Tagged Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona

Restoration of Bisbee-Douglas Jewish cemetery honors pioneer history

A visit to the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery on March 11, 2020 revealed toppled tombstones and graves in need of repair. Volunteers made efforts to clean up the site in 2016, but the cemetery was not secure from vandals. (Photo: Virgil Hancock)
December 2, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

The recent restoration of the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery, established in 1904, allows the Jewish pioneers buried there to “rest in dignity,” as Stuart Mellan, former president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, told the audience at the Federation’s “Celebrating Our Past, Creating Our Future” event on… Read more »

Northwest Needlers brings Jewish knitters together to create a bounty of tzedekah projects

The Northwest Needlers created twiddle muffs for residents with dementia at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging and other senior living facilities. (Photo courtesy Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life)
November 4, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

Armed with knitting needles and crochet hooks, the Northwest Needlers are women of valor, says founder Judith Feldman. For the past five years, the Northwest Needlers, who currently meet Tuesday afternoons via Zoom under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Ruth and Irving Olson Center for… Read more »

Business briefs 9.11.20
September 10, 2020 /
laura_mckee_150x191

Laura McKee has been hired as executive assistant to the CEO of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. McKee began her career with an associate’s degree as a legal assistant from Pima Community College and worked as a legal secretary while earning her bachelor’s degree… Read more »

Federation plans online annual meeting and community awards celebration

James Wezelman, left, and Liz Kanter Groskind are the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona's Man and Woman of the Year
July 17, 2020 /

The second annual combined Jewish Community Awards Celebration and Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Annual Meeting will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 5-6:30 p.m. A Zoom invitation will be issued closer to the date. The event will include special recognition awards honoring lay or professional leaders from… Read more »

Pride in leadership: Pursuing a world inclusive and just for all
June 26, 2020 / Graham Hoffman, Special to the AJP
Graham Hoffman

As I have recently assumed the mantle of the president and CEO of both the Jewish Federation and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, I am humbled by the responsibility that I now bear as the leader of these agencies and this remarkable community. Authenticity is central to… Read more »

Jewish community stands up for racial justice

Tony Zinman, co-founder of Tucson Jews for Justice, attends a candlelight vigil in Tucson June 1, one week after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapoolis. (Courtesy Zinman)
June 12, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

The Southern Arizona Jewish community has joined communities across the globe in expressing outrage at the murder of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. And it is grappling with how best to support the struggle for racial justice. On June… Read more »

New JCF chair advocate of impact investing
June 12, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
Anne Hameroff

Retired attorney Anne Hameroff, the new chair of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, wants to see the Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona work together in ways that make them “more nimble and responsive” to meet the overall philanthropic desires of their donors. It’s a goal… Read more »

Ralph Duchin
June 12, 2020 /

Ralph Charles Duchin, 88, of Tucson, Arizona, and Houston, Texas, died May 25, 2020. Mr. Duchin was born in New York City to the late Minnie and Jacob Duchin. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School and Brooklyn College and completed his master’s degree in geology from the Jackson School… Read more »

Social welfare calls bolster community bonds
May 15, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
To ease loneliness caused by COVID-19 social distancing during Passover this year, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation organized a Passover ‘Potluck’ held via Zoom on April 13, one of the intermediate days of the holiday.

As part of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and Jewish Community Foundation response to the coronavirus pandemic, staff and volunteers have made more than 1,300 social welfare phone calls to members of the community. The project is ongoing. “It started with my desire to reach out to donors of… Read more »

Jewish Community Pandemic Relief Fund taking two-phase approach
May 15, 2020 /

Last week, the Jewish Community Pandemic Relief Fund approved an allocation of $25,000 to the Community Food Bank to rescue over 30,000 meals from the international border that otherwise were destined for the landfill. The fund also allocated an additional $20,000 to Interfaith Community Services for emergency financial assistance… Read more »

Tucsonan Lindsey Baker tapped as first COO for JFSA, JCF

Lindsey Baker
April 17, 2020 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor

Lindsey Baker returns to her hometown on May 1 to accept the inaugural chief operating officer position for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation. “Creating a sustainable, single-chief executive model is what we have been working toward,” says Graham Hoffman, JCF president and CEO,… Read more »

Jewish community responds to pandemic with relief fund
April 3, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor
Graham Hoffman is president and CEO of the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona and president and CEO-elect of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona

In response to the growing spread of COVID-19, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation have created a Jewish Community Pandemic Relief Fund to help meet the needs of the most vulnerable members in the Jewish and greater communities. “We have set it up to… Read more »

Remembering Douglas’s forgotten pioneer Jews along the Mexican border

A grave stands vandalized at the Bisbee-Douglas Jewish cemetery, March 11, 2020. (Mary Levy Peachin)
April 3, 2020 / Mary Levy Peachin, Special to the AJP

Time has been harsh to this graveyard. The Bisbee-Douglas Jewish Cemetery has been desecrated by vandals, student initiations, truck drivers busting through the barbed wire fence, party-goers, and more than a century of neglect. The scene is grim. Looming 100 yards to the south, the U.S.-Mexico border wall distracts.… Read more »

JFSA, others cancel events, focus on giving, digital resources in face of coronavirus

A view from the lobby of the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy, home of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona (Martha Lochert)
March 20, 2020 /

UPDATE: The Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona have created a web page at www.jewishtucson.org/pandemic containing community resources, volunteer opportunities, and a link to donate to the newly created Jewish Community Pandemic Relief Fund, which provides emergency financial assistance and meets critical needs for individuals, families, and… Read more »

Congregation Or Chadash Sisterhood shines a light on volunteer Sandock
March 20, 2020 / Debe Campbell, AJP Assistant Editor
Beverly Sandock

Community volunteer Beverly Sandock will be recognized in April by  the Congregation Or Chadash Sisterhood with its second annual Eshet Or (Woman of Light) award. In addition to 20 years of volunteer service at the synagogue, Sandock contributes to the community through daily professional and personal outreach. “Bev’s name… Read more »

In focus- Handmaker residents help Homer Davis kids

Handmaker residents and staff with weekend food packs for Homer Davis Elementary Schol, Feb. 18. Back row (L-R): Nahid Nematollahi, Elaine McLain, Carol Donisi, Norma Friel, and Brayton Person; front row: Roslyn Friedman and Donald Tuttle
March 6, 2020 /

Residents of Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging had an opportunity to do a mitzvah Feb. 18. They built weekend food packs for 96 food insecure students at Homer Davis Elementary School, as part of the Homer Davis Project of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, coordinated by Mary… Read more »

Take survey to play part in Jewish community visioning project

From left, Aviva Zeltzer-Zubida, Ph.D., Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona vice president; Graham Hoffman, Jewish Community Foundation president and CEO; and JCF Project Manager Maya Horowitz, review a community planning timeline at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, Jan. 28.
February 21, 2020 /

Last spring, community leaders from the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation began a community visioning project that was soon dubbed “2020 and Beyond: Reimagining Jewish Life in Southern Arizona.” After initial stages that included hiring an outside consultant and holding meetings with stakeholder groups… Read more »

Federation to host Super Sunday event in philanthropy center

Leslie Glaze, co-chair of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy Campaign for 2019, talks to Super Sunday volunteer Barbara Selznick, Jan. 27. (Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP)
January 10, 2020 / Phyllis Braun, AJP Executive Editor

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is planning its annual Super Sunday phone-a-thon this year for Jan. 26. The event, which raises funds for the 2020 Community Campaign, will be held 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in a new venue: the Deanna and Harvey Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy at 3718… Read more »