In the spirit of honoring their elders, engaging in hiddur p’nai zaken, teens from Tucson Hebrew Academy and BBYO have been meeting monthly with Handmaker residents since September as part of the Better Together intergenerational program. One Wednesday morning each month, residents eagerly waited in the Grand Foyer or… Read more »
May is Jewish American Heritage Month, a time to elevate the significant contributions that Jews have made to American arts, music, business, science, education, and public service. At Tucson Jewish Museum & Holocaust Center, we use the intimate and heartfelt stories of Jews in our local community to proudly… Read more »
Mazel tov to Tucson composer Daniel Asia, whose opera “The Tin Angel” will premiere on June 28 and 29 with Teatro Grattacielo at the Ellen Stewart Theater at La Mama in New York City. Asia’s Jewish heritage deeply informs his music, which integrates Jewish texts and traditions, merging classical… Read more »
Rabbi Arnold Task, 92, died on May 8, 2025, surrounded by his wife, Judy, and daughters, Sherri Gouterman, Susan Israel, and Laurie Klein. Rabbi Task was born in Chicago on October 21, 1932. He and Judy were married on Sept. 4, 1955. Rabbi Task completed his undergraduate degree at… Read more »
Wearing a “Bring Them Home Now” T-shirt, Eli Hayut crosses the finish line of the Arizona Monster Race on April 11, 2025. (Photo courtesy Eli Hayut)
Eli Hayut, Israel’s ultramarathon national champion, made history last month in Arizona. Hayut, 47, ran the 304-mile Arizona Monster Race, setting the record for the longest distance run by an Israeli. The race follows the Arizona Trail from Superior to Patagonia through rugged Sonoran Desert terrain and up Mt.… Read more »
Tucson police investigate the vandalism at Chabad Tucson–Young Israel synagogue on Tuesday, April 22. Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin called the Tucson police chief who sent out a crime scene unit.
(Photo courtesy Chabad Tucson)
Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin discovered the words “End Apartheid Abolish Israel” spelled out in purple graffiti on the outer wall of his Chabad Tucson–Young Israel synagogue early in the morning on Tuesday, April 22. Neither he nor the congregants who gathered for morning prayer noticed the graffiti when they drove… Read more »
Former University of Arizona basketball player/assistant coach Josh Pastner speaks at the press conference where he was introduced as the new head coach of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Men's Basketball Team on March 26. (Photo courtesy UNLV Athletics)
The 1990s were the last golden age for college basketball programs west of the Rocky Mountains, with three winning national championships that decade. Josh Pastner, 47, was a freshman on the 1997 University of Arizona men’s basketball team – the most recent team west of the Rockies to win… Read more »
For as long as I can remember, the portrait of my mother hung on the living room wall. First, it graced our apartment on the top floor of a two-family house in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Then, in fifth grade, we upscaled and moved into a one-family house. The painting… Read more »
Handmaker has hosted countless events and programs in the Great Room. For the last several years, attendees of programs held there have frequently commented that the program was good, but the speaker was difficult to hear or the image on the screen was hard to see. This was very… Read more »
On Sunday, April 27, at this year’s Southern Arizona Yom HaShoah Commemoration, we will come together as a community to commemorate 80 years since the end of the Holocaust. As in years past, we will gather to memorialize the more than six million Jews, including one and a half… Read more »
Emily McDonnell Jewish Women’s Archive has named Emily McDonnell to its inaugural cohort of Pomegranate Writing Fellows, a new fellowship for Jewish Women of Color. McDonnell is a fourth-year PhD candidate at UNC Chapel Hill, where she researches Indigenous geographies, tourism, and contemporary identity. Originally from Arizona, she is a proud citizen of… Read more »
Congregation B'nai Midbar Cantorial Soloist Eliyanah Powers and Rabbi Daniel Price lead a Shabbat service on Feb. 21, 2025. (Photo courtesy B'nai Midbar) Congregation B’nai Midbar is Southern Arizona’s newest Jewish congregation — with a 25-year history. The congregation began when three SaddleBrooke residents formed the Institute for Judaic Services and Studies in 2000. Its primary purpose was to hold monthly Shabbat services and High Holiday celebrations. Over the years, the IJSS… Read more »
The 2019 Jewish Latino Teen Coalition with Congressman Raúl Grijalva in Washington, D.C. The Jewish Latino Teen Coalition extends its most heartfelt condolences regarding the passing of Congressman Raúl Grijalva. Congressman Grijalva and his office were instrumental in founding and supporting this program, which represents a unique partnership between the Tucson Jewish and Latino communities and has helped shape the lives of many… Read more »
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN: Ian Kinsler #3 of Team Israel throws to first base in the fifth inning during the baseball Opening Round Group B game between Team Israel and Team Republic of Korea on day six of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Yokohama Baseball Stadium on July 29, 2021 in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. (Photo by Koji Watanabe/Getty Images) Two years after he retired from a 14-year Major League Baseball career as a second baseman, Tucson native Ian Kinsler’s time with Team Israel began. “My Jewish heritage means a lot to me — it’s part of who I am,” said the 42-year-old Kinsler, who graduated from Oro Valley’s… Read more »
We’ve just come out of the Seders on Passover — the festival of freedom. We sat at the Seder table, retold the story, tasted the bitter and the sweet, and declared once again, “In every generation, a person must see themselves as if they personally left Egypt.” But if… Read more »
(L-R): E. Lee Bernick, professor of public policy at University of Nevada Las Vegas; Jessica Mehlman, associate vice president of impact and planning at Jewish Federations of North America; Sen. Ruben Gallego; Carlos A. Hernández, president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona; Andrew Gale, legacy officer at Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona; and Sophie German, director of older adult and community services at JFCS.
Three Tucsonans traveled to Washington, D.C., last week for a “Financial Vulnerability Fly-In” sponsored by Jewish Federations of North America. Fifty participants from across the country, including Carlos A. Hernández, president and CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona; Sophie German, director of older adult and… Read more »
Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, antisemitic incidents on U.S. college campuses have increased dramatically. “But it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen to everybody, and it doesn’t mean that’s going to be your whole college experience. Definitely not,” Robin Friedman, co-founder of TribeTalk, assured local Jewish… Read more »
Chaim Grade On Wednesday, Feb. 26, The New York Times ran a front-page article by Joseph Berger entitled “A Discovery of Lost Pages Brings to Light a ‘Last Great Yiddish Novel.’” The article detailed the search for a missing manuscript by a giant of 20th century Yiddish literature, Chaim Grade, its… Read more »
The Tucson J International Film Festival is rapidly approaching its 35th year! Established over three decades ago, the festival has become a cornerstone cultural event for Tucson’s Jewish community as well as for the community’s seasonal snowbird residents. This remarkable longevity is a testament to our commitment to presenting… Read more »
As a parent, a Tucson Hebrew Academy board member, and a proud member of this community, I’ve seen firsthand how Jewish education shapes not only our children’s minds but also their hearts. When my husband and I enrolled our son at THA, we were initially drawn by the small… Read more »
