Arizona Jewish Post 3.22.19

March 22, 2019 15 Adar II 5779 Volume 75, Issue 6

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

Mind, Body & Spirit ... S-1-8 Restaurant Resource ...13-16 Volunteer Salute ........8-12

Kippur to be honored at JFSA Men’s Night Out

Arts & Culture ...................18, 19, ......................................20, 21, 22 Classifieds ............................ 20 Commentary ..........................6 Community Calendar...........24 In Focus............................17, 27 Local ....................3, 4, 5, 8, 11, ...................12, 18, 19, 20, 21 News Briefs ..........................23 Our Town ..............................27 Rabbi’s Corner ......................26 Synagogue Directory...........26

Gary Kippur

PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

T

he Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s annual Men’s Night Out event is getting a new format this year. There will be no keynote speaker for the event on Tuesday, April 9. Instead, it will begin at 6 p.m. in the Tucson Jewish Community Center Sculpture Garden with a whiskey and scotch tasting led by Robert Leopardi, the Southern Arizona sales director for Quench Fine Wines.

Food trucks will be on hand for dinner at 7 p.m.

The MENtor Award presentation will take place, with this year’s award going to Gary Kippur.

Kippur, a third-generation scrap metal dealer who continues to run Tucson Iron and Metal, is a diamond in the rough, says Bobby Present, one of the evening’s co-chairs along with Nathan Rothschild, See Men’s, page 4

Tucson sluggers aim Team Israel at ’20 Olympics ALEXANDRA SHARON PERE AJP INTERN

S

oftball players across the country are coming together this summer to train for the Team Israel women’s softball team, which will be led by Stacey Iveson, the University of Arizona women’s softball director of recruiting-operations.

Iveson is a former Wildcat player and coach, and won four junior college national championships as a coach for Pima Community College and Yavapai College. She played softball and baseball at Catalina High School before attending the UA. She accepted the position of head coach for Team Israel in December, and has begun the necessary steps for sending the team abroad this summer.

The players need to compile paperwork that includes a letter from their rabbi, showing proof of Jewish heritage. They also are

Photo courtesy A.J. Kaiser

INSIDE

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

Alexis ‘A.J.’ Kaiser, seen here at bat for Syracuse University, grew up in Tucson and will be a member of Team Israel in women's softball.

required to undergo an FBI background check.

The players also need to have their birth certificates apostilled (a form of authentication) in the state where they were issued before they are considered for dual citizenship in Israel. They will for-

mally make aliyah in order to be part of Team Israel.

Iveson’s paperwork challenge is intensified by the players’ dispersal across the country.

“We have both Vanessa [Foreman] and T, Tamara Statman, See Team, page 2

Rabbis’ talk to probe why ‘bad people’ prosper PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

H

andmaker Jewish Services for the Aging will present a three-rabbi panel lecture next month, “Why good things happen to bad people,” presenting the Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jewish perspectives with Rabbi Yossie Shemtov of Congregation Young Israel, Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel, and Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash.

“First of all, from G-d there is nothing bad that happens,” says

Rabbi Yossie Shemtov

Rabbi Robert Eisen

Shemtov. “What do we know about good people or bad?” In other words, only G-d can judge.

“When bad things happen to good people I get very upset and sad. When good things happen to bad people I get very angry.

Rabbi Thomas Louchheim

These things happen,” says Eisen.

“However, in lieu of those reactions, might there be a better way to respond?”

Louchheim analyzes the topic word by word. “Just looking at See Handmaker, page 2

CANDLELIGHTING TIMES: March 22 ... 6:19 p.m • March 29 ... 6:24 p.m. • April 5 ... 6:29 p.m.

TEAM

The Only Name for Real Estate

[who] are both from [the University of] Arizona, then we have a pitcher that just graduated from Princeton, another pitcher that graduated from Minot State [in North Dakota] and we have a catcher playing at Syracuse,” she says, ticking off several of the players.

Statman was integral in making the necessary connections for Team Israel — and a chance at the 2020 Olympics — to happen.

She had played on the USA women’s softball team at the World Maccabiah Games in the summer of 2017.

“When I was there I talked to the coaches and talked about the potential,” she says. “Fast forward to last year and they finally got the ‘OK’ from the Olympic federation.”

Statman is enthusiastic about the team being in the running for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

She has dreamed of playing in the Olympics from a young age. This dream was put on the back burner when softball was taken out of the Olympics for 2008 and 2012.

“The entire softball community was devastated that their dream had died, everyone dreams of being on a national team and playing softball for their country,” she said.

Statman is thrilled with the sport’s return to the Olympics for 2020. Invigorated by childhood aspirations and cultural pride, Statman is confident about Team Israel and its ability to make it through the European Championships, despite the short time they will have to practice together.

“A lot of the girls are playing right now, so no one will be available until end of May, beginning of June,” Iveson says. “Our first tournament is going to be at the end of June.”

