Arizona Jewish Post 1.11.19 by Arizona Jewish Post

January 11, 2019 5 Shevat 5779 Volume 75, Issue 1

w w w. a z j e w i s h p o s t . c o m

S O U T H E R N A R I Z O N A ’ S A WA R D - W I N N I N G J E W I S H N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 9 4 6

Arts & Culture ...........3, 9, 10, 11 Classifieds .............................24 Commentary ..........................6 Community Calendar...........26 In Focus.................................23 Local .....3, 5, 9, 10, 11 , 12, 13, 15 Obituaries .......................24, 25 Our Town ..............................23 Synagogue Directory............17 World ................................... 20

The AJP is back from winter break. Next issue: Jan. 25

he Jewish History Museum’s “States of Rightlessness” series will culminate with a keynote lecture by Lida Maxwell on the evening of Thursday, Jan. 24. The museum coordinated “States of Rightlessness” to mark 70 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, says JHM Executive Director Bryan Davis. The series uses the museum’s current contemporary human rights exhibition, “Call Me Rohingya,” as a jumping off point to consider the ways citizenship laws have been used to harass and isolate marginalized peoples in various contexts and how social media is used to spread misinformation in often dangerous ways. “Call Me Rohyinga” is a photographic examination of a stateless people persecuted in Burma and Bangladesh. “States of Rightlessness,” Davis explains, is a meditation on the phrase “the right to have rights” from Hannah Arendt’s book “The Origins of Totalitarianism,” which was first published in 1951. Maxwell is one of four coauthors of a new book, “The Right to Have Rights,” that explores Arendt’s concept, published by Verso in 2018. On Jan. 24 at 7 p.m., she will present “A Right to Love? Claims of Family and Feeling,” See JHM, page 2

Hillel to host Pryor in ‘Fried Chicken and Latkes’ PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

ain Pryor is bringing her one-woman show, “Fried Chicken and Latkes,” to Tucson next month. Pryor, 49, is the daughter of the late comedy icon Richard Pryor and a Jewish go-go dancer-turned-astronomer, Shelley R. Bonus. In the show, she plays 11 different characters, from her famous father to her outspoken Jewish bubbe, as she explores what it was like to grow up biracial in a far less politically correct era. Pryor will perform “Fried Chicken and Latkes” as a fundraiser for the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Leo Rich Theatre at the Tucson Convention Center.

Photo courtesy Pryor

Camp & Summer Plans 18 - 19 Mind, Body & Spirit 12 - 16

JHM talk to focus on ‘the right to have rights’

Rain Pryor

The show debuted in 2004 as a cabaret act. In fact, Tucson’s Invisible Theatre was the first place she performed it outside of Beverly Hills, Pryor told the AJP in a telephone interview last month. The current version, “a solid

play format,” is almost all new, she says. In 2017, it played for months to sellout crowds at the Jewish Women’s Theatre in Los Angeles, and was a success in New York, Chicago and beyond, including Scotland. “Rain’s life story of multiculturalism is fascinating, and her one-woman show is not to be missed,” says Dana Narter, chair of the event for Hillel. Pryor says she has updated the show “to the point where now it’s being developed into a TV series with Norman Lear.” This will not be her first foray into TV — Pryor played TJ on the long running sitcom “Head of the Class” and has dozens of other credits to her name. She also sings, does stand-up comedy, and is a motivational speaker and author. Her book, “Jokes My Father Never Taught Me: Life, See Pryor, page 2

JFSA Super Sunday brings generations together PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

he Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona is gearing up for its annual Super Sunday phone-a-thon on Jan. 27 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, when volunteers will call members of the Tucson Jewish community seeking donations to the Federation’s 2019 Community Campaign. Super Sunday signals that the end of the Federation’s “100 Days of Impact” campaign, Oct. 19Feb. 1, is drawing near. The goal of campaign organizers is to finalize as many pledges as possible by Feb. 1, says Matt Landau, JFSA director of leadership development.

Photo courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona

INSIDE

Volunteers and Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona staff work together at the 2017 Super Sunday. This year’s phone-a-thon is planned for Jan. 27.

This year, thanks in part to a successful pre-Super Sunday mini phone-a-thon in December, campaign volunteers and staff have al-

ready brought the campaign more than 43 percent of the way to its $4 million target. See JFSA, page 4

CANDLELIGHTING TIMES: January 11 ... 5:20 p.m. • January 18 ... 5:26 p.m. • January 25 ... 5:33 p.m.

PRYOR continued from page 1

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Love, and Loss with Richard Pryor,” was published by Harper Collins in 2006. Her play, which reviewers call both funny and heart wrenching, is autobiographical, she says, “but it really is a story for everyone.” Although “not everyone’s dad is Richard Pryor,” she explains, “I think the experiences of growing up mixed race, of the era that some of the incidents in [my] life took place, is very universal.” Her message, she says, is that “as Jewish people we can come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors, and that being who you are, your authentic self, is the only thing that matters.” “And our job is to be better than our parents were,” she adds. Despite growing up amid major dysfunction — her father, who died in 2005 from multiple sclerosis, famously set himself on fire in 1980 while freebasing cocaine — Pryor exudes strength and optimism, which she brings both to her multi-faceted career and to her home life with her daughter, 10-year-old Lotus Marie, and husband, David Vane. “For me, having a family, I think is my greatest job ever, and allows me the freedom to create what I create because I have a very supportive husband and extended family,” she says, noting that she co-parents with her daughter’s father, Yale Partlow (they divorced in 2014).

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asking, in the context of immigration family separation, whether we should see love and family as human rights. Maxell is an associate professor of political science and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Boston University. Her next book, “Insurgent Truth: Chelsea Manning and the Politics of Outsider Truth-Telling,” will be published in the fall by Oxford University Press. Maxwell’s talk will take place. at the community space at City Center for Collaborative Learning, 47 E. Pennington Street. Davis kicked off the “States of Rightlessness” series with a gallery chat Dec. 14 on the book, “The Right to Have Rights.” On Jan. 9, University of Arizona cultural anthropologist Jill Koyama presented “Fragmented Policy: Legitimized

“We all spend holidays together — it’s amazing,” she says. She and Vane live in Baltimore and run an online vintage and pre-owned clothing business together, says Pryor, who loves that he is not in show business. Pryor is excited about the upcoming TV series based on her one-woman show. Eve Brandstein, who directs the play, is one of the executive producers. She was the casting director for “One Day at a Time” and worked with Lear on many other projects, says Pryor, who is confident the TV version of “Fried Chicken and Latkes” will debut later this year, probably on a streaming service. For the TV series, the one-woman show is just a jumping off point. “In the [TV] show I’m 13 in the 1970s … it’s not me now,” she explains. Today, Pryor finds more acceptance as a biracial woman than she did growing up. “The world’s changed,” she says, explaining that back then “people were afraid to think outside of the box, because their lives depended upon it. “I talk about that in my show — my grandmother, in my solo show, says, ‘You know, we were European Jews and we had just escaped Nazi Germany, and here we were in the United States, trying to hold onto everything we are.’” Now, she says, “I’m on a forum on Facebook for multicultural Jews.” For special event ticket packages, contact Hillel at 624-6561 or www.ua hillel.org. For general admission tickets, $47, call the Leo Rich Theater at 791-4101.

Pain Inflicted on Those Who Are Displaced and Seeking to Claim Human Rights.” Each of the three talks is selfcontained, notes Davis. Lida Maxwell “The series engages with Hannah Arendt’s critique of human rights discourses and realities and brings our 21st century reality into conversation with human rights claims of the past,” says Davis. “Additionally, the program highlights the Jewish History Museum’s work as a member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience.” Students from both Paulo Freire middle schools and City High School will attend the keynote presentation. For more information, visit www.jewish historymuseum.org.

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ARTS & CULTURE / LOCAL Israeli’s flamenco opera to debut in Tucson DEBE CAMPBELL

Experience Matters

AJP Assistant Editor

Jim Jacobs

ASSOCIATE BROKER

520-444-1444 | Jim@JimJacobs.com | JimJacobs.com

Photo courtesy del Monte

ne of the world’s leading flamenco and classical guitarists and composers, Adam del Monte, will present scenes from the flamenco opera “Llantos 1492” during the 2019 Tucson Desert Song Festival, Jan. 15-Feb. 5. “Llantos 1492,” the world’s first flamenco opera, is in keeping with this year’s festival theme of Latin American and Spanish music. This concert version features five singers and a piano reduction of the score with del Monte’s wife, Mercedes Juan Musotto, on piano and del Monte on flamenco guitar. Born in Israel, del Monte grew up in Germany, England and Spain. He recounts a time when his parents left him with Gypsies at the age of 7 in the Sacromonte neighborhood in Granada, Spain. He lived in cave dwellings built from the 16th century after Jewish and Muslim populations were expelled from their homes, intermixing with the nomadic Gypsies, and adopting some of their customs. Del Monte told AJP that while his father was his primary guitar teacher, he learned “by osmosis” and performed with his Gypsy caretakers. “It takes a village to teach flamenco,” he quips. Inspiration from the Gypsies’ stories, oral history and anecdotes worked their way into his first operatic libretto and music. “The experience had a stronger impact on me than I’d imagined.” Set during the height of the Spanish Inquisition, “Llantos 1492” portrays the persistence and triumph of religious and ethnic identity in a time of intolerance. In the opera, a Jewish lawyer represents a Gypsy village in a trial, securing a reduced sentence for a trumped-up charge. Political maneuvering transforms into intolerance, oppression, expulsion and suffering on a large scale, and on a personal level. The protagonists’ lament, their “llantos,” forms the emotional basis for the opera that delves into the mysterious worlds of Gypsies and Sephardic Jews. Del Monte calls it a microcosm of the macrocosm of the era. Born Adam Kofler, a surname that means mountaineer, del Monte says he adopted the local translation of the name as Jewish immigrants have done for centuries. Since his grandfather was Sephardic, he feels his life in Spain was the closing of a circle. With formal classical music education in Spain, England and Israel, del Monte credits his wife, a pianist and

Adam del Monte

opera coach from Argentina, for the inspiration to create the opera. “I’d never written even a song before, let alone an opera,” he recalls. At her suggestion, all the stories of his life zoomed into focus. “I didn’t realize my life was about to change. My whole life, I was this oddball Jewish guy who lived with Gypsies and identified culturally with flamenco and classical music. My heart is Spanish. In the Jewish community in Madrid, me being Jewish wasn’t enough,” he says of getting his culturally blended music heard. Del Monte describes flamenco as an antithesis to opera. “It is opposite in culture and rhythms, so there is a lot of flexibility embedded in this composition. It’s like a mixture of oil and water,” he says of the cultural blend that also takes in some Sufi and Kabbalistic mysticism. While he continues a solo career, performing around the world, del Monte has been on the faculty in the studio guitar department at the University of Southern California since 2000, where he teaches flamenco and classical guitar. The Tucson performance will be the opera’s premiere presentation, directed and narrated in English by Daniel Helfgot with minimalistic staging and costuming. Musical selections can be previewed at www.adamdelmonte.com under “Llantos Opera.” “Llantos 1492” will be presented on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Crowder Hall at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, 1017 N. Olive Road. Tickets are $10 and available at www.tucsondesertsongfestival.org. January 11, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

JFSA continued from page 1

Each week during the 100 days, the campaign has focused on different ways Federation and its community partners support humanitarian and educational programs in Tucson, Israel and around the world. Week one, for example, “Federation Includes,” highlighted the Tucson Jewish Community Center’s “Sparks” social club and cheer team, which has members of various ages and abilities. Week three, “Federation Promotes Justice and Equality,” paid tribute to the work of the Jewish History Museum/Holocaust History Center. Super Sunday will be shorter this year, with volunteer shifts from 9-11 a.m., 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., and 12-2 p.m. Community members can sign up to volunteer at www.jfsa.org/supersunday2019, by emailing mlandau@jfsa. org, or by calling 647-8467. Childcare is available with advance notice. “Super Sunday is always a really good time,” says Aaron Rottenstein, Super Sun-

day co-chair with Michael Shiner. “Over the last couple of years I think there’s been a real focus on making the experience for volunteers to be even more fun and upbeat.” Along with food and prizes, volunteers are encouraged to wear their favorite sports team’s colors to add to the festive atmosphere. Super Sunday is “one of the most participated in events for young leadership in the community,” says Rottenstein. “Last year, we even had some high schoolers there, which was awesome. For members of the broader community, I think it’s really neat for them to be able to come in and see a lot of generations working together to make our community a little bit stronger.” To save Super Sunday volunteers a call, community members can make a donation by Jan. 18. Visit www.jfsa.org/makea-donation; mail a check to JFSA, 3718 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718; or call 577-9393. A Red Cross blood drive will be held at the Tucson J from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in conjunction with Super Sunday. Blood donors must be age 17 or older, and volunteers must be 16 or older.

