April 17, 2020 23 Nissan 5780 Volume 76, Issue 8
Tucsonan Lindsey Baker tapped as first COO for JFSA, JCF
INSIDE
Classifieds ...............................2 Commentary ..........................6 Local ................3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10 News Briefs .......................... 16 Obituaries ............................. 14 Our Town .............................. 15 Synagogue Directory........... 15 For a calendar of online classes, synagogue services, and other events, visit www.jewishtucson.org UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS May 1 May 15 PLANS CHANGED? Staying longer? Leaving town? Remember to update your subscription accordingly.
AJP Assistant Editor
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indsey Baker returns to her hometown on May 1 to accept the inaugural chief operating officer position for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation. “Creating a sustainable, single-chief executive model is what we have been working toward,” says Graham Hoffman, JCF president and CEO, in announcing Baker’s appointment. Hoffman transitions to the dual role of president and CEO of the Federation and Foundation next month as 25-year veteran Federation leader Stuart Mellan retires. Baker attended Tucson Hebrew Academy and The Gregory School. She grew up going to the Tucson Jewish Community Center, volunteering at Handmaker Jewish Services for Aging, embracing and being embraced by
Lindsey Baker
the community. “It’s definitely a full circle,” she says. “Tucson raised me and I am committed to the community. I am a proud product of the agencies supported by the Federation and Foundation, and personally know the important role they play. I’m honored to be coming home.” For the past two years, Baker was director of programs at Hands
On Atlanta, overseeing the organization’s impact programs and stewarding 100+ nonprofit and school partnerships. Previously she worked as director of program development for the third-largest U.S. nonprofit and the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief organization, Feeding America, overseeing strategic initiatives related to child and senior hunger, and SNAP outreach. She designed and implemented Feeding America’s Child Hunger Corps, a nationwide service program developing food banks’ capacity to execute programs to alleviate child hunger. As a 2007-8 fellow in the Congressional Hunger Center’s Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship program, Baker worked on food insecurity among individuals with life-threatening illnesses. “With the Federation and Foundation moving to a single
CEO for both organizations, it is essential that we have a COO of the highest caliber,” says Deborah Oseran, JFSA board chair. “In terms of commitment to our community, experience, and the ability to work with our professionals, volunteers, and donors in creating and implementing our shared vision for a vibrant Southern Arizona Jewish community, in Lindsey, we have found the perfect combination of talents. Growing up in Tucson, she knows us and appreciates all that we have to offer. Having had experiences in much larger communities, Lindsey brings us best practices in all aspects of our mission. On a personal note, I feel tremendous pride that our THA graduate has chosen to return to Tucson and devote herself to our mission of helping the most vulnerable among us and enhancing Jewish life.” See Baker, page 2
Jewish History Museum program enriches TPD officer training DEBE CAMPBELL AJP Assistant Editor
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hat You Do Matters: Lessons from the Holocaust” is an educational partnership initiated in early 2017 between the Jewish History Museum/Holocaust History Center and law enforcement in Arizona. The program parallels the “Law Enforcement and Society: The Lessons of the Holocaust” initiative launched by the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Prescott, Arizona, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. In 2006, Prescott officials attended the pilot program designed to
Photo courtesy Jewish History Museum
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Bryan Davis, executive director of the Jewish History Museum, leads cadets from the Southern Arizona Law Enforcement Training Center on a tour of the Holocaust History Center, Jan. 11, 2017.
educate law enforcement cadets in training about the critical roles that law enforcement and elected
officials played during the Nazi occupation of communities across Europe during World War II and
the inherent dangers of obeying an authoritarian regime. The local program got its start when Bryan Davis, executive director of the Jewish History Museum, invited then-Mayor Jonathan Rothschild and Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus to tour the Center in 2016. There, Davis shared with Magnus about the role law enforcement played in the Holocaust in Belgium and mentioned the “What You Do Matters” program. “We formalized this partnership with TPD in the fall of 2016,” says Davis. “Since then, every graduating class of cadets — approximately four classes per year — have undertaken this training
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BAKER continued from page 1
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Baker, the daughter of Shelley Pozez and the late Don Baker, “brings considerable professional assets to the table and has long-time, first-hand experience, and a myriad of relationships, investment, and affinity, not to mention her family’s legacy of deep commitment to our community,” says Hoffman. “I am thrilled that Lindsey is moving back to Tucson and very proud of her for being hired as the COO of the Federation and Foundation,” says Pozez. “Lindsey’s leadership started in Tucson through her roles as president of USY and overseeing community service efforts at St. Gregory (now The Gregory School). What she learned in Tucson, at many of the organizations the Federation supports, provided her a foundation to go to college, graduate school, and the professional world with values of tikkun olam (repairing the world). Watching her grow personally and professionally into a strong and poised leader has made me, and her entire family, very proud. Her family welcomes her home with open arms. I know many of her THA and St. Gregory friends are excited as well. I am so proud of her and know her late father and grandparents are kvelling as well.” Baker cites her family’s example. “Commitment to community and service was interwoven into my childhood and is part of my DNA. From my grandparents to my parents, to my large, extended family, exemplary models of community leaders have carved a path before me and have inspired me to follow in their footsteps while determining my own journey.” “Even without a connection to this city, she would have been a superior candidate, and were lucky to sign her,” says incoming Foundation Chair Anne Hameroff. “But add to that her personal commitment to our community, her deep family roots and a lifetime of modeling from some of the most generous, humble, and thoughtful leaders of our Jewish community over the last 35 years, and it is obvious that she will be an invaluable addition to our professional leadership.” “It is such a great reflection on our Federation and Foundation that we were able to attract Lindsey to this key position,” says Shelly Silverman, immediate past chair of the Federation. “She brings so much to us. I believe she will be an amazing partner for Graham and a terrific asset for our community.” Baker was selected after a national search that included a number of candidates locally and around the country. “Lindsey stood out early as a top contender,” Hoffman says. “After meeting with key stakeholders, it was clear to us and to her that she was the ideal candidate for what we need in the community.” “I am so thrilled that Lindsey is joining the Federation professional team in this key role,” says Mellan. “I have
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been a big fan of Lindsey’s through all these years — witnessing her grow into a remarkable young leader. What good fortune for us that she has chosen to direct her talents, and the values that she’s drawn from her family, back to her home community. Lindsey’s presence and future partnership with Graham and the outstanding staff leadership team at the Federation and Foundation reinforce my sense that we will surely go from strength to strength.” “I had the opportunity to meet with Lindsey during the interview process,” says Jeff Katz, Foundation board chair. “Although I certainly was impressed with the wealth of experience she brings, I was even more impressed with the passion she shows for nonprofit work. With her knowledge of our community, I’m confident she will be a perfect fit. “ “Lindsey has positioned herself as a nonprofit leader as a volunteer, a donor, and a professional,” says Hoffman. “She brings experience from all three perspectives, which is critical to the work we do at the Foundation and Federation.” As the organizations pivot toward data-driven construction of a strategic plan for the future and continue to grow and enhance the donor-intent outreach approach to philanthropic endeavors, Baker will collaborate with Hoffman in day-to-day management and oversight of the organizations. “My breadth of experience at local and national nonprofits, collective skills, and deep personal commitment to Southern Arizona make me uniquely suited for the role,” says Baker, who has spent the past 15 years working in the nonprofit sector. “This is a pivotal time for the organizations given the structural changes and global COVID-19 crisis. The community has to pull through this together.” Baker graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Emory University with a BA in psychology and sociology in 2007. She completed her MBA at Northwestern Kellogg School of Management in 2015 with a focus on strategy and organizations and public-private initiatives. She serves on the board of the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation and is serving a second term on the Emory College Alumni Board executive committee. She received Emory University’s Humanitarian Award (2007), Feeding America’s Key Contributor Award (2011), and the Congressional Hunger Center’s Alumni Leadership Award (2012). Baker’s arrival during these unusual times won’t hamper her hitting the ground running. “She will do community work via Zoom meetings with colleagues, volunteers, other professionals, and key stakeholders,” says Hoffman. “She has the benefit of pre-existing relationships with agencies, synagogues, and people, so she is not starting from scratch. She will be leveraging technology to operate for the Federation and Foundation without being in the same room, and already began some of those conversations as she wrapped up in Atlanta so she will be up to speed when she arrives.”
