Tagged Weintraub Israel Center

Golan Heights Winery impresses Tucson travelers, including culinary expert

Tucson travelers enjoy a wine-pairing luncheon at Israel’s Golan Heights Winery, Oct. 17, 2018. Visible from left, front: Jil Feldhausen, Edward Feldhausen, Lawrence Kinet, Michelle Kinet, Wendy Weinberg, Jeff Weinberg. From front right: Janice Brundage, Dawn Gunter, Steve Wool, Debe Campbell. Weintraub Israel Center)

Viniculture isn’t new; it’s perhaps as old as history itself. The first winery discovered dates back to 4100 BCE in Armenia. Some wine historians date the origins of winemaking back as early as 8000 BCE. Grapes are one of the seven biblical species (Deuteronomy 8:8). With 221 mentions in… Read more »

WIC Israel trip sparks family reunion

(L-R): Chava, Isaac, Jacob, Maria, Rachel, Elisaveta, and Raya Sher in 1931 in Kirensk, a village in Siberia. (Shore Family)

The recent Weintraub Israel Center annual mission to Israel did not only build community bridges; it also mended a bridge between a local family and long-lost family members with origins in Russia. Bonnie Shore-Dombrowski, a Tucson attorney, was joined on the October trip by her two sisters, Debby Shore… Read more »

In Focus 11.23.18

50th-anniversary celebration Marshall and Susan Rubin celebrated their 50th anniversary, which was officially on Aug. 11, with a party Oct. 21 for family and friends. About 55 people attended the party, held at Culinary Dropout, including the Rubin’s adult sons and their families, who live in Tucson, and Susan’s… Read more »

Multifaith WIC trip brings travelers closer to Israel, one another

Weintraub Israel 2018 multifaith mission group in the Old City of Jerusalem, Oct. 20. Front row (L-R): Ricki Shore, Mary Cochran, Jill Feldhausen, Dawn Gunter, Oshrat Barel, Michael Solan, Susan McMahon, Debe Campbell, Steve Wool, Jarrod Rulney (University of Arizona graduate student at Hebrew University), Gil Alvidrez; middle row: Andrea Crane, Debby Shore, Sara Ross, Bonnie Shore-Dombrowski, Dina Rosengarten, Grace Hartman, Theresa Dulgov, Florence Solan, Gayle Marrett, Pam Sorock, Michele Canney, Jacquelyn Feller, Ron Feller, Wendy Weinberg; back row: Harry Crane, Janice Brundage, Robert Wolk, Marshall Humphrey, Richard Hartman, Muki Jankelowitz (tour educator), Jeff Weinberg, Britt Feldhausen, David Zeinfeld, Lawrence Kinet, Todd Rockoff, Marsha Kinet, Jim Dever, Vicky Lunday, Michelle Kroeger, Richard Canney. (courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)

Weintraub Israel Center hosted its second annual multifaith mission to Israel in mid-October. A group of 43 participated in the nine-day journey from Tucson to Tel Aviv and around the nation’s interior. “We believe the most effective way to fulfill our mission to build living bridges is for participants… Read more »

New shinshiniyot bring love of song, theater to Tucson

Tucson host family members greet new shinshiniyot (Israeli teen emissaries) at Tucson International Airport. From left, Joel and Rachel Black, shinshinyot Rotem Rappaport and Ron Benacot, and Marla Handler; front row: Rebecca Black and Amir Eden, director of the Weintraub Israel Center

Recent Israeli high school graduate Ron Benacot’s get-to-know-you video for the Tucson Jewish community is rich with sight gags: see her jump up and down as she plays fetch with her impassive dog, or step up to hefty barbells only to lift the lighter weights they conceal (see www.bit.ly/ronvid).… Read more »

People in the news 6.15.18

Steven Meckler

Tucson photographer STEVEN MECKLER will receive the American Advertising Federation Silver Medal Award at the Tucson Advertising Hall of Achievement event on Sept. 6 at Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort. The Silver Medal is a nationally recognized award that honors men and women who have made significant contributions… Read more »

In Focus 5.4.18: Israel@70

The University of Arizona Marching Band takes the stage after leading the opening parade. (Yossi Lasko)

Some 4,500 people attended “Israel@70: A Living Bridge,” a festival celebrating Israel’s 70th Independence Day, on Sunday, April 22 on the Jewish community campus. The free festival organized by the Weintraub Israel Center included live entertainment, food, kids’ activities, a shuk (market) featuring local Jewish organizations and other vendors, and… Read more »

Weintraubs fund new healthcare scholarships for staff at Handmaker

Maria Martinez, LPN, is one of the first Handmaker staff members enrolled in the Diane and Ronald Weintraub Scholarship Fund.

