November 17, 2017 28 Cheshvan 5778 Volume 73, Issue 22
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
Classifieds .............................23 Commentary ..........................6 Community Calendar...........24 In Focus.................................26 Local ...............2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, ..............................12, 13, 16 National ................................ 21 News Briefs ......................... 20 Our Town ..............................27 Religion & Jewish Life .........23 Synagogue Directory...........27
AJP WINTER SCHEDULE December 1 December 15 January 12
Special to the AJP
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ucson will be marking the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein in a very big way. “Bernstein at 100 — A Celebration of the Life and Music of Leonard Bernstein” will take place from Jan. 16 through Feb. 4, 2018. The Tucson Desert Song Festival, under the direction of George Hanson, has slated a series of 30 artistic events to be presented over 18 days. The wide range of musical performances, films, symposia, lectures and master classes will illuminate the tremendous scope of Bernstein’s musical body of work. More than a dozen performing arts organizations in Tucson are partners in what Hanson calls “the most collaborative
Photo: Paul de Hueck, courtesy of the Leonard Bernstein Office, Inc.
Arts & Culture .............. 4, 9, 13
RENEE CLAIRE
George Hanson (left), now director of the Tucson Desert Song Festival, and Leonard Bernstein review a score at the Tanglewood Music Festival in 1983.
Leonard Bernstein was renowned worldwide for his flamboyant conducting style as well as his talent as a composer, pianist and educator.
project undertaken in the cultural life of Tucson. Nowhere else in the world, as far as we know, can a listener experience the full spectrum of Bernstein’s genius in such
a short period of time.” Bernstein composed in nearly all styles of music, from classical to Broadway, and from popular to jazz. His compositions range from
small intimate works to operas to film scores to full symphonies. Hanson has crafted a representative program of events that he says will not only illustrate Bernstein’s force as a composer, but will focus a lens on his talents as a conductor, pianist, and educator — a man whose dynamic and wide-ranging musical creativity elevated him to world-class standing. “Bernstein at 100” is the brainchild of Hanson and Eric Holtan, director and founder of Tucson’s True Concord Voices Orchestra. Representative of the collaborative nature of the festival, True Concord will perform a chamber version of one of Bernstein’s seminal works, “Mass,” together with the Tucson Arizona Boys Chorus and the University of See Bernstein, page 2
Tovah Feldshuh to bring Broadway sparkle to free JFSA event KAYE PATCHETT Special to the AJP
Broadway comes to Tucson on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 7 p.m., when six-time Tony and Emmy-nominated actor Tovah Feldshuh takes the stage at Congregation Anshei Israel for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s free event, Together: A Night of Song, presenting her acclaimed show, “Tovah: Out of Her Mind!” with musical director James Bassi. “The event is a thank you, but I hope to empower everyone to celebrate themselves however they can by giving back to the Federation,” says Feldshuh. With a career spanning 40 decades, Feldshuh’s acting credits range from Broadway and Shakespeare to dozens of movies and TV shows, including “Kiss-
Photo courtesy Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona
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Leonard Bernstein centennial will get major play in Tucson
Photo courtesy George Hanson
INSIDE
azjewishpost.com
Tovah Feldshuh
ing Jessica Stein,” “A Walk on the Moon,” “Law and Order,” “The Walking Dead,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” and now “Salvation” for CBS, where she’ll play the president of the United States, Pauline
CANDLELIGHTING TIMES:
November 17... 5:05 p.m.
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Mackenzie. Certain roles hold special meaning for her — especially Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, in “Golda’s Balcony,” which set a record as the longest-running
November 24 ... 5:02 p.m.
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one-woman play in Broadway history, and earned Feldshuh her fourth Tony nomination as Best Actress. Acting in “Holocaust,” the 1978 TV miniseries, “was a real break for me, because it went global,” says Feldshuh. The content devastated many non-Jewish cast members, she says. “Everybody else was sitting there weeping because they couldn’t believe it; but any Jewish kid born in the ’50s was brought up with the specter of the Holocaust. My family came to America from England and Austria in 1902, so we had no immediates who perished at the hands of the Nazis — but the six million was an intimate part of my early education, and I was honored to be part of this miniseries that broadcast to See Feldshuh, page 8
December 1 ... 5:01 p.m.
LOCAL Scholar to analyze political psychology of Israeli leaders in Pozez talk Yael Aronoff, Ph.D., director of Jewish studies at Michigan State University, will present “The Political Psychology of Israeli Prime Ministers” on Monday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, continuing the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies’ 20th anniversary Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series on “Israel: 20th Century Ideal to 21st Century Reality.” Do leaders matter? How does the personality and worldview of leaders shape the course of war and peace?
Aronoff will examine the psychology and decisionmaking processes of key Israeli prime ministers of the last 30 years, showing how and why their views and decisions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shifted and developed over time, leading some to persist in their positions, while others opted to make dramatic changes.
BERNSTEIN
screening of the film “On the Waterfront” on Jan. 20 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Shira Brandenburg, TIJFF director, says she finds the entirety of the Bernstein event to be amazing and is delighted the TIJFF is participating: “Leonard Bernstein wrote only one original film score in his career, and it was for the multi-Oscar-winning film, ‘On the Waterfront.’” Jamie Bernstein, the composer’s daughter and an artist and performer in her own right, is Tucson Desert Song Festival artist-in-residence and will be a special guest of the TIJFF. She will introduce the screening of “On the Waterfront” and be available for a Q and A at the conclusion of the film. “Jamie will dive into the background of her father’s work on this piece, sharing details from one of the bestknown figures in American music,” says Brandenburg. Jamie Bernstein will also participate in the Tucson Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of “Kaddish” in the character of the narrator, a role that she has re-written. Hanson is committed to promoting maximum Tucson Jewish community attendance at “Kaddish” (also known as Bernstein’s 3rd Symphony), which will be performed on Friday, Jan. 19 and on
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Arizona Dance Ensemble, with baritone Jubilant Sykes in the role of the Celebrant, on Jan. 26 and 28 at Centennial Hall. “Mass” was a typical example of how Bernstein’s artistic powers operated, says Hanson, a former assistant to Bernstein for approximately seven years. “Bernstein said that to achieve something great, two things are necessary. First you need to have a plan and second, not quite enough time,” Hanson recalls. The maestro, he explains, got creative by way of procrastination; under the pressure of an impending deadline, he would work himself up into a manic state and the resultant adrenaline would trigger his creativity. Though the technique was effective most times, Bernstein tempted fate once too often, says Hanson, and did indeed miss the original deadline for completing “Mass,” which Jacqueline Kennedy had commissioned him to write for the opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in 1971. The Tucson International Jewish Film Festival, celebrating its 27th year, will collaborate on “Bernstein at 100” with a
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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
Aronoff holds the Michael and Elaine Serling and Friends Chair in Israel Studies at MSU’s James Madison College, where she is associate professor of international relations. She received the MSU 2011 Teacher-Scholar Award. She is the author of “The Political Psychology of Israeli Prime Ministers: When Hard-Liners Opt for
Peace,” published in 2014 by Cambridge University Press. She has published in Foreign Policy, Israel Studies, Israel Studies Review (where she also serves as book review editor), Israel Studies Forum and Political Science Quarterly. She serves on the board of directors of the Association of Israel Studies, and led the MSU Jewish Studies summer program at Hebrew University’s Rothberg School in 2007, 2010 and 2013. For more information, call 626-5758 or visit judaic.arizona.edu.
Sunday, Jan. 21 at the Tucson Music Hall. “We want the TSO to see that there is a strong desire in the community to attend and support important Jewish cultural events. People are going to treasure their memory of seeing ‘Kaddish’ for the rest of their lives,” says Hanson, “but they have to be there.” To that end, and as a means of making the music more accessible, Hanson says, the TSO is offering group-priced tickets to Tucson’s synagogues. With sufficient interest, Hanson proposes to come to each participating synagogue to give a talk about “Kaddish.” His pre-concert insights will enhance the experience of seeing the work, which has never before been performed in Tucson. Bernstein drew inspiration for his symphony from the Hebrew prayer recited for the dead and “Kaddish” demonstrates how he wrestled with his religion. Further exploration of Bernstein’s religious roots and offshoots will take place at a symposium entitled “Leonard Bernstein’s Jewish Heritage.” Panel participants will include Hanson; Jamie Bernstein; J. Edward Wright, director of the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Arizona; and Daniel Asia, professor of music at the UA’s Fred Fox School of Music. Collaborating partners, the Jewish
Federation of Southern Arizona, the Tucson J and TSO will present this program at the J on Monday, Jan. 22 at 7:00 pm. In anticipation of “Bernstein at 100,” the J is hosting a preview concert on Tuesday, Dec. 19 at 6:30 pm. “The Bernstein Centennial Celebration Concert” will feature student singers from the Fred Fox School of Music, who will give a free hour-long performance featuring a mezzo soprano with a piano accompanist. A question and answer discussion will follow. For information regarding “Bernstein at 100” festival venues, times and tickets, visit tucsondesertsongfestival. org/2018-season. For more information on the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival, visit TIJFF.org. The Tucson Desert Song Festival is presented in partnership with Arizona Early Music Society, Arizona Opera, Arizona Friends of Chamber Music, Ballet Tucson, New York Festival of Song, True Concord Voices & Orchestra, Tucson Guitar Society, Tucson International Jewish Film Festival, Tucson Jazz Festival, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, UA Fred Fox School of Music, and UA Presents.
Yael Aronoff, Ph.D.
Renee Claire is a freelance writer living in La Serena, Chile.
LOCAL Beckers lead intimate, spiritual Israel journey
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Photo courtesy Rabbi Israel Becker
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(L-R) Mark Zimmerman, Rabbi Israel Becker, Esther Becker, Lyn Lewis and Sue Ross at the Western Wall on Oct. 22
KORENE CHARNOFSKY COHEN Special to the AJP
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raveling to Israel is like entering a time machine, where you connect to the past amidst advanced technology. Rabbi Israel Becker and his wife Esther of Congregation Chofetz Chayim led five people on a spiritual journey to Israel Oct. 15-26 with the theme of “Where the Past Shapes Your Soul.” “Our missions to Israel are a reflection of what Esther and I do in Tucson to enrich people’s lives through Judaism and Torah,” says Becker. “Connecting with the past inspires us to look forward to the future.” This is the third time the Beckers have led a tour to Israel. “Every time I go to Israel it’s a new experience,” says Becker. He says it is important to travel to Israel to discover ourselves as we connect to G-d and our people. “The theme of the trip was important to me,” says Ellie Adelman. “It was my first trip to Israel, and it made me feel a deep connection with the people of Israel, where the new interconnects with the ancient. I’m amazed at the perseverance of the Jews — they always come back, there is always a yearning to return to Israel despite all that the Jews have been through.” Lyn Lewis, who traveled to Israel with the Beckers in 2014, says that this year’s trip was more spiritual. “It was easy to connect with the theme of the trip because living history was at your fingertips, connecting the land with Judaism,” says Lewis. “The trip really had an impact on my heart and soul, and it was very moving to look out over the horizon and to know that people gave their lives to farm and build up the land and the cities.” The group visited the Kotel, or Western Wall, the last remnant of the Temple, with some participants going three times during their stay in Israel. “We left to go to the Wall while it was
still dark to participate in a sunrise service,” says Becker. He explains that it is special to be there when darkness transcends into light. The Talmud teaches that redemption of the Jewish people will be like the sunrise; it starts slowly, then bursts forth to full light. Mark Zimmerman, who now lives in Las Vegas, got to know the Beckers from attending Shabbat services at Chofetz Chayim. He went to Israel a week ahead of the group, then joined them, and stayed for another week afterward to get a fuller experience. “I appreciated praying at the Wall in the quiet of the dawn,” he says. “At 6:11 a.m. there was no noise from tourists and tour buses. It is the quiet moments that bring out spirituality and emotion.” He added that he was amazed at the large number of tourists present at most of the places he visited, but acknowledged that this is good for Israel. Sue Ross first visited Israel 48 years ago with her husband, Sonny, when she was 20 years old. One of the most dramatic differences between then and now, she says, was at the Wall. In 1969, less than two years after the Six-Day War, she remembers that a bar mitzvah was taking place, and that there were fewer people, but more soldiers. “Now there are many more people, and I went to the Kotel three times, including at sunrise,” Ross says. “I am the same age as the modern state of Israel, I was born in July of 1948, and this trip made me feel a greater connection to Israel as our homeland.” “You can look at photos, but visiting someplace like the Western Wall and actually touching the Wall, makes a big difference,” says Adelman.“Being at the location of the Holy of Holies [the core of the First and Second Temples, built around the Foundation Stone], being at the place See Journey, page 10
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ARTS & CULTURE/LOCAL Choir to perform Hanukkah premiere, ‘King David’ oratorio
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The Arizona Repertory Singers will perform the world premiere of ‘Festival of Lights’ next month.
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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
he Arizona Repertory Singers will feature several pieces of Jewish music during its 2017-2018 season. In its winter concert series, the 47-member ensemble directed by Elliot Jones, Ph.D., will perform the world premiere of “Festival of Lights” by New York composer Karen Siegel, as well as the Ladino Hanukkah song, “Ocho Kandelikas.” In the spring, the choir will present two performances of Arthur Honegger’s “King David” oratorio, last performed in Tucson in 1954. Rick Sack, a member of the choir since 2013, is thrilled that under Jones, now in his second year as music director, ARS is exploring a more culturally diverse repertoire. Sack, whose education included a stint as a musical theatre major at the University of Arizona, is a Realtor who moved to Tucson from Chicago in 1993. He became a member of Congregation Ner Tamid after attending a single service that moved him to tears, “basically because of Karla Ember’s voice and musical interpretation of our prayers.” He joined Ember’s choir at Ner Tamid and took voice lessons with her. Eventually she encouraged him to apply for the position of cantorial soloist at Congregation Chaverim, where he served several years, becoming a member. When Ember was killed in 2010, dying after a brutal attack by a former boyfriend that stunned the Jewish community, “I became unaffiliated,” he says. Sack had also sung with the Sons of Orpheus, a men’s choir, for several years. It was while receiving physical therapy for shoulder pain that he learned about ARS, as he and the therapist chatted about their hobbies. The therapist, Carolyn Adler, “turned out to be one of the finest sopranos I’d ever heard, singing with the Arizona Repertory Singers.” Since being accepted into ARS, “I’ve just been madly in love with this choir,” says Sack, vice president of the ARS board of directors, adding that this is the perfect year to expand its reach in the Jewish community. Jones acknowledges that when it comes to choral music in December, most people think of Christmas music, although that can be secular rather than sacred. “I don’t really want to place emphasis on any particular religion or denomination — but it just so happened that I wanted a good, rhythmic, opening number for this concert and one thing I’ve done before is ‘Ocho Kandelikas,’” Jones says. “It’s in the Ladino dialect, from Sephardic Spanish, and it just makes the most crowd-pleasing and singer-
pleasing opening number for a concert.” Under the rubric “Heaven Full of Stars,” the concert also will include “Ave Maria, Virgo Serena” by Josquin des Prez and “Stars” by Eriks Esenvalds, which calls for choristers to play tuned wine glasses as they sing, creating an unusual aural effect. As for “Festival of Lights,” Jones says that when composers send him their music, he’s often underwhelmed, but when he looked at Siegel’s composition, he said, “Oh, this is something we need to do! There’s something about it that’s very special, very beautiful — the singers will say it is very difficult but it is worth the trouble and it’s going to be a wonderful world premiere.” Jones is equally excited about the two April performances of “King David,” with one scheduled for Catalina United Methodist Church and the other at Temple Emanu-El. He conducted “King David” for the first time in 2011 in Missouri. “I’m so in love with piece I’m looking forward to doing it again.” The oratorio, written in 1921, features a range of musical styles including Gregorian chant, early 20th century modernist dissonance and jazz. Along with the offstage voice of the Witch of Endor, the ARS production will include other theatrical elements, says Jones. “For example, the first time you hear King David sing, he’s a boy soprano, and then very quickly he develops into an adult tenor. At the end of the piece … I have the boy King David enter and the adult King David stand and look at each other before they look out over the city and it is just a beautiful moment.” Ken Rosenblatt, a member of Temple Emanu-El, also sings with ARS and is president of its board. He is particularly proud of the group’s work with Act One, which provides arts experiences for underserved children. “Each year we have two concerts [for Act One] and we introduce people who have not been able to hear fine choral music before, so from my perspective, this choir not only produces glorious music, but also in our small way, Rick and I and the rest of the choir, and Elliot, are doing a little tikkun olam (repair of the world),” says Rosenblatt. “We’re trying to do our part to serve the community and change the world.” Opening night for the December concerts is Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m. at Christ the King Episcopal Church, 2800 W. Ina Road, with performances at three other Tucson churches on Dec. 10, 15, and 17. Tickets are $18 in advance or $20 at the door. Group discounts are available. For complete details and tickets, visit arsingers.org or call 792-8141.