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LOCAL UArizona’s Slepian designs three low-cost ventilators — one using basketball
Experience Matters
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renowned researcher Institute; and a McGuire Scholat the University of ar in the Eller College of ManArizona Health Sciagement. ences has taken the university’s “Today, ventilators largely reputation as a basketball poware designed like Tesla automoerhouse to a new level — debiles, fully electronic, computsigning an easily manufactured erized with multiple controls, and low-cost ventilator protosensors, and connectivity,” Sletype that uses a basketball to pian says. “We don’t need such Marvin Slepian respond to the fast-spreading a sophisticated design in light COVID-19 pandemic. of the urgency created by this pandemic; “We are in a period where ventilators we need to go back to simple, basic — but are like gold, and the nation anticipates a extremely effective — designs,” he adds. widespread lack of ventilators to support “To address this challenge, we proposed critical-care requirements across the na- a system that can provide two modes of tion and world,” says Marvin J. Slepian, ventilation — pressure-supported breaths M.D., Regents Professor at the UArizona for patients able to breathe spontaneously; Health Sciences. He is the director of the and controlled-pressure ventilation, with UArizona Center for Accelerated Biomed- set maximum volume, for those unable to ical Innovation and leader of an interna- breathe spontaneously,” he outlines in the tional team that recently submitted three application. ventilator prototypes for funding by the The three designs are a Foot Pump DeU.S. Department of Defense. sign — based upon use of an inexpensive, Slepian’s team submitted a proposal, readily available pneumatic foot pump; a “PneumEase — Effective Economical Sports Ball Design — using commonly Readily Deployable Ventilator Systems,” to available sports balls (basketballs, footthe DOD’s Vulcan Challenge, an open call balls, soccer balls); and a Printed Piston for innovative capabilities that address the Design — incorporating a sourced piston challenges presented by COVID-19, and cylinder or 3-D printed cylinder design. its impacts on public safety and national All designs incorporate humidification, security processes, systems, and resources. temperature control, and filtration of exFor the challenge, completed by a pired air to limit infections and contamipublic-private partnership including ex- nation risk. A monitoring-and-control perts at the UArizona and collaborators at system for all designs will detect if the major international corporations from a patient is breathing spontaneously, not range of industries, “we focused on simple breathing autonomously, or breathing designs that work, without advanced bells autonomously, but below minimum voland whistles,” Slepian says. umes. The team was required to submit deHow did the team decide upon inflatsigns that cost $300 or less, says Slepian, able balls for one of the designs? “Inflatwho also is a professor of medicine, medi- able balls are enclosed ‘pneumatic chamcal imaging, biomedical engineering (as- bers’ that are readily available, ruggedly sociate department head), material sci- constructed, capable of being pressurized ences, and engineering; a member of the and semi-compliant,” Slepian explains. See Ventilators, page 4 UArizona Sarver Heart Center and BIO5
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on the day prior to their graduation. This is the last thing they do as a class prior to graduating from the academy.” Since 2017, 389 recruits from Tucson and across the region have attended the class and tour, says TPD Training Captain Joe Puglia. The classes teach cadets about the Holocaust, with a focus on the consequences when a government shifts the role of police from protecting people to a policy of abusing basic human rights. “My understanding from the TPD officers I have spoken with is that they truly appreciated the program and thought it helped them with their overall policing abilities,” says Rothschild. “Following a morning of study and then an extended tour of the Holocaust History Center, the program culminates with time for the cadets to hear first-person testimony from a Holocaust survivor and to ask questions of that survivor,” Davis says. “The program also looks at 150 years of civic engagement, economic development, cultural enrichment, philanthropy, and all of those ways that Jewish people have contributed to our community.” Walter Feiger is one of several local Holocaust survivors who speak to cadets in the program. He shares his personal story of survival but also of his post-war affiliation as an officer in the Haganah defense forces that fought for Israeli independence. He also was a sergeant in the Haifa Police Department and transferred to organize an anti-terrorism group. “So I have experience in law enforcement, too,” he says, which helps him connect with the cadets. Besides his personal story, “I also tell them that when they are full police officers that when they engage with people on the street, they should be compassionate. Not everyone is a felon,” Feiger says. “After the story and questions, they are very attentive and all line up to shake my hand. It has an impact anytime a Holocaust survivor speaks, no matter where that is.” “The reactions from the cadets run the gamut,” Davis continues. “We spend extra time helping the cadets understand the relationship between Nazi anti-Semitism and contemporary manifestations of anti-Semitism in the U.S. Additionally, we make connections between Nazi ideology and the histories and ongoing realities of racism and xenophobia in the U.S. It is important that the cadets understand these linkages so that they do not bracket off the Nazi era as an aberration in time that happened on another continent and rather make connections across various instances of state violence past and present.”