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LOCAL

Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP

PJ Library ‘Shabbat Adventure’ to link families

A kit from PJ Library guides the adventure as families host others in the “My Shabbat Adventure with Friends” program.

he Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s PJ Library program is launching “My Shabbat Adventure with Friends,” a new program to help PJ Library families to reach out to other families in the local Jewish community. Host families will commit to holding three Shabbat dinners for two to four families, inviting at least one family they are not well acquainted with or a family new to our community. Families are encouraged to organize additional playdates, outings, or dinners, or to invite their Shabbat guests to other Jewish activities/events. “My Shabbat Adventure with Friends” is fully supported by the PJ Library program and sponsored by Marilyn Einstein and Steve Sim. All costs for challah, flowers, dinner, and activities are covered up to $150 per Shabbat. Each host family will receive a PJ Library Shabbat Adventure Kit with a My Shabbat Adventure with Friends Shabbat Guide, Shabbat candles, PJ Library blessing card,

PJ Library tzedakah box and kindness cards, child’s kiddush cup, challah cover to decorate, Shabbat placemats for all children, Welcome Guest — Bruchim Haba’im sign to color and display, challah recipes, box of Shabbat questions conversation starters, a Shabbat CD and other items. The PJ Library staff and synagogue representatives will choose host families, taking into consideration their physical location, willingness, and ability to host other families. PJ Library is part of the community engagement department of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, in partnership with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. Support also comes from the Einstein-Sim family, the Loebl family, the Margolis family, the Rosenzweig family, the Viner family, and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. For more information, contact Mary Ellen Loebl at pjlibrary@jfsa.org or 647-8443.

January 11, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

COMMENTARY Amos Oz’s fiction is forever, while reality left his politics behind THANE ROSENBAUM The young nation of Israel has witnessed in recent years a dwindling of its founding generation — from the passing of statesmen like Shimon Peres to the death last month of novelist and political activist Amos Oz. Oz was 79; Israel is but 70. Oz was old enough to witness Israel’s fight for independence, and now his death turns the page on yet another chapter of its improbable resurrection — with an old language that became new again. Oz had a lot to do with that. He imbued Hebrew with a literary style and gave it a novelistic voice, finding new ways to maneuver the aleph and bet so that a once purely liturgical language suddenly possessed a richly lyrical descriptive power. The author of 40 books, including 14 novels, and hundreds of articles and essays, many of which delved into the messy politics of the Middle East, Oz was Israel’s first great man of letters, an old-school public intellectual in a brand new nation

Photo: Mark Neiman

JTA

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin speaks at a memorial service for novelist Amos Oz in Tel Aviv, Dec. 31, 2018.

with many jobs to fill — from the brawny to the brainy. Those patriarchs and matriarchs made the saying “next year in Jerusalem” both a reality and redundancy. With little natural background, they willed themselves to become equal parts poets, farmers and soldiers. Oz was a living embodiment of those

multiple duties. After his mother’s suicide, which occurred the year before his bar mitzvah, he came of age on a kibbutz and fought in two of Israel’s wars. He then published acclaimed novels such as “My Michael” and “Black Box,” as well as the literary memoir “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” that captured the finer points

of domestic Israeli life, the yearnings and sexual passions, and the madness of a people who reinvented themselves so soon after nearly being annihilated en masse. Long before Netflix’s “Fauda,” or the inexplicably sabra-accented Wonder Woman, Oz, through the 45 languages in which his novels were translated, introduced the world to Israelis in all of their rambunctious, high-strung, pattering essence — the kibbutz kibitzers, the brave sabra boys, the Mizrahi misfits, the lost European intellectuals trying to scrape out a life of the mind in a barren desert. Without the wizardry of Amos Oz, many around the world would have had no knowledge of Israeli society, no feel for its people, no sense that they were more real than Jews from, well, Oz. And Israelis would not have known how they appeared in the imagination of one of their own. The Start-up Nation had to start somewhere, and Oz was not only there See Oz, page 7

How going to synagogue regularly turned me into a dumpster diver CNAAN LIPHSHIZ JTA AMSTERDAM was recently offered a handout while rummaging for food in a heap of trash as my two small children looked on. It happened all because I wanted to start attending synagogue regularly. To be clear, I’m writing this neither as a plea for pity nor an indictment against

organized religion. I’m actually grateful for how my shul landed me in a heap of garbage. You see, collecting and eating vegetables and fruit that have been thrown away has made my family’s diet healthier, improved our quality time together and helped us live up to our environmental convictions. On Jan. 20, we will be celebrating Tu b’Shvat, the Jewish holiday celebrating trees, fruits and the environment.

3718 E. River Rd., Suite 272, Tucson, AZ 85718 • 520-319-1112 www.azjewishpost.com • localnews@azjewishpost.com The Arizona Jewish Post (ISSN 1053-5616) is published biweekly except July for a total of 24 issues. The publisher is the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona located at 3718 E. River Rd., Tucson, AZ 85718. Inclusion of paid advertisements does not imply an endorsement of any product, service or person by the Arizona Jewish Post or its publisher. The Arizona Jewish Post does not guarantee the Kashrut of any merchandise advertised. The Arizona Jewish Post reserves the right to refuse any advertisement.

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, January 11, 2019

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First let me explain how I ended up joining the community of freegans, or dumpster divers, as we like to be called (though my wife prefers “Garbage Pail Kids”). It began in the summer, when I decided to start taking my children on weekends to the Chabad shul located near Amsterdam’s famed Albert Cuyp Market. Pushing them along in a buggy at closing time, I saw greengrocers binning (tossing out) full crates of still-fresh luxury items: avocados, mangoes, kiwis and persimmons ($1.50 each). Some were rotten. Mostly, though, there were boxes full of perfectly edible items: mushrooms, asparagus, raspberries and blueberries. There were honey melons and pricey herbs like cilantro, thyme, dill, basil and ginger. I placed a few items in the buggy’s basket before davening, and a greengrocer gave me the thumbs up. “It’s all good food,” he said. But by the start of business the following week, he added, it will have developed spots or gone soft, “and then it’d get binned anyway ’cause no one would buy it.” From one weekly Torah portion to another, I perfected my foraging skills and gear. I began taking a larger buggy and a fleet of reusable plastic bags. I started wearing boots and other dumpster-worthy attire. I got better at discerning levels of ripeness. And my children learned to be patient

while I looked for food. I often held up various finds, explaining which part of the world they come from and what the plant that produces them looks like. I only realized how this must look two days before Christmas, when a kind Spanish tourist handed me 5 euros. He was clearly shocked by the sight of a seemingly desperate man standing at the height of winter in a pile of trash amid a flock of herons picking at the fish remains, cleaning off produce and announcing it enthusiastically to his infant children. Then it got slightly awkward. I explained that I didn’t need his money. He dismissed my protest as pride and implored me to take it “for the children,” adding “There is no shame in receiving help.” That may be true, but there’s shame aplenty in wasting food — at least in Judaism. The prohibition against doing so — “do not destroy” — appears in the Torah in a verse devoted to the rules of war. Even when laying siege to a city to starve its residents into surrendering, the verse stipulates, “do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit.” That verse in Deuteronomy goes on to juxtapose people and trees in a statement that is often repeated on Tu b’Shvat because many misconstrue it to See Dumpster, page 8

OZ continued from page 6

at the beginning, he also captured the mood, rhythms and sorrow of its people for nearly every decade of Israel’s existence. But there was more. Israelis related to Oz not only as a storyteller, but also as unofficial statesman. He was one of the founders of Peace Now. Indeed, he was among the first, almost immediately after the euphoria of the Six-Day War, to attribute a doomsday prophesy to the capturing of Arab land. In his writings and public statements, Oz spoke of a moral corruption that could only be corrected by a two-state solution. No longer was he a mere fiction writer; he had become the conscience of a nation and a pesky activist in its political culture. Beyond advocating for Palestinian justice, Oz blamed Israel’s government for not making Palestinian statehood a reality. For a time, many Israelis, especially those who identified with the left-wing, social democratic Labor and Meretz parties, joined Oz in promoting an idealized view of Palestinian intentions and a selfflagellating opinion of Israeli policy. But now, so many years after the failed Oslo Accords, with multiple wars in Gaza and Lebanon, ISIS and Hezbollah in Syria, a nuclear Iran, and intifadas of the suicide-bombing, mortar-throwing, car-ramming, knife-stabbing and incendiary kite-flying variety, Israelis have largely abandoned the aspirations of Peace Now. The vision for Israel that Oz helped pioneer had suddenly become anachronistic, a byproduct of a bygone, hope-filled era. The hardened reality of Palestinian rejectionism, violence and incitement left many Israelis cynical and contemptu-

Debbie Evenchik

ous of Oz’s misspent idealism. Sephardic, Russian and Orthodox Israelis formed their own political movements that mowed over the humanistic kibbutzniks and Peace Now advocates like a political bulldozer. In response, some of Oz’s later books dealt with issues of betrayal, fanaticism and zealotry — as if he was taking on his critics, Palestinians and even himself. But no one would have expected what Oz told a German interviewer in the summer of 2014 when asked about Israel’s military conduct during the Gaza War, and the killing of Palestinian civilians standing shoulder to shoulder with Hamas terrorists: “What would you do if your neighbor across the street sits down on the balcony, puts his little boy on his lap, and starts shooting machine-gun fire into your nursery? What would you do if your neighbor across the street digs a tunnel from his nursery to your nursery in order to blow up your home or in order to kidnap your family?” The founder of Peace Now, who never gave up on the dream, gazed at Gaza not with the romanticism of a novelist but through the eyes of a protective father. And to the surprise of many, despite the civilian dead, he acknowledged Israel’s true moral dilemma and the tragic dimensions of this theater of war. An insistence on peace — that it must come “Now”! — is not a sustainable political strategy when peacemakers are nowhere to be found and martyrs are aplenty. Thane Rosenbaum, a novelist, essayist and law professor, is the author of “The Golems of Gotham,” “Second Hand Smoke,” “Elijah Visible,” “The Stranger Within Sarah Stein” and, most recently, “How Sweet It Is!” The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AJP or its publisher, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.

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Photo courtesy Liphshiz

Cnaan Liphshiz examines binned avocados at Amsterdam's Albert Cuyp Market, Jan. 5, 2018.

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, January 11, 2019

be an equation. “Do not cut them down. Are the trees people, that you should besiege them?” the text demands. “Do not destroy” is also the reason that in my native Israel, edible foods and bread especially are often set aside and placed separate from the trash bins. In case no people claim them, they must be given to animals, according to some rabbis, including Pinchas Badosh of the Israeli city of Beit Shean. He ruled recently that leftovers must not even be placed near other types of garbage to improve their chances of being eaten. For descendants of Holocaust survivors like myself, there’s an added aversion to waste that I learned from my grandmother early in childhood. She described the potato peels that she once encountered in her bowl of soup at Auschwitz, saying she had never tasted anything more delicious. She ate those peels as a young woman weighing 85 pounds, she would say. Unfortunately, the Jewish state does not quite live up to the Jewish principles on wastage. In Israel, about 35 percent of food gets binned, resulting in an annual loss of $5.2 billion, according to a 2018 report. Of that, nearly half is thrown away by retailers and consumers. Beyond the loss of the produce itself, this waste represents gratuitous damage to the environment through the carbon footprint of producing and transporting the food — not to mention fertilizers and the suffering of animals involved in its production. The loss in Israel is similar to the world average, but it’s significantly higher than in EU countries like the Netherlands, where only 20 percent of food is lost. It’s the result of an ambitious effort in which Dutch supermarket chains are obliged to label and significantly discount soon-to-expire food

and transfer unsold produce to a network of food banks. My wife and I kind of started our own food bank: We cook wholesale over the weekend — small tubs of asparagus soup are a common site — and distribute the result among anyone willing to take it. It has brought us closer to people outside our comfortable little circle: less fortunate neighbors who respond to our offers of free food on the neighborhood WhatsApp group and Facebook page. It has helped us save money (about $150 a month) while simultaneously realizing our goal to reduce meat consumption — another major cause for pollution worldwide. We’ve become quite creative in the kitchen. Our meals now are scrumptious and healthy affairs. The weekend cooking marathons reduced the amount of time we spend on preparing weekday dinners, affording us more time together. They also brought our family closer because we have dinner every Shabbat now at my father-in-law’s, who lives conveniently near the market. I even made new friends with fellow scavengers; we exchange tips and loot. Marianne is a retired Jewish woman who sets aside and sends to Israeli charities whatever money she saves by foraging. Jamal hands out produce at his mosque. And Pieter, well, he’s probably addicted to weed and forages to free up dope money. Most important perhaps is how foraging is helping me teach my children the value of food and expose them to what many millions of people must do to grow, ship, sell and cook it. Maybe it’s time to take the educating down a notch on this front, though. Last week I saw my boy inviting classmates at his posh Jewish kindergarten to join him in the yard and “look for good food.” Cnaan Liphshiz is JTA’s European correspondent. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AJP or its publisher, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.