LOCAL
The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies
Shaol & Louis Pozez
Tucson J plans circus-themed ECE fundraiser
Memorial Lectureship Series 2017-2018
Free and Open to All • Lectures held at Tucson JCC
Photo courtesy Tucson Jewish Community Center
20th Anniversary Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series
Flam Chen’s performances merge daredevil acrobatics and pyrotechnics.
The Sculpture Garden at the Tucson Jewish Community Center will take on a “Big Top” atmosphere for the Tucson J early childhood education program’s new winter fundraiser, Cirque D’Arte. The event, which will be held Saturday, Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m., will begin in the Sculpture Garden with characters on stilts, appetizers, music and magicians, followed by a variety of dinner stations, a performance of contemporary circus arts by Flam Chen, and street-fair style desserts. It will include adult beverages, raf-
fles, and a silent auction of children’s art. A barbershop quartet also will perform. The ECE fundraiser helps provide the school with playground equipment, classroom supplies, furniture, books, and professional development for the teachers. Tickets for this adults-only event are $60 in advance and $75 at the door and are, available at tucsonjcc.org/event/ ece-winter-fundraiser-cirque-darte-dec2nd-2017/. For more information, call 299-3000.
Since 1997 the Pozez families’ generosity has made the Shaol and Louis Pozez Memorial Lecture Series one of the intellectual and social staples of the Tucson Jewish Community. Through the years, the series has gained a national and international reputation for its history of distinguished lecturers. To mark this achievement, this year’s series is themed, “Israel: 20th Century Ideal to 21st Century Reality.”
Political Psychology of Israeli Prime Ministers The
Professor Yael Aronoff
Photo-illustration components: Public domain, office of the Prime Minister of Israel -http://www.pmo.gov.il used in compliance with 17 U.S.C. § 106.
Monday, December 4, 2017, 7pm • Free and Open to All Tucson Jewish Community Center • 3800 E. River Rd.
Prof. Yael Aronoff
Michigan State University
Do leaders matter? How does the personality and worldview of leaders shape the course of war and peace? Prof. Aronoff will examine the psychology and decision-making processes of key Israeli Prime Ministers over the last 30 years to show how and why their views and decisions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict shifted and developed over time. Some of these leaders persisted in their positions, while others opted to make dramatic changes. Aronoff will explain how these examples relate to the recent policies of and decisions by Prime Minister Netanyahu. Prof. Yael S. Aronoff is the Michael and Elaine Serling and Friends Chair of Israel Studies at Michigan State University, the Director of Jewish Studies at MSU, and an Associate Professor of International Relations in The James Madison College at MSU. She is on the Board of Directors of the Association for Israel Studies. Aronoff’s book, The Political Psychology of Israeli Prime Ministers: When Hard-Liners Opt for Peace, was published by Cambridge University Press.
For more information, call (520) 626-5758 or visit us at www.judaic.arizona.edu The Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Series is made possible by the generous support of the Pozez Families.
Sponsors:
The Pozez Family Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona
November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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COMMENTARY Too few Israelis with disabilities live in their own homes — let’s change that JAY RUDERMAN AND AVITAL SANDLER-LOEFF JTA
Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90
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n recent weeks we have seen Israelis with disabilities closing down highways and raising their voices and public profiles in unprecedented ways to demand better services, better treatment, and a role in Israel’s destiny and economic successes. In many ways they are fighting for personal freedom, to feel a part of a community and at home in their own country. For some Israelis with disabilities, such goals can only be achieved by starting with a literal home of their own. Among them are 10,000 Israelis with disabilities who are living in institutions. While this may not sound like a lot, remember that in the United States, where the general population is 40 times larger than Israel’s, only 29,000 people with
Disabled activists block a road near the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem during a protest calling for better health care and allowances, Oct. 24.
disabilities live in state institutions. For them, life is heavily restricted, without basic freedoms like choosing their own bedtime, finding a spouse or even having a key to their own rooms. Many Israelis with disabilities who live with family members lack the kind of support that would enable them to handle their personal finances, seek employment and find a place to live on their own. This is especially poignant for young adults with disabilities who are eager to set out on their own and build lives filled with friends, romantic relationships and families. Added to these challenges are Israel’s rising cost of living and housing, and even more tragic, pervasive stigmas about people with disabilities. That sentiment surfaced most recently when some 53 percent of Israelis reported that they would not rent an apartment to a See Disabilities, page 7
Sixty thousand joined a Polish nationalist march. Should Jews be worried? CNAAN LIPHSHIZ JTA
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he sight of far-right activists waving racist banners and shouting anti-Semitic slogans during a nationalist march in the capital of Poland over the weekend shocked many around the world. It was an understandable reaction to witnessing tens of thousands in Warsaw marching near what used to be the largest Jewish ghetto during the Holocaust amid shouts of “Jews out” and “Remove Jewry
from power.” The march, an annual event that began in 2009 with 500 participants on Poland’s national day, Nov. 11, was not necessarily the largest so far. Similar numbers of marchers showed up last year. But it did showcase the rising strength of Polish nationalists who are feeling emboldened by the conservative government in Warsaw — and to some extent by the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president. Despite its size, the Warsaw gathering was neither unusual nor even particularly toxic compared to similar gatherings
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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
in other countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Similar or worse displays have occurred regularly in other post-communist countries — including in Ukraine earlier this year and annually in the Baltic states — where the far right is far more powerful and violent than in Poland. In the aftermath of the march, JTA posed five questions on the situation to some of Poland’s leading experts on the issue and a former leader of its Jewish community. Does Poland have a fascism problem? Despite their growing visibility, ultranationalist Poles have neither the prominence nor acceptance they seem to enjoy in Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary and Ukraine. Still, their popularity among young people is seen as a worrisome sign, according to Rafal Pankowski, co-founder of the Polish anti-racism group Never Again, who cited a 2013 survey of high school students showing that 44 percent would rather not have Jewish neighbors and more than 60 percent would not want to have a Jewish boyfriend or girlfriend. “The sociological data shows us that the younger generation is more prone to xenophobia than that of their parents, which is perhaps the most alarming aspect of the phenomenon,” Pankowski said. Though there were certainly racists at Saturday’s march, there were also “ordinary people, families who just wanted to do a patriotic act, which to them is just
to march with the Polish flag,” said Piotr Kadlcik, the former president of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland. And while some shouted offensive slogans about Jews, there were no known anti-Semitic banners on display, nor was there rioting or violence. “In a way this is scary, too, because it shows the far right have their act together and can demonstrate the discipline of a political movement rather than a bunch of hooligans,” Kadlcik said. “But there was very little intimidation.” Polish Jews are split on whether antiSemitism has increased under the conservative Law and Justice party, which rose to power in 2015. President Andrzej Duda in a post Monday on Twitter wrote: “In our country, there is no room, nor is there consent, to xenophobia, to insane nationalism, there is no room in our country to antiSemitism.” Polish Jews agree that racist violence in their country is relatively rare. Only a few dozen anti-Semitic incidents are recorded annually, most of them verbal, though several anti-Semitic statements were made by Polish politicians. Those are crucial differences, Kadlcik said, between Poland and other countries in the region. In Hungary, activists from the ultranationalist Jobbik party, the country’s second largest, rally regularly in the thousands and sometimes terrorize Jews, as See Poland, page 18
DISABILITIES continued from page 6
person with disabilities. Israelis with disabilities need services to support their autonomy and to gain access to affordable housing. They deserve welcoming neighbors who recognize their value to the wider community. To tackle these issues, Israel Unlimited — a strategic partnership between the Ruderman Family Foundation and the government of Israel to promote a more inclusive Israeli society and independent living for Israelis with disabilities — is focusing on housing. To achieve this, we first need a new generation of social services tailored to individuals so they can find a home and live independently. Through Supported Housing, a program we launched in 2015, teams of mentors and care coordinators provide assistance to young adults with disabilities in finding suitable apartments, adapting to an independent lifestyle, planning finances and housekeeping. Recognized as one of the most innovative programs in the disabilities field by the Zero Project, the global initiative to create a world without barriers for people with disabilities, Supported Housing has already assisted hundreds in finding homes and beginning new lives. Next year we’ll join the emerging trend in the rest of the Western world by assisting people with more challenging disabilities, including those requiring nursing care, to find a home of their own. Second, we need affordable housing alternatives for people with disabilities, especially given a shortage of long-term rentals in Israel and rental prices that change on a whim. Through a creative initiative with the Ministry of Housing and Construction that is being signed in the coming days, we will ensure that people with disabilities have stable housing alternatives in Israel. We’ll make this happen by matching philanthropic funds to the ministry’s
pool of rent subsidies. This will result in a one-time payment for an apartment. We’ll start with 25 apartments, providing security to people with disabilities so they don’t have to fear sudden rent increases, and will also explore social impact investment models for future purchases. Third, we need to build inclusive communities and enlist the support of clergy, students and business leaders to fight negative perceptions and make our neighborhoods truly welcoming. We’re doing this by training rabbis and imams in the principles and practices of inclusivity; creating partnerships between people with and without disabilities in the area of sports and exercise; and forming grassroots student groups to advance accessibility and inclusivity on campus. We will work with artists and designers, with and without disabilities, to create social media campaigns to erase stigmas. Progress in these areas can often mean the difference between meaningful lives and those filled with frustration and heartbreak. Take Lior and Lotem, a 20-something couple from Rehovot. They long desired to live together on their own, but Lior’s group home and Lotem’s parents were resistant to such a move. With our support, Lior and Lotem convinced their families to help them fulfill their dream. We deployed our program staff to talk with their caretakers, ensure they had the life skills necessary to foster independence, and help them find a home. A few months later they moved into their first apartment. And right before Rosh Hashanah, they married. Lior and Lotem are but two of the hundreds of thousands of Israelis with disabilities who desire access to the kinds of freedoms we all enjoy. Let’s join with them to make this a reality and give new meaning to the phrase “home sweet home.” Jay Ruderman is the president of the Ruderman Family Foundation. Avital Sandler-Loeff, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s disabilities expert, is the director of Israel Unlimited.
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FELDSHUH continued from page 1
the world what happened.” Born in 1952 in New York City, into a Conservative Jewish family, Feldshuh, born Terri Sue, is the daughter of Lillian and lawyer Sidney Feldshuh. Her brother, David, is the Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright of “Miss Evers’ Boys.” Her love for the stage began early. “At 3, I’d practice skits in front of the mirror, and then, with courage, I’d take my show on the road to the living room, and play for my parents.” She first hit the stage at 4 years old, playing Gretel in “Hansel and Gretel.” Other school productions followed. She also was a classical pianist, and played “Rhapsody in Blue” for her eighth grade graduation. Feldshuh graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, N.Y. She started her career at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where she was awarded the McKnight Fellowship in Acting. Originally planning to be a lawyer, like her father, she was on the waiting list for Harvard Law School. “I was 21 when I took the fork in the road,” she says. “If I were accepted at Harvard Law I probably would have gone. Instead, I married a Harvard lawyer, and I played a litigator on “Law and Order” — a better choice, I believe!” For her first professional job, she used the stage name Terri Sue Fairchild, inspired by her boyfriend, Michael Fairchild. After a while, he suggested she use her Hebrew name. “He thought Tovah was a more womanly, sensuous name. And the name has brought me great luck.” Tovah means “good,” and Feldshuh is German for “field shoe.” So, she quips, “I could have called myself ‘Goody Two-Shoes.’” Beyond her career, Feldshuh received the Eleanor Roosevelt Voice for Humanity Award and the Israel Peace Medal for her charity work with Seeds for Peace camps for children, which take children of conflict and teach them to live and play together in a camp environment. “They learn the skills of diplomacy; of talking, versus punching,” says Feldshuh. Wouldn’t it be great, she asks, if every child, regardless of nationality,
“were trained to speak with words, and not with guns?” In 1977, Feldshuh married lawyer Andrew Harris Levy. They have two children, Garson Brandon, an economist and graduate of Harvard and Oxford Universities; and Amanda Claire, a physics graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At 64, her life is a hurricane of activity. She plays multiple roles, many of them overlapping. “Next week I play an Iraqi Jewish grandmother — that’s one film —and two weeks later I’m in another film, where I play a ‘mysterious socialite.’ In between, I’ll be in Tucson, Arizona, singing to you all.” In January, she’ll portray a man, in “Dancing with Giants,” her brother’s second play. “It’s about championship boxing. I’m going to play heavyweight champion Max Schmeling’s manager, Yussle Jacobs.” Feldshuh thrives on challenges. In 2013, in the Broadway show “Pippin,” she did what she proudly describes as “a full-on trapeze act.” In 2015, she hiked Kilimanjaro with her son, and also starred in a one-woman show at 54 Below, titled “Aging is Optional (’Cause God, I hope it is!).” Her bucket list remains full to overflowing. “I’ve been to Antarctica, and I’ve tracked gorillas in Africa,” she says. “I’m going to Siberia and Mongolia next year. I’m going to live in a yurt … and I’d like to ride with the Mongols. I would like to go on a serious expedition to Alaska … with dog sledding, on land, exposed to the elements, heading in the direction of the North Pole. “I just want to take advantage of every day. As they say, ‘You gotta make the days long — because the years are short.’ ” The Together event is free but registration is required at jfsa.org or 577-9393. The free concert will be preceded by a $36-per-ticket reception with Tovah Feldshuh for JFSA Ben-Gurion Society and Tikkun Circle members (donors to the JFSA 2018 Community Campaign of $1,000 (per couple) or $500 (individual). The reception, with a cocktail buffet and hosted bar, will be held at Anshei Israel from 5:30-6:45 p.m. RSVP at jfsa.org. Kaye Patchett is a freelance writer and editor in Tucson.