VENTILATORS continued from page 3
Balls may be equipped with simple plastic connectors, from off-shelf rigid plastic tubing or through a 3-D printed “puncture-and-seal connector,” which allows “instrumenting” the ball with an inlet and outlet as a means to allow attachment of gas-flow tubing. The puncture seal connector allows rapid instrumentation and fabrication of the system by minimally skilled workers, while simultaneously offering secure sealing to prevent leaks. Other design team members include David Hahn, Ph.D., the Craig M. Berge Dean of the UArizona College of Engineering; Monica Kraft, M.D., professor and
Officer Davina Bolinsky was a cadet in the last cohort, graduating at the end of February. She called the program an eye-opener. She thinks the program should be mandatory training at least every few years not only for new cadets but for all officers. Officer Donavan Vance, an cadet from the same cohort, agrees. “Tenured officers need to come,” he says. “Even extending it beyond law enforcement, it needs to be exposed to others.” Vance says he knew the program would be in-depth and personal going in. “The reflections on the Holocaust definitely were mind-opening and is still nice to reflect on throughout the day. The program definitely taught me to treat people with respect and to talk through issues. Now I keep my own personal biases in check. Keeping an open mind was my biggest take-away from it,” he says of the program. A former U.S. Marine, Bolinsky says she is the type of person that follows orders. “But for a bunch of officers to blindly follow orders just because it is the law and they are just doing their job,” as the Nazis did to the Jews in World War II — that is unacceptable, she says. “If my morals are not in line with that I am doing, it’s time to give my badge back. “Everyone knows right from wrong morally,” Bolinsky says. “There was a poll among German officers about how many felt comfortable shooting someone just because they were Jewish or who wouldn’t but wasn’t afraid to see someone else do it. That affected me.” Tucson Holocaust survivor Bill Kugelman, who spoke to her graduating cohort, also impressed her. “He is the happiest man I’ve ever met in my life. How someone could go through hell and think every day is a gift ...” "He definitely made an impression,” Vance says. Instructors also shared the story of Phoenix-area survivor Gerda Klein, author of “All But My Life,” who was abandoned at the end of the war by the Germans with a group of Jewish women survivors, dehumanized, filthy, and in rags. “They saw an American truck approaching and a soldier asked if there were other women. Klein told him, ‘Yes, but you need to know I am a Jew.’ The soldier took her by the arm and said, ‘I am too.’ When they got to a facility, he held the door open for her. That is when she knew she would be all right. Now, every time I hold the door open for someone, I think of that,” Bolinsky says. Today, Vance and Bolinsky are officers in field training with Operations Division West, Squad 5. Bolinsky says the program was definitely a good thing. “I don’t see sourness toward people just because they are who they are. I try to be kind to everyone. There are less fortunate people on the street dealing with unfortunate cards they are dealt. Some made poor choices. But, when it comes to the cards that were dealt to Jews, it wasn’t their choice.” chair the Department of Medicine at the UArizona College of Medicine–Tucson, deputy director of the UArizona Health Sciences Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center and the Robert and Irene Flinn Endowed Professor of Medicine at the UArizona; Christian Bime, M.D., M.Sc., assistant professor of medicine and clinical translational sciences, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, College of Medicine–Tucson, and medical director, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Banner–University Medical Center Tucson; Sairam Parthasarathy, M.D., professor of medicine and chief, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine. Several ACABI members from private industry also assisted in the fast-paced effort. UArizona Health Sciences' COVID-19 Resources webpage is at www.uahs.arizona.edu/node/7358.
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New retail reality calls for creative solutions DEBE CAMPBELL AJP Assistant Editor
Photo: www.arizonatheatre.org
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tay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected” was the executive order issued by Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on March 31, following the Centers for Disease Control and Arizona Department of Health Services COVID 19 pandemic guidelines. With the closure of restaurants for dining in, gatherings limited to under 10, and telework encouraged for all but essential workers, retail in Arizona — beyond supermarkets, pharmacies, hardware, and craft stores — has taken a nosedive. The AJP looked at some of the creative ideas being floated in Tucson to keep businesses from collapsing under the weight of the pandemic. Downtown Tucson Partnership with 50 of its downtown merchants launched an innovative gift card sale on April 3. “There are only 1,000 gift cards available, and they will go fast. I would not be surprised if we sold out in the first 24 hours,” predicted Kathleen Eriksen, DTP’s president and CEO. Indeed, gift cards did sell out in 24 hours, infusing $35,000 directly into the businesses’ tills with DTP adding $10 to every $25 gift card purchase. The project was so successful another round of gift cards sold out in two hours on April 8, with $10,000 donated by Rio Nuevo. A third round is in the making — check www.downtowntucson.org. Gift cards are a great way to support favorite businesses through hard times, and most retailers sell them. “We’re all doing our best to survive, business-wise and health-wise,” says The Running Shop owner Sharon Bart. “We’ve always been a brick and mortar business.” Behind locked doors, Bart now takes phone orders and offers curbside try-on and pick-ups for shoes and other running gear. She also ships free with a purchase of $50 or more and delivers free within a 10mile radius of her 3055 N. Campbell Ave. store. She’s added Arizona-inspired apparel at https://bit.ly/TheRunningStore. Through www.locally.com, shoppers can choose items from favorite Tucson stores without wasteful packaging, for in-store pickup or delivery. Tucson Chefs created a video (https:// bit.ly/tucsonchefs) encouraging Tucsonans to purchase takeout meals once a week. “Our dining rooms are empty and your houses are going crazy,” says Travis Peters, chef and owner of The Parish Restaurant. “Every restaurant is trying to stay open and we need your help. If you could just do takeout once a week.” “It supports the farmers, brewers, winemakers, and drivers,” adds Tanque
Arizona Theatre Company offers original content on its ‘Digital Backstage.’