ARTS & CULTURE / LOCAL ‘Zero Hour’ to bring the fiery Mostel to life on IT’s stage

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im Brochu stars in “Zero Hour: The Zero Mostel Story” for the Invisible Theatre this weekend. The play is set in the legendary actor’s painting studio as a naïve reporter attempts to interview the famously volatile artist, prompting an explosion of memory, humor, outrage and juicy backstage lore. Mostel, born Samuel Joel Mostel to Jewish immigrant parents in Brooklyn, is best remembered for his comedic genius in “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” (on Broadway and later on film), Broadway’s “Fiddler on the Roof ” and the film “The Producers,” but in the 1950s he was equally known for his place on the infamous Hollywood blacklist. Brochu wrote “Zero Hour,” which he premiered in 2006 and has performed more than 600 times across the country. He is the only actor in America to have won the New York Drama Desk Award, the Washington, D.C. Helen Hayes Award, the Los Angeles Ovation Award, the South Florida Carbonell Award and the Palm Springs Desert Star Award, all for Best Actor in a Play. The production is directed by actress and activist Piper Laurie, who has been nominated for three Academy Awards, won a Golden Globe for her role in “Twin Peaks” and has been nominated for nine Emmy Awards, winning for her role in “Promise,” a Hallmark Hall of Fame special. “Zero Hour” will play for two performances, Saturday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Jan. 13 at 3 p.m., both at The Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200

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Minta L. Keyes, D.V.M. Jim Brochu as Zero Mostel in ‘Zero Hour’

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‘My Life in Sports’ returns from Off-Broadway to Tucson PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

Photo: Ryan fagan

he Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre will present “My Life in Sports,” written and performed by Tucsonan Bill Epstein, Jan. 17-27. “A coming-of age story, a cautionary tale, and a love story, ‘My Life in Sports’ is a dramatic memoir about the romance of men and sports, about the games we play with love and family, masculinity and identity, death and desire,” says the playwright. Epstein, who grew up in “a very observant Reform Jewish family” in a small Pennsylvania town, says that while the play does not focus on his Jewish identity, “it is there always, but it’s on the back burner …and occasionally erupts,” as when a boy beats him up on the playground and calls him names because he’s Jewish. Many others of his generation share such experiences of prejudice, he says, but in the play he explores some of the reasons that may have motivated the boy, who lived with his father, an abusive drunk, in a two-room shack with a tar-paper roof. Originally written, workshopped and performed in Tucson to critical acclaim, “My Life in Sports” was performed off-Broadway in 2016 as part of the United Solo Theatre Festival, the world’s largest solo theater festival. Epstein, a professor emeritus of English at the Uni-

Bill Epstein

versity of Arizona, has produced, directed, written, and acted in productions in the United States and the United Kingdom. He has published articles and books of literary and film scholarship and criticism, and works of fiction and creative non-fiction. His written work has been nominated for various awards and won the James L. Clifford Prize. The Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre is located in Tucson’s Historic Y, 738 N. Fifth Ave. For tickets, visit www.scoundrelandscamp.org or call 448-3300.

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ARTS & CULTURE/ LOCAL

Photo courtesy Damion Alexander

3 generations show artworks at consulate

From left, Sam Alexander, Lynn Rae Lowe and Damion Alexander exhibit together in ‘United by Art’ at Tucson’s Mexican consulate.

PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

ward-winning Tucson artist Lynn Rae Lowe; her son, Damion Alexander; and her grandson, Sam Alexander, 19, are among 13 artists featured in “United by Art,” an exhibit on display at the Mexican Consulate in Tucson, 3915 E. Broadway Blvd., through Feb. 8. “I am honored to have an opportunity to be a part of a show that is celebrating diversity at the Mexican Consulate. In the past few years we have not been the most harmonious neighbors,” says Damion Alexander, referring to the United States and Mexico, “and doing a little part, any part, brings great joy to me and helps me do my part to achieve tikkun olam (repair of the world).” A reception for the family’s art will be held at the consulate on Wednesday, Jan. 23, from 5-7 p.m. Curator Sandra Bernal, a lecturer at the University of Arizona School of Architecture with a Ph.D. in Arid Lands Resource Science, says that the artists in the exhibit are united by more than art. “We all are united by nature. The land we touch needs our help to restore the

habitat of native species,” says Bernal, who also sees father, son and grandmother as united by how their art expresses “their joy for life and for each other.” She attended a recent exhibit of photographs by Damion and Sam Alexander dedicated to an owl they called Izzy. “I was amazed by the picture of Izzy in front of what I immediately recognized as a piece of Lynn’s art,” she says, explaining that the sense of balance in the photos, and their ability to bring the viewer into a moment, is reminiscent of Lowe’s artwork, even though their styles and media are so different. Since this is hard to express in words, she says, “I gave them an entire wall at the consulate to show us.” Lowe says the invitation to create the three-generational exhibit is “one of the best community and familial opportunities I have ever been given … one of the greatest naches (feeling of pride and joy) of my life.” For Sam Alexander, who is studying photography at the UA, “it is wonderful as a developing artist” to create art alongside his father and have his work hung beside his grandmother’s. Full disclosure: Damion Alexander is a member of the Arizona Jewish Post advisory board.

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ARTS & CULTURE / LOCAL

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UA to present concerts of Jewish, Israeli music S a t u rd a y, J a n u a r y 2 6 , 7 : 0 0 p m

Arizona Balalaika Orchestra Winter Concert Alexander Tentser, Conductor Featuring Barynya Ensemble & Lajkonik Polish Folk Dancers

Pima Community College Center for the Arts Photo courtesy Daniel Asia

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The late Andre Hadju was considered one of Israel’s most important composers.

aniel Asia, a composer and University of Arizona professor of music, will present two concerts of Jewish and Israeli music later this month at the UA Fred Fox School of Music. In “Breath in a Ram’s Horn – To Open in Praise CD Celebration,” on Sunday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m., Asia will talk about the relationship between classical music and Judaism. Performances of Asia’s music will highlight works inspired by Jewish texts, including the Psalms and poems by his long-time collaborator Paul Pines, and Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. Many of the pieces to be performed are featured on Asia’s critically acclaimed CD, “To Open in Praise.” The concert, which will be held in Crowder Hall, will feature Welsh baritone Jeremy Huw Williams, with Ellen Chamberlain on violin and Paula Fan on piano. Williams made his debut with the Welsh National Opera as Guglielmo (“Così fan tutte”) and has since appeared in more than 60 operatic roles. He has performed at major venues around the globe. Williams has made recordings for BBC Radio 3 as well as many commercial recordings, including 10 solo discs of songs. Tickets are $10 general admission, $7 for UA employees and seniors 55+, and $5 for students. Pianist Ricardo Hegman will perform “Music of Israeli Composer Andre Hajdu,”

a free concert on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in Holsclaw Hall. “Andre Hajdu was one of the most important composers of Israel, an erudite scholar of Jewish music, and wrote many works based on Jewish folk music. I had the good fortune to play and conduct his music, and the honor to be his friend. This concert is a tribute to a great composer, teacher, and human being,” says Hegman, an orchestra conductor and professor. Hegman started his music studies at the National Conservatory in Argentina and moved to Israel at the age of 17. He earned an MA in conducting, composition and piano at Rubin Academy of Jerusalem. As a conductor he gave concerts with the Jerusalem Symphony, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Buenos Aires, among others. Today he is the head of the School of Arts at Maimonides University in Buenos Aires. Both evenings are co-sponsored by the Fred Fox School of Music, The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies Pozez Lecture Series, the Tucson Jewish Community Center, and the American Culture and Ideas Initiative. The Fred Fox School of Music is located at 1017 N. Olive Road. For tickets, visit www.tickets.arizona.edu or call the UA Fine Arts Box Office at 621-1162. For more information, visit www.music. arizona.edu.

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Crocheting whimsical creatures is a meditation for Jewish Tucson Concierge DEBE CAMPBELL AJP Assistant Editor

Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP

skill Carol Sack attained as a young girl of 10 has become a lifelong treasure that brings pleasure to many. Carol Sack has crocheted a Noah’s arkfull of animals and dolls over her lifetime, an activity she now practices daily as a meditation. She gives her creations, large and small, as gifts or donations to spread warmth and smiles. After all, you can’t help but grin at their charm. Take the goldfish, for instance: a smiling, bright orange, crocheted fish dangles from the lid of a glass jar filled with beach glass and colorful, crocheted coral. It’s the perfect, carefree pet and conversation piece. Miniature crochet barrel cacti, fitted into shallow ceramic bowls, make perfect novelty ornaments on a colleague’s desk. For PJ Library, Sack created a beloved storybook character, Ziz, to help tell children’s tales. While it takes five to eight hours to crochet an animal, small to large, Sack does it every day, in bits and pieces, spending up to 20 hours weekly on the crafts, one leg, arm, or snout at a time. Lately, she’s turned her attention to painting, replicating her yarn cacti into colorful stone gardens. She learned that craft from a YouTube video, then translated it into Aboriginal-style dot art on large stone paperweights. Sack didn’t really discover her creativity until her 20s when her late husband was in medical school. “I never considered myself creative,” she says. She started with a string-art kit and decided it was the worst craft in the world. “I never did that again,” she recalls. “The age of technology creates access to all sorts of things. It inspires me to try everything.”

Jewish Tucson Concierge Carol Sack with some of her creations.

She has purchased more than 100 crochet patterns from Etsy.com, just for animals. But she still has some old yellowed patterns clipped from craft books from the ’70s. In the ’80s she started creating soft-sculpture dolls during the Cabbage Patch Doll craze. The life-like, anatomically correct “babies” have sculptured features for noses, mouths, hands, toes and even belly buttons.

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From there, Sack moved on to beading and jewelry-making, mastering the intricate Kumihimo Japanese beading and braiding technique. That’s where she learned to trust her instinct to construct freeform, letting her hands “just do it.” “I just had to listen to my gut and let go,” she says. Through experience, she now trusts that instinct to edit patterns to scale up or scale down crochet work. She’s ready to start writing her own patterns. “I’ve always had jobs that required planning ahead. This is the complete opposite,” Sack says of the stitching. “It’s a good balance with my work.” Sack works part-time in her concierge position, housed at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Her craftwork has gained so much notoriety there that she’s been asked to teach a crafting class at the J in March. Crochet is hard to explain, says Sack. The importance lies in creating uniform stitches. Working 18 hours a week and enjoying her stitching meditation is not all that is on Sack’s plate. She volunteers with Literacy Connects in the Reading Seed program, regularly coaching three students to love reading. She participates in a weekly weight training program at the J and donates her crafted items to facilities such as Ronald McDonald House. With a marketing background, Sack started in the early 1970s as a pharmaceutical representative, only the second female salesperson east of the Mississippi, she recounts. “I won an award my second year. I had to prove to them a woman could do it.” Now, more than 85 percent of the pharmaceutical sales workforce is female, she adds. When the Sacks moved from Cleveland, Ohio, to Tucson in 1977, she took a part-time office position at a nonprofit when her twin girls started school. She fell See Crocheting, page 16

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Local expert shares self-defense strategies

Steve Brass, right, teaches a student ‘stun and run’ self-defense techniques.

