Eric Jabloner has joined the Arizona Jewish Post as an ad sales representative contractor, selling digital advertising. Jabloner grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, and attended the University of Arizona, receiving a B.A. in drama production in 1979. He worked as a scenic artist for the Arizona Opera Company and the… Read more »
Rabbi Moshe Peretz Gilden
“Tucson Mezuzah Week’ is the first community-wide opportunity, offered by Congregation Chofetz Chayim and the Southwest Torah Institute, to have every Jewish home in Tucson protected by the mitzvah of placing mezuzot on every doorpost,” says the congregation’s Rabbi Israel Becker. Often called the “Jewish security system,” the mezuzah is… Read more »
Esther and Rabbi Israel Becker Photo: Britta Van Vankren
Rabbi Israel and Esther Becker of Congregation Chofetz Chayim will celebrate “40 Years of Torah Growth Together” with an on-line fund-raising campaign on Sunday and Monday, Dec. 8 and 9, and a 40th-anniversary dinner on the last night of Chanukah, Sunday, Dec. 29, at 5 p.m. at the synagogue.… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker As Rosh Hashanah approaches and we take stock of our own spiritual lives, it certainly behooves us to dedicate ourselves to expend every effort in reaching out to our fellow Jews, and especially to our own children and grandchildren. In fact, extending ourselves to help inspire our fellow Jews… Read more »
(L-R) Rabbinic student Avrohom Luban talks with Tucsonans Max Lazar and Al Gordon during a ‘Spirit’ study session in 2014. (Courtesy Southwest Torah Institute)
The 2019 Dr. Paul W. Hoffert Spirit Program, a free Jewish learning opportunity for men and boys from the Southwest Torah Institute’s Naomi Adir Center for Torah Education, begins July 28 and runs through Aug. 11. In morning or evening sessions, individuals or groups can study the topic of… Read more »
In the Post’s article regarding kosher establishments in Tucson, “As city’s only kosher market closes, Tucsonans get creative in search for products” (AJP 4/19/19), I wanted to bring to your attention another establishment under kosher certification, which has been proudly serving the Jewish community for the past seven years.… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker A new musical program, Music, Memories, and Mitzvot, will weave song, stories, and learning about Jewish celebrations with the mitzvah of bringing joy to the elderly, says Rabbi Israel Becker of Congregation Chofetz Chayim. The program, for children ages 5-11, includes three Sunday classes in preparation for each of four… Read more »
Students at the Bais Medrash of the Foxman Torah Institute in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, study with Rabbi Shimon Max. (Foxman Torah Institute)
Two rabbis and 12 yeshiva students from New Jersey will join forces with Rabbi Israel and Esther Becker of Congregation Chofetz Chayim and the Southwest Torah Institute later this month for a multifaceted program called “The Connection.” The goal of the free, three-week program is “to help the Jewish… Read more »
(L-R) Mark Zimmerman, Rabbi Israel Becker, Esther Becker, Lyn Lewis and Sue Ross at the Western Wall on Oct. 22
Traveling to Israel is like entering a time machine, where you connect to the past amidst advanced technology. Rabbi Israel Becker and his wife Esther of Congregation Chofetz Chayim led five people on a spiritual journey to Israel Oct. 15-26 with the theme of “Where the Past Shapes Your… Read more »
Rabbinical student Harry Kleinerman, left, and Robert Nye of Green Valley study together at Congregation Chofetz Chayim in 2016. (Courtesy Southwest Torah Institute)
“In the Driver’s Seat” is this year’s theme for the Southwest Torah Institute’s Dr. Paul W. Hoffert Spirit Program, which begins Wednesday, July 26 and runs through Tuesday, Aug. 8. Begun in 2000, the program offers two weeks of free learning for Jewish men and boys ages eight and… Read more »
Bernadette Donfeld (left) and Esther Becker on a hill overlooking Shilo, where the Tabernacle was located for 369 years until destroyed by the Philistines. The photo was taken on a 2011 Southwest Torah Institute Israel trip. (Bob Donfeld).
Rabbi Israel and Esther Becker will hold an informational meeting about Southwest Torah Institute’s “Israel: Where the Past Shapes Your Soul” trip planned for October on Sunday, July 23 at 11 a.m. An Israeli-style brunch will be served. “Even if you have been to Israel before, every trip presents… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker At the recent annual dinner of my alma mater, the Rabbinical Seminary of America, I saw my lifelong friend, Rabbi Elchonon Zohn. He is a world renowned expert on Jewish end of life issues and burial who has been instrumental in guiding communities all over the United States. He… Read more »
I recently completed the reading of all 15 volumes of “The Cambridge History of English Literature” by A.W. Ward and A.R. Waller. It took me several years. When it came to the history of religious writing having to do with Christianity and its various forms and manifestations, the authors paid… Read more »
Barbara Mannlein and her husband, Martin, use color-coded kitchen tools: red for meat, blue for dairy and green for pareve. (Martin Mannlein)
The Jewish dietary laws, termed kashrut, are many and complex. According to the Torah and the Talmud, Jews may not mix meat and dairy, and may eat only fish with scales and fins, and meat from ruminants with cloven hooves. Pareve — foods containing neither meat nor dairy, including… Read more »
Tucson Jewish Montessori, Tucson’s first Jewish Montessori preschool, founded by Rabbi Israel and Esther Becker, will open Monday, Aug. 31. Classes are aimed at 3- to 6-year-olds, and will run from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday through Friday, with childcare available before and after classes. “Our focus is honoring the… Read more »
Rabbi Israel Becker of Tucson (left) and former Chief Rabbi of Israel Meir Lau in Tel Aviv in May One winter night in the mid-1960s, when I was a young teenager, the stage was set for a very important meeting in Israel this past May. Unbeknownst to me, the true genesis for this meeting had begun some 80 years ago. On that winter night, a man arrived at… Read more »
Trip members on the promenade at the port at Tel Aviv. Back row (L-R): Howard Peck, Meir Eisenman, Claire Peck, Carolyn Crowder, Esther Becker, Rabbi Israel Becker; front row: Howard Toff, Cheryl Toff, Renee Geffen, Carol Zuckert, Marcia Winick, Alayne Greenberg, Bruce Greenberg; seated: Lyn Lewis, Clifford Altfeld, Ruth Swedarsky My wife, Lyn, and I recently returned from the Congregation Chofetz Chayim/Southwest Torah Institute 2014 Israel Experience, filled with enthusiasm for the trip and the many unique experiences we shared with a group of 13 led by… Read more »
The Southwest Torah Institute, the educational and outreach arm of Congregation Chofetz Chayim, has been awarded the Goldman Family Israel Scholarship by the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona and the Elliot S. Goldman and Goldman Family Israel Scholarship Funds. The $2,500 grant will support a scholarship for one… Read more »
Stained glass window representing Rachel, the wife of Rabbi Akiva, by Ami Shamir Perach Yisroel, the Flower of Israel Mikveh at Congregation Chofetz Chayim, will dedicate new stained glass windows and unveil a metal logo sculpture on Sunday, March 17. “Since its opening in 2004, the Perach Yisroel Mikveh has proudly served all members of the Tucson Jewish community … regardless of… Read more »
