Photo: Rabbi Avi Alpert officiates at the wedding of Neshama and Laif Madson on Nov. 17, 2024. (Photo courtesy Congregation Bet Shalom)
Tucson’s Congregation Bet Shalom has quadrupled in size since 2012. That’s when Avi Alpert came on board as its spiritual leader, first as a cantor and later as a full-fledged rabbi. Congregants attribute the change to Alpert, whom they describe as “incredibly approachable” and “very open-minded, but very… Read more »
A Congregation Bet Shalom member shows off eggs laid by the shul's chickens, in the short film 'Feeding Our Souls." (Courtesy Tucson International Jewish Film Festival)
Congregation Bet Shalom members young and old — but mostly young — are featured in a short film, “Feeding Our Souls,” that will debut as part of the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival. But the chickens are definitely the stars. Raising chickens has been a central part of the… Read more »
Rabbi Dr. Howard Schwartz
Judaism has always been a large part of Howard Schwartz’s life, but only after moving to Tucson did he truly fall into his role as a teacher of Jewish beliefs. The doctor turned rabbi uses his time post-retirement volunteering at different synagogues to give lectures on Judaism, and has… Read more »