STEVE BRASS Special to the AJP

he dawn of a new year is a great time to refresh our personal safety toolboxes and begin looking at our world with new eyes. How often do you discuss your personal safety with your family members? What happens if your home is robbed, you are attacked on the street or in your place of worship? Do you have a plan of action for your business in case it is invaded? As a personal self-protection trainer for many years and a local member of our community, I would like to offer some simple strategies you can begin using today and could save you from an ugly incident. Situational awareness is the best selfdefense of all. Whether you have studied Krav Maga, karate, boxing, mixed martial arts, or taken no training, being aware of your surroundings and planning for a predator makes your safety a prior-

ity wherever you find yourself. You begin looking at people and situations differently, and reviewing options if something turns ugly. Here are some new ways to protect yourself and your property. Protecting your cash 1. Never carry a wallet. Pickpockets and thieves target those with bulging back pockets or large purses. Keep your cash in front pockets and split it up. If you are out running errands or shopping keep a small bill as a decoy in a front pocket, and if confronted in a parking lot or isolated place, throw the decoy in one direction as you run in the other. Hide larger amounts of cash or credit cards in an undergarment pocket or in different areas like your bra, socks or inside pockets. Better yet, carry only the credit cards you need for the day and put the rest in a home safe. Hikers, joggers, and walkers should not carry much cash and no cards, except See Self-defense, page 16

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Nearly 44 million people worldwide have Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which impairs memory, induces disorientation, and provokes mood and behavior changes. It is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and as the population ages, its effects will only increase. Some insight into its causes may be found in oral health. Since AD can be characterized by inflammation of the brain, scientists have been investigating peripheral infections, such as those originating in the oral cavity as potential root causes. Many bacteria in the mouth, particularly in people with gum disease, find their way into the bloodstream. If these bacteria pass the bloodbrain barrier, any of them could be implicated in AD. Much of the previous research has examined just a couple of groups of bacteria and there are more than 900 different bacteria present in the oral cavity. It becomes clear that the need for oral hygiene management by dental professionals increases as dementia advances. Crowding can also hinder the ability for the patient to properly maintain a healthy oral environment. Plaque and calculus over time can cause periodontal infections such as gingivitis and/or periodontal disease and/or dental decay. If teeth are straightened, the patient can have an increased ability to care for those areas and be able to minimize the bacteria that is the culprit of these issues. - Dentistry Today

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After his residency in Ophthalmology at the University of Florida College of Medicine, Dr. Kusman finished a fellowship in Cataract Surgery at The Bascom Palmer Eye Institute in Miami, Florida. He is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (F.A.C.S.) and the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Kusman has been recognized by the International Association of Health Care Professionals as a Top Ophthalmologist, and has been spotlighted in The Leading Physicians of the World.

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Michael Hammer, Ph.D. (left), and Baowei Chen, Ph.D., examine cells in which the WIF-1 gene is silenced.

lioblastoma is a deadly brain cancer that grabbed headlines for claiming the lives of Sens. Edward Kennedy and John McCain. Michael Hammer, Ph.D., and a team of University of Arizona researchers have discovered that the disease could be “tricked” into sparing more of its victims. The researchers looked for genetic differences between glioblastoma cells from long- and short-term survivors to discover that those who survived longer had a protein that might be targeted to increase survival in all glioblastoma patients. The results were presented in November at the Society for NeuroOncology conference in New Orleans. This work is in its early stages, and the

researchers say they are many years and millions of dollars away from potential translation into treatments for patients. “I was curious to know how genes are differentially expressed in patients who live longer,” says Hammer, co-director of the UA Cancer Center Genomics Shared Resource and research scientist with the UA BIO5 Institute. “If we can identify a pathway in the tumor that we might be able to target, we can try to make the short-lived patients look more like the long-lived patients.” “Glioblastoma essentially is incurable,” says Baldassarre “Dino” Stea, M.D., Ph.D., head of the UA College of Medicine–Tucson Department of Radiation Oncology. “In the past 15 years, See Genetics, page 17

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Tale of wife’s recovery brims with love, dark humor PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

ouglas Segal’s “Struck: A Husband’s Memoir of Trauma and Triumph” is a riveting book. It’s heartbreaking, inspiring, unflinchingly honest, and often funny as hell, which is something of a surprise in a book that starts off with the author’s wife and 12-year-old daughter caught up in a horrific car accident, hit head-on by a Los Angeles city bus. Amazingly, his daughter is OK, with not a single broken bone. But his wife is very seriously injured, fighting for her life.

CROCHETING continued from page 12

in love with the Community Foundation and grew her job into grants program management, eventually becoming the founding director of the Women’s Founda-

When you’re Here ... You’re Home

SELF-DEFENSE continued from page 13

a driver’s license. Have some defensive tool (there are many options, including pepper spray and tasers) in a fanny pack with your phone. Never wear ear buds. Predators love distracted people who cannot hear them coming. 2. Photocopy all your cards front and back, and secure the copies and cards you don’t need to carry in a home safe. If you are robbed, you have a list of which companies to call to report the theft and stop any serious damage to your credit rating and identity. On the road 3. When driving do not become frozen at stops, looking straight ahead. Look around and be aware of anyone approaching your vehicle. If they want to carjack you, you want time to see them and drive away. Leave at least one car length between your car and the driver in front of you in case you have to make a quick exit. Never set your home address on your car GPS, because if the vehicle is stolen the thieves now have your home location. You can set a nearby store as your home address. Fresh eyes — situational awareness 4. When entering or exiting any building, stop in

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As family and friends gather in the hospital waiting room and others clamor for news, Segal, a film and TV writer and producer, sends out the first of what will be many email updates. Built around these updates, “Struck” is also a testament to the power of community, as friends, including many from their congregation, Temple Israel of Hollywood, rally around to offer love and support. Uplifting without being preachy, “Struck” is as spellbinding as the best binge-worthy TV show. Except that every moment of this story is real. For more information, visit www.prospect parkbooks.com.

tion of Southern Arizona. She also served for a decade as development director for Handmaker and Jewish Family & Children’s Services. “I never thought I’d wind up in the nonprofit world,” Sack muses. But there was a greater pattern to her journey. “I just had to let go and let that pattern guide me,” she says with satisfaction.

the doorway, and survey 360 degrees before entering. If there is a robbery or fight happening you do not want to walk in on it. Monitor the people coming and going, and especially keep an eye on their hands and waists. If they are carrying a weapon, you want to be aware. Avoid falling into a trance on your smartphones and stay alert to your surroundings. When at temple or a theater or business meeting, sit near an exit and have good sightlines of all entrances. Protecting your ride 5. When approaching your vehicle, stop a few car lengths away and survey your surroundings. If someone is targeting you and your parcels you want time to walk past your vehicle or to drop them, free up your hands and prepare to fight. It might be easier to walk into a coffee shop or store where there are witnesses. Most predators do not want attention or witnesses. You can also call 911 and wait for help. Before getting into your car, check the back seat and under the vehicle to ensure no one is waiting inside. Packages should also be placed out of sight. Making your personal safety a priority will help ensure a safer new year.

Steve Brass is an international “stun and run” self-defense trainer who also is certified as a use of force instructor. He offers private and small group workshops in Tucson. Contact him at 822-4338 or www. streetsmartdefense.net.

GENETICS continued from page 15

only one drug — temozolomide — has been invented, whereas the rest of the cancer field is zooming forward.” With surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation, adults with glioblastoma survive for an average of 11–15 months. Some succumb sooner, while others outlive their initial prognosis by months or even years. After sifting through 800 genes in 23 glioblastoma samples, the team identified the WIF-1 gene, which manufactures the WIF-1 protein, a strong predictor of long-term survival. Hammer also is known for the DNA Shoah Project, established with New York-based geneticist Syd Mandelbaum. The databank helps descendants of Holocaust victims make genetic matches to recovered remains. In addition, he collaborated with Rabbi Yaakov Kleiman, director of the Center for Kohanim in Jerusalem, on research on the “Cohen gene,” tracing the Jewish priestly lineage from Moses’ brother, Aaron, to modern times. While testing for the WIF-1 gene someday may help oncologists predict which patients will survive longer, a greater hope is that this work will lead to a drug that targets glioblastoma tumors with more precision than standard treatment. “We hope to create a drug to suppress the Wnt pathway so that everybody survives longer,” Stea says. “It would be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

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AREA CONGREGATIONS CONSERVATIVE Congregation anshei israel

5550 E. Fifth St., Tucson, AZ 85711 • (520) 745-5550 Rabbi Robert Eisen, Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny • www.caiaz.org Daily minyan: Mon.-Thurs., 7:30 a.m. & 5:30 p.m.; Fri., 7:30 a.m.; Sun. & legal holidays, 8 a.m. & 5:30 p.m. / Mincha: Fri., 5:45 p.m. / Shabbat services: Sat., 9 a.m., followed by Kiddush; Tot Shabbat, 1st Fri., 5:45 p.m.; Family Service, 3rd Friday, 5:45 p.m.; Holiday services may differ, call or visit website. / Torah study: every Shabbat one hour before Mincha (call or visit website for times) / Talmud on Tuesday, 6 p.m. / Weekday Torah study group, Wed., 11 a.m. beverages and dessert provided.

Congregation Bet shalom 3881 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 • (520) 577-1171 Rabbi Hazzan Avraham Alpert • www.cbsaz.org Shabbat services: Fri., 5:30 p.m. (followed by monthly dinners — call for info); Sat. 9:30 a.m., Camp Shabbat (ages 6-10) 10 a.m.-noon, followed by Kiddush lunch; 12:30-2 p.m. CBS Think Tank discussion led by Rabbi Dr. Howard Schwartz and Prof. David Graizbord; monthly Tot Shabbat (call for dates) / Weekday services: Wed. 8:15 a.m. / Hagim 9:30 a.m.

ORTHODOX Congregation ChoFetz Chayim/southwest torah institute 5150 E. Fifth St., Tucson, AZ 85711 • (520) 747-7780 Rabbi Israel Becker • www.tucsontorah.org Shabbat services: Fri., Kabbalat Shabbat 15 minutes before sunset; Sat. 9 a.m. followed by Kiddush. / Mincha: Fri., 1 p.m.; Sat., 25 minutes before sunset, followed by Shalosh Seudas, Maariv and Havdallah. Services: Sun., 8 a.m.; Mon. & Thurs., 6:50 a.m.; Tues., Wed., Fri., 7 a.m.; daily, 15 minutes before sunset. / Weekday Rosh Chodesh services: 6:45 a.m.

Congregation young israel/ChaBad oF tuCson 2443 E. Fourth St., Tucson, AZ 85719 • (520) 881-7956 Rabbi Yossie Shemtov, Rabbi Yudi Ceitlin • www.chabadoftucson.com Daily minyan: Sun. & legal holidays, 8:30 a.m.; Mon. & Thurs., 6:30 p.m.; Tues., Wed., Fri., 6:45 a.m. / Mincha & Maariv, 5:15 p.m. / Shabbat services: Fri. at candlelighting; Sat. 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush. Mincha, Maariv and Havdallah TBA.

ChaBad on river 3916 E. Ft. Lowell Road • (520) 661-9350 Rabbi Ram Bigelman • www.chabadonriver.com Shabbat services: Fri., Mincha at candlelighting time, followed by Maariv. / Sat., Shacharit service, 9:30 a.m. / Torah study: women, Wed., 2 p.m.; men, Tues. and Thurs., 7 p.m. Call to confirm.

ChaBad oro valley 1217 W. Faldo Drive, Oro Valley, AZ 85755 • (520) 477-8672 Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman • www.jewishorovalley.com Shabbat services: 3rd Fri., 5 p.m. Oct.-Feb., 6 p.m. March-Sept., all followed by dinner / Sat., 10 a.m. study session followed by service.

ChaBad sierra vista 401 Suffolk Drive, Sierra Vista, AZ 85635 • (520) 820-6256 Rabbi Benzion Shemtov • www.jewishsierravista.com Shabbat services: Sat., 10:30 a.m., bimonthly, followed by class explaining prayers. Visit website or call for dates.

REFORM Congregation Beit simCha

3001 E. Skyline Drive, Suite 117, Tucson, AZ 85718 • (520) 276-5675 Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon • www.beitsimchatucson.org Shabbat services: Fri., 6:30 p.m.; Sat., 9 a.m., with Torah study twice per month; monthly Shabbat morning hikes.

REFORM

Congregation Chaverim 5901 E. Second St., Tucson, AZ 85711 • (520) 320-1015 Rabbi Stephanie Aaron • www.chaverim.net Shabbat services: Fri., 7 p.m. (no service on 5th Fri.); Family Shabbat, 1st Fri., 6 p.m. / Torah study: 2nd Sat., 9 a.m., followed by contemplative service,10 a.m.