Verde Ranch Chef Janet Balderas. “It doesn’t matter where you spend it, as long as you spend it in our local restaurants,” says Chef Juan Almanza of El Taco Rustico. “We are trying to keep our staff employed,” adds Senae Chef Dee Buizer. Call your favorite restaurants for takeout or purchase Tucson restaurant gift cards at www.giftly.com/restaurant-gift-cards/ tucson-az. A bevy of popular “paint night” classes has converted to online teaching. Sign up for a free live class with Tucson’s Creative Juice (https://creativejuiceartbar.com) and the family can fill a couple of hours absorbed in colorful fun. “We’re doing kids classes during the week, so the kids won’t bother parents for a while,” says ownerartist Chellie Krajnak. Creative Juice also live-streams painting classes on its Facebook page, where painters can follow instructions at any time. Painters can pick up $12 painting kits curbside from the studio after registering for a live class, or get delivery for an extra $5. Other creative arts also are going virtual. “For the next few months, we’ll be taking our content online,” says Arizona Theatre Company Artistic Director Sean Daniels. This includes videos from artists, in-depth interviews with those who make up ATC’s season, and education programs so that kids — or interested adults — can continue to learn and grow through art. Subscriptions for six nights of the theatre’s 54th season at Tucson’s Temple of Music and Art when it reopens in the fall remain on sale. For more information, go to www.arizonatheatre.org or call the box office at 622-2823. While The Loft Cinema is temporarily closed, it offers virtual screenings of new films through collaborating distributor’s websites. Tickets, which average $12, allow access on computer, phone, or other smart devices. Purchase provides multiple days of viewing access. A portion of the ticket price supports The Loft Cinema. Details are available at www.loftcinema.org.
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COMMENTARY Israel is suffering from coronavirus. Haredim have been made scapegoats JTA JERUSALEM fter the deluge of negative headlines over the last several weeks, when COVID-19 is finally beaten back, it will be the scenes of police cordoning off Bnei Brak like a medieval plague city that will define the corona crisis for most Israelis and international observers. These media attacks, which would never be aimed at Arabs or other minorities, are depressing because they’re so predictable. Every crisis needs its fall guy, and so like the Jews accused of poisoning wells during the Black Death, Public Enemy No. 1 is now the Haredi Orthodox world. Accompanied by a constant drip of condescending commentary from outsiders about Haredi society’s lack of media access and slavish adherence to rabbinic leadership, Israelis will remember the sight of riot police in Mea Shearim, not the masses breaking lockdown to saunter along Tel Aviv’s promenade or
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frolic in the parks, when they think back on the era of pandemic. Headlines in national newspapers like “Israel heads to full shutdown — because of the Haredim” and “Optimistic note: Corona will send the Haredim into the 21st century” have become the norm. Now that it’s again open season on the Haredim, Channel 12’s Rina Matzliach was able to accuse the entire Haredi public of nearly 1 million people of mass tax evasion and keep her job. It’s an indictment of the media coverage that the breathless stories of schools that refused to close are well-known, but the fact that 12% of early infections came from restaurants, most of which are not frequented by Haredim, and only 7% from yeshivas, was barely mentioned. So to provide some of the context that the media omitted, here are a few pointers:
Hindsight is 2020
It was only on the Thursday night after Purim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the country and said the school system and much of the economy would have to shut down.
ready bolted out of the barn by the time authorities slammed the door shut.
No apologetics
Photo: Menahem Kahana / AFP via Getty Images
GEDALIA GUTTENTAG
A haredi Orthodox man wearing a protective mask crosses a street in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak amid the novel coronavirus pandemic crisis, April 6, 2020.
But according to medical authorities, the mass outbreak now underway likely broke out on Purim, when gatherings of up to 100 people were still permitted; large parties took place in Tel Aviv as much as in Bnei Brak. The horse had al-
There’s no question that the Haredi world has its share of rule-breakers. A disturbing trend of people suspicious of scientific authority, and a mentality of oiber chochom (thinking we always know best) has reared its head again. But this represents a tiny part of the booming Haredi demographic. When the Netanya beachfront featured a number of gangland killings a decade ago, no one dismissed it as a city of mobsters. Why are the Haredim besmirched in one go? It’s the same story everywhere, from New York’s Borough Park to London: In a highly distinct community, the irresponsibility of a small minority is very noticeable. And where there are high levels of social interaction, the contagious nature of coronavirus has had a tragically high impact.
Mirror called corona
COVID-19 is a mirror that reflects society’s bigotries. When hard times come, See Haredim, page 12
Local scholar finds wisdom in Mi Shebeirach, the Jewish prayer for healing GILA SILVERMAN Special to the AJP
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he last few weeks have been difficult, as our entire world has changed in response to the coronavirus. There have been times recently when I have been overwhelmed by fear and sadness and grief. At other times, I have savored the quiet of a slowed-down life and
been awed by the generosity and compassion of people stepping up to take care of each other in so many different ways. I am starting to understand that — like any grief — this one sometimes knocks me sideways when I least expect it, and that it is going to take a while to adjust to the “new normal” of a world turned upsidedown. At some point in the last few weeks, I
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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, April 17, 2020
started to think about Judaism’s tools for times of illness and loss. Although I have spent years studying those very teachings and rituals, as both a student of our tradition and an anthropologist, I have had a very hard time seeing how these traditions could be useful. What we are facing felt too new, too big, too difficult to understand. Yet when I revisited the Mi Shebeirach, the Jewish prayer for healing, I found much to guide me as I find my way through these strange and challenging times. There are many variations of this prayer for healing. The most well-known may be by Debbie Friedman, which is sung in many Reform synagogues. This week, I found comfort in this version, from the Conservative movement’s Siddur Lev Shalem: May the one who blessed our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, Bring blessing and healing to all those who are ill. May the Holy One full of compassion, Restore them to health and vigor, Granting them refuat ha’nefesh v’refuat ha’guf, Spiritual and physical well-being, Together with all others who are ill, And may God grant strength to those who tend to them. We hope and pray that healing is at hand. And let us say, Amen.
By calling on our ancestors, we connect ourselves to all of those who came before us. We remember that — while they may never have faced anything exactly like what we face now — the generations before us did face tremendous challenges, and they prevailed and even thrived. As we invoke their names, we take strength from the examples of their lives and gain confidence that we too will be resilient and will prevail. The Mi Shebeirach also reminds us that healing takes place in many ways — Refuat ha’guf v’refuat ha’nefesh — healing of body, healing of the soul. Illness, disease, and unease can affect us in many ways, sometimes in our bodies, sometimes in our minds and our spirits, sometimes in the places where all of these connect. Like many of us, I have experienced all of these in recent weeks. The Mi Shebeirach recognizes that healing, too, happens on many different levels, and it reminds us that, as we move through this strange time, we need to take care of our physical, emotional, and spiritual selves. This prayer also teaches us that we are all in this together. The words of the Mi Shebeirach call for healing for all those who are ill everywhere. We have learned so clearly now that we are all interconnected, that our healing comes only when we work together as a community. Each of us has a role to play — for most of us, our role is to stay home. And, we can only succeed at See Prayer, page 12
Video chats help local senior living facility residents stay connected during pandemic PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor
Photo: Angela Salmon/Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging
S
enior living facilities in Southern Arizona and all across the country have been on lockdown for several weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, with non-essential visitors not allowed. “This means no family and friends, and it also means no exercise teachers, musical performers, Shabbat service leaders, lecturers, Torah study leaders, or volunteers that Handmaker normally has on a regular basis,” says Nanci Levy, community outreach coordinator at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. “We also cannot have communal dining at this time. All of this can certainly be isolating, but residents can still visit six feet away from friends and neighbors in apartments nearby, and we have a full activity staff and others willing to pitch in to keep our residents entertained, and connected with family and friends. Every staff member wears a mask at all times, but most often residents can see from our
Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging Community Outreach Coordinator Nanci Levy facilitates a recent video chat for resident Tony Eichorn.
eyes that we are smiling,” says Levy. The connections with family members and friends are made with video calls through services such as FaceTime and Skype, says Levy.