Above, Hedy Lamarr in ‘Bombshell’; at right, Neta Riskin (left) and Golshifteh Farahani in ‘Shelter’
a moving tribute to the rights of gay and lesbian couples to marry. It deftly explores the love of couples for each other and for their children. Through their steadfast love, they change the nation, one state at a time, and ultimately, win recognition from the U.S. Supreme Court. “The Freedom to Marry” will be shown Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the J. Who can forget their own love of that literary scamp, Curious George? In the documentary “Monkey Business: The Adventures of Curious George’s Creators” (2017), we are transported to France, where a Jewish couple escape Hitler’s wrath on a bicycle, with the transcript and artwork of “Curious George” in the bicycle’s basket. Their love for each other and for their little monkey brings beauty and imagination to the screen. “Monkey Business” will be shown Sunday, Jan. 14 at 1 p.m. at the J. The Arizona Jewish Post will be the presenting sponsor of “The Essential Link:
Photo: Beta Cinema
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.” These words of Jimi Hendrix could well be the introduction to the 27th annual Tucson International Jewish Film Festival, which will run Jan. 11-21 with 20 films, says Anne Lowe, film festival committee member. The theme of this festival is “The Power of Love,” focusing on films that explore the transformative power of love in our lives. The 2018 Tucson International Jewish Film Festival will kick off at The Loft Cinema on Jan. 11 with “Shelter.” In this subtle thriller, a female Mossad agent is sent to protect a female Lebanese informer in a safehouse in Hamburg, Germany. The relationship that evolves between the women is tested with the threat of terror, deception, and a surprising turn of fate. Most films will be shown at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, with SaddleBrooke and the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation as additional venues. A complete schedule and tickets are available at: tijff.org or by calling the J at 299-3000. Additional highlights include: “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story” (2017), which reveals how Lamarr’s love of mechanics and technology trumped her incredible beauty, allowing the actress to contribute to the future peace of the world, a true gift of love. “Bombshell” will be shown Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 5 p.m. at the J. The fictional psychological drama, “1945” (2016), screening on Friday, Jan. 19 at 1 p.m. at the J, shows what happens when a town abandons love of one another, and instead heeds the love of material wealth. “The Freedom to Marry” (2016) is
Photo courtesy Tucson International Jewish Film Festival
ARTS/LOCAL In 27th year, international Jewish film festival to explore ‘Power of Love’
The Story of Wilfrid Israel” (2016) on Sunday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. at the J. Wilfrid Israel, owner of the largest department store in Berlin and a member of one of Germany’s most prominent Jewish families at the time of Hitler’s rise to power, helped save thousands of Jewish children through the Kindertransport operation and secured escape for hundreds of his employees and their families. Filmmaker Yonatan Nir, whose “My Hero Brother” enthralled audiences at the 2016 TIJFF, searches for the story of this mysterious hero and the reasons for his disappearance from history. Partnering with the 2018 Tucson Desert Song Festival to celebrate the life and music of conductor, composer, pianist, and educator Leonard Bernstein, the TIJFF will present the 1954 classic, “On the Waterfront,” on Saturday, Jan. 20, 7:30 p.m. at the J. Bernstein wrote the only original film score in his career for this movie. His daughter, Jamie Ber-
nstein, will be at the screening to talk about her father and how sharing the love of music can transform us all. The festival will close on Sunday, Jan. 21 at the J with a brunch at 10:30 a.m. followed by the film “Monsieur Mayonnaise” at 11:30 a.m. In this film, Australian artist and film-maker Philippe Mora investigates the secret past of his father’s clandestine role in the French resistance in WWII and his mother’s miraculous escape enroute to Auschwitz. Creating an audacious comic book about his parents, this road movie features artists, real life heroes, Nazi villains … and baguettes with lashings of French mayonnaise! Tickets for the brunch, which must be purchased separately, are $18. Ticket prices for the festival include the season pass, $118; kickoff film in SaddleBrooke, $5; opening night at The Loft, $10; general admission, $9; JCC member/senior/student, $8; and a 6-pack, $45.
November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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where Abraham brought Isaac after being commanded by G-d to sacrifice his son, and praying and putting a message in the Wall made it all real.” When she heard that the Beckers were planning a trip to Israel, Ruth Polizzi signed up immediately. She says the rabbi provided inspirational tidbits of Torah that enhanced the history of each site, and she was amazed at how little she knew of Israel’s history. “It was important for me to go on this trip,” says Polizzi. “It was not only a oncein-a-lifetime trip, it was a connection to my husband, Jerry, who died on Oct. 17 of last year. I went for both of us, and since the anniversary of his death occurred during the trip, I felt like he was there. “I went to the Kotel three times. During one of those times I placed a message to my husband in the Wall. I couldn’t believe how many messages there were — it was hard to find a spot.” Many other biblical and historical sites were on the schedule. Some of these included ruins of ancient synagogues, Zippori, where Jewish life thrived under Roman rule, the City of David where nearly 4,000 years of history are represented, Chevron (Hebron) Israel’s second holiest city, and the Old City of Jerusalem. “I was especially moved by the ancient cemetery in Tzfat,” says Becker. “We prayed there and connected with the luminaries who are buried there.” The most famous rabbi buried in this cemetery is Rabbi Isaac Luria, a kabbalist who came to Tzfat in 1530 from Egypt. Also buried there is Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, who is best known for composing the “Lecha Dodi” song, and Rabbi Yosef Caro, a kabbalist and Torah scholar who is best known for writing the Shulchan Aruch, the Code of Jewish Law. Caro wrote the Shulchan Aruch to make the laws of the Torah easier for Jews, who had been dispersed throughout the world because of the Spanish expulsion. “At Tzfat, Rabbi Becker explained the connection between the rabbis of the 16th century and modern Judaism,” says Zimmerman. “I found it very meaningful that ‘Lecha Dodi’ is still sung in services in modern synagogues, and the Shulchan Aruch is still a part of today’s Judaism. The Temple may have been lost, but not Judaism. It sets a mood that stays with you.” For Ross, the highlight of the trip was her visit to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. She says it had a tremendous impact on her because her husband’s parents were Holocaust survivors. Her father-in-law lost his first wife and four children under 10 years old. She thinks that her mother-in-law survived because she was a big, strong
Photo: Southwest-torah.org
continued from page 3
Ruth Polizzi feeds a calf at the robotic milking farm on Moshav Avnei Eitan, Oct. 17.
woman who was used as a worker. Ross’s husband was 3 years old when he and his parents came to the United States. “I went to the Auschwitz room, where I saw my mother-in-law in one of the photos,” says Ross. “I had seen this photo at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D. C., where there is a wall of hair taken from the women at Auschwitz. In the photo, my mother-in-law has no hair. “It took so much energy to view the exhibits and I was very shaken. My own hair stood on end.” On the lighter side, the trip included visits to a winery, market places, a robotic milking plant, and a camel ride. Zimmerman describes the camel ride as “hilarious,” despite “holding on for dear life and thinking I was going to fall off.” At the robotic milking plant at Moshav Avnei Eitan, cows are trained to enter a machine-operated milking barn on their own a few times a day. They are given food, a spray bath and are hooked up to milking machines automatically. Polizzi says she enjoyed bottle-feeding a calf at the farm. Adelman enjoyed the market places where artwork and jewelry were for sale. The market they visited before Shabbat, she says, had wall-to-wall people and an amazing variety of fresh produce and baked goods. On Oct. 25 the Beckers were delighted to have their tour group join them at the wedding of the Beckers’ granddaughter, Yael Adelman, to Shmuel Posner. Yael’s parents are Toba (the Becker’s eldest daughter) and Faivel Adelman, who live in Israel with their other children. All members of the tour group consider this to be a wonderful culmination of their Israel experience. “The wedding was a happy community celebration, with the focus on the joy of living, the creation of a new family and hope for future,” says Lewis. “But I was definitely sad to leave Israel and am looking forward to going back.” Korene Charnofsky Cohen is a freelance writer and editor in Tucson.
LOCAL Ethiopian-Israeli teen, ENP leader tell stories of success fueled by Federation PHYLLIS BRAUN
AJP Executive Editor
Photo: Danielle Larcom/JFSA
B
atel Marsha, an 18-year-old Ethiopian-Israeli, says the Ethiopian National Project’s SPACE (School Performance and Community Empowerment) program “saved me — maybe not literally saved my life, but totally helped me get to where I am today.” Batel will join the Israeli Air Force next month, where she will train to be an air traffic control commander, using state-of-the art technology. Without her SPACE tutors, she says, she would not have graduated from high school with the high grades necessary for such training, or have the confidence to pursue her dreams, which include being an entrepreneur with her own start-up someday. About 175 people heard from Batel and ENP Director of International Relations Grace Rodnitzki earlier this month, at Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona leadership summits held in support of JFSA’s 2018 Community Campaign. The Federation helps sustain Israeli education and social services programs through its annual overseas allocations as well as
(L-R): Rachel Rivera (Women’s Philanthropy summit co-host), Grace Rodnitzki, Batel Marsha and Peggy Langert (Women’s Philanthropy summit co-host) at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Nov. 8.
grants made in cooperation with the Jewish Community Foundation. At the Women’s Philanthropy summit lunch on Wednesday, Nov. 8, Rodnitzki briefly told her own story before introducing Batel. Originally from King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania, Rodnitzki met Israelis as a teenager and fell in love with the idea of making aliyah. But a shaliach (Israeli emissary) told her Israel didn’t need 17-yearolds who’d be dependent on the state; it needed educated people who could truly make a difference. So she attended
Brandeis University, graduating in 1990, and made aliyah immediately after. “For me, the life-changing moment was, I was there on May 24, 1991,” she says, when Israel carried out Operation Solomon, the secret airlift of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in just 36 hours. She remembers going out the next day and seeing busloads of Ethiopian newcomers, largely uneducated farmers and shepherds from rural communities. “I wondered if I was going to be successful, and I was a university graduate; I studied Hebrew at university; English is my native language, which is a commodity in Israel. I remember seeing these newcomers, draped in their traditional white garb, and saying to myself, ‘My G-d, imagine what challenges they will face.’” Federations created the ENP, a partnership between Diaspora Jewry, the government of Israel and the EthiopianIsraeli community, Rodnitzki explains. Since 2004, it has provided not only afterschool academic assistance, but also social, nutritional and emotional support for thousands of teens like Batel. Batel, who was born in Hadera, Israel, See ENP, page 12
November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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ARTS & CULTURE/LOCAL
Photo courtesy Amy Pozez
Students’ art, values topic for Green Valley talk
Art by students of Tucson Hebrew Academy is on display at Beth Shalom Temple Center in Green Valley.
The art gallery at Beth Shalom Temple Center in Green Valley will present “A Visual Exploration of Jewish Values: The Art of Jewish Youth,” featuring art by students at Tucson Hebrew Academy, through Dec. 21. “Values are the mainstay of our belief. Thoughts often swim in my head about how I am going to convey the importance of Judaism while accepting that all Jewish children who walk through our gates won’t graduate wanting to daven (recite prayers) every morning,” says Amy Pozez, art teacher at THA. Her students have challenged themselves to explore
Judaism while creating art that expresses their personal values. Pozez, herself an accomplished artist, has been a teacher at THA for six years. “Developing values takes practice, just like anything else. Practice doesn’t come from one 45-minute session, but through putting it into action and taking the time to reflect on how we demonstrate and live our values,” she says. Pozez will present a gallery walk and talk on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 11:30 a.m., following the temple’s new members bagel breakfast. For more information, call 648-6690.
ENP
night. “Their journey was filled with hardships and obstacles,” she says, including two encounters with robbers. They spent nine months living in Sudan, hiding the fact that they were Jews; her grandmother became ill, but it was her grandfather, upset that his wife might not live to see Israel, who ended up dying in Sudan. When the family finally went to Khartoum for the airlift, it was the first time any of them had ever seen an airplane, and some others in their group were so frightened by the noise they ran into the jungle and were never seen again. Her father was one of the lucky few whose family all survived, although they had been separated on the journey to Sudan. When they were reunited, it was the first time his traveling companions saw him smile. Her parents met in Israel, married, and moved to Hadera, where they both worked hard, her in a preschool and her father at the electric company, “to provide everything they hoped to give us, their children.” The fourth of her parents’ five children, Batel points out that her older brother and two sisters didn’t have ENP to provide “the little helping hand that made all the difference to me.” But the program will be there for her younger brother, who is going into seventh grade next year. “I know he’ll also go far,” she says, “but knowing my little brother, he’ll definitely need that extra help that SPACE gives.”
continued from page 11
along with her four siblings, displayed both her command of English and her sense of humor with her opening remark, noting that it was her first time in America, and while she may not have made it to Fifth Avenue in New York City, she did get to shop on Fourth Avenue in Tucson. She explained that Israeli students must choose their majors in ninth grade. “I majored in software engineering and chemistry,” she says. “Really, the rest of your life is determined in the ninth grade.” Her parents both left Ethiopia in 1984, and both their journeys were intense, she says. Her mother was brought to Israel through Operation Moses, another secret operation that spanned six weeks from November 1984 to January 1985. It was dangerous for Jews to try to leave Israel; people who were caught were thrown in jail, sometimes for many years. Her mother’s family was not impoverished, and she and a brother attended school through fifth grade, Batel says, “but they knew their home as Jews could only be found in Israel.” Hiring guides, the family left for Sudan under cover of night to avoid neighbors who might report them to the police. Batel’s mother was 15 years old. It took them a month to reach Sudan, walking only at
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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
ARTS & CULTURE/LOCAL Special to the AJP
STRONGER TOGETHER
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Connecting Tucson with Israel
Tucson J exhibit reveals many ‘Spiritual Voices’ BRENDA GOLDSTEIN
Photos courtesy Aimee Smythe
he Tucson Jewish Community Center will present “Spiritual Voices,” a juried art show, Nov. 30-Jan. 10. The exhibit will include 20 Jewish artists from Southern Arizona. Local artists Aimee Smythe and Lisa Mishler are the curators of “Spiritual Voices.” Both women have participated in numerous art shows throughout the years, including curated and juried exhibits. Mishler, also a writer, has published two books about the Holocaust. The exhibit is “unique in that it unites the works through each artist’s interpretation of the term ‘spiritual voices,’ which is a new prompt for our gallery,” says Barbara Fenig, Tucson J director of arts and culture. Fenig began working at the J in January 2017, taking over the position from Lynn Davis, who juried the show. Davis is now executive director of the Sonoran Glass School in Tucson. Featured artists include Laurie Sherman, daughter of songwriter Robert B. Sherman, with her “Transformation” necklace. “That word [‘transformation’] means many things to me, spiritually,” she says. Sherman credits her early training in Reform Judaism as the beginnings of her spiritual journey, refined through prolonged contact with an Aboriginal woman and jewelry maker in Western Australia. Her main jewelry line, SatyaRising, includes a Disney-inspired collection called “Walt’s Time” and a Judaica collection. Her father and uncle wrote the scores for “Mary Poppins,” “Charlotte’s Web” and other beloved films, as well as the wellknown “It’s a Small World (After All).” “I live in Tucson because of the Catalina Mountains,” says Margery Langer of her woven piece “Catalina Sunset.” She and her husband, Eli Langer, will each present artwork in “Spiritual Voices.” Langer’s contribution includes another woven work titled “Road to Enlightenment.” Eli features his own eclectic brand of multi-media art in “Portrait of a Man’s Soul,” which uses video projected behind a transparent face. The Langers teamed up in 1989 to form Original Design Huppah, a company that creates custom fabric marriage canopies. Bob Samson credits the Arizona sunshine for inspiring his stained glass creations, which he creates with the help of his wife, Karen. “What better way to capture the brilliance of the indomitable sun than by transmitting it through colored glass,” he says. His pieces in the exhibit reinterpret well-known paintings: Vincent Van Gogh’s “Bedroom in Arles” and Pablo
A Monthly Look At The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Work In Our Community
‘Picasso Revisited,’ stained glass by Bob Samson
JFSA welcomed Batel Marsha and Grace Rodnitzki from the Ethiopian National Project to Tucson. Batel and Grace were the guest speakers at the JFSA Campaign Summits held November 7th-9th. The two also visited with students at Tucson Hebrew Academy. The Ethiopian Tucson Hebrew Academy National Project has impacted the students and faculty with ENP lives of countless Ethiopian-Israelis Representatives Batel Marsha and like Batel, helping them make Grace Rodnitzki the transition to Israeli life and society. Through an ongoing partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and the Ethiopian National Project (ENP), our Annual Campaign supports programming aimed to strengthen all Ethiopian-Israeli children.