Congregation Kol simChah

(Renewal) 4625 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 • (520) 296-0818 Mailing Address: 6628 E. Calle Dened, Tucson, AZ 85710 Shabbat services: 1st and 3rd Fri., 7:15 p.m.

Congregation m’Kor hayim 3888 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 (Tucson Hebrew Academy) Mailing Address: P.O. Box 31806, Tucson, AZ 85751 • (520) 904-1881 Rabbi Helen Cohn • www.mkorhayim.org Shabbat services: 2nd and 4th Fri., 7 p.m. / Torah study, 2nd and 4th Sat., 9:30 a.m.

Congregation or Chadash 3939 N. Alvernon, Tucson, AZ 85718 • (520) 512-8500 Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, Cantor Janece Cohen www.orchadash-tucson.org Shabbat services: Fri., 6:30 p.m.; 1st Fri., Friday Night LIVE (Sept.-May); 2nd Friday, Tot Shabbat (Sept.-May), 6 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m. / Torah study: Sat., 8:30 a.m.

the institute For JudaiC serviCes and studies Mailing Address: 36789 S. Golf Course Drive, Saddlebrooke, AZ 85739 Rabbi Sanford Seltzer • (520) 825-8175 Shabbat services: Oct.-April, third Friday of the month at 7 p.m. — call for details.

temple emanu-el 225 N. Country Club Road, Tucson, AZ 85716 • (520) 327-4501 Rabbi Batsheva Appel • www.tetucson.org Shabbat services: Fri., 7:30 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m./ Torah study: Sat., 8:30 a.m. except when there is a Rabbi’s Tish.

temple Kol hamidBar 228 N. Canyon Drive, Sierra Vista • (520) 458-8637 kolhamidbar.tripod.com Mailing address: P.O. Box 908, Sierra Vista, AZ 85636 Shabbat services: Fri., 7:30 p.m.

OTHER

Beth shalom temple Center

1751 N. Rio Mayo (P.O. Box 884), Green Valley, AZ 85622 (520) 648-6690 • www.bstc.us Shabbat services: 1st and 3rd Fri., 7 p.m. / Torah study: Sat., 10 a.m.

handmaKer resident synagogue

2221 N. Rosemont Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85712 • (520) 881-2323 www.handmaker.com Shabbat services: Fri., 4:30 p.m., led by Lindsey O’Shea, followed by Shabbat dinner; Sat., 9:30 a.m., led by Mel Cohen and Dan Asia, followed by light Kiddush lunch.

seCular humanist Jewish CirCle www.secularhumanistjewishcircle.org Call Cathleen at (520) 730-0401 for meeting or other information.

university oF arizona hillel Foundation 1245 E. 2nd St. Tucson, AZ 85719 • (520) 624-6561 • www.arizona.hillel.org Shabbat services: Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and alternative services two Fridays each month when school is in session. Dinner follows (guests, $8; RSVP by preceding Thurs.). Call for dates/times.

January 11, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

Camps & Summer Plans 95-year-old Holocaust survivor teaches kids Yiddish at Jewish camp BEN SALES JTA HOPEWELL JUNCTION, N.Y. Editor’s note: JTA published this article in February 2018. Marc Rauch, director of Camp Kinder Ring, assures the Arizona Jewish Post that Mikhl Baran, now 96, taught at the camp “throughout the summer of 2018 and plans to return in 2019. He is truly an icon at Kinder Ring, commanding the attentiveness of over 500 campers and staff at any given time — and is a pillar of all we stand for.”

he kids at Camp Kinder Ring mostly do what kids do at any Jewish summer camp. They hang out by the lake, play sports, goof off, find discreet places to, um, go on walks. But for an hour each day, groups of Jewish adolescents here eagerly do what few others will: They cram into a small, oblong pagoda near the lake and sit quietly as Mikhl Baran, a 95-year-old man,

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, January 11, 2019

teaches them Jewish history in an oldworld Yiddish accent. “So, he finally settled in Cairo, which is the capital city of ...” Baran waits for a kid to say “Egypt.” On this August afternoon, he is teaching the campers about Maimonides, the 12th-century Jewish sage, but talking about him as if he were a personal acquaintance. “In Cairo, over there, there’s a university at that time, and he managed to be very good friends with all the people around there, whether they were Arabs or Jews or Christians,” Baran says. “And he became very popular and famous, and he never took money from the poor people there. He only took money from the rich.” The Lithuania native, born in 1922, isn’t quite old enough to have known Maimonides, but the campers and staff at Kinder Ring respect him as a fount of knowledge from a fading world. And

the barrel-chested Baran, often sporting a tucked-in Kinder Ring polo shirt, has embraced that role with energy. He sees himself as the transmitter not only of Yiddish language, but also of Jewish history and culture to a new generation. “I grew up speaking only Yiddish,” he said, sitting on a cozy screened-in porch at the camp with Millie, his wife of 72 years. “My mother taught me, and my bubbe taught it, and for 80 generations my people spoke it.” It’s a fitting task at Kinder Ring, which was originally a Yiddish-language camp started in 1927 by the Workmen’s Circle — a society founded in 1900 as a socialist aid organization for European Jewish immigrants. Nowadays, with spoken Yiddish largely relegated in the United States to haredi Orthodox neighborhoods and a small community of Yiddishists, not much of the mamaloshn (mother tongue) is left at

“For 80 generations my people spoke Yiddish.”

Kinder Ring, which has 325 campers aged 7 to 16. The camp anthem and a couple other songs are sung in Yiddish, the Friday night service is called “Shtiller” (Yiddish for “quiet”) and that’s about it. “I ask them to call me Mikhl,” Baran says, noting that the name is the Yiddish form of Michael. “That’s already, in a sense, imbuing the idea that Yiddish is a great national treasure of the Jewish people.” Even before the Yiddish-speaking world was depleted in the Holocaust, Baran was a defender of the language. He grew up in Oshmiany, a shtetl near Vilnius, where there was a rift between Yiddish and Hebrew speakers. So when Baran was moved from a Yiddish cheder school to a Hebrew school as a teen, he simply refused to speak the language. Two years later, his parents gave up and switched him back to a Yiddish school. Baran was 17 when the Nazis took over in Lithuania. He managed to escape the ghetto and fled to the east, where he

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Mikhl Baran with some Kinder Ring campers

joined the Soviet Army and became, for lack of a better word, a badass. For two and a half years he served in a unit that went behind enemy lines and maneuvered through the snowy mountains on skis to capture Nazi officers. After the war, he found and married Millie, his childhood sweetheart, and in 1949 the survivor couple moved to New York. He took a position at a Workmen’s Circle school teaching Yiddish, and spent his first summer teaching at Kinder Ring in 1956. He also frequently appeared on the Yiddish radio station of the Forward, the Yiddish newspaper. “At that time it was still a generation that could manage functionally through Yiddish,” he said. “There was a great deal of emphasis on perpetuating the Yiddish culture.” Times have changed, however. Baran still teaches the kids Yiddish stories (in English), like Y.L. Peretz’s “The Seven Good Years,” about a peasant who gets a message from Elijah the prophet about seven coming years of abundance. But now much of his mission is to teach the fundamentals of Jewish culture, history and identity to kids who mostly don’t attend Jewish day school during the year. “For me it’s very important to teach them at least the basic things of what Jewish values are, like tzedakah,” he says, using the Hebrew word for charity. “I’m trying to impress upon them how important it is to not separate from the community. You’re part of the Jewish people.”

While some kids might disdain Jewish classes at a summer camp, the kids and staff all appear to love Baran and value his stories. The campers pay attention as he narrates Maimonides’ life. Beyond respect for him personally, the assistant camp director, Jessica Rich, says it’s because the camp has a sense of its history. Its two color war teams last year, for example, were named after the iconic immigrant poet Emma Lazarus and Justine Wise Polier, the first woman justice in New York. Rich’s kids are the fourth generation of her family to attend Kinder Ring. “We all dress in white, we gather around the flag and sing some of the same songs and do some of the same dances that I know have been going on for decades,” Rich says, describing the Friday night ceremony. “I was a camper and counselor in the ’80s and ’90s, and even then I know it was going on for decades because my mom was doing it in the ’50s and ’60s.” Baran, in turn, appreciates the reverence and attention he commands at the camp. But the elder statesman knows that there’s only so long he’ll be able to serve as a vessel from a lost world. And he isn’t sure what will come next. “I worry a great deal because my generation is passing already,” he says. “It’s almost gone. And we are the remnant. If we will not tell the story, who will?” This article was made possible with funding by the Foundation for Jewish Camp. The story was produced independently and at the sole discretion of JTA’s editorial team.

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WORLD In Myanmar, a tiny Jewish community hangs on to the past CHARLES DUNST JTA YANGON, MYANMAR here was a Hanukkah party last month in this former capital city and enough guests — over 200 — to surprise an uninvited tourist. “They’re no Jews here anymore,” the tourist proclaims, confused about the celebration at Yangon’s regal Chatrium Hotel. “Yes there are,” replies Ari Solomon, a guest from Australia. “No, they said there are 10 families,” the tourist responds. “Well, that’s not nothing — that’s 10 families,” Solomon counters. “That’s a lot. You go back to my hometown, Calcutta, and there are lucky to be 16 Jews, let alone 10 families.” Indeed, Myanmar’s Jewish community has dwindled to about 20 people. Most of the Jews had fled when Japan invaded the country in World War II, as the Axis power distrusted them for their perceived political alignment with the British. The majority who remained left in the mid-1960s, when the new regime nationalized businesses as part of a socialist agenda that would soon run the country into the ground. Still, Sammy Samuels, 38, the de facto leader of this Southeast Asian nation’s remaining Jewish community, has held out hope for its future, if not a revival. In recent years his father, Moses, had maintained the community, opening the door of Yangon’s sole synagogue daily in the hopes of welcoming tourists. Following his father’s death in 2015, Samuels has taken over, embracing social media and tourism to keep the community alive. But while he has replenished the driedup well of history with the fresh water of modernity, Myanmar’s fraught politics — most notably the crime perpetrated by its military against the Rohingya Muslims — are bringing a downturn in tourism and putting those gains at risk. “[Everyone] thinks that we’re small community [and that there’s] nothing going on,” Samuels says at the Dec. 7 Hanukkah celebration. “But we have this kind of event, the government people come — the embassy, friends and family, too.” The Jewish community here grew rapidly from the mid-1800s through 1942. At its peak, 3,000 Jews called Myanmar home when it was still known as Burma. Some rose to local power, like David Sofaer, who in the 1930s served as the mayor of Yangon, then known as Rangoon. Myanmar at the time was still a component of the British Empire. Jewish restaurants, pharmacies and schools once

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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, January 11, 2019

Photo: Charles Dunst

WHO’S WATCHING YOUR HOME?

Sammy Samuels, the de facto leader of Myanmar’s remaining Jewish community, inside Yangon’s synagogue.

marked the city’s streets. While these businesses have dissipated, Stars of David still adorn some buildings in Yangon: a school nearly 40 minutes from downtown; a skincare shop in the heart of downtown; a paint store across the street from the synagogue. “My great-grandfather came to Rangoon around the mid-19th century,” Samuels tells JTA in an interview. A Jewish community soon began to flourish, with many, like the Samuels family, coming from Baghdad, Iraq, in search of economic prosperity. Today, the 19th century Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue in Yangon sits solitary in this land of golden pagodas and remains wholly unguarded in the city’s main Muslim neighborhood. “People [here] would not understand what is ‘antiSemitism,’” says Samuels, whose Burmese name is Aung Soe Lwin. “Thank God, there’s no such a word here.” The owners of the shops surrounding the synagogue — mostly men wearing traditional Burmese longyi and Muslim kufi and thawb — are not hawking Judaica but superglue and paint, among other utility products. Spitting the residue from their chewed betel nut, these shopkeepers — teenagers, middle-aged and elderly — stain the street a crimson red. “Five buildings away, we have a mosque. And then right in front of us is the Buddhist temple,” Samuels says. “What a combination.” Samuels credits this respect across Myanmar’s ethnic and religious groups as directly tied to Israel. Joe Freeman explains in Tablet magazine that Burma was Israel’s “first friend” in Asia, as both countries secured independence from the British in 1948. Burma’s first prime minister, U Nu, had a “soft spot for Israel” and was close with David Ben-Gurion, his Israeli counterpart. U Nu was the first

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GETTING TO KNOW WEINTRAUB ISRAEL CENTER

The Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue in Yangon dates back to the 19th century.

prime minister of any country to visit the Jewish state. “The Burmese population, if you tell them ‘Judaism’ they don’t know, but if you tell ‘Israel,’ they feel like Israel is a religion,” Samuels says. “They fully respect Israel.” But Yangon’s religious diversity, which has long bestowed Jews with safety, is not reflective of Myanmar at large. The majority of the country remains off limits for tourists due to raging ethnic conflicts; Jews historically lived mostly in Yangon and Mandalay. In 2016, the Myanmar military ramped up its long-running persecution of the Rohingya Muslims, whom most Burmese regard as outsiders and some as terrorists. The military’s barbarism of the community includes torching villages, throwing babies into fires, decapitating young boys and mass rape. Some 1.1 million Rohingya have fled Myanmar; thousands are believed to have been killed in what a United Nations investigator called an ongoing genocide. People in Yangon, from the Bamar ethnic majority to its Muslims, are disconnected from if not outwardly antagonistic toward the Rohingya in the Rakhine State. Burmese social media is awash with antiRohingya posts.