Staff at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging are being offered opportunities to improve their careers in healthcare through the generosity of community philanthropists Diane and Ron Weintraub. The couple recently collaborated with Handmaker President and CEO Arthur Martin to establish parameters for the grant. It offers individuals up… Read more »

Tucson plans big festival to celebrate Israel@70

Children march in the parade opening the Israel Festival in 2013. (Guy Gelbart)

On Sunday, April 22, Tucson will celebrate Yom Ha’atzmut, Israel’s 70th Independence Day, with the Israel@70: A Living Bridge festival, featuring live music, food, and activities for all ages. Admission is free for the festival, which will take place on a field between the Tucson Jewish Community Center and… Read more »

Business briefs 3.23.18

OSHRAT BAREL, the Weintraub Israel Center’s first woman director and its sixth shlicha (emissary from Israel) completes her transition this month to vice president of the JEWISH FEDERATION OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA’s community engagement department. The new department will facilitate collaboration among three existing program areas: the Jewish Community Relations… Read more »

Fellowship takes Tucson-Israel school twinning to next level

Yochi Azran, a teacher from Israel, uses a ‘sabra’ puppet to talk to Crystal Lucha’s students at the Tucson Jewish Community Center in December 2017.

There are many living bridges forming between Tucson and Israel. One is in the shape of a classroom. The Weintraub Israel Center began its school twinning program in 2014 between Tucson and the Israeli communities of Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon as an opportunity to connect classrooms and children… Read more »

New shinshinim ready to ‘talk tachles’ in adult ed series

Chen Dinatzi and Tamir Shecory are Tucson's latest Israeli teen volunteers. (Courtesy Weintraub Israel Center)

Chen Dinatzi and Tamir Shecory, Tucson’s second cohort of shinshinim (Israeli teen emissaries), will present a series of Israel education events for adults, “Talking Tachles with Chen and Tamir” at community congregations and organizations. Tachles is a slang Hebrew word, derived from Yiddish, that means “to the point” or… Read more »

Weintraub Israel Center sets October 2018 trip meeting

The Weintraub Israel Center is planning its biggest Israel trip for October 2018. A focus on people-to-people connections will make the trip unique, says Oshrat Barel, director of the Israel Center, emphasizing that this reflects the Israel Center’s mission, “building living bridges between Tucson and Israel.” Each day, participants… Read more »

In Focus 5.26.17

Tucson Hebrew Academy graduates at Reid Park. Back row (L-R): Elana Goldberg, Jonah Parnaby, Shira Dubin, Ryan Spitzer, Eliana Tolby, Daniella Lee, Eliana Siegel, Darian German, Ellah Ben-Asher, Samuel White, Breanna Yalen, Liliana Isaac, Eli Graizbord Michelson, Ava Leipsic; front row: Niles King, Rio Lederer, Samuel Goldfinger, Samuel Siegel, Aiden Glesinger, Joshua Quigley, Ryan Berkej, Gabriel Ruskin, Noah Fleisher (Interstate Studio)

Tucson Hebrew Academy graduation Tucson Hebrew Academy held its eighth grade graduation on Wednesday, May 10. With 23 graduates, the ceremony was held at the Tucson Jewish Community Center to accommodate the large crowd of family and friends. Tucson Hebrew High graduation Tucson Hebrew High held at its 39th… Read more »

In Focus 5.12.17

Community commemorates Yom HaShoah Some 200 people attended the Jewish community’s 2017 Yom HaShoah commemoration on Sunday, April 23 at Temple Emanu-El. The event, organized by the Jewish History Museum, explored the theme of “Art and Totalitarianism: 80 Years After the ‘Degenerate Art’ Exhibition” and included a Holocaust survivor… Read more »

In Tucson talk, journalist will examine media bias on Israel

Matti Friedman is a former AP reporter and author of "The Aleppo Codex" and "Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story"

It’s very important to understand who is feeding you information and why they are doing so, says Matti Friedman, an award-winning author and former reporter for the Associated Press’ Jerusalem bureau. “We all need to be critical consumers of media, not just where Israel is concerned,” says Friedman. “The… Read more »

Tucson to celebrate Israel with monthlong bounty of events

A parade led by the University of Arizona marching band kicks off Tucson’s 2013 Israel Festival.

In recent years, Tucson’s community-wide celebration of Israel’s Independence Day had grown from a one-day festival to a week of Tucson Celebrates Israel events. This year, in partnership with local congregations, the Weintraub Israel Center has orchestrated a month of events, beginning April 21, celebrating Israel’s 69 years of… Read more »

Hebrew chats provide intergenerational bond

Rina Paz, left, with Hazel Rappeport at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging (Nanci Levy)

Rina Paz has been visiting Hazel Rappeport, a resident at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, for three months. Once in a while Paz says something in English and Rappeport is quick to remind her that they are supposed to be speaking only Hebrew. Nanci Levy, community outreach coordinator… Read more »