Northwest Division Gathering and Documentary Screening
‘Portrait of a Man’s Soul,’ mixed media by Eli Langer
JFSA’s Northwest Division held a community gathering at Splendido at Rancho Vistoso on October 24th. More than 80 guests came together to watch a documentary about how American teens uncovered the story of Holocaust rescuer Irena Bertie Levkowitz and her mother. Sendler and created a play about her called “Life In A Jar.” Sendler saved the lives of over 2,500 hidden children during the Holocaust. Special guest speaker, Tucsonan Bertie Levkowitz, also spoke to the group about her personal story of survival as a hidden child.
JFSA’s Legal and Healthcare Professional Affinity Groups Host Joint Event
Detail from ‘Road To Enlightenment,’ weaving by Margery Langer
Picasso’s “The Reader.” Other featured artists are Nancy Charak, Jacqueline Cohen, Roberta Elliott, Bobbie Goodman, Lauri Kaye, Lynn Rae Lowe, Jere Moskovitz, Nancy Norton, Sherrie Posternak, Lily Rosenberg, Peggy Rubin, Karen Samson, Naomi Spitzer, Julie Szerina Stein, Beth Surdut, and Boni Weinstein. An opening reception for “Spiritual Voices” will be held Sunday, Dec. 3, 2-4 p.m. For more information, call 299-3000.
The Maimonides and Cardozo Societies, JFSA’s legal and healthcare professional affinity groups, held a joint program on Monday, October 30th. More than 70 authors and journalists attended to hear Jon Entine speak on the bio-cultural roots of success for blacks and Jews in sports. The next Maimonides event will take place on January 31st featuring guest speaker, Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger. The Annual Wine and Cheese event for Cardozo will be held in the spring. For more information on the Maimonides and Cardozo Societies, contact Fran Katz at the Jewish Federation.
Jewish Federation OF SOUTHERN ARIZONA
www.jfsa.org
STRONGER TOGETHER
100 IM DAY S OF
PAC T
Brenda Goldstein is a freelance writer living in Los Angeles.
November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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Photo courtesy Janet K. Bailey, DVM
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t’s the time of the year that Arizona residents and winter visitors have been waiting for — temperatures are perfect and the hiking trails and walking paths are filled with people who are outside with their pets, enjoying the Arizona winter. While you enjoy exercise with your pet, you may notice your companion is lagging behind, panting or breathing loudly, or coughing. Change in exercise tolerance, increase in the rate and effort of breathing at rest, and coughing are important indicators of heart and lung disease. Older, large-breed dogs can develop very noisy breathing or voice change due to partial or complete paralysis of the laryngeal cartilage that allows air to enter the lungs. The cartilages protect the airway when dogs swallow, so paralysis can lead to inhaling water or food, which can cause pneumonia. Laryngeal paralysis can also cause life-threatening overheating because panting is the only way that dogs can cool their body and laryngeal paralysis interferes with this vital cooling mechanism. If you have concerns about a change in voice,
Janet K. Bailey, DVM, with her three-legged walking buddy, Bracque
noisy breathing, or heavy panting long after exercise, your veterinarian should be consulted. Yearly physical examination with your veterinarian is the best way to identify the onset, and progression, of a
heart murmur or abnormal heart rhythm. Heart murmurs are common as dogs age and not all murmurs require treatment. A heart murmur is a sound caused by blood leaking between the valves that direct blood flow through the heart and lungs. Young dogs can be born with a heart defect and older dogs can have age-related changes to the valves that cause them to leak. Leaking valves can cause heart enlargement, which causes a cough. If the heart fails, fluid can build up in the lungs or in the abdomen. Loss of exercise tolerance, a persistent and progressively worse cough, a bluish color to the tongue, or a suddenly distended belly all warrant a veterinary check-up. A persistent cough can indicate lung disease without heart disease. Dogs can have seasonal allergies that are worse as the weather cools down. If your dog coughs every winter, but is better in the summer (or vice versa), your veterinarian may be able to help manage the seasonal cough with oral medications. Some dogs have more severe lung disease, similar to asthma in people. The immune cells in a normal, healthy lung can remove inhaled bacteria in a matter of days, but in chronically See Pets, page 20
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Music by cantorial student on tap for Hadassah lunch Cantorial candidate Bryce Megdal will In May 2015, she received a master’s degree present a musical program at Hadassah in Jewish studies from the Academy for JewSouthern Arizona’s lunch on Sunday, Dec. 3. ish Religion, California, where she is currentCarolynn Scherer Katz, Desert Mountain ly enrolled in the cantorial program. In the Hadassah regional vice-president, will inLos Angeles area, she serves as a teacher and stall the 2018 officers of Hadassah Southern teen choir director at Kehillat Israel ReconArizona and the Woman of the Year Award structionist Synagogue and a cantorial intern will be presented. at Temple Akiba. Megdal, a Tucson native, attended TucThe luncheon will be held at Skyline son Hebrew Academy from first through Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Drive, Bryce Megdal eighth grade. She began her singing journey beginning at 11:30 a.m. The cost is $27 for in fourth grade, when she joined the Tucson members, or $30 for non-members. RSVP by Jewish Youth Choir. She was involved in the choirs and Nov. 24 by mailing a check, payable to Hadassah, to Martaught Hebrew at Temple Emanu-El. She majored in Ju- cia Winick at 7284 Onda Circle, Tucson, AZ 85715. For daic studies and studio art at the University of Arizona. more information, call Winick at 886-9919.
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he Weintraub Israel Center is planning its biggest Israel trip for October 2018. A focus on people-to-people connections will make the trip unique, says Oshrat Barel, director of the Israel Center, emphasizing that this reflects the Israel Center’s mission, “building living bridges between Tucson and Israel.” Each day, participants will have three or four tracks to choose from, so while first-timers enjoy the “mustsee” sights, people who have visited many times “can experience and learn something new about Israel,” says Barel, who will staff the trip along with Todd Rockoff and Stuart Mellan, the heads of the Tucson Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of
Southern Arizona, respectively. The trip co-chairs will be Shelly Silverman, JFSA board chair, and Mary Cochran, Tucson J board chair. The Israel Center’s goal is to fill two buses of 40 people each and already 40-50 people have expressed interest. To keep the trip affordable, says Barel, fourstar hotels will be used, with an option to upgrade to five-star hotels. The trip dates are Oct. 14-22, 2018, with extensions available to Petra, Jordan, or to participate in the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, which will be held for the first time in Tel Aviv, Oct. 22-24, 2018. A trip information meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 27, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, 3718 E. River Road. RSVP to israelcenter@jfsa. org or 577-9393, ext. 8446.
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POLAND continued from page 6
well as Roma and gays. In Ukraine, synagogues and Jewish cemeteries are routinely targeted and activists for the xenophobic Svoboda party call for chasing “Jews out.” In Latvia, veterans of the Nazi Waffen SS march every year. In Bulgaria, the Lukov March, named for a Nazi ally, also draws thousand of participants. And in Lithuania, nationalist marches often feature swastikas and other fascist symbols. “Things are bad, but they’re not as bad as many people think, at least not yet,” Kadlcik said of Poland. Why is the far right growing in Poland? Spared the political instability of war-torn Ukraine and the financial crisis gripping Hungary, Polish voters have not displayed the same penchant for raw nationalism as some of their neighbors. Law and Justice is decidedly right wing in that it opposes immigration from the Middle East, seeks to limit access to abortion and increase its control over the media. But the ruling party also has scrapped its plans for asserting greater control over the judiciary and vocally opposes antiSemitism. It also celebrates rescuers of Jews during the Holocaust. Pankowski cites a number of factors in explaining the rise of Polish nationalism. As citizens of a key
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NATO ally with bitter memories of Russian domination, many Poles have been driven to nationalism in response to Russian expansionism under President Vladimir Putin. The rise of the far right elsewhere in Europe, and the election of Trump, is also “creating a feeling of solidarity,” Pankowski said. “The U.S. election is an important factor,” said Pankowski, who noted that the official banner of the Warsaw march — “We Want God” — was taken from a Polish poem Trump quoted during his July visit to Poland. Do Jews have anything to do with it? Anti-Semitism was neither a central theme of the Polish far right, nor was it very prominent at the Warsaw march, observers said. Most of the focus at Saturday’s rally was Muslim immigration, Pankowski said. Among the banners on display was an anti-Muslim caricature drawn by a Danish cartoonist in 2005 carrying the slogan “Mohammed not welcome.” Nonetheless, Jonny Daniels, founder of From the Depths, which promotes Holocaust commemoration in Poland, filed a complaint on Monday accusing marchers of incitement to hate and calling on the government to identify and punish them to the full extent of the law. Marchers found guilty could face up to three years in prison. “Hatred of Jews remains an element of the identity of the far right in Poland even though it has no large Jewish community, and that’s what was on display at the march,” Pankowski said.
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Some of the tens of thousands of nationalists marching through Warsaw, Nov. 11.
What do Polish Jews say? The issue of anti-Semitism in Poland is a contentious one among its Jews and led to a public row among community leaders in August. Leslaw Piszewski, president of the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland, and Anna Chipczynska, head of the Warsaw Jewish community, sent a letter to Law and Justice leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski saying that Polish Jews are increasingly fearful due to government inaction in the face of rising anti-Semitism. But Artur Hofman, who runs the country’s largest Jewish cultural organization, TSKZ, dismissed the letter as “stupid” and scheduled a meeting with Kaczynski. Daniels and two Chabad rabbis also attended. Hofman and the rabbis then accused Piszewski and Chipczynska of exaggerating Poland’s anti-Semitism problem as part of a “political war” against Law and Justice. Piszewski and Chipczynska dismissed that charge and claimed the accusing groups are not legitimate representatives of Polish Jewry. Sergiusz Kowalski, a leader of a Polish branch of B’nai B’rith and an ally of Piszewski and Chipczynska, called the four men who met Kaczynski “court Jews.” And Michael Schudrich, the chief rabbi of Poland, said in an interview with the Forward that Daniels “has become a supporter of the ultra-right wing.” Daniels, a frequent target of the farright online who has criticized ultranationalism in Poland and Holocaust denial, has denied this, adding his organization is willing to participate in
intercultural dialogue with a wide range of partners. What about Israel? For the most part, Israel has remained silent about Holocaust revisionism and incidents of anti-Semitism in countries that have friendly ties to the Jewish state. But on Monday, a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry called the Warsaw event “a dangerous march of extreme and racist elements,” and urged Polish authorities to act against the organizers. Last year, Israel’s ambassador to Poland, Anna Azari, hosted Tadeusz Rydzyk, a Catholic priest who runs a radio station that the U.S. State Department has called a main purveyor of anti-Semitism. She defended the move as important outreach even as Never Again, Pankowski’s group, called it a “big mistake.” Azari did speak out last month against proposed legislation on restitution, arguing its preclusion of claims by distant relatives and non-citizens discriminates against Jews whose families lost property in Poland during or after the Holocaust. An Israeli restitution official told JTA, referring to the proposed law: “First the Nazis seized private property and then the communist authorities of Poland seized it, when most Polish Jews were already dead.” Ultimately, however, Israel’s attitude seems to be guided by comments Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made in 2013 during the visit by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski to Jerusalem. Noting the suffering of non-Jewish Poles and Jews under Nazi occupation, Netanyahu observed that “Poland and Israel have to support each other.”
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Israel and Iraq may not have any formal diplomatic relations, but that didn’t stop two of their beauty queens from cozying up at this year’s Miss International Beauty Pageant. During the competition in Tokyo on Tuesday, Miss Israel, Adar Gandelsman, and Miss Iraq, Sarah Idan, posed for photos on their respective Instagram accounts. Idan’s caption read: “Peace and Love from Miss Iraq and Miss Israel.” Gandelsman’s caption praised Idan as “amazing.” Idan is courageous — other countries in the region that are hostile to Israel haven’t taken such displays lightly. In 2015, Miss Lebanon, Saly Greige, faced public backlash and calls to strip her of her title after she appeared in a photo that included Miss Israel, Doron Matalon. In August, then-Miss Lebanon, Amanda Hanna, was stripped of her title after it was discovered that she had traveled in Israel — Lebanese citizens are forbidden by law to visit the Jewish state. However, The Times of Israel points out that Idan, a 27-year-old born in Baghdad, now lives in the United States. Gandelsman and Idan will participate in the Miss Universe competition in Las Vegas on Nov. 26. The Genesis Prize Foundation awarded U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg its first lifetime achievement award. The foundation, which sponsors the annual $1 million Genesis Prize known as the “Jewish Nobel,” in its announcement Wednesday praised Ginsburg’s “groundbreaking legal work in the field of civil liberties and women’s rights.” The five recipients of the Genesis Prize selected Ginsburg, 83, for the honor. In addition to this year’s
PETS continued from page 15
inflamed lungs, the immune cells are not as effective. If you have a dog that has a chronic cough that suddenly gets worse, he should be seen by your veterinarian to make sure that he doesn’t have pneumonia. Infectious bronchitis is spread through the air, and can be passed from dog to dog at doggie day care, kennels, dog parks, and grooming facilities. We often think of this type of bronchitis as “kennel cough,” which is a contagious but self-limiting infection in healthy, young animals. Very young dogs, older dogs, or dogs with other chronic illness can develop pneumonia from kennel cough. Bringing a new dog from a rescue or shelter into your home is one way that older dogs are exposed to infectious bronchitis. In Arizona, cough and exercise intolerance can be a sign of Valley fever infection. Valley fever is a fungal infection (Coccidioides immitis) that is inhaled and be-
winner, actress Natalie Portman, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, actor Michael Douglas, violinist Itzhak Perlman and sculptor Anish Kapoor weighed in. “We honor Justice Ginsburg as an outstanding daughter of the Jewish people who made an enduring contribution to human civilization, who is an example of talent and achievement and who is committed to bettering the world,” the five said in a joint statement. “She is a source of inspiration not just for Jews but for people of all faiths and ethnicities around the world.” In 1993, Ginsburg became the second female justice on the Supreme Court. She is one of three Jewish justices currently serving on the high court and the longest-serving Jewish justice. Ginsburg has often spoken about how her Jewish heritage has inspired her love and learning and concern for oppressed minorities. The former president of Israel’s Supreme Court, Aharon Barak, is slated to present the award to Ginsburg at a July ceremony in Tel Aviv.