Samuels, perhaps due to his Western education and Jewish understanding of the horrors of ethnic scapegoating, speaks more empathetically about the Rohingya. He even uses the word “Rohingya,” although the Israeli government, in line with Myanmar’s government’s preference, refuses to do the same. Israel allowed its arms firms to sell weapons to Myanmar’s military through the fall of 2017. During an interview, Ronen Gilor, the Israeli ambassador to Myanmar, declines to comment on this issue. “It’s an unfortunate event what happened in the Rakhine State,” Samuels says cautiously, likely because of Myanmar’s limited freedom of speech. “We really sympathize with them.” The U.S. Holocaust Museum recently classified the crimes against the Rohingya as genocide. Samuels politely opts not to comment on Israel’s arming of Myanmar’s military as well. He does say, however, that the military’s campaign has caused a decline in tourism. “A lot of people start to boycott traveling to Myanmar, but when we say tourism, it’s not just about us, a tour See Myanmar, page 22

JFSA Northwest Division’s ‘Getting to Know Us’ event Dec. 6 at the Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest welcomed guest speaker Amir Eden, director of the Weintraub Israel Center. Northwest residents heard Eden speak on how (L-R): Amir Eden, Gila Ben-Jamin, the Center spreads knowledge about Caryl Palazzolo, Mike Jacobson, Israel and the October Israel trip Wendy Jacobson, Alan Kendal, by Southern Arizona residents. The Phyllis Gold, Carol Nudelman, next ‘Getting To Know Us’ event at Marti Cohen the Olson Center for Jewish Life is March 7 with Ori Green, legacy officer at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona. For information contact Phyllis Gold at the Olson Center, pgold@jfsa.org or Amir Eden at WIC, aeden@jfsa.org.

WELCOMING WINTER RESIDENTS JFSA hosted its annual Winter Residents event Dec. 16. More than 40 current and former Winter Residents gathered to hear JFSA’s Board Chair, Shelly Silverman, and CEO, Stuart Mellan. The event allows seasonal community members to learn about programs in the Tucson community while meeting others who have chosen to call Tucson their part-time home.

Shelly Silverman and Stuart Mellan welcome returning residents

YOUNG WOMEN’S CABINET MAKES KITS FOR KIDS

Women’s Philanthropy Young Women’s Cabinet recently came together to learn about JFSA’s effort to reach out to underserved school children in our community at the Homer Davis Elementary School, part of the Flowing Wells School District. They assembled craft bags (L-R) Katie Stellitano-Rosen, to include in winter break food Nicole Zuckerman-Morris, Bronwyn boxes provided by Federation. The Sternberg, Jamie Kippur, Simone Krame, and Jennifer Selco YWC meets monthly, learning about JFSA’s mission and its beneficiary and partnership agencies. For more information, contact Danielle Larcom, dlarcom@jfsa.org.

COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS SUPPORT HOMER DAVIS

Communication colleagues from Roche Tissue Diagnostics recently prepared a year’s worth of special birthday gifts for the Homer Davis Project at the Homer Davis Elementary School in the Flowing Wells School District. Truly Nolen volunteers continue regular pick up, transport and packing weekly and weekend food packages for nearly 100 students. For information or to volunteer contact Mary Ellen Loebl, meloebl@jfsa.org.

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January 11, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

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MYANMAR continued from page 21

company, or the hotel or airline. It involves the tour guide, taxi driver, hotel bellman,” he says. “They should not be punished for what happened.” Even when Myanmar was a pariah state, Moses Samuels had long helped Jewish tourists interested in visiting the country, answering their queries regarding accommodations, flights and restaurants. Father and son eventually turned it into a business: Myanmar Shalom Travel and Tours. “Thank God, since 2011, the country start[ed] changing unbelievably” and business began “booming,” the younger Samuels says. This increased business corresponded with a series of political, economic and administrative reforms pursued by Myanmar’s military junta. The junta even released from house arrest Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Prize-winning human rights advocate who spent nearly 15 years in some form of imprisonment and now runs the country’s civilian government. (She has since drawn criticism for her unwillingness to stand up for the Rohingya, although she has no control over the military.) A photo of Sammy Samuels and his family with Suu Kyi remains part of a photo display outside the synagogue. Samuels says that since 2011, social media has played a key role in strengthening his community. He also praises the Israeli Embassy for contributing to Yangon’s Jewish community. “The Israeli Embassy and us — I would even say it’s a family,” he says. Gilor echoed those thoughts in an interview.

“It’s a very good thing to have collaboration with Sammy and the Jewish community,” the ambassador tells JTA, calling the community “a bridge” among Myanmar, Israel and the Jewish world. Gilor is among the Hanukkah celebration’s VIP guests, as is Phyo Min Thein, the chief minister of Yangon. Other leaders, including those from the local interfaith dialogue and Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Baha’i, and Hindu communities, are on hand, too. Two Myanmar Shalom-organized tour groups — one of Israelis and one of Jews with familial histories in Myanmar — account for the overwhelming majority of the night’s Jewry. Samuels once pursued opportunities beyond Myanmar’s stifled borders, attending Yeshiva University and working for the American Jewish Congress in New York City. A Jewish visitor to Yangon had helped him get into Y.U. and obtain a full scholarship. Samuels would have been unable to obtain such an education in Myanmar, as the nation’s universities were closed intermittently for years as part of a military effort to bulwark repeated student revolutions. “I could’ve moved to U.S. and lived a better life,” Samuels says, explaining why he returned home following his father’s 2015 death. “But our main mission here is very simple: We don’t want any Jewish visitor coming to this country to be a stranger.” Editor’s note: “Call Me Rohingya,” which illuminates the experiences of the Rohingya in Burma and Bangladesh through the photographs of Andrew Stanbridge, is on display at the Holocaust History Center at Tucson’s Jewish History Museum through May 31. Read a longer version of this article on www.azjewish post.com.

OUR TOWN

Alma Hernandez, MPH, the first Mexican American Jew to be elected to the Arizona state legislature, was included in Lilith magazine’s “7 Jewish Feminist Highlights of 2018.” She was previously featured on the cover of the magazine’s Fall 2018 issue. Hernandez will represent Legislative District 3, on Tucson’s west side. A native Tucsonan, Hernandez is a former Jewish Community Relations Council coordinator for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. She received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Public Health degrees from the University of Arizona. Hernandez is a co-founder of Tucson Jews for Justice.

Business brief Maya S. Horowitz joined the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona as project manager in December. Most recently, she was a marketing and digital communications specialist at Stanford University in California, where she also previously worked as a research assistant at the Center for Deliberative Democracy. She was a writer and editor for Talkdesk software in San Francisco, and a reporter at Connection Newspapers in Alexandria, Virginia, for two years. She also freelanced in the Bay Area as an editor, reporter and tutor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in linguistics from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and a master of arts in communications with a specialty in journalism from Stanford. She arrived in Tucson in August with her husband, David Enard, an assistant professor in the ecology and evolutionary biology department at the University of Arizona.

(L-R): Rabbi Emeritus Ed Stafman of Congregation Beth Shalom in Bozeman, Montana; Rabbi Ethan Seidel of Tifereth Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C.; Olivia Rocamora, dean of Spanish at The Weber School in Atlanta, Georgia; Rabbi Julia Andelman, director of community engagement at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York; Rabbi Pamela Jay Gottfried, dean of Jewish studies at The Weber School; Stella Stanway, direct of education at Temple Beth Miriam in Elberon, New Jersey; Rabbi Charles Arian of Kehilat Shalom in Gaithersburg, Maryland; and Rabbi Michael Bernstein of Gesher L’Torah in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Tucson rabbi hosts dinner for Jewish educators visiting border Rabbi Ruven Barkan and his wife, Adina Weber, hosted a dinner at their home on Wednesday, Dec. 19 for rabbis and educators who participated in a threeday border immersion program in Nogales, sponsored by the Kino Border Initiative. Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Tucson’s Congregation Or Chadash called in to describe what the community is doing on a local level. “It was inspiring to learn from the group

of Jewish educators and rabbis as they reflected upon their mission to witness, comfort, and advocate on behalf of some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” says Barkan, director of Tucson Hebrew High, a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona with partner synagogues and agencies. Barkan is also education and youth director at Congregation Anshei Israel.

Photos courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy

Miriam Romero received the Arizona English Language Teacher of the Year Award at the Arizona Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition Services 2018 Conference, held Dec. 5 at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort. Romero is a teacher at Carrillo K-5 Magnet School in the Tucson Unified School District. She received dual degrees from the University of Arizona in 2007: a Bachelor of Arts in education concentrated in bilingual education as well as a Bachelor of Arts concentrated in Spanish and Portuguese literature. Romero says one of the enduring lessons she learned from her maternal grandparents, Edna and Ben Feldman, comes from the Talmud, “The end result of wisdom is … good deeds,” which inspires her to engage her students and their families in her classroom, encouraging student-led inquiry and learning.

In focus

Photo: Ruven Barkan

People in the news

THA kids present Hanukkah Hop Send news of your simchas to localnews@azjewishpost.com or call 319-1112

Tucson Hebrew Academy’s lower school (kindergarten through fourth grades) put on a ’50s-style Hanukkah Hop show of song and dance on Thursday, Dec. 6. The production was attended by parents, grandparents, other family and friends. January 11, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

OBITUARIES ®

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Philip Kleiman

Robert Leffler

Philip S. Kleiman 65, died Nov. 14, 2018. Mr. Kleiman attended the Franklin Institute in Boston where he earned a degree in mechanical drafting. He met his wife, Sheri, in Denver in 1974 and they married in 1979. The two moved to Tucson in 1980. Mr. Kleiman had a passion for classic cars and was a member of the Tucson Street Rod Association. Mr. Kleiman is survived by his wife of 40 years, Sheri; son, Ben Kleiman, and daughters, Beth Kleiman and Leslie (Paul) Conzemius; mother, Jean Kleiman and brother, Ed (Nancy) Kleiman. Services were held at Evergreen Mortuary with Rabbi Stephanie Aaron officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to www.fresh starttoday.org.

Robert A. Leffler, 88, died Dec. 20, 2018. Mr. Leffler was born in New York City. He received a degree in accounting from New York University. Mr. Leffler was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, Anita Stein Leffler, and brother, John Leffler, who died in World War II. Survivors include his life partner, Bev Bronstein; children, Alan (Doretta Allen) Leffler and Susan Beauchamp, both of Oro Valley; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Services were held at East Lawn Palms Mortuary with Cantor Janece Cohen of Congregation Or Chadash officiating.

Elise Gilden

Myron “Mickey” H. Freedman, 86, died Dec. 15, 2018. Mr. Freedman was born in Chicago. He was an engineer, retired from Raytheon. Mr. Freedman was predeceased by his wife, Cynthia, and daughter, Gail Freedman. Survivors include his daughter, Renee Freedman; one granddaughter and one greatgranddaughter; and friend Anita Asquith. Graveside services were held in the Congregation Anshei Israel section of Evergreen Cemetery with Rabbi Robert Eisen officiating. Memorial contributions may be made to Congregation Anshei Israel and the Diabetes Foundation.