“Residents and family members have enjoyed connecting in this way, and it is the next best thing when they cannot see each other in person. The residents are just amazed by this technology,” she says.
The six Starfish Care Homes in Tucson also use video calls to connect residents to family, says co-owner Ben Silverman, using Whatsapp, a service popular abroad and in Israel, in addition to FaceTime and Skype. Starfish also creates video posts. “We’ll take videos of the people saying ‘hi’ and then share them with the family members by text or email,” Silverman says. Some Starfish residents also have had “window visits,” which allow family members to see each other through a window. They chat either through a screened window that has been cracked open or on their phones, says Silverman. For safety’s sake, he tries to keep window visits to a minimum. Starfish Care Homes each have a maximum of 10 residents, so residents have been able to socialize in the communal areas or outside in the pleasant spring weather. Silverman has been doing much of the shopping and other errands for the homes, to minimize the managers’ contact See Chat, page 8
Please stay safe and well during these uncertain times. We are closed, but will be available to see emergency patients. Your health and safety are most important to us. Thank you for your patience and understanding, we are all in this together and will pull through.
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donations of coloring books, puzzle books, games, colored pencils, and markers. Teresa Wachala, service coordinator at B’nai B’rith Covenant House, a similar facility with 119 apartments, also is interested in receiving art supplies, puzzles, and games, as well as newer DVDs. Strauss Manor is located at 370 N. Pantano Road. Contact Gallego at 722-9963 or straussmanorsc@qwestoffice.net. Covenant House is located at 4414 E. 2nd Street. Contact Wachala at 321-4496 or covenanthousesc@qwestoffice.net.
CHAT
A few residents participated in virtual services with friends and family. “As far as keeping our residents busy and entertained,” says Levy, “with no Adventure Bus trips right now, Angela Salmon has channeled her creativity and enthusiasm into more culturally themed programs with Handmaker residents.” Salmon also has been setting up regular movie matinees, with a limit of 10 people in the room, and every one six feet apart, Levy adds. “She also pitches in wherever needed with FaceTime calls and visiting residents who are lonely, and making sure residents get outside on beautiful days. We also still have exercise class and bingo every day except for Shabbat, but with the same rule of 10 to a room, and six feet apart,” says Levy. Handmaker has added more art classes led by activity coordinators or Levy, and virtual museum tours from offerings online. They continue to have regular current events classes. “This is a trying time for all, and we are trying to keep our residents as connected as possible. As we all keep saying, we are going to get through this,” says Levy.
continued from page 7
with the outside world during the pandemic, and to free them to spend extra time with residents “It’s better one of us than seven of us being out and about all the time,” he says. Handmaker also has had residents receive window visits, says Levy, facilitated by nurses and caregivers. Levy and other Handmaker staff provide activities to keep residents connected and engaged. “We are live streaming Shabbat services, and thanks to Rabbi Batsheva Appel from Temple Emanu-El, we have borrowed the siddurim (prayer books) for those services as well as for the Passover Festival services,” she says. Handmaker had to forego its group seder this year, but residents had the option to have solo seders in their apartments, with staff delivering seder plates, wine or grape juice, matzah, and a seder meal, along with a Haggadah and a packet of readings related to what people were dealing with this year during Passover.
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Departure of Dean Emeritus Jeffrey Goldberg from University of Arizona will leave gap LAUREN BOOKWALTER AJP Intern
Photo: University of Arizona
T
he University of Arizona will lose one of its stars in May as Jeffrey Goldberg, Ph.D., dean emeritus of the College of Engineering, retires. Speaking prior to the coronavirus pandemic, he said he planned to travel, see his grandkids more often, and practice a healthier lifestyle in his golden years. For now, Goldberg and his wife, Donna, are sheltering in place in their eastside home. For exercise, he’s taking long walks in the desert and playing some early morning, solo rounds of golf. Goldberg, 62, joined the UArizona staff in 1985 as an assistant professor of systems and industrial engineering after interviews at several other schools. He then was a recent graduate of the University of Michigan Ph.D. program and he and his wife, Donna, were seeking jobs. UArizona offered jobs to them both, which did not happen often at the time, he recalls. They took the posts and stayed. Goldberg has been a significant contributor to the university. In 1999 he won the UArizona El-Paso Natural Gas Foundation Faculty Achievement Award for outstanding teaching and research. His textbook, “The Design and Analysis of Lean Production Systems” (with Ron Askin) won the “Outstanding Book in Industrial Engineering Award” from the Institute for Industrial Engineering in 2002-2003. He was a recipient of the Shingo Prize for excellence in manufacturing (outstanding paper award, 1994), and spent a year at West Point as a visiting professor in the department of systems engineering. Goldberg became associate dean for academic affairs for the UArizona College of Engineering in May 2005. Seeking to increase the retention rate of engineering students, improve students’ classroom experiences, increase student learning, and increase the diversity of the engineering student population, he led an effort that resulted in improvements in enteringstudent quality, first and second-year retention in engineering, and overall university retention. He piloted programs for increasing the number of quality high school students enrolling in engineering, co-developed and co-taught a freshman success seminar and tutor-
Jeffrey Goldberg
ing program, and co-developed and co-taught orientation programs for new faculty members and graduate teaching assistants. He now has a small consulting company, Silver Oak Research, that specializes in emergency response system design and educational credential evaluation. Silver Oak has helped design ambulance systems in 10 metropolitan areas in the U.S. and Canada. Beyond his stellar career, Goldberg says his greatest achievements are his four kids and three grandkids. He also can be proud of his accomplishments as a member of the local Jewish community. He was the second president of Congregation Or Chadash, in 1996. “I had no experience but I learned a lot about dealing with people. And I learned a lot about fundraising, making a budget, and meeting payroll. That really helped me with my work at the U of A,” he says. “Jeff was the president who hired me,” says Or Chadash Cantor Janece Cohen. “He actually came to me and said, ‘We have no budget but I think we really need you to be our cantor. I’m committed to making this work’ — and he did. Jeff makes things happen because he is the best combination of a great leader and