Israel offered humanitarian assistance to the victims of the earthquake that killed hundreds of people in Iran and Iraq but was turned down. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told American Jewish leaders gathered in Los Angeles that he was motivated to direct the aid by photographs of the devastation caused by Sunday’s magnitude 7.3 earthquake, which has killed at least 530 people in Iran and several in Iraq. “I just saw the pictures of the destruction in Iran and Iraq from this week’s earthquake, and I saw these heartbreaking images of men and women and children buried under the rubble,” Netanyahu told the annual General Assembly of the North American Jewish federation movement. He added: “I’ve said many times that we have no quarrel with the people of Iran. Our quarrel is only with the tyrannical regime that holds them hostage and threatens our destruction. But our humanity is greater than their hatred. Israel continues to be a light unto the nations and this is what I am proud of. And all of you can be proud of Israel’s morals and Israel’s might.” According to an official in Netanyahu’s office, the offer was immediately rejected. “This shows the true face of the Iranian regime,” the official said. According to The Times of Israel, Tehran rebuffed an Israeli aid offer after an earthquake in 2003 that killed more than 26,000.
comes a systemic infection. Valley fever can go everywhere in the body and causes fever, lethargy, cough and decreased appetite. The majority of dogs that are born and live in Arizona clear a Valley fever infection without needing veterinary care. However, the dogs that do need care can be extremely sick. Valley fever can settle in the lungs, around the heart, and in the bones. Valley fever can be tricky to diagnose, so repeated blood work and radiographs of the chest may be needed. Winter visiting pets, older pets, and pets with chronic illness are at increased risk of infection. In some cases, winter visiting pets return home to areas where Valley fever does not occur, and it can be difficult for out of state veterinarians to make a diagnosis. If you are concerned that your pet is not able to keep up on walks, or is coughing more than he used to, it would be best to see your veterinarian so that you and your walking partner can get back out there and enjoy the Arizona winter. Janet K. Bailey, DVM, Diplomate ACVIM, is an internal medicine specialist at Southern Arizona Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Center.
NATIONAL It’s Jew vs. Jew as Congress weighs a new definition for anti-Semitism RON KAMPEAS JTA
WASHINGTON
Photos: Screenshot from YouTube
J
ewish and pro-Israel leaders exchanged heated remarks at a congressional hearing on how to define anti-Semitism. The Nov. 7 hearing of the House Judiciary Committee took up a bill that would, among other things, define as anti-Semitism language that “demonizes” Israel. Of the nine witnesses who addressed the committee, five said the language was necessary to stem anti-Semitism on campuses. Four argued it infringes on freedom of speech. The witnesses at times directly addressed one another, violating congressional protocol. Exchanging barbs, each side questioned the bona fides of the other in defining anti-Semitism. In a bizarre twist, the co-authors of the language that the bill would codify argued opposing viewpoints. Lawmakers, who also bickered at times, marveled at the Jewish family
Pamela Nadell, a professor at American University, testifies before the House Judiciary Committee, Nov. 7.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center testifies before the House Judiciary Committee, Nov. 7.
food fight they were witnessing. “It’s like throwing a ball and having a scrum and seeing who wins,” said Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga. At issue is the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, which would codify the State Department’s definition of anti-Semitism. The proposed addition to federal anti-discrimination statutes would apply to Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which addresses institutions, including
universities, that receive federal funding. A version has passed in the Senate. The language, in its current State Department formulation, includes a section that defines as anti-Semitism language that “demonizes” Israel. It breaks down the term “demonizes” as “[u]sing the symbols and images associated with classic anti-Semitism to characterize Israel or Israelis, drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of
the Nazis, blaming Israel for all interreligious or political tensions.” Several Jewish groups have filed Title VI complaints on behalf of Jewish students who said they faced anti-Semitic harassment and discrimination because of their support for Israel, or for anti-Israel language that advocates said echoed “classic” anti-Semitism. Advocating for the proposed language were top officials of the AntiDefamation League, the American Jewish Committee, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Christians United for Israel, as well as Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general. Opposing were two Jewish studies professors, the director of PEN America — a speech freedom umbrella — and Kenneth Stern, the head of an outfit that combats anti-Semitism. Stern, who drafted the language in question when he worked for the American Jewish Committee in 2004, opposes codifying the language into law, although he still endorses the language for its intended use — as a means for See Definition, page 22
November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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diplomats to identify anti-Semitism. In his testimony Stern, who directs the Justus & Karin Rosenberg Foundation, said the tough standards he would apply to a speech at the United Nations by Iran’s president should not apply to college freshmen. He said it would be especially cruel to young Jews still testing their boundaries within the community. “Whether or not you can be an 18-year-old anti-Zionist and within the [Jewish] community is not a debate Congress should decide,” he said. Proponents said the bill would not inhibit speech because the definition would only be applied when assessing whether an act banned under Title VI — violence or a bid to shut off speech — was anti-Semitic, and not to anti-Semitic speech in and of itself. “It wouldn’t raise First Amendment problems, it would only be triggered by harassment,” Clement said. That, Stern replied, was “disingenuous” — a federal statute would naturally inhibit speech. “When you prioritize a certain definition, it has the weight of having Congress behind it,” he said. Barry Trachtenberg, a Jewish studies professor at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, seemed to accuse proponents of the legislation of bad faith. “They are part of a persistent campaign to thwart scholarship, debate and activism critical of Israel,” he said. The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Rabbi Abraham Cooper and the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt fired shots at Trachtenberg and at Pamela Nadell, the president of the Association for Jewish Studies, saying that academics were not in the trenches. Cooper chided the committee for inviting them. “It’s like inviting people from the Flat Earth Society to a hearing about NASA,” he said. Greenblatt suggested they were ensconced in an ivory tower. Cooper seemed visibly uncomfortable crowded at the witness table next to Trachtenberg, who kept staring at him.
Cooper kept emphasizing that the Jewish leadership in its entirety backed the bill, seeming to sideline Stern’s organizational affiliation. At one point, Cooper’s insistence that the entire Jewish community backed the bill drew a correction from Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., who produced a letter from J Street U, the liberal Middle Eastern lobby’s campus affiliate, opposing the bill. Some lawmakers vigorously backed the bill. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the Jewish lawmaker who wrote the bill with Rep. Pete Roskam, R-Ill., was infuriated by Stern’s claim that the bill would victimize freshmen searching for answers. “Saying this is an effort to go after Jewish anti-Zionists is the reddest of red herrings,” he said. Others from both parties seemed skeptical of the bill. The committee chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., told the AJC’s Rabbi Andrew Baker, who had said the definition of anti-Semitism changes “over time,” that his reasoning “would counsel against codifying.” Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the committee’s ranking member, said he favored including anti-Semitism among bigotries addressed by Title VI, but cautioned: “We just also have to be careful not to stifle legitimate and hard-edged and even offensive debate.” At times, lawmakers also took partisan shots. Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas, called for protections of politically conservative Jews on campus, although it was unclear whether he thought the bill would favor or undercut such protections. Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., who is Jewish, described a rise in anti-Semitism he said was spurred by President Donald Trump and his supporters from the “altright.” Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., the committee’s deputy chairman, who at that point had assumed the gavel after Goodlatte absented himself, was outraged “that the first president to stand in front of the Western Wall and pray could be called anti-Semitic!” Cicilline asked for more time to explain. “No,” said Franks, and banged the gavel.
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RELIGION & JEWISH LIFE Hurricane survivor distributes mezuzahs to Jewish victims BEN SALES
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s Hurricane Harvey swept over Houston, Chava Gal-Or counted herself lucky. The water rose up to her door and a little bit seeped in, but her home did not flood. However, many in the Reform synagogue where she works had it much worse: Twenty-nine families lost their homes — about 15 percent of the congregation’s members. At first, Gal-Or despaired the extent of the damage and how little she could do to help. “I can’t rebuild their houses,” said Gal-Or, the director of congregational learning for the Texas city’s Temple Sinai and a former Tucson resident. “I don’t have the money to do much. There was this increasing awareness that there was nothing I could do.” But what she could do, Gal-Or realized, was help her neighbors make their temporary homes and (eventually) their rebuilt homes feel Jewish. She began collecting mezuzahs — the small scrolls traditionally affixed to the doorposts of Jewish dwellings — to distribute free to Jewish hurricane victims. Thus the unofficial organization Door L’Door was born. The name is a play on the biblical phrase “l’dor v’dor,” which means “from generation to generation.” Gal-Or, 51, was hoping to find a couple parchments for close friends. But a public Facebook post quickly led to an outpouring of donations. Two months after launching the effort, she has raised nearly $300 to purchase mezuzahs and has received some 120 donated scrolls. The Jewish United Fund, Chicago’s Jewish federation, sent 100 scrolls and cases. She also got donation pledges from synagogues in Texas, Delaware and Arizona. Two artists volunteered to fashion mezuzah cases. “It literally took on a life of its own,” she said. “This is becoming my passion. Every day, something new comes up.” Mezuzahs are traditionally small squares of parchment inscribed with the first two paragraphs of the Shema prayer. The parchment is then rolled up, ensconced in an oblong case and nailed to the doorpost. Prices vary, though they typically start at around $36, according to Gal-Or, and go up. What’s special about mezuzahs, Gal-Or said, is they are a uniting thread across a diverse and often divided Jewish community. “In almost every Jewish home there’s a mezuzah, regardless of what people believe,” she said. “It was the one thing that brings all of us together in a challenging time. It’s the one thing that marks a home as being Jewish,
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regardless of what your spiritual inclination is, where you fit in society.” Gal-Or works on Door L’Door — coordinating donations, spreading the word on social media — only on Mondays, when she’s not working at the synagogue. It’s a tricky balance; she also is recovering from a respiratory infection, caused by the hurricane, and is busy helping friends put their lives back together. She hopes to register it as a nonprofit soon. So far, Gal-Or has received about 20 requests for mezuzahs — most people affected by the storm are still fixing their homes, she said. But in the meantime, natural disasters have struck elsewhere — for example, Gal-Or has been in touch with Congregation Shomrei Torah, a synagogue in Santa Rosa, California, whose members endured the recent wildfires. She also has fielded requests for other ritual objects. Shomrei Torah asked about prayer shawls, and she came up with a couple dozen she plans to send. Thinking ahead to next month, she is asking for donations of spare Hanukkah menorahs. “This started because of Harvey, but I knew immediately that I wanted to be able to help any Jewish home that was destroyed,” Gal-Or said. “We had [a hurricane in] Florida right after us. We had earthquakes in Mexico. A lot of stuff is going on.” Contact Gal-Or at mezuzotproject@gmail.com.
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November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR The calendar deadline is Tuesday, 10 days before the issue date. Our next issue will be published December 1, 2017. Events may be emailed to localnews@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 27 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 jewishsierravista.com. “Too Jewish” radio show with Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon on KVOI 1030 a.m. (also KAPR and KJAA), Sundays at 9 a.m. Nov. 19, Eshkol Nevo, bestselling Israeli novelist, author of “Three Floors Up”; Nov. 26, Sharon Hart Green, author of “Come Back For Me.” Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley bagel breakfast and Yiddish club, first Sundays, 9:30 a.m. Members, $7; nonmembers, $10. 6486690 or 399-3474. Women's Academy of Jewish Studies “Women's 40-Day Program,” at Cong. Chofetz Chayim. Free weekly 45-minute class designed to help like-minded women increase their levels of awareness in relation to G-d. Newcomers welcome. Meets most Sundays, 10:30 a.m. Contact Esther Becker at 591-7680 or ewbecker@me.com. 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. Temple Emanu-El mah jongg, Mondays at 10 a.m. 327-4501. Jewish Federation-Northwest chair yoga with a Jewish flair taught by Bonnie Golden. Mondays, 10-11 a.m., except for Dec. 25. $7 per class or $25 for four. 505-4161 or northwestjewish@jfsa.org.
Friday / November 17 11:30 AM Jewish History Museum/Holocaust History Center gallery chat, “Ethnic Studies/ Ethnic Museum.” Nolan Cabrera, Ph.D., associate professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona. 564 S. Stone Ave. 670-9073 or jewishhistorymuseum.org. 5:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El Shabbat Rocks! dinner followed by service at 6:30 p.m., with sixth grade class, Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Avanim Rock Band and Youth Choir. Dinner $12 for adults, free for kids under 13. RSVP for dinner at 327-4501. 5:45 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel family Shabbat experience followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Dinner $25 per member family (two adults and up to four children); guest family, $30; additional adults (age 13+) $10 each. Call 745-5550 for space availability.
ONGOING 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. Lunch, bring or buy, 11:30 a.m. 299-3000, ext. 147. Cong. Or Chadash Mondays with the Rabbi, with Rabbi Thomas Louchheim. Mondays, noon1:30 p.m. Bring a bag lunch. This year's topic: “Judaism's Departure from the Bible to Influence Contemporary Life.” 512-8500. Cong. Bet Shalom yoga. Mondays, 4:30-5:30 p.m. $5. 577-1171.
Cong. Anshei Israel Talmud on Tuesday with Rabbi Robert Eisen. Meets 6 p.m. 745-5550.
“Along the Talmudic Trail” for men (18-40), with Rabbi Israel Becker of Cong. Chofetz Chayim. Includes free dinner. Mondays, 7 p.m. Call for address. 747-7780 or yzbecker@ me.com.
Tucson J Israeli folk dance classes. Tuesdays. Beginners, 7:30 p.m.; intermediate, 8:15 p.m.; advanced, 9 p.m. Taught by Lisa Goldberg. Members, $5; nonmembers, $6. 299-3000.
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. JFCS Holocaust Survivors group meets Tuesdays, 10 a.m.-noon. Contact Raisa Moroz at 795-0300. Integral Jewish Meditation with Brian Schachter-Brooks, Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m., at Cong. Bet Shalom, free. torahofawakening.com. Tucson J social bridge. Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon-3 p.m., year round. Drop-ins donations will be accepted. RSVP to Susan at 577-7718 or srubinaz@comcast.net, or Becky at 296-3762 or schulmb@aol.com. 6:30 PM: Tucson J Desert Melodies presents “Standards and Show Tunes from the Movies.” $10. Visit tucsonjcc.org or call 299-3000. 6:30-7:30 PM: Day of the Dead Mujeres Que Escriben Reading. Local Latina Writers Group includes authors from the Latino/Jewish community. Readings of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction. Raices Taller 222 Art Gallery and Workshop, 218 E. Sixth St. Contact Maria Elena Wakamatsu, mewakamatsu@gmail.com. 7 PM: Cong. Chaverim Shabbat Under the Stars at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, 3482 E. River Road. 320-1015.
Sunday / November 19
2:30-4:30 PM: Secular Humanist Jewish Circle lecture, “What You Probably Should Know About Arizona’s Gun Laws” with Meg Pradelt of Gun Violence Prevention AZ, at the DusenberryRiver Library, 5605. E. River Road. Food Bank
10:30 AM – NOON: Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley Jewish genealogy presentation. Joel Alpert will demonstrate how to research and find your ancestors using the website JewishGen. org $10; includes presentation and lunch. For
ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
Jewish Federation-Northwest mah jongg, Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m. Also meets Wednesdays, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., 505-4161.
Weintraub Israel Center Shirat HaShirim Hebrew choir meets Tuesdays at 7 p.m., at the Tucson J. Learn to sing in Hebrew. Contact Rina Paz at 304-7943 or ericashem@cox.net.
11 AM - NOON: Cong. Bet Shalom Tot Shabbat with PJ Library. 577-1171.
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Northwest Needlers create hand-stitched items for donation in the Jewish community. Meets at Jewish Federation Northwest Tuesdays, 1-3 p.m. RSVP to judithgfeldman@ gmail.com or 505-4161.
Jewish sobriety support group meets Mondays, 6:30-8 p.m. at Cong. Bet Shalom. dcmack1952@gmail.com.
9:15 AM: Jewish War Veterans FriedmanPaul Post 201 breakfast meeting at B'nai B'rith Covenant House, 4414 E. 2nd St. $4. Contact Honey Manson at 529-1830.
Saturday / November 18
welcome. Meets in library on second floor. 2993000.