Elise B. Gilden, 101, died Dec. 16, 2018. A native Chicagoan, Mrs. Gilden lived in Tucson for over 40 years. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in art history, and in her 50s received a master’s in special education from Roosevelt University in Chicago. As an artist, she worked with pastels and sculpture, and went into schools until the age of 85, showing children how to work with clay. She was also a docent at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. As an educator, she worked as a consultant for parents and children with learning disabilities, also serving as a witness in state court cases where learning problems were an issue in a child’s life. She fought for state funding for these children and served on the boards of learning disabilities organizations in Chicago and Tucson. Mrs. Gilden was married to Harold Gilden for 50 years. A great-grandniece of Henrietta Szold, founder of Hadassah, she was a life member of Hadassah and a member of ORT and the National Council of Jewish Women. She donated a Torah to Congregation Kol Haneshamah, which was active in Northwest Tucson from 2000-2003. The Torah is now used by the Institute for Jewish Services and Studies in Saddlebrooke. Previously Mrs. Gilden and her husband were members of Temple Emanu-El in Tucson and Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv and Congregation Solel in Chicago. Mrs. Gilden was predeceased by her husband, Harold, and daughter, Alexandra Kaplan. Survivors include her daughters Dorrie Iten of Zurich, Switzerland, and Jan Gilden of Sarasota, Florida; three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Private services were held. Memorial contributions may be made to Arizona Public Media at https://support.azpm.org.

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Obituaries are printed free of charge. There is a nominal fee for photographs.

Myron Freedman

Stanley Abrams Stanley Paul Abrams, 86, died Dec. 20, 2018. Mr. Abrams was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jesse and Gustav Abrams. He received his bachelor’s degree from Ohio University, and attended graduate school at the University of Michigan. While at Ohio University, he entered the ROTC program and was commissioned as a second lieutenant at Wright Patterson AFB. He later served as a first lieutenant from 1954-1956 at March AFB in California. The following year, he married his first wife, Barbara. They moved to Tucson in 1960 where Mr. Abrams worked for a homebuilder while also serving as a captain in the Arizona Air National Guard. He spent three years in Los Angeles before returning to Tucson and his career in real estate building and land development. Following his divorce, Mr. Abrams became reacquainted with Judy Kuropatkin Berman, and after a long courtship, they married in 1980. Mr. Abrams was a founding member of the Southern Arizona Leadership Council, served as a board member of La Frontera Center, and was active in the Southern Arizona Jewish community. Survivors include his wife, Judy; sister, Doris Goldstein; children, Eric, Teri, and Ted; and stepchildren, Lizzy, Rick, and Melissa. Services were held at the Evergreen Mortuary & Cemetery Chapel with Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel officiating.

OBITUARIES Scott Zorn, former Tucson J camp director, dies at 59 PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

he Tucson Jewish community was stunned by the news that Scott Zorn, 59, died Jan. 1, 2019, in Akron, Ohio, with hundreds of Facebook messages quickly going out to his wife, Julie; children, Haley and Dylan; and in-laws, Tucsonans Kathy and David Unger. Zorn was the director of children, youth and camping services at the Tucson Jewish Community Center from 2006 until the family moved to Akron in 2017, where he became the program director and children and youth director at the Shaw JCC. “Scott was the recipient of the Federation’s Community Professional Award in 2016 in recognition of the dynamism and warmth he brought to his professional role at the Tucson JCC,” read a Jan. 2 email from the office of Stuart Mellan, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. Todd Rockoff, president of the Tucson J, wrote on Facebook: “We will always remember Scott for the joy and music he brought to Camp and Shabbat. The thousands of children and families whose hearts he touched through his years in Tucson and then in Akron will miss him dearly. We know through the time that we shared with him, that a piece of him will continue to live on in all of us.” Zorn took pride in his role as “Shabbat Scott,” engaging children in joyous singing and guitar music. One of the places besides the JCCs that he performed that role was Tucson’s Congregation Or Chadash. “Scott was a person who shared his joy of life and music and Judaism

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with the whole community and was able to transmit it to children in a wonderful way,” says COC’s Cantor Janece Cohen. Although his death was a shock, she says, “His personality reminds us that we go on and we do our best to honor his memory by bringing that life and light into everything we do.” Many Facebook posts remarked on Zorn’s love for his wife and family, as well as the vitality he brought to his professional life. Eric Smith, a former counselor and unit head at the Tucson J’s camp, wrote, “For 9 years I had the pleasure to work for you, learn from you and call you my friend. You cared more than most, loved more than most and worked harder than most. The way you loved Julie and the kids is how I now model my love for my wife and son. You are my inspiration. You are what I strive to be.” Zorn was born Lloyd Scott in Jericho, New York, to Harold and Adele Zorn. The family moved to Los Angeles when he was 5, after their home burned in a fire. He met his wife, Julie, in Los Angeles. With a master’s degree in counseling psychology and a baby on the way, in 2004 they moved to Tucson, where he began working for Jewish Family & Children’s Services. After taking on his position at the Tucson J, he participated in national leadership training programs for the Jewish Community Centers Association. Zorn was predeceased by his father, Harold Zorn. Survivors include his wife, Julie Zorn; children, Haley and Dylan; mother, Adele Zorn of Las Vegas; sisters Susan (Barry) Franklin of Phoenix and Rochelle Zorn of Las Vegas; and father- and mother-in-law, David and Kathryn Unger of Tucson. Services and interment were in Ohio. Julie Zorn’s brother, Jeffrey A. Unger, started a GoFundMe campaign, www.gofundme.com/zorn-familyfund, to help defray the unexpected expenses, which raised more than $22,000 from almost 200 donors in its first day.

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COMMUNITY CALENDAR The calendar deadline is Tuesday, 10 days before the issue date. Our next issue will be published Jan. 25, 2019. Events may be emailed to office@azjewishpost.com, faxed to 319-1118, or mailed to the AJP at 3718 E. River Road, #272, Tucson, AZ 85718. For more information, call 319-1112. See Area Congregations on page 17 for additional synagogue events. Men’s Mishnah club with Rabbi Israel Becker at Cong. Chofetz Chayim. Sundays, 7:15 a.m.; Monday-Friday, 6:15 a.m.; Saturdays, 8:15 a.m. 747-7780 or yzbecker@me.com. Chabad of Sierra Vista men’s tefillin club with Rabbi Benzion Shemtov, first Sundays, 9 a.m., at 401 Suffolk Drive. 820-6256 or www.jewishsierravista.com. “Too Jewish” radio show with Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon on KVOI 1030 AM (also KAPR and KJAA), Sundays at 9 a.m. Jan. 13, Professor Anna Shternshis, Grammy-nominated for her archival Yiddish music project, “The Lost Songs of World War II.” Jan. 20, Rabbi Richard Agler, author of “The Tragedy Test: Making Sense of LifeChanging Loss.” Jan. 27, Joseph Gitler, founder of Leket Israel and co-winner of the 2018 Cohon Memorial Foundation Award for his work rescuing food and feeding the hungry in Israel. Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley bagel breakfast and Yiddish club, first Sundays, 9:30 a.m. Members, $7; nonmembers, $10. 648-6690 or 399-3474. Temple Emanu-El adult class, “Faces of Torah,” facilitated by Jesse Davis, most Sundays, 10:15-11:30 a.m., through April 28. See schedule on www.jewishtucson.org. 327-4501.

ONGOING Hawkins, 2nd and 4th Sundays, partners, 4:45-6 p.m., open circle, 6-7 p.m. Members, $8; nonmembers, $10. 299-3000. Cong. Anshei Israel parent-tot class, led by Lindsey Embree. Mondays, 9-11 a.m. Children up to 24 months and their parent(s). Free. Mandatory vaccination policy. Call Nancy Auslander at 745-5550 or visit www.caiaz.org. Temple Emanu-El mah jongg, Mondays, 10 a.m. 327-4501. Cong. Anshei Israel mah jongg, Mondays, 10 a.m.-noon. All levels, men and women. Contact Evelyn at 885-4102 or esigafus@aol.com. Tucson J current events discussion, Mondays, noon-1:30 p.m. Members, $1; nonmembers, $2. Bring or buy lunch, 11:30 a.m. 2993000, ext. 147. Cong. Bet Shalom yoga. Mondays, 4:30-5:30 p.m. $5. 577-1171. Jewish 12-step sobriety support group meets Mondays, 6:30-8 p.m. at Cong. Bet Shalom. dcmack1952@gmail.com.

days, 10 a.m.-noon. Contact Raisa Moroz at 795-0300. Awakening Through Jewish Meditation — Discover Freedom, with Reb Brian Yosef, Tuesdays/Sundays at 10:30 a.m., at Cong. Bet Shalom. Free. www.torahofawakening.com. Temple Emanu-El “Stitch and Kvetch.” Third Tuesdays, 6-7:30 p.m. 327-4501. Tucson J social bridge. Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon-3 p.m., year round. Drop-ins welcome. Meets in library on second floor. 299-3000. Tucson J canasta group. Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon. Instruction available and a beginners’ table every week. Call or text Lisa at 977-4054. Cong. Anshei Israel Talmud on Tuesday with Rabbi Robert Eisen. Meets 6 p.m. 745-5550. Weintraub Israel Center Shirat HaShirim Hebrew choir. Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Learn to sing in Hebrew. Contact Rina Paz at 304-7943 or ericashem@cox.net.

Tucson J Israeli Dance, taught by Brandi

JFCS Holocaust Survivors group meets Tues-

Friday / January 11

Rapine, MS, LAC, NCC, clinical therapist at JFCS. Free. At The Tucson J. RSVP to Irene Gefter at igefter@jfcstucson.org or 795-0300, ext. 2271.

Continues Monday, Jan. 14, 6-9 p.m. Members, $45; nonmembers, $60. To register, call 327-4501.

10 AM-NOON: Temple Emanu-El Babies and Bagels Tu B’Shevat at Tucson Botanical Gardens. Adults, $13; children, $7.50; free for TBG members. 327-4501.

3:30-5 PM: Tucson Hebrew Academy and PJ Library presents Rockin’ with the Trees, a Tu B’Shevat celebration. Nature walk, story time with Rabbi Billy Lewkowicz. Free. RSVP to Mary Ellen at 647-8443 or pjlibrary@jfsa.org.

Saturday / January 12

9 AM: Cong. Anshei Israel Scholar-in-Residence Shabbat service presented by Rabbi Shai Held, Ph.D., “Waiting for God.” At 3:45 p.m., Held presents, “Compassion and the Heart of Jewish Spirituality,” followed by Mincha at 4:45 p.m. and Seudah Shlesheet at 5:15 p.m. 745-5550 or www.caiaz.org. 10:30 AM: Congregation Bet Shalom and PJ Library present Tot Shabbat with Lisa Schachter-Brooks. 577-1171.

Sunday / January 13

10 AM-NOON: JFCS CHAI Circle meeting lecture, “Self-Discovery Through Clay,” with Joan-e

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, January 11, 2019

NOON: Cong. Anshei Israel Mishpacha (Family) Program: Challah Make & Take. All ages welcome. Includes lunch. $10. Call 745-5550 for space availability. 1 PM: Southern Arizona Jewish Genealogy Society presents Richard Hallick, retired UA professor, on DNA testing and genealogical research. At Tucson J. SAJGS members, free; nonmembers, $5. Contact Andy Rosen, arosen2@cox.net or 237-6470. 1 PM: Hadassah Southern Arizona, community partner with the Tucson Jewish International Film Festival, presents “Shoelaces” movie and ice cream social, including a short video about Hadassah Hospital at Ein Kerem in Jerusalem. At the J. $10 or included with film festival pass. Contact Anne Lowe at 481-3934. 1-5 PM: Temple Emanu-El Hebrew Marathon class with Cantorial Soloist Marjorie Hochberg.

Chabad Tucson lunch and learn with Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin, Wednesdays, 12:15 p.m. at 5th Street Kitchen and Deli, 5071 E. Fifth St. www.chabadtucson.com. Jewish mothers/grandmothers special needs support group for those with children/ grandchildren, youth or adult, with special needs, third Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m. at Tucson J. Contact Joyce Stuehringer at 299-5920. Temple Emanu-El Jewish novels club with Linda Levine. Third Thursdays, 2-4 p.m. 327-4501. “Biblical Breakthroughs with Rabbi Becker” at the Southwest Torah Institute. Fridays, noon, for men and women. 747-7780 or yzbecker@me.com.

Tucson J Fine Art Gallery shows, “Trajectory” by Elliott Heiman, through Jan. 24. 299-3000.

Cong. Anshei Israel gentle chair yoga with Lois Graham, Wednesdays, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Members of Women’s League, $6 per class; non-

9:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El Downtown Shabbat at Jewish History Museum, 564 S. Stone Ave., with Rabbi Batsheva Appel and Armon Bizman band. 327-4501.

Chabad of Sierra Vista women’s class with Rabbi Benzion Shemtov, last Wednesdays, 2 p.m., 401 Suffolk Drive. 820-6256 or www.jewishsierravista.com.

