for the 4th Annual Sam Thomas Hoop Group basketball clinic for children and teenagers on Sunday, August 10. This year, the clinic will be co-led by Dominique McBryde, a former… Read more »
University of Arizona senior left-handed pitcher Eric Orloff, shown pitching against Cincinnati in March, helped lead the Wildcats to their 19th College World Series appearance this month. (Photo by Carson Mayeux / Arizona Athletics)
Eric Orloff looks to his Jewish faith to carry him through challenging and uncertain times. “When times are tough, I know it’s all going to work out in the end,” said Orloff, who completed his time as a University of Arizona left-handed relief pitcher on June 15. “You have… Read more »
Judith Manelis On a recent Friday night, I arrived at my synagogue to discover something had been added to its architectural design. There were large round cement balls in a line across the front of the building and doorway. So now, in addition to having a security guard at the building… Read more »
Jean Helene Glassberg died May 29, 2025, three weeks after her 88th birthday. She was born in the Bronx, New York. Her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, for a healthier life for her brother, who suffered from asthma. She arrived in Phoenix in time to begin high school, but… Read more »
Rabbi Helen Cohn, spiritual leader of Tucson’s Congregation M’kor Hayim, speaks at her retirement party on May 4, 2025. Cohn will officially retire at the end of June. (Courtesy Congregation M'kor Hayim)
One of Rabbi Helen Cohn’s goals when she started Congregation M’kor Hayim in 2008 was to have a personal relationship with every member. On the cusp of her retirement from the pulpit at the end of June, it’s a goal she can say she’s met. Her congregants and friends… Read more »
JPSA young leadership volunteers and Handmaker residents with the boxes of school supplies they packed for Homer Davis Elementary School, June 1, 2025 (Photo courtesy JPSA)
Volunteering is rejuvenating and “good for the soul,” said David DiCosola, one of 18 volunteers from Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona’s Young Leadership Division who joined Handmaker residents on Sunday, June 1, for a service and learning program. Nate Weisband, JPSA Young Leadership Manager, created the pre-Shavuot program to… Read more »
Students attend the April 15, 2025, Jewish Student Union meeting at University High School. (Photo: Joseph Goodman)
You don’t have to be Jewish to attend Jewish Student Union meetings at University High School. JSU board members offer snacks to entice Jewish and non-Jewish classmates to their Tuesday lunchtime gatherings, held in the AP U.S. history classroom. “The vast majority of people at our meetings aren’t Jewish,… Read more »
This past week, a colleague and I shared these thoughts about the tragic and senseless murders of two Israeli Embassy Staff members in Washington. We are heartbroken by the tragic murders of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky in Washington, D.C., outside the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday, May 22.… Read more »
The 2025 Jewish Latino Teen Coallition in Washington, D.C., in the spring of 2025 There is no room for courage if we’ve already lost the battle in our minds. Through the Jewish Latino Teen Coalition, courageous young leaders from numerous high schools throughout Tucson, Arizona, were able to further develop their awareness of other cultures from Latino backgrounds and Jewish heritage. In addition,… Read more »
The Greens — from left, Gabe, Ryan, Rachel, Jonathan, and Aaron — were hosts for the 2000 JCC Maccabi Games in Tucson, sparking a love of the Games that continues to this day, with Jonathan and Rachel co-chairing the 2025 athletics committee. (Photo courtesy Tucson J) In a little over two months, more than 1,500 Jewish teen athletes, coaches, and delegation heads will visit Tucson for the 2025 JCC Maccabi Games® & Access, which will be held July 27-Aug. 1. Many community members have answered the call to serve as hosts for the athletes, but… Read more »
Last month, I went to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona on South Country Club Road to drop off several bags of food. When I arrived, I realized that I had entered the wrong parking lot; it was for those seeking food. But before turning around, I sat… Read more »
{L-R): Seton, Torin, Amity, and Debbie Claggett For the Claggett family, the Tucson J has always felt like home. Amity Claggett, a former ECE student and J-Care participant, represented Team Tucson at the 2024 JCC Maccabi Games® in Detroit. Her mother, Debbie, previously worked on staff. This year, in addition to Amity’s return as an athlete… Read more »
Johanna Shlomovich loves giving tours of Tucson Hebrew Academy. “I invite anybody and everybody to come for a tour. I will give a personal tour to anybody to come see the great work that we’re doing,” says Shlomovich, who became Head of School at THA in July 2021. She… Read more »
Congratulations to Lynn Davis, director of the Rabbi Joseph H. Gumbiner Community Action Project at the Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center, for earning her Master of Arts in Jewish Professional Studies from the Spertus Institute. Davis completed the 18-month program along with a cohort of other Jewish professionals… Read more »
Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona has launched a significant new partnership with Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Southern Arizona. The partnership will combine resources to better serve local families affected by childhood cancer and blood disorders. The collaboration has already begun making an impact through emergency… Read more »