Shalom Tucson business networking group, second Wednesday of month, 7:30-9 a.m., at the Tucson J. 299-3000, ext. 241, or concierge@jewishtucson.org. Cong. Anshei Israel gentle chair yoga with Lois Graham, Wednesdays, 9:30-10:30 a.m. Members of Women’s League, $6 per class; nonmembers, $8 per class. Contact Evelyn at 885-4102 or esigafus@aol.com. Chabad of Sierra Vista women’s class with Rabbi Benzion Shemtov, last Wednesdays, 2p.m., 401 Suffolk Drive. 820-6256 or jewishsierravista.com. space availability, contact Eric Rautenberg at rokcrk@yahoo.com or call the temple at 648-6690. 2 PM: Tucson J Celebration of Heritage Concert presents Spanish and Latin music and Baroque-Contemporary, performed by classical guitarist Michael Lich. $10. Contact Barbara Fenig at 299-3000 or bfenig@tucsonjcc.org. 2-4 PM: Temple Emanu-El Sunday Salon: “Israel, the World Leader in Medical Marijuana Research” with Oshrat Barel, director of the Weintraub Israel Center. RSVP at 327-4501. 3 PM: Temple Emanu-El Babies and Bagels: Learning Gratitude. Enjoy a story, play on the playground, and make colorful thank you cards. Ideal for families with children 1-7. Contact Meg at (303) 359-3161 or megrknight@yahoo.com.
Monday / November 20 7-8:30PM: Cong. Or Chadash Thanksgiving multi-faith service. Donations will be collected for the Culture of Peace Alliance. Donations of staple foods accepted. Service is sponsored by the Tucson Ecumenical Council. 512-8500.
Thursday / November 23 8 AM: Cong. Anshei Israel Thanksgiving Day services. Mincha at 12:30 p.m. 745-5550.
Chabad Tucson lunch and learn with Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin, Wednesdays, 12:15 p.m. at Eli’s Deli. info@ChabadTucson.com. 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 jewishorovalley.com. Jewish mothers/grandmothers special needs support group for those with children/grandchildren, young or adult, with special needs, third Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m. at Tucson J. Contact Joyce Stuehringer at 299-5920. Tucson J canasta group. Players wanted. Thursdays, noon. Instruction available and a beginners’ table every week. Call Debbie Wiener at 440-5515. “Biblical Breakthroughs with Rabbi Becker” at the Southwest Torah Institute. Fridays, noon, for men and women. 747-7780 or yzbecker@ me.com. Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley art exhibit, “The Art of Jewish Youth,” by Tucson Hebrew Academy students, through Dec. 21. 648-6690. Jewish History Museum/Holocaust History Center art exhibit, “Invisibility and Resistance: Violence Against LGBTQIA+ People,” 564 S. Stone Ave., through May 31, 2018. Wed., Thur., Sat. and Sun., 1-5 p.m.; Fridays, noon-3 p.m. 670-9073 or jewishhistorymuseum.org. Tucson Jewish Community Center art exhibits, “Arizona Portraits” by Moira Marti Geoffrion, through Nov. 29; "Spiritual Voices," a multi-media exhibit from Southern Arizona Jewish artists, through Jan. 10. 299-3000.
Friday / November 24 5 PM: Temple Emanu-El Chardonnay Shabbat Wine and Cheese pre-Oneg, followed by service at 5:45 p.m. 327-4501.
Monday / November 27 11 AM: Chabad of Oro Valley “Torah and Tea” six-week free program for women, Mondays through Jan. 1, with Mushkie Zimmerman. At 1217 W. Faldo Drive. 477-8672 or mushkie@ jewishorovalley.com. 1:30-3 PM: Hadassah Southern Arizona book club east will discuss “Hillbilly Elegy” by JD Vance and “Gray Mountain” by John Grisham. Dusenberry-River Library, 5605 E. River Road #105 (at Craycroft Road). Contact Maxine Murray at 885-5800. 5 PM: Jewish Federation-Northwest and Hadassah book club discusses “In The Unlikely Event” by Judy Blume. At 190 W. Magee, #162. 505-4161 or northwestjewish@jfsa.org. 5:30-7 PM Weintraub Israel Center 2018 Israel trip information meeting at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, 3718 E. River Road. Trip will be Oct. 14–22, 2018. $2,850 per person (plus airfare). RSVP to israelcenter@jfsa.org or 577-9393, ext. 8446.
7-9 PM: Tucson Tikkun Community lecture, “The Agenda by Ideological Extremists to Destroy Public Education” by Bruce Wheeler. Tucson City Council Ward 6 Office, 3202 E. First St. Contact Michael Zaccaria at zaccarim@comcast.net.
TUESDAY / NOVEMBER 28 NOON: Jewish Federation-Northwest Lunch & Learn with Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of Congregation Chaverim. “The Blessing of Gratitude: Being Thankful Throughout the Year." $8 for dairy lunch. RSVP to northwestjewish@jfsa. org or 505-4161. 7-8:30 PM: Cong. Or Chadash Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) forum. Contact Marc Sbar, marc-sbar@comcast.net.
WEDNESDAY / NOVEMBER 29 10 AM: Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging lecture, “Jewish Identity from the 1820s to today” with David Graizbord, associate professor at the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies. 2221 N. Rosemont Blvd. Contact Nanci Levy at nlevy@ handmaker.org or 322-3632.
THURSDAY / NOVEMBER 30 8 AM-NOON: Cong. Or Chadash Habitat for Humanity build, at 6909 S. Radec Lane. All skill levels welcome. RSVP to Bettina Shore at Bettina.shore@sympatico.ca or Marc Sbar at marc-sbar@comcast.net. 10-11:30 AM: Jewish Federation-Northwest Kibbitz & Schmear, at 190 W. Magee, #162. Free. 505-4161 or northwestjewish@jfsa.org. 7 PM: JFSA free community event, “Together: A Night of Song” with Tovah Feldshuh, Broadway star, actress, singer, playwright and four-time Tony Award-nominee, at Cong. Anshei Israel. RSVP at jfsa.org. 7 PM: Tucson J Celebration of Heritage Concert — Celebrating America’s History with Richard Fuchs. $10. Contact Barbara Fenig at 299-3000 or bfenig@tucsonjcc.org.
FRIDAY / DECEMBER 1 11:30 AM Jewish History Museum/Holocaust History Center gallery chat. 564 S. Stone Ave. 670-9073 or jewishhistorymuseum.org. 5:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El Tot Kabbalat Hanukkah Shabbat Service followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Dinner $10 for adults, free for kids under 12. RSVP for dinner at 327-4501. 5:45 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Tot Shabbat followed by dinner at 6:15 p.m. Dinner $25 per member family (two adults and up to four children); additional adults (age 13+) $10 each. RSVP by Nov. 27 to Kim at edasst@caiaz.org or 745-5550, ext. 224. 7:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El Kabbalistic Shabbat service; preceded at 6:30 p.m. by “Preparing to Pray.” 327-4501.
SATURDAY / DECEMBER 2 NOON: Cong. Anshei Israel “Read It & Meet” book discussion on “The Extra” by A. B. Yehoshua. Contact Helen Rib at 299-0340 or helenrib@yahoo.com. 6:30 PM: Tucson J Cirque D’ Arte fundraiser for the J’s early childhood education program.
Dinner, raffles, children’s art auction. Adults only. $60 per person presale, $75 at door. Tickets at tucsonjcc.org or 299-3000.
SUNDAY / DECEMBER 3 9:30 AM: Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley new member bagel breakfast, followed by presentation at 11:30 a.m., “The Art of Jewish Youth: A Visual Exploration of Jewish Values” with Tucson Hebrew Academy art teacher Amy Pozez, in the art gallery. RSVP at 648-6690. 9:30 AM - 1 PM: Temple Emanu-El Women of Reform Judaism Hanukkah Bazaar. 327-4501. 10:30 AM- 12:30 PM: Desert Caucus brunch with Congressman Ted Poe (R-TX). Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St Andrews Drive. Guests should be potential members and must RSVP at 490-1453 or desertcaucus@gmail.com. 11:30 AM: Hadassah Southern Arizona brunch. Musical program by cantorial candidate Bryce Megdal, installation of officers and Woman of the Year Award. Skyline Country Club, 5200 E. St. Andrews Dr. Members, $27; nonmembers, $30. RSVP by Nov. 24, with check made out to Hadassah. Mail to Marcia Winick, 7284 Onda Circle, 85715. Contact Marcia at 886-9919. 2 PM: JFCS book reading, “To Tell Our Stories: Holocaust Survivors of Southern Arizona,” with local survivors, at Himmel Park Library, 1035 N. Treat Ave. Contact Raisa Moroz at 795-0300, ext. 2214 or rmoroz@jfcstucson.org.
Handmaker Handmaker Lecture Lecture Series Series
2-4 PM: Tucson J Fine Art Gallery opening reception for “Spiritual Voices,” a multi-media exhibit by Southern Arizona Jewish artists. 2993000.
MONDAY / DECEMBER 4
Free and Open to All Free and Open to All
Wednesday, November 29 Lecture Series Wednesday, November 29
Op Fre en e & to Al l
11 AM: Chabad of Oro Valley “Torah and Tea” six-week free program for women, Mondays 10am –Wednesday, at Handmaker November 29, 2017 through Jan. 1, with Mushkie Zimmerman.10am At – at Handmaker 10am at Handmaker David Graizbord, Associate Professor of Judaic 1217 W. Faldo Drive. 477-8672 or mushkie@ David Graizbord, Associate Professor of Judaic jewishorovalley.com. Graizbord, StudiesDavid at the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies Associate Professor of Judaic Studies Studies at the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies 7-8:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El class, “The JewishatIdentity from 1820s to today the Arizona Centerthe for Judaic Studies Problem of Evil in Jewish Thought & Belief” Jewish Identity from the 1820sto to today Jewish Identity From the 1820s Today Professor Graizbord will discuss how Jewish with Rabbi Sanford Seltzer. Continues Dec. Professor Graizbordwill will discuss howhow JewishJewish identity Professor Graizbord discuss 11 and 18. Members, $55; nonmembers, $70. identityhas has taken shape since the 1820s and taken shape since the 1820s and how Register at 327-4501. identity has taken shape since theit1820s Generation Y is with it with today. how Generation Y dealing is dealing today.and 7 -8:30 PM: Arizona Center for Judaic Studies how Generation Y is dealing with it today. Shaol & Louis Pozez Memorial Lectureship Monday, December 18, 2017 Series presents “The Political Psychology 1pm at Handmaker of Israeli Prime Ministers” by Yael Aronoff of 1pm – Lynn at Handmaker Rae Lowe, Tucson Metal Artist Michigan State University. At the Tucson J; free. 1pm – at Handmaker From Paris to New York: The Influence 626-5758. Lynn Rae Lowe, Tucson Metal Artist of
Monday, Monday, December December 18 18
TAKE NOTE OF THE
AJP WINTER SCHEDULE December 1 December 15 and January 12
Jewish Artists on the Art WorldArtist Shift Lynn Lowe, Tucson Metal FromRae Paris tovisual New York: Influence of Through images and the an interactive presentation, From Paris to New York: the Influence Lynn will discuss what role Jewish artists played in Jewishshift Artists on the Artworld shift ofthe of the post-war art world from Paris to New York. Jewish on the Artworld shift Light Refreshments are ThroughArtists visual images and an interactive Light refreshments are included. Contact Nanci Light Refreshments are Through visual images and an interactive presentation, Lynn will discuss what role included. Contact Levy at 322-3632 or included. Contact Nanci Senior Transportation Levy at 322-3632 presentation, Lynn will role Levy at 322-3632 or Jewish artists played in discuss the Nanci shiftwhat of the postor nlevy@handmaker.org is available at no cost for more information nlevy@handmaker.org for nlevy@handmaker.org through the Jewish artists played in the shiftinfoof the post and to RSVP. and to RSVP. www.handmaker.org for more information war Artworld from Paris to more New York. Jewish Federation of and to RSVP. Southern Arizona. war Artworld from Paris to New York. Senior Transportation is available at no cost Contact Beverly Made possible with a grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona
through the Jewish Federation oftoSouthern Senior Transportation isSandock available at no cost register Arizona, for synagogue services and Jewish through the Jewish Federation Southern today atof 577-9393. programsfor and events inservices Tucson. and Contact BevArizona, synagogue Jewish erly Sandock register today atContact 577-9393. programs andtoevents in Tucson. Beverly Sandock to register today at 577-9393.
Handmaker.org Handmaker.org Located at 2221 N. Rosemont Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85712
Located at 2221 N Rosemont Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85712 2017, ARIZONA POST Located at 2221 N RosemontNovember Blvd.,17,Tucson, AZJEWISH 85712
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Students from the eighth-grade religious school classes at Congregation Or Chadash, Temple Emanu-El and Congregation Chaverim, who do joint programming as they prepare for a trip to Los Angeles in the spring, visited Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging on Sunday, Nov. 5 to work on a service project with Handmaker residents. The morning began with “The
Women and girls flock to Mega Challah Bake
Marshmallow Challenge,” as four teams competed to build the tallest tower using a single marshmallow, spaghetti noodles, tape, string, scissors and a popsicle stick. The winning team creating a 38-inch tower. After this ice breaking activity, residents and teens made greeting cards and filled bags with items the teens had donated for the homeless women served by Sister Jose Women’s Center.
Photo courtesy M’kor Hayim
Photo courtesy Tucson Jewish Community Center
a lesson in mixing, kneading and braiding challah dough as well as education on the spiritual significance of the mitzvah of making and separating challah; a challah and dip buffet prepared by Rebbetzin Chanie Shemtov and Flora Ismailova; and a DJ and dancing.
Participants at the first JCC Western Regional Conference, outside the Tucson Jewish Community Center Nov. 2. M’kor Hayim volunteers at the Poz Café Oct. 19, Front row (L-R): Grace Hartman, Barbara Gilbert, Carol Weinstein, Arlan Colton; back row: Bryan Kaplan and Richard Hartman. Not pictured: Rabbi Helen Cohn.
M’kor Hayim volunteers at Poz Cafe Congregation M’kor Hayim was one of several faith communities that volunteered Thursday, Oct. 19 at Tucson Interfaith HIV/Aids Network’s Poz Café. The café serves a monthly catered meal to those living with HIV, and
marked 25,000 meals served at its October event. The congregations supply the food, cooked by the TIHAN chef, and also provide raffle prizes. TIHAN also supplies care bags at the Poz Café with hygiene and cleaning products.
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(L-R) Handmaker residents Elaine Mclain and Mort Edberg join students including Sophia Silverman, Jyotie (Jojo) Steinbeck and Ethan Levy in building a “Marshmallow Challenge” tower Nov. 5 at Handmaker.
Teens, Handmaker residents join in community service project
L-R): Danya Horwitz, Haley Fried, Hilary Kleppel and Belle Soyfer join in the dancing while waiting for dough to rise at the Mega Challah Bake on Oct. 26 at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.
A record 330 women and girls turned out for Tucson’s fourth annual Mega Challah Bake on Thursday, Oct. 26, hosted by Chabad Tucson and the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Feigie Shemtov, program director at Chabad Tucson, led the evening, which included
Photo: Nanci Levy
Photo: Martha Lochert
IN FOCUS
ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
Tucson J hosts regional conference
The Tucson Jewish Community Center hosted the first JCC Western Regional Conference Nov. 1-2. Representatives of the JCC Association, eight JCCs from Arizona, California and Nevada, plus a JCCA affiliated organization (Shalom Institute) and a non-JCC affiliated organization (Camp Mountain Chai), both in California, attended. The conference included a lecture and workshops with
Rick Yngve of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Arizona; informal conversation workshops led by Unscrewed Theater; and a panel discussion on developing a positive staff culture with Jay Jacobs, CEO of the Valley of the Sun JCC, Shulamit Resendez of Tuft & Needle in Phoenix, and Jeffrey Rips,CEO of Alpert JCC in Long Beach, California.