Jewish History Museum new core exhibition, “Meanings Not Yet Imagined.” Holocaust History Center, “Call Me Rohingya,” photographs by Andrew Stanbridge. 564 S. Stone Ave. 670-9073.

Spouse Bereavement Group, cosponsored by Widowed to Widowed, Inc. at the Tucson J, Tuesdays, 10 a.m. Contact Marvin at 885-2005 or Tanya at 299-3000, ext. 147.

10:30-12:30 PM: Desert Caucus brunch with Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ). Guests should be potential members. For details, RSVP at 4901453 or desertcaucus@gmail.com.

Temple Emanu-El Talmud study, Wednesdays, 10 -11:30 a.m. Text required, call 327-4501.

Tucson J Israeli dance classes. Tuesdays. Beginners, 7:30 p.m.; intermediate, 8:15 p.m.; advanced, 9 p.m. Taught by Lisa Goldberg. Members, $8; nonmembers, $10. 299-3000.

Southern Arizona Jewish Genealogy Society, second Sundays, 1-3 p.m. at the Tucson J. Contact Barbara Stern Mannlein at 731-0300 or the J at 299-3000.

7:45 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Scholarin-Residence service and dinner with Rabbi Shai Held, Ph.D., presenting “The Gifts of God Flow Through You.” Mincha & Kabbalat Shabbat Service at 5:45 p.m. Dinner at 6:45 p.m.: members, $23 adults; $17 children; nonmembers, $27 adults; $20 children. Call for space availability 745-5550 or www.caiaz.org.

members, $8 per class. Contact Evelyn at 8854102 or esigafus@aol.com.

Monday / January 14

11:30 AM: Jewish National Fund panel, “The Magic of the Negev Desert: From East to West and Everything in Between,” with Michal Uziyahu, JNF’s liaison for Gaza Envelope region; and Nadav Eylon, chief security officer for Central Arava region. Free. At private residence in Tucson. Contact Audrey Lewis at 480-447-8100, ext. 981 or alewis@jnf.org. 2 PM: Brandeis Art Talks at Handmaker presents “Rebellious Art of Edward Manet” with Bill Boslego, Tucson Museum of Art lead docent. Free. At Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, 2221 N. Rosemont Blvd. Contact Nanci Levy at 322-3632 or nlevy@handmaker.org. 4 PM: Arizona Center for Judaic Studies Sally & Ralph Duchin Campus Lecture Series presents “The Early Modern Italian Jewish Trade in Secrets,” with Deborah Kaye, Ph.D., adjunct lecturer, Judaic Studies at UA. Free. At UA Hillel Foundation, 1245 E. 2nd St. 626-5758 or www.judaic.arizona.edu.

Tuesday / January 15

NOON-1 PM: Cong. Or Chadash book club discusses “The Orchard” by Yochi Brandes. 5128500 or www.octucson.org.

Wednesday / January 16

10 AM: Handmaker presents lecture, “Berenice and Titus,” with Rabbi Sanford Seltzer talking about the rarely told love story between a Jewish princess and the Roman emperor. Free. At Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, 2221 N. Rosemont Blvd. Contact Nanci Levy at 3223632 or nlevy@handmaker.org.

Thursday / January 17

5:30 PM: Cong. Or Chadash class, Adult Beginning Hebrew Part II, taught by Sarah Bollt. Members, $36; nonmembers, $50. Contact Sarah at sarah@octucson.org or 900-7027 to register.

Friday / January 18

11 AM: JHM Gallery Chat, “We Will Outlive Them: Reflections on Anti-Semitism” with Josie Shapiro, activist and community organizer. 564 S. Stone Ave. www.jewishhistorymuseum. org or 670-9073. 5:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El Tu B’Shevat Seder followed by Fred, Gertrude, and Bernard Rosen Sabbath of Song — Shabbat Shirah with Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Cantorial Soloist

Marjorie Hochberg, and adult choir. RSVP for seder, $22 members, $27 nonmembers, at 3274501. 5:45 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel “BOGO” Family Shabbat Service and Dinner. For each family that brings a Jewish family who has not experienced CAI’s family Shabbat services and/ or dinners before, CAI will cover the cost of dinner for the host family and guests. Otherwise cost is $25 per family (two adults and up to four children) for members; $30 for a guest family; adults, $10 per person. Dinner is 7 p.m. Open lounge with games follows. RSVP for dinner by Jan. 14 at www.caiaz.org or 745-5550. 6:30 PM: Cong. Or Chadash Shabbat Shira musical service featuring the Shirei Shirah Adult Choir. 512-8500.

Saturday / January 19

9 AM: Cong. Anshei Israel Shabbat Shira: The Sabbath of Song, with adult and youth choirs and kindergarten through sixth grade classes, directed by Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny during a special sermon-in-song, “Sounds of Freedom: Exodus in Song.” www. caiaz.org or 745-5550. 10 AM: Temple Emanu-El Women of Reform Judaism Shabbat service. 327-4501.

Sunday / January 20

9 AM – 4 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel 13th Annual Mah Jongg Tournament. $36 entry fee includes lunch, game, prizes. Benefits CAI’s United Synagogue Youth. Registration and payment required by Jan. 13. No walk-ins. RSVP at www.caiaz.org or 745-5550. For questions, call Rosie at 906-6947. 9:30-10:30 AM: Temple Emanu-El presents “A Traveler’s Look at Israel” with Rabbi Batsheva Appel, in preparation for congregational trip in June 2019. Continues Feb. 17, March 3, 10 and 24, April 7. For fees and to register, call 327-4501. 2-4 PM: Temple Emanu-El Sunday Salon, Honoring a Life: Advanced Planning Workshop with Karen MacDonald, M.Div. Free. Register at 327-4501. 4:30 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Tu B'Shevat Seder. Free. Includes dairy dinner. Reservations required by Jan. 16 at www.caiaz.org or 745-5550.

Tuesday / January 22

11:45 AM- 1 PM: Cong. Beit Simcha class, Zohar, The Crown of Kabbalah, with Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon. First class free. Call for fees. 276-5675.

Thursday / January 24

11:45 AM- 1 PM: Cong. Beit Simcha class, The Genesis Project with Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon. First two classes free. Call for fees. 276-5675. 7 PM: JHM “States of Rightlessness” series keynote talk. Lida Maxwell, co-author of “The Right to Have Rights,” presents “A Right to Love? Claims of Family and Feeling” at City Center for Collaborative Learning, 47 E. Pennington St. Free. Contact the museum at 670-9073 or www.jewishhistorymuseum.org.

UPCOMING

Friday / January 25

10:30 AM: JHM presents “To Tell Our Stories,” local Holocaust survivors reading from their book, in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27. 670-9073 or www.jewishhistorymuseum.org. 5:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El Shabbat Rocks! dinner followed by service at 6:30 p.m., with fourth grade class, Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Avanim Rock Band and youth choir. Dinner $12 for adults, $3 ages 4-12, free for kids under 4. RSVP for dinner at 327-4501.

Saturday / January 26

8 AM: Temple Emanu-El Wandering Jews Shabbat hike. Join Rabbi Batsheva Appel at Bridal Wreath Falls. 327-4501. NOON: Cong. Anshei Israel Targum Shlishi, with six Southern Arizona firefighters recently returned from Israel. Free. Contact Rabbi Robert Eisen at 745-5550, ext. 230. 1:30 PM: Secular Humanist Jewish Circle Tu B'Shevat presentation, “Our Moral Obligation to Protect Our Environment,” with Lori Ann Burd, environmental health program director and staff attorney at Center for Biological Diversity. Wilmot Library, 530 N. Wilmot Rd. RSVP to Pat at ptdmnd@gmail.com or 4815324. Bring snack to share.

Sunday / January 27

9-2 PM: JFSA Super Sunday phone-athon at the Tucson J. Volunteers wanted for three shifts: 9-11 a.m., 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., or noon-2 p.m. RSVP at www.jfsa.org/super sunday2019. 9:15 AM: CAI Prayerbook Boot Camp. Learn about the Shabbat morning service. Call Rabbi Robert Eisen, 745-5550, ext. 230. 2-4 PM: Temple Emanu-El class, Abraham Joshua Heschel: An Introduction with Bob Schwartz. Free. Register at 327-4501. 4-7 PM: Cong. Bet Shalom 36th anniversary Double Chai Party and Celebration. $18 adults; free 18 and under, includes dinner. RSVP by Jan. 23 at www.cbsaz.org or 577-1171.

Wednesday / January 30

7 PM: Daniel Asia presents “Music of Israeli Composer Andre Hadju” featuring Ricardo Hegman, piano. Holsclaw Hall, 1017 N. Olive Road. Cosponsored by UA Fred Fox School of Music, Arizona Center for Judaic Studies Pozez Lecture Series, Tucson J and American Culture and Ideas Initiative. Free. www.music.arizona.edu.

Saturday / February 16

7:30 PM: UA Hillel Foundation benefit, “Fried Chicken & Latkes,” one-woman show by Rain Pryor about growing up black and Jewish in a politically incorrect era. Leo Rich Theater at the Tucson Convention Center, 260 S. Church Ave. General admission tickets are $47; call the box office at 791-4101. For special event packages, call Hillel at 624-6561 or visit www.uahillel.org.

NORTHWEST TUCSON

ONGOING

JFSA Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest chair yoga with a Jewish flair taught by Bonnie Golden. 190 N. Magee Road, #162. Mondays, 10-11 a.m. $7 per class or $25 for four. 505-4161 or northwestjewish@jfsa.org. Northwest Needlers create hand-stitched items for donation in the Jewish community. Meets at Olson Center, Tuesdays, 1-3 p.m. RSVP to judithgfeldman@gmail.com or 505-4161. JFSA Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest mah jongg, meets Wednesdays, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., 505-4161. Chabad of Oro Valley adult education class, Jewish learning with Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman. Wednesdays at 7 p.m., at 1217 W. Faldo Drive. 477-8672 or www.jewishorovalley.com.

Tuesday / January 22

3:30-5 PM: JFSA Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life in the Northwest Tu B’Shevat barbecue at Cañada del Oro Riverfront Park, 551 W. Lambert Lane. Free. RSVP at www.jfsa.org/bbqinthepark. For more

information, call 505-4161.

Thursday / January 24

NOON: JFSA Olson Center for Jewish Life Lunch and Learn, “Hello! My name is…,” exploring the deeper meanings of names with Rabbi Helen Cohn of Cong. M’Kor Hayim. Dairy lunch, $8. At Olson Center, 190 W. Magee Road, #162. RSVP at www.jfsa.org/hellomynameis or 505-4161.

Monday/ January 28

5-6:30 PM: Hadassah Southern Arizona/ Olson Center for Jewish Life book club discusses “Beneath a Scarlet Sky” by Mark Sullivan. At Olson Center, 190 W. Magee Road, #162. Contact Jennifer Rubin at 773-636-2366 or jenrubin11@gmail.com.

UPCOMING Sunday / February 3

10-11:30 AM: JFSA Olson Center for Jewish Life presents “Meet the Author Brunch,” with Jillian Cantor, author of “The Lost Letter.” Pre-order her newest book, “In Another Time.” At JFSA, 3718 E. River Road. $18. RSVP at www. jfsa.org/meettheauthor or 505-4161.

and each month your Jewish child age 6 months to 8 years will get a FREE Jewish book or CD in the mail. Go to www.jewishtucson.org.

7:30 PM: Daniel Asia presents “Breath In a Ram’s Horn — To Open in Praise CD Celebration” featuring Jeremy Huw Williams, baritone; Ellen Chamberlain, violin; Paula Fan, piano; at Crowder Hall, 1017 N. Olive Road. $10; $7 UA employees and seniors 55+, $5 students. Call 621-1162 or visit www.tickets.arizona.edu. Cosponsored by UA Fred Fox School of Music, Arizona Center for Judaic Studies Pozez Lecture Series, Tucson J and American Culture and Ideas Initiative.

Monday / January 28

1:30 PM: Hadassah Southern Arizona Book Club East discusses “The Last Ballad” by Wiley Cash, Dusenberry-River Library, 5605 E. River Road. Contact Maxine Murray at 885-5800. 7-9 PM: Tucson Tikkun Community presents “Poland: Jewish Roots, Jewish Revival,” a discussion of steering committee members Marcia and Michael Zaccaria’s trip in April/ May 2018. Tucson City Council Ward 6 office, 3202 E. First St. zaccarim@comcast.net. January 11, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, January 11, 2019