a truly passionate Jew.” Goldberg also served on the board of the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation for six years and on the board of Jewish Family & Children’s Services. Part of the Goldbergs’ estate plan is a pledge in the Jewish Community Foundation’s Endowment Book of Life. Along with wishing to provide for the Jewish community, Goldberg says, he and Donna signed the Book of Life as a way to get their children involved in philanthropy. The children will decide where their money goes. Goldberg’s parents set a generous example. As he was growing up in Pittsburgh, each month his parents would pick three charities and donate $25 to each. Family life also helped set him on his career path. “I’m a firstborn in my family. So I was well trained that I was going to be the problem solver. That’s how my parents thought of me, that’s how my brother and sister thought of me, as well. All throughout high school and college, I just thought I would be the problem solver. I feel best about myself when I’m making a contribution to help people be better,” says Goldberg, explaining that this is why he went into engineering. He saw it as a field that focused on solving people’s problems. Engineering, he says, is a people-oriented job despite what others seem to think. He says the key to being a leader in engineering is understanding and satisfying the needs of people. UArizona Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Jerzy Rozenblit says Goldberg is “extremely positive, very energetic, very friendly, and embracing of our faculty and students. He’s very student-oriented and unafraid to explore new directions.” Goldberg has instilled a culture of collaboration within the college, says Rozenblit. He adds that Goldberg was such a hard worker he often sent a reply within two minutes of receiving an email, even when he was in a different time zone. “Jeff is a people’s person. He is very open, very embracing and friendly, and supportive of not only his team but his students. He definitely left a big imprint here,” Rozenblit says. AJP Executive Editor Phyllis Braun contributed to this article.
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For Tucson newcomer, literature, law, religion, and family are keys to life well lived LAUREN BOOKWALTER AJP Intern
B
ob Schwartz has been involved with the Jewish community since he was a child growing up in the suburbs of New Jersey. He has been a part of nine congregations in six states and has been active within the Jewish community in Tucson for two years. A former attorney, he created the “Forum on the Death Penalty and Judaism: The Tree of Life Synagogue,” held in December at Temple Emanu-El. The forum, he says, provided a safe space for Jewish community members to discuss the arguments for and against capital punishment in the case of the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. Schwartz, 68, was born in the Bronx and lived there with his sister, parents, and grandparents in a three-bedroom apartment until he was in the fourth grade when his family moved to Fort Lee, New Jersey. During his senior year of high school, he was president of the Young Judea youth group at his congregation. Schwartz attended the University of Pennsylvania, studying psychology. After graduating, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. “The next thing I did, not being at all clear of any professional goal at that point, I became a bookseller.” Schwartz ran a university bookstore. He has been connected to books his entire life and vividly recalls the first time he checked out a book at the library: “I have no idea how old I was, I could have been five maybe. But, I remember the library and I remember the book I took out, a book on ants. Books have been my life well before I got into it professionally.” Offered a job as manager of a new bookstore in Delaware, Schwartz took it on a whim. It was where he met the most important person in his life — his wife. “I was sitting out front of an empty store enjoying the beautiful weather and a stunning woman passed by to talk to me and that was my Kathleen,” Schwartz said. The Schwartzes stayed in Delaware for two years before moved to Seattle. In Seattle, Schwartz decided on a more professional path and went to law school. He practiced law at a midsize firm, where his work included intellectual property, bankruptcy, and banking. Schwartz loved practicing law, and al-
though he did not practice it for most of his life, he feels he grew the most as a lawyer. “I had one professor who taught a very unusual course, one that was required. It was called ‘Law, Language and Ethics,’ which is the name of the book he wrote, a book I still keep nearby. It was, as the title implies, actually a philosophy course. In practice, as in life, there isn’t a whole lot of time for philosophizing. What I’ve never forgotten since, and constantly turn to in every endeavor, is that there is, apparently or not, a philosophical underpinning,” says Schwartz. After some time in Seattle, Schwartz moved to California and worked in marketing and editing for an organization in religious publishing. “Not being Christian did not seem to be a problem for anyone. It wasn’t a problem for me; in fact, it was the opposite of a problem because I don’t have the borders that some people have about my religious thinking.” Schwartz worked in publishing and marketing for a multi-faith wisdom university and then a religion scholarship institute, followed by publishing houses associated with an Episcopal church. He then was a literary agent and publishing consultant. When Schwartz moved to Tucson, he became a marketing research consultant. He continues to do writing, editing, and educational work. ”I’ve been substantially fulfilled by all of my roles,” says Schwartz. “While I left the practice of law behind, it remains a core of who I am. Obviously, books and publishing also are at my core, and there is not a moment that I’ve spent working with authors and scholars that hasn’t fulfilled me. But at this later point, I might say that any work I have done in the world of religion has spoken the loudest to me, as it still does.” In addition to New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington, California, and Arizona, Schwartz lived in Florida, Mississippi, and Ohio. Along with spreading his professional success around the country, Schwartz has been able to do volunteer work wherever he goes, starting as a student at the University of Pennsylvania, where he found a notice for literacy volunteers. “It was great work. I don’t do literacy volunteer work now, but we do support Tucson’s Make Way for Books, which is a great non-profit,” Schwartz says.
Photo courtesy Bob Schwartz
Working for the multi-faith university inspired a desire to spread awareness about Judaism to people within his community, but he did not start until he moved to Tupelo, Mississippi. Schwartz focused on community education in Tupelo, visiting churches and talking to non-Jewish people about the Holocaust and his faith. He scheduled visits to his synagogue for school kids and for people interested in learning more about Judaism. He co-founded a Torah study group and other initiatives within his synagogue. He then was appointed to the state Holocaust Commission and eventually worked with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. “There is an astonishing body of Jewish learning and knowledge available, particularly of contemporary thinkers and works. I see myself helping to creatively connect people to that,” he says. Despite all his achievements, Schwartz says the greatest is his family. “I have a decades-long marriage to the most beautiful, smartest person I’ve ever known. And I have a wonderful son. It’s not an accomplishment like ‘I built this thing,’ but rather you maintained it against all odds with a lot of work. It’s no problem to find someone to share a life with and it’s no problem to have a kid; it’s an absurd amount of work to maintain both of those.” His advice to a younger generation: “Be adventurous. Take risks, play, experiment, and explore.”