OUR TOWN
AJP
Bat mitzvah Ronnie Ester Barel, daughter of Oshrat and Eli Barel, will celebrate becoming a bat mitzvah on Saturday, Nov. 18 at Congregation Anshei Israel. She is the granddaughter of Ester and Shimon Buzaglo, and Tami and the late Ehud Avitan, all of Beit Shean, Israel. Ronnie attends Tucson Hebrew Academy where she plays volleyball. She is active at USY on a local and regional level, is a member of BBYO and attended Camp Ramah this summer.
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A reA C ongregAtions CONSERVATIVE
Milestone birthday
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.
Photo: Angela Salmon
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.-noon, Camp Shabbat (ages 6-10) 11 a.m.-noon, followed by Kiddush lunch and weekly Teen Talk lunch with shinshinim, 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m. CBS Think Tank discussion led by Rabbi Dr. Howard Schwartz and Dr. Howard Graizbord / Weekday services: Wed. 8:15 a.m. / Hagim 9:30 a.m.
Gertrude Shankman celebrating with the third-grade students from THA.
Gertrude Shankman, born Oct. 26, 1914 in Brooklyn, New York, celebrated her 103rd birthday last month at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. Third-grade students from Tucson Hebrew Academy joined the festivities. When asked recently about her secret to longevity, her one-word answer was “accepting,” says Nanci Levy, community outreach coordinator at Handmaker. Shankman, who recommends having a hobby or a craft to keep your mind off your problems, started a knitting class at Handmaker nearly 10 years ago, and still participates. “As a survivor of both polio and cancer, Gertrude’s mere existence today is pretty remarkable. But it is her personality, intelligence and vitality that are most inspiring. She is so full of life, so curious about the world around her, and has much wisdom to share. And while she does not want anyone to plan any more birthday parties for her in the future, when she learned that her caregiver takes care of someone who is 106 she said, ‘I wonder what it would feel like to be 106,’” says Levy.
People in the news PHYLLIS SELTZER recently published a memoir, “Living My Dash,” which she describes as “the story of a marriage filled with love and a family dealing with many difficulties,” told in the hope of helping others going through similar problems.
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, Tues., 10 a.m.; men, Thurs., 7 p.m.
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 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.
REFORM
Congregation Kol simChah
(Renewal) 4625 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 Mailing Address: 2732 S. Gwain Place, Tucson, AZ 85713 • (520) 296-0818 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 (Oct.-May); 2nd Friday, Tot Shabbat (Oct.-June), 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 (520) 825-8175 • Rabbi Sanford Seltzer Shabbat services: Oct.-April, one Friday per 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 http://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.
Congregation etz Chaim (Modern Orthodox) 686 Harshaw Road, Patagonia, AZ 85624 • (520) 394-2520 www.etzchaimcongregation.org • Rabbi Gabriel Cousens Shabbat services: Fri., 18 minutes before sunset / 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 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 730-0401 for meeting or other information.
university oF arizona hillel Foundation 1245 E. 2nd St. Tucson, AZ 85719 • 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.
November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
27
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Tucson restaurateurs highlight joys of community in busy winter season
DAVID J. DEL GRANDE AJP Staff Writer
J
ason McCarty, a managing partner at Eclectic Cafe, says he sees the 37-year-old eatery as an unofficial anchor of Tucson’s eastside. Moving forward, McCarty hopes Eclectic stays vibrant and continues to grow without losing its “family feel.” Eclectic has served three generations of regular customers, says McCarty. Their dedicated staff play an integral role at the restaurant, he says, and watching some of their servers get hired at age 17, then work their way through college has been an honor. “And the customers love hearing about their progress.” “After the consistency of the food, that’s what makes our place different — the relationships the customers have with the staff,” says McCarty. Tucson’s seasonal residents will make Eclectic their first stop when they return here for the winter, popping in to make sure the eatery didn’t fall apart, says McCarty with a laugh. “We love our regular customers, we love to see new customers,” says McCarty. “We love this time of year.” Although Eclectic will be closed on Thanksgiving Day, they will take special orders for holiday meals for pick-up until about a week prior. Tavolino Ristorante Italiano is always on the front line of culinary and beverage trends, says chef Massimo Tenino. They just released a new cocktail menu created by Tavolino’s sommelier, Jon Herrera, featuring spirits that incorporate seasonal and Italian ingredients. At Tavolino, the staff works tirelessly to develop a warm relationship with its regular and first-time customers, he says. “We look forward, every winter season, to seeing our friends return to our bustling, vibrant restaurant where we work to ensure that they have the best experience every time they visit,” Tenino says. “And if they’re celebrating a special occasion, we go the extra mile to make it memorable for everyone.” Tavolino’s Lasagna al Forno is their most popular dish, says Tenino, adding “we’ve heard from guests who travel the world that they think ours is the best they have had anywhere.” Don’t forget their award-winning wines, he adds, which include Pietro Rinaldi wines, harvested by Tenino’s brother, Paolo. Tavolino’s patio is now climate-con-
A handful of Tucson’s restaurateurs are working through the holidays, but instead of dreading their blistering schedule they’re welcoming in the busy season. Filling your plates and bowls warms their souls. trolled, so patrons can enjoy outdoor dining year-round. Nicole and Maurice Cochard, owners of Café Francais, are on a first-name basis with their clientele. Their regulars often pop into the kitchen after a meal, firing compliments Maurice’s way, says Nicole Cochard. The couple moved to the United States from Grenoble, France, in 1968, when Maurice was hired as head chef at a four star French restaurant in Denver. This is where he began to cater to Jewish customers, who appreciate his cooking and have been his most loyal clientele since moving stateside, says Cochard. They came to Tucson in 2012 and opened Café Francais. Cochard describes Maurice as “an oldfashioned chef,” who makes everything from scratch, takes his time in the kitchen and feeds off his customers’ praise. Until Nov. 19, customers can special order take-home Thanksgiving Day meals — an annual tradition that was born from a handful of people asking Maurice to prepare their holiday fare. Café Francais is now open for dinner
on Friday and Saturday from 5:30-8 p.m. Business is picking up at Mama’s Famous Pizza & Heros, says Liz Biocca, special events coordinator, since people are getting burnt out on cooking. The day before and after Thanksgiving Day are traditionally very busy, she says, because people are hosting family from out-oftown and Mama’s family size pie, measuring 2 feet across, feeds up to 10 people. “What kind of car are you driving?” is the stock question when people order the 24-inch pie, says Biocca, with a laugh. We want to make sure you have enough room, she explains to customers. Biocca says the clientele at Mama’s are a festive group. “People are happy when they come into Mama’s … it’s nice to have that gathering place where everybody’s having a good time and everybody’s happy — even when people are exhausted,” she says. “It’s a wonderful family gathering place that we have at each of our restaurants.” Mama’s is very particular about their ingredients, the cheese is the best quality available and vegetables are shipped on a daily basis to ensure a fresh and flavorful
meal, she says. “Everything’s made with a lot of heart.” El Cisne Restaurant, located on the northeast corner of Swan Road and Sunrise Drive, is a family-owned eatery that offers authentic cuisine from three regions in Mexico. And the menu sometimes ranges farther afield — the Foothills mainstay hosted “Uruguay Night” on July 15 as part of its South American Summer Series. El Cisne’s general manager, George Ferranti, recently was selected as the restaurant committee chair for the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Fabian Llinas, assistant manager at HiFalutin Rapid Fire Western Grill, says the jovial atmosphere during the holiday season makes his regular patrons feel more like family. “It doesn’t seem to me that it’s a workday,” says Llinas, describing the overall spirit on Thanksgiving Day. “It’s just fun to serve [customers] and make them happy.” HiFalutin will be open on Thanksgiving for the third year in a row, offering See Restaurateurs, page S-5
November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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Let us cater your holiday gatherings! THE BREEZE PATIO BAR & GRILL RICHARD KNOTT, executive chef
French Sophistication at competitive Tucson prices!
Richard Knott, executive chef/food and beverage manager at Breeze Patio Bar & Grill at Radisson Suites Tucson, is from Ottawa, Illinois, and moved to Tucson at age 17 in 1987. He landed his first dishwasher position at the Viscount Suite Hotel, working his way up to a chef de partie position, cooking omelets in front of the breakfast crowd. For two years, he’d work for free, asking local chefs to mentor him while also juggling two full-time jobs. At 21, he earned his first executive chef position at Anthony’s in the Catalinas, where he won accolades including the Silver Spoon and Four Diamond awards. Knott started at Breeze a year ago, and began managing both the front and back ends of the hotel eatery five months ago.
CAFÉ FRANCAIS NICOLE and MAURICE COCHARD, co-owners
Cafe: Tues-Sun 8am-3pm Bakery/Store: 8am-4pm Closed Mondays
520-326-1155
Plaza Palomino 2930 N. Swan
Nicole and Maurice Cochard came from France to the United States in 1968 when Maurice, then a chef at Trois Dolfins in Grenoble, was recruited to be the head chef of Lafitte Restaurant, a four-star French restaurant in Colorado. The Cochards were the original owners of the popular Tucson restaurant, Le Delice. In November 2012, they opened Café Francais, serving authentic French cuisine — from homemade quiches to Dover sole Meuniere and Canard a l’Orange — and pastries. Nicole, the creative genius behind their French pastry creations, began her apprenticeship as a child in her family’s bakery in Burgundy, France.
CLAIRE’S CAFÉ CLAIRE JOHNSON, co-owner Claire Johnson, an Illinois native born into a family of creative cooks, began her culinary career as a produce buyer and founded an organic food co-op on Chicago’s north side. She relocated to Arizona in 1980 and became the head chef at the Blue Willow, followed by cooking stints at Oro Valley Country Club, Loews Ventana and C.B. Rye. In 1986, Claire bought Dyna Café and transformed it into the present day Claire’s Café and Art Gallery.
DEDICATED GLUTEN FREE REBECCA WICKER, owner Rebecca Wicker was an accountant before delving into the gluten free baking business. Her husband’s severe gluten allergy and her own intolerance prompted Rebecca to research and develop the recipes used in her shop. She developed her own proprietary flour blend in 2013, and opened Dedicated in 2014. Rebecca is passionate about her work and about serving the Tucson community. Plans are in the works for expansion, so stay tuned for more to come!
Farm to Table Fresh • Local • Seasonal 5605 E. River Rd. (at Craycroft) * 529-7180 * harvestonriver.com 10355 N. La Cañada Dr. (at Lambert) * 731-1100 * harvestOV.com S-2
ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
Want more?
Check out Restaurant Resource, published monthly To advertise contact Bertí S. Brodsky at (520)647-8461 or berti@azjewishpost.com
ECLECTIC CAFÉ MARK SMITH, owner Born and raised in Tucson, Mark Smith is a Catalina High School graduate. He started working in restaurants as a teenager and took that training to open the Eclectic Café in October 1980 when he was 24. Smith brings a variety of flavors to Eclectic Café’s menu so that the whole family can be satisfied. He says the secret to the restaurant business is fresh ingredients, consistency and fast, friendly service. His goal is to make every guest feel special when they walk through the doors. Smith has enjoyed seeing the generations of families come through the doors of the café and watching the staff go from high school graduates to college graduates to professionals in the work force. In his free time, Smith enjoys playing tennis, traveling and, no surprise, cooking!
Holiday Central
at
EL CISNE PHIL and GEORGE FERRANTI, co-owners Phil Ferranti opened El Cisne Restaurant with his son, George, and team of Nancy Carnero and Alicia Gastelum in January 2013 at Swan and Sunrise (El Cisne means “The Swan” in Spanish). They added to the excitement of the now 25-year tradition by reuniting with many more staff members from Phil’s previous establishment, La Placita Café in the Plaza Palomino. El Cisne offers “Platillos de la Sala,” dining-room dishes, in a relaxed yet elegant atmosphere. El Cisne is also a great place for lunch or happy hour cocktails at “The Black Swan Tequila Bar.”
Our Gift Card Bonus Has Begun! For every $100 gift card you purchase now through December 31st, we will give you an additional $20 gift card.
Plan ahead....
Tavolino To Go • Catering • Holiday Parties • Sunday Brunch • Happy Hour
GINZA SUSHI and IZAKAYA STYLE DINING JUN and DIANA ARAI, owners Jun Arai met his wife, Diana, in her native Hermosillo, Mexico, when they were both 20; she was attending college and Jun, a ski instructor from Japan, was studying Spanish. Several years later they married and settled in Jun’s hometown, where he began working in restaurants, learning the art of Japanese cooking. In 1999 they moved to Tucson so Jun could help a family friend open a sushi restaurant, and in 2008 they opened Ginza, where dishes such as the Ceviche roll with albacore tuna and jalapeno attest to the success of their blended cultures.
GOURMET GIRLS GLUTEN FREE BAKERY/BISTRO MARY STEIGER and SUSAN FULTON, chef/owners Mary Steiger started cooking as a child and by the time she was 7, knew she wanted to be a baker when she grew up. Susan Fulton came from a family with a passion for food and always fantasized about owning a restaurant. The two traveled different roads until their paths met seven years ago in Tucson, where they discovered a mutual desire to promote wellness through food choices. The dedicated, certified gluten-free bakery/bistro is the result of their collaboration.
HARVEST LISA and REZA SHAPOURI, owners Lisa and Reza Shapouri met in 1986 at a now-closed Coco’s Bakery Restaurant on West Drachman Street, where he was the general manager and she was the hostess. They married in 1988. In the 1990s, the Shapouris owned and operated Chelsea’s Bar and Grill, and Reza then spent 18 years working in restaurant distribution and consulting. The couple bought Harvest Restaurant in Oro Valley in 2011, and opened the second Harvest location on River Road in 2015. Their menus focus on scratch cooking, healthful eating, seasonality, uniqueness and using local purveyors. November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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Where good friends meet to eat
Breakfast and lunch Great homestyle cooking Dog-friendly patio dining We offer a gluten-free menu too!
Serving the community for 30 years
2016 Good Neighbor Award Open 7 days a week • 7am-3pm 16140 OracleRoad, Road, Catalina www.clairescafe.net 520-825-2525 ••www.clairescafe.net 16140 N.N. Oracle Catalina• •520-825-2525
Chag Urim Sameach!
WHERE THE FLAVOR MAKES THE DIFFERENCE FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED SINCE 1990
TACO TUESDAY 99¢ each Fish Tacos $1.50
w/beverage purchase
3pm-9pm DAILY HAPPY HOUR 3pm-6pm Gluten-Free Options
$5
FREE
Bonus* Gift Card!
with the purchase of $50 in Gift Cards.
$20
FREE
Bonus* Gift Card!
with the purchase of $100 in Gift Cards.