Bob Schwartz speaks on Jewish songwriters and American music at the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library in Columbus, Mississippi, July 14, 2011.
April 17, 2020, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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HAREDIM continued from page 6
the natural human reaction is to look for a scapegoat. That very often takes the shape of whichever group you’re already suspicious of. There’s a famine? Blame
PRAYER continued from page 6
the task at hand if every single one of us fulfills our role completely. When we recite this Mi Shebeirach, we seek strength for all of those who are working for healing. In our world today, that includes medical personnel, and also grocery store workers, delivery drivers, sanitation crews, farmers and factory workers, those sewing masks ,and 3D printing
the gypsies. A shortage of work? It’s the foreigners. The Haredim are Israeli society’s perennial “other,” making everyone else uncomfortable by refusing to be normal. That leaves me with a suggestion for the country’s journalists. If you’re looking to tell a new story, here’s a question that doesn’t get much coverage: What do Israel’s headlines say about the biases of
those who write and read them?
protective gear, policymakers, scientists and researchers, and — as I’ve already noted — all of us isolating in our homes. Finally, the Mi Shebeirach also reminds us that it is up to us to watch out for one another. Traditionally, you do not say the Mi Shebeirach for yourself; you say it for someone else. It is one of the many ways that we can connect to each other, prompting us to reach out in whatever ways we can to ensure that we help each other to stay healthy, and, when needed, that we help each other continue moving toward healing — physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
As we make our way through these uncertain and challenging times, may we all be blessed with strength and resilience, courage and connection. May we be well, in our bodies and in our spirits, and may we continue to work together, to heal each other, our community, and our world.
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Gedalia Guttentag is deputy news editor at Mishpacha Magazine and active in Jewish education, most recently as co-founder of Inspired Tel Aviv. A version of this article was published on Mishpacha.com. 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.
Gila Silverman is a researcher and writer, working at the intersections of religion, spirituality, and health. She is a visiting scholar at the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies. 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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Mary Wezelman
Stuart Gellman
Mary Wezelman died March 21, 2020, three weeks before her 99th birthday. Mrs. Wezelman was born in Klintsy, Russia, on April 9, 1921, to Baruch Meyer Wolfson and Anna (Feinman) Wolfson. Her family came to the United States in 1923, settling in Omaha, Nebraska. She married Norman Wezelman in 1948; they relocated to Tucson in 1951. Mrs. Wezelman was preceded in death by her husband, Norman, and grandson, Daniel Bartlett. Survivors include her children, Janice (David Bartlett) Wezelman and James (Denise Grusin) Wezelman, all of Tucson, and Barbara Wezelman of Albany, California; sister, Susie Swaaley of Los Angeles; sister-in-law Sybil Wezelman of Bismarck, North Dakota; and three grandchildren. Burial was private, with Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel officiating, to respect the need for social distancing. A memorial will be scheduled at a later date. Memorial contributions may be made to the Norman and Mary Wezelman Endowment for Academic Success at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona, Congregation Anshei Israel, or a charity of your choice.
Stuart Gellman died April 3, 2020, in Philadelphia. A Philadelphia native, Mr. Gellman was an author, public relations consultant, and advocate of victims’ rights. He attended Germantown High School, where he was sports editor of the newspaper and stringer for The Evening Bulletin. After graduation, he worked weekends on the Bulletin’s rewrite desk, became front page and sports editor of the Germantown Courier in 1951, and mustered into the Army in 1953. After military service in Japan, Mr. Gellman enrolled at Rider College, rose to editor of the Rider News and won the Ferris Prize for finest journalism student. He graduated in 1957, covered the invention of the transistor for Fairchild Publications, and then joined the International Resistance Company in 1959 as public relations director. From 1962 to 1974, he founded and ran Stuart Gellman Associates, a financial public relations agency. He also was a staff leader at Camp Rockhill for several summers. In 1978, Mr. Gellman moved to Tucson. He was an advocate with the Pima County Victim Witness Program from 1981 to 1993, where he co-founded the Critical Incident Debriefing Team and was active in passage of the Arizona Victim Rights Act. His work with crime victims was featured in Life magazine and Reader’s Digest. He served on the local board of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and as mental health chair of Tucson’s Red Cross chapter, receiving its community relations award in 2000. In the 1990s and 2000s, he was a Pima County steering committee member of the National Disaster Medical System and a member of the Southern Arizona DUI Task Force. He was mental health liaison for the Tucson Airport Authority Crisis Response Team and volunteer chaplain at University Medical Center. Mr. Gellman was a frequent writer, speaker, and trainer on issues of victimology, loss, grief, and life choices. His articles appeared in the Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Citizen, and Arizona Jewish Post. Twice he was nominated for a Jefferson Award for Public Service. In 1990, Mr. Gellman published a book, “COPS: The Men and Women Behind the Badge,” which followed a cohort of Tucson police cadets through training and their first year as officers of the law. Mr. Gellman returned to Philadelphia in 2009 to rekindle a relationship with an old flame, Mimi Kirk, who became his companion for the rest of his days. He volunteered with the Germantown-based Northwest Victim Services. Survivors include his three children from his first marriage to Marcia Jacobs: Barton (Dafna Linzer) Gellman of New York City, Alan (Arlene Zuckerberg) Gellman of Oakland, California, and Sheri (Brad) Throlson of Columbus, Georgia; sister Barbara Kates; companion, Mimi Kirk; and eight grandchildren.
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Kacie Bauer won third place for English speakers in a worldwide Passover trivia contest hosted Monday, April 6 by Olami, the parent organization of Jewish Arizonans on Campus and many other organizations for Jewish young adults in 31 countries. Bauer, a junior at the University of Arizona, participated on the UArizona JAC team. She is the daughter of AJP office manager April Bauer.
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AREA CONGREGATIONS Many congregational events described below have been suspended or are being conducted virtually. Contact congregations for more information.
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. and 5:30 p.m.; Fri., 7:30 a.m.; Sun. and 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.
In focus
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. and 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. and legal holidays, 8:30 a.m.; Mon. and Thurs., 6:30 p.m.; Tues., Wed., Fri., 6:45 a.m. / Mincha and Maariv, 5:15 p.m. / Shabbat services: Fri. at candlelighting; Sat. 9:30 a.m. followed by Kiddush. Mincha, Maariv, and Havdallah TBA.