BOGO 50% OFF ENTRÉE
BOGO $5 OFF $10 OFF OR 50% OFF ENTRÉE any purchase any purchase
buy 1 entrée & 2 drinks, get 1 entrée of equal or lesser value 50% OFF LA HACIENDA
buy 1 entrée & 2 drinks, get 1 entrée of equal or lesser value 50% OFF LA HACIENDA
520-327-1097
520-327-1097
Family Mexican Restaurant
of $25 or more
LA HACIENDA
Family Mexican Restaurant
With this coupon. Dine in only. Not valid on With this coupon. Dine in only. Not valid on holidays. Valid at Swan Rd. location. Not holidays. Valid at Swan Rd. location. Not valid with other offers. Exp. 12/15/2017 valid with other offers. Exp. 12/15/2017
of $50 or more
Family Mexican Restaurant
520-327-1097
With this coupon. Dine in only. Not valid on holidays. Valid at Swan Rd. location. Not valid with other offers. Exp. 12/15/2017
*Bonus cards are NOT valid until the day after issue! PIZZA & HEROS
www.mamasfamous.com follow us on
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MamasFamous
Locally Owned & Operated by the Spina Family of Tucson, AZ since 1980
ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
Oracle & Magee
22nd & Kolb
297-3993
750-1919
Speedway & Swan
Broadway & Houghton
319-8856
751- 4600
3225 N. Swan Rd. • 520-327-1097 www.LaHaciendaAZ.com
Gift Certificates Available • Military & Senior Discounts
RESTAURATEURS continued from page S-1
guests a three-course holiday meal with a variety of choices for a flat rate. HiFalutin also will introduce a new brunch menu shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday. They will be open on Christmas Eve this year, but their Christmas Day hours have yet to be determined. Ginza Sushi offers a variety of Asian fare, some with a Mexican-inspired twist, reflecting the marriage of cultures of owners Diana and Jun Arai. The menu includes miso soup, sashimi, nigiri, sushi rolls and a full tempura bar, some with a Mexican-inspired twist. Ginza’s Izakayastyle dining option features small plates — think of a Japanese take on a tapas bar. On Monday, Dec. 4, Pastiche Modern Eatery will host its first cocktail pairing dinner, says manager Chris Kroebig. Everyone does a wine or beer pairing event, Kroebig explains, but Pastiche decided to mix it up and show off their liquor selection, which includes 250 types of whiskey. The event will kick off at 6 p.m., cost $60 per person and $110 for couples and reservations are required. Many of the libations will feature products from locally owned distilleries. Kroebig says as one of the founding partners of the Tucson Originals Restaurants, Pastiche strives to build up independent dining entrepreneurship and local farmers in every way possible. During the bustling holiday season, their clientele is always very thankful that Pastiche is open, he says. “People definitely appreciate it, and we get a little flutter in our hearts when we hear it.” It’s a family oriented atmosphere at Pastiche, says Kroebig, explaining many regular customers have invited staff members to weddings and birthday parties, because of the relationships that are built at the local eatery. The reverse is also true. “I’ve had people here that I don’t know other than at the restaurant invited to my mother’s birthday party last year,” he says. “And it feels pretty good.” Claire Johnson, owner of Claire’s Cafe & Art Gallery, says as the Jewish community continues to grow in Catalina, the demand for ethnic Jewish cuisine is also on the rise. Menu items like potato latkes, cheese blintzes, and chopped chicken livers during the holiday season are becoming increasingly popular, she says. Claire’s also caters to folks with dietary restrictions, whether guests are counting calories or simply living gluten-free, says Johnson. Before any new dishes are added to the menu at Claire’s, Johnson says she offers it as a special item. If the dish becomes popular it stays, if not she moves on,
making their menu options responsive and fluid, she says. “After 31 years I don’t want to get locked into anything,” says Johnson. Although Harvest Oro Valley and Harvest on River will be closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, they’ll be very busy leading up to the New Year, says co-owner Reza Shapouri. When Shapouri and his wife, Lisa, took over Harvest Oro Valley in 2011, they wanted to make a few conceptual changes. They aimed to create a comfortable setting for customers, offering delicious fare for an affordable price. Their core concept is “from scratch cooking,” making everything in-house in order to harness the best flavors, he says. Shapouri believes the “neighborhood concept” is the way to go and chain restaurants are losing their dominance in the market. By design, nationally owned restaurants aim for consistency, but with that comes a lack of freshness and flavor, he says. “You can’t have all of those preservatives in the food and make it taste good — it just can’t be done,” he says. “In that process the taste just walks out the door.” Harvest’s new seasonal menu will be introduced within the next three weeks. A few vegetarian dishes will be added as well as a vegan enchilada plate, which will be wrapped in a cauliflower tortilla. Susan Fulton of Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery/Bistro says they’re constantly introducing new dishes and desserts, which include three new cupcakes: pear and fig, churro and caramel apple. As the holidays approach, Gourmet Girls will be fully stocked with pumpkin and apple pies, and their gluten-free Christmas cookies beginning in December. “The holidays are kind of a stressful time for a lot of people anyway,” says Fulton. “When you have dietary restrictions it really adds to the stress. So we are here to take that away for everybody; we’re here to make it easy.” Being able to delight in traditional Thanksgiving fare that’s made for people with food allergies can transform the holidays for their patrons, says Fulton. “Sometimes they cry — with joy,” she says, with a laugh. “It just changes everything, to not have to be so worried all the time and to be able to enjoy things that other people are enjoying.” For Thanksgiving and Christmas, Gourmet Girls will sell everything, minus the turkey, from stuffing to sweet potatoes. “Basically you can come in and get everything you need, if you don’t want to make it yourself.” Special orders will be taken until Sunday, Nov. 19. “It’s really gratifying to fill the niche market for people with dietary restrictions because we can change their world See Winter, page S-7
25% OFF LUNCH Please present to server. Expires 12/31/2017
(520) 731-1414 6555 E. Speedway Blvd. November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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Dedicated to food that tastes great & makes you feel good! LA HACIENDA RUBÉN and CANDE SAHAGUN, owners In 1990, the first La Hacienda restaurant opened in the city of Arlington, Washington, in honor of a town in Jalisco named La Hacienda de Abajo. Currently, La Hacienda can be found in six cities in Washington and Arizona: Arlington, Gold Bar, Marysville, Tucson, Oro Valley, and Chandler. As its owners, Rubén and Cande, would say, “Mexican cuisine, and above all, the flavors coming from the lands of Cuautla, Jalisco are a tradition that must continue.” Rubén and Cande, along with their grown children, Jessica, Lorena and Ruben T, would like to thank you for your patronage.
MAMA’S FAMOUS PIZZA & HEROES ELEANOR and JOE SPINA
4500 E. Speedway, Suite 41 • 209-2872 Tues-Sat 6am – 630pm and Sun-Mon 6am-5pm
Eleanor and Joe Spina, aka Mama and Pop, were the inspiration behind Mama’s Famous Pizza & Heroes, a Tucson tradition for more than two decades. When Eleanor and Joe retired from New York City to Tucson in 1975, their children, Joe Jr., Vinnie and Kathryn, soon decided to join them. Trading the construction business for pizza, they successfully tested their restaurant concept in New York before moving west to open the first Mama’s in Tucson in 1981. Choosing a name was easy: the word “Mama” represents family, home and love. The restaurant is still run by Eleanor and Joe’s children and grandchildren.
PASTICHE MODERN EATERY COSTAS and JUDIE GEORGACAS, owners Born in Greece, Costas Georgacas moved to the United States at the age of 27 with only $18 in his pocket and speaking only Greek. Forty-four years later, Costas purchased his fourth restaurant, Pastiche. “These years have taught me that, if you consistently provide excellently prepared, flavorful, unique dishes and impeccable service, the rest will come,” he says. Newlyweds Costas and Judie purchased their favorite restaurant just eight months ago and plan to continue living up to the definition of “Pastiche” — “an artistic work consisting of a medley of pieces taken from various sources.” The restaurant serves a twist on many dishes from around the world using fresh, local ingredients.
REILLY CRAFT PIZZA & DRINK TYLER FENTON, chef/co-owner Tyler Fenton is a primarily self-taught restaurateur. He loves to experiment with new ingredients, both in the kitchen and behind the bar. As a result, his menu at Reilly Craft Pizza & Drink remains dynamic as Tyler constantly strives for culinary perfection.
Look for our the next Dining Out Guide May 4 To advertise contact Bertí S. Brodsky at (520)647-8461 or berti@azjewishpost.com
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ARIZONA JEWISH POST, November 17, 2017
THE TASTEFUL KITCHEN SIGRET THOMPSON and KEANNE THOMPSON, coowners A self-taught cook, Sigret Thompson has been passionate about cooking since she was a child. She and her sister, coowner Keanne Thompson, have been in the hospitality business for decades. In the 1990s, Sigret immersed herself in learning Southwestern cuisine. She then spent years traveling the globe, living in cosmopolitan cites such as New York, London and Sydney where she sampled a vast array of ethnic cuisines. Seeing herself an artist with the plate as her canvas, she enjoys the challenge of creating dishes without meat or meat substitutes such as tofu. Sigret’s inspirations include Julia Child and local chef Donna Norden of Café Terra Cotta, who inspired her Southwestern flair.
TAVOLINO RISTORANTE ITALIANO MASSIMO TENINO, chef/owner Born and raised in Northern Italy, where he learned his cooking skills from his mother and grandmother, Massimo Tenino came to the United States in 1993 and spent the next years developing his culinary style in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In 2003, he moved to Tucson where he opened Tavolino Ristorante Italiano the following year. Since then, Chef Tenino has received consistently rave reviews and the restaurant continues to be one of Tucson’s favorite places for lunch, dinner or happy hour.
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for them … food’s important to people, and it’s the best work we’ve ever done,” she says. La Hacienda Restaurant Tucson recently hired Executive Chef Luis Oscar Cepeda, who is innovating new menu items and fresh ideas on a regular basis, says General Manager Lorena Sahagun. “We have recently expanded our catering services to include not only Mexican food, but also a fusion of flavors from Spain and Cuba to customize our customers’ wants and needs,” says Sahagun. “We are also doing private parties at our restaurant to accommodate up to 100 people, which includes a lovely patio area.” As the holidays approach, they are looking forward to seeing familiar faces, she says, and La Hacienda is fortunate to have year-round regulars who frequent their North Swan location. “And our Oro Valley location is booming with Tucson’s winter visitors, who are also regular customers year after year.” Thanks to their new executive chef, La Hacienda’s libation menu is flooded with tropical drinks including Cuban mojitos, says Sahagun. “We have an exclusive La Hacienda jalapeño margarita … [which] is the perfect blend of our homemade house mix with fresh jalapeño for an unprecedented taste.”
Richard Knott, executive chef/food and beverage manager at The Breeze Patio Bar & Grill at Radisson Suites Tucson, is looking to modernize some of their traditional American fare and introduce some new dishes by December. Knott says he’s aiming to prove that a hotel eatery can offer standout meals and stay busy year-round. Knott also wants to work with local farmers. “I’m a big farm-to-table type of chef,” he says. “I think that’s the best way any chef could think ... do your part to give back, and to help keep the community thriving.” Seeing regular customers frequent The Breeze is important, says Knott; it shows the entire staff “that we’re doing something right.” Knott recalls popping out of the kitchen as a young chef in order to watch customers enjoy a plate he was proud of. That satisfying feeling hasn’t dulled, he says. Serving customers during the holidays, or for a special occasion, a chef can enhance the moment, he says. Being a chef is not about simply going through the motions, Knott explains, adding his mindset is clear: “Let’s do a phenomenal job, and let’s help make this occasion a lasting memory.” The 16-hour shifts leading up to Thanksgiving Day are exhausting, but the payoff is undeniably rewarding, says Rebecca Wicker, co-owner of Dedicated: A gluten free bakery and coffee shop. See Season, page S-8
3025 N. Campbell Ave. 520-325-3333 www.Pasticheme.com Mon.-Thur. 11am-10pm Fri. 11am-11pm Sat. 4pm-11pm Sun. 4pm-10pm
November 17, 2017, ARIZONA JEWISH POST
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“When you do the math of how many people have something that we made on their Thanksgiving table, and that they can eat the dinner rolls because we exist — that’s the stuff that makes me cry, and that’s why we’re here,” she says. Wicker estimated that at least 4,000 people enjoyed Dedicated’s gluten-free Thanksgiving fare last year alone. Wicker and her husband, Gordon, opened Dedicated after he was diagnosed with a severe food allergy. As a couple, they know what it’s like to go out for a bite, but find you can’t eat anything on the menu, she says. “When you come at it from a position of knowing what it’s like to be on the other side of the counter, I think that really makes a difference,” she says. Dedicated, formerly Got2b Gluten Free, first warmed its ovens in May 2014. They moved to a larger, more visible, location on Speedway Boulevard in May 2016. At their new locale, Dedicated grew noticeably busier practically overnight, says Wicker. What’s more exciting, she explains, is their popularity comes from word-of-mouth advertising. “[That] allows us to keep our prices down, and spend a little bit more money on things like charitable contributions and giving back to the community,” she says. Dedicated recently sponsored the 7th annual Kids of Steele Mini Golf Event, a fundraiser that supports the University of Arizona Steele Children’s Research Center. This was the fourth year that Dedicated contributed to Empty Bowls: A Fundraiser to Fight Hunger and Feed Hope, an annual occasion that helps fund the Interfaith Community Services food banks. Reilly Craft Pizza and Drink launched its fall menu on Nov. 9, featuring seasonal and local ingredients such as squash and winter greens, says chef Tyler Fenton. Guests will also notice changes to the appetizer, salad and pasta menus. Reilly will offer some fun holiday specials which include a Hanukkah plate consisting of brisket and latkes, garnished with root vegetables, says Fenton. They are fortunate to have a strong group of regular guests at Reilly as well as first timers, he says. Most of their regulars have a certain table, server or meal they prefer, which they always try to accommodate. “It’s great to see familiar faces and establish relationships with our guests,” says Fenton. “We love that we become a staple in their lives and look forward to providing them with a memorable expe-
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rience.” Their brussels sprouts, which are flavored with house hot sauce, sherry vinegar, and pecan brittle crumbs, are a hot item, especially around Thanksgiving, he says, adding that people are constantly calling in to ask for the recipe. The Tough Luck Club, Reilly’s basement-level speakeasy, has a new drink menu brewing, which will feature seasonally inspired cocktails and some warm options. Pub patrons can expect that change at the end of November. Keanne Thompson, co-owner of The Tasteful Kitchen, says she and her sister, Sigret, always wanted to start a business together. In February 2011, they took the plunge, opening a gourmet plant-based eatery that caters to people living with dietary restrictions. “We wanted to offer Tucson something original and different,” says Keanne Thompson. Flash forward almost seven years, Thompson says business is booming as many of their regular and new customers simply became “sick and tired of being sick and tired” on a meat-based diet. More important, she says their customers enjoy the flavorful dishes The Tasteful Kitchen is known for. The holiday season is the best time of the year, says Thompson. As their seasonal customers return to Tucson, seeing their smiling faces is the greatest gift. Guests also will happen by, just to drop off birthday cards, which makes their customers feel like family, she says. “We take such good care of everything, from the way we present our food and the way we care for the food — people feel the energy,” says Thompson. Some customers come in with a list of food allergies, and Tasteful makes every effort to meet those needs, says Thompson. The Tasteful Kitchen is taking Thanksgiving Day dinner reservations and will offer a three-course meal that includes two starters, either a local winter squash soup or an organic salad bundle; a choice among five entrees; and a dessert trio with pumpkin cheesecake, mini baked apple and cranberry jelly. Guests can dine between 2-6 p.m., and reservations are on a first come first serve basis. The Tasteful Kitchen is also taking reservations for its 10-course tasting event, which will kick off on Jan. 1. And keep your eyes peeled for their cookbook, she says. Finding an alternative to typical American fare in Tucson can be challenging, so having a large menu to choose from keeps their eatery packed with customers, says Thompson. “They’ve been thrilled, and so appreciative,” she says. “And I’m very grateful that we can be there for those people.”