Photo courtesy Hedy Feuer
ChaBad on river
Matt Gordon (foreground) and fellow Golder Ranch firefighters held a Passover seder at fire station 377 in Oro Valley on April 8. Family friend Hedy Feuer provided the matzah ball soup, kippot, and Haggadahs, and the firefighters prepared the rest of the meal. Gordon’s father is Jewish, Feuer explains, and he grew up celebrating all the Jewish holidays at his late grandparents’ home in Tucson or at her house. “Passover was his favorite, especially singing Had Gadya with his grandfather,” she says, adding that Gordon and her son, Jacob, went on a Birthright Israel trip together in 2009.
3916 E. Ft. Lowell Road, Tucson AZ 85716 • (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
1171 E. Rancho Vistoso #131, 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 2270 W. Ina Road, Suite 100, Tucson, AZ 85741 • (520) 276-5675 Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon • www.beitsimchatucson.org Shabbat services: Fri., 6:30 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m., with Torah study at 9 a.m; monthly Shabbat morning hikes.
Alan Aronoff ASSOCIATE BROKER
Serving you in Central Tucson, Foothills and surrounding, since 1995
(520) 631-7222 www.tucsonhouse.com aronoff@longrealty.com
REFORM
CONSERVATIVE
Congregation Chaverim
Congregation m’Kor hayim 3888 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 (Tucson Hebrew Academy) Mailing Address: P.O. Box 31806, Tucson, AZ 85751 • (520) 305-8208 Rabbi Helen Cohn • www.mkorhayim.org Shabbat services: 2nd and 4th Fri., 7 p.m. / Torah study, 2nd and 4th Sat. 10 - 11:30 a.m.
Congregation or ChadaSh 3939 N. Alvernon Way, 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.
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, AZ 85635 • (520) 458-8637 www.templekol.com Mailing address: P.O. Box 908, Sierra Vista, AZ 85636, Friday night Torah study group: 6 - 7:15 p.m. / Shabbat services: Fri., 7:30 p.m.
TRADITIONAL-EGALITARIAN
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.
OTHER
Beth Shalom temple Center
1751 N. Rio Mayo (P.O. Box 884), Green Valley, AZ 85622 • (520) 648-6690 Rabbi Norman Roman • www.bstc.us Shabbat services: 1st and 3rd Fri., 7 p.m. / Torah study: Sat., 9:30 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 various leaders, followed by Shabbat dinner; Sat., 9:30 a.m., led by Mel Cohen and Dan Asia, followed by light Kiddush lunch.
JewiSh arizonanS on CampuS 2146 E. 4th Street Tucson, AZ, 85719 • (520) 834-3424 • www.myjac.org Shabbat hospitality and social events for UA students with Yosef and Sara Lopez. Shabbat services on request.
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.
SeCular humaniSt JewiSh CirCle
Congregation Kol SimChah
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.
(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.
www.shjcaz.org Call Cathleen at (520) 730-0401 for meeting or other information.
univerSity of arizona hillel foundation
April 17, 2020, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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Benny Gantz was given a 48-hour extension of his mandate to form a government. President Reuven Rivlin extended the two-week deadline by another two days on Monday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Tuesday met Gantz for talks about an emergency unity government amid the coronavirus crisis, recommended Gantz receive the extension, Israel Hayom reported. If Netanyahu and Gantz fail to work out a power-sharing deal, Israel is likely headed toward another election, its fourth since April 2019. Gantz’s Blue and White coalition fell apart over his decision to negotiate with Netanyahu. Gantz had promised during the last election, in March, that he would not share power with Netanyahu. “The emergency situation forced me to accept upon myself to give up on my declaration that I would not sit in a government with Netanyahu,” Gantz said in a speech Monday. — Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA
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Israel will hold its annual Independence Day torch-lighting on Mount Herzl, but only with a television and digital audience because of coronavirus regulations. Among the torch-lighters announced by the Culture and Sport Ministry is the one representing Diaspora Jewry, which has become a tradition in recent years. The honor goes to Lori Palatnik, the founding director of Momentum, formerly known as the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project and colloquially called “Birthright for Moms.” Palatnik lives part-time in Washington, D.C., and Jerusalem. More than 20,000 women from the Diaspora have taken part in Momentum, which “works tirelessly to strengthen Jewish identity and connection to Israel through young mothers in their communities,” Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev wrote in the announcement. Other torches will be lit by the popular Israeli singer-songwriter Idan Raichel, whose Idan Raichel Project fuses electronics, traditional Hebrew texts, and Arab and Ethiopian music, and Col. Hisham Ibrahim, among the most senior combat officers from the Druze community. “Col. Hisham symbolizes the alliance and deep connection between the Druze community and the State of Israel and its citizens,” Regev said in her announcement. — Marcy Oster, JTA
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Jewish astronaut Jessica Meir has advice about how to stay mentally healthy while living in isolation, as the people on Earth she left behind last fall now are because of the coronavirus pandemic. Meir spoke on April 2 from the International Space Station, where she has
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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, April 17, 2020
Photo: Twitter
NEWS BRIEFS
lived since late September with a handful of other astronauts, in a clip posted on the Twitter feed of the United States Embassy in Jerusalem. “It is very strange and a bit surreal for us to see it all unfold when we’ve been up here for the entire duration of what’s going on down on the ground and it seems that we will be completely going back to a different planet,” Meir said. Meir recommended that people in isolation in their homes stay mentally and physically healthy by sticking to their regular routines, exercising, and staying in regular contact with friends and family. In March, Meir posted on Twitter a photo of Tel Aviv that she took from space, in which the usually bustling Israeli city is seen looking desolate amid the spread of the coronavirus. “Gazing down at the city in which my father was raised, I take to heart one of his most uttered expressions, ‘This too shall pass’. Wise words to remember, in both good times and bad. Goodnight #TelAviv #Israel! #GoodnightFromSpace #TheJourney #EarthStrong,” she tweeted at the time. — Marcy Oster, JTA
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Season 3 of the hit Israeli series “Fauda” will begin airing this week on Netflix. “Fauda” focuses on a commando unit of the Israeli army whose members embed themselves in the Palestinian community, gathering intelligence and preventing terror attacks. This season, which launches Thursday with English subtitles, will focus on Gaza. In Israel, the first episode of season 3 was viewed about 1 million times in the first 48 hours after its debut in December. Netflix picked up the show in 2016, the year after its start in Israel. Both of the show’s creators — Avi Issacharoff, the Arab affairs reporter for the English-language Times of Israel news website, and actor Lior Raz, who stars — served in the army unit depicted in the series. — Marcy Oster, JTA