Although Iveson is a bit worried about the short practice time — the team won’t be able to start practicing until they arrive in Israel — she has confidence in her players.

“T Statman is a feisty hitter that can hit good pitching as she has a short, efficient swing. She was a very good pitcher in high school, but hasn’t pitched in college,” says Iveson.

She looks forward to coaching Alexis “A.J.” Kaiser, the catcher from Syracuse University. Kaiser grew up in Tucson and played for Canyon Del Oro High School.

“I haven’t seen A.J. play in a long time, but she was a top high school hitter in Tucson and is playing for a

HANDMAKER Margie King & Jim Steinman Mazel Tov! May You Share Many Years Of Happiness In Your New Home MADELINE FRIEDMAN Vice President, ABR, CRS, GRI

520.296.1956

•

888.296.1956

WWW. TUCSONAZHOMES.COM TUCSONHOMEFINDER@AOL.COM

2

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

EQUAL HOUSING

OPPORTUNITY

continued from page 1

the adjective defining the noun — bad people — one wonders if this is truly descriptive of a human being.

That requires greater explanation, doesn’t it?” he asks.

“Secondly, the phrase (good things happen to bad people) leads some to assume that we exist in a reality that is controlled by casuistry; the rational that good behavior will result in a divine reward and that bad behavior will result in punishment. The view that there exists in our reality people who express an evil intent in their actions and nevertheless find themselves faring better in a material sense than their God-fearing neighbors, have led some sages of Judaism to argue that the ultimate rewards and punishments are found

Photo courtesy T Statman

continued from page 1

The University of Arizona’s T Statman, left, and Noa Yakir of California State Polytechnic University were 2017 Maccabi USA teammates in Israel.

very good college program now,” says Iveson. “She is a strong, athletic young player who was a solid catcher in high school.”

The players have to be in the top six of the European Championships and win the Olympic qualifier in the Netherlands to accomplish their goal.

“I think all these girls are D1 softball players, or were and are still playing now, so the expectation at that level of softball is that you’re getting yourself ready to play,” Statman says.

Kaiser agrees that the players won’t have an issue with getting their athletic skills up to par. “It’s not going to be the athletic ability for all of us, it’s more of connecting together as a team and getting to know each other,” she says.

Kaiser says that the trip to Israel will help the players bond, especially when they make aliyah together.

Statman is ecstatic to be given the chance to represent Israel with the other players.

“Being able to go and represent the country, the Jewish homeland, is something amazing,” Statman says.

Statman insists that they will not only be representing the country, but what the country stands for. “Israel is home,” she says.

To help the team with fundraising, visit www.jnf.org/ donation-pages/olympic-baseball.

elsewhere than in this world.

“Humans have a need to call out to the cosmos for ‘explanation,’” Louchheim continues. “If God is benevolent and all powerful, God can prevent evil. If evil exists then either God’s love or power is limited. If we allow for our definition of God to be true, then perhaps ‘evil’ is not a creation of God and thereby not in God’s control. That being true, then perhaps ‘evil’ is a human corruption, misuse, and perversion of the ‘good’ God has created.

Then the only conclusion is that the reason ‘bad people’ succeed is because we are unwilling to stop them.”

The free lecture will be held Sunday, April 7 from 3:30-5 p.m. There will be time for audience questions, and light refreshments will be served. Handmaker is located at 2221 N. Rosemont Blvd. For more information, contact Nanci Levy at 322-3632 or nlevy@ handmaker.org.

LOCAL Sarver family matching funds spur transformation of Tucson J tennis center

Experience Matters

PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

T

Jim Jacobs

ASSOCIATE BROKER

520-444-1444 | Jim@JimJacobs.com | JimJacobs.com Photo: Andrew Rosenfeld/Tucson Jewish Community Center

he late Jack Sarver was an excellent tennis player. In fact, he started at the University of Michigan on a tennis scholarship, but his need to support his mother, three sisters and a brother made it impossible to continue his studies, says his daughter, Betty Anne Sarver.

When Jack, who became a prominent Tucson businessman and philanthropist, died in 1980, Sarver says, her mother, Irene, donated six courts to establish a tennis program at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. In addition to honoring Jack’s memory, she says, her mother wanted to make that gift because “tennis is an easy sport for everyone to play.

It doesn’t require a lot of money — it just requires a racquet.”

Irene Sarver died in 2015. Last summer, her son Robert and his wife, Penny Sarver, and Betty Anne, all of whom have continued Jack and Irene Sarver’s philanthropic legacy, learned that the tennis courts needed to be replaced.

They created a $300,000 matching gift so the Tucson J could not only replace the courts with state-of-the-art Laykold Masters surfaces, but also build a 1,200 squarefoot tennis center that will include office space for the J’s tennis staff, a members’ lounge/meeting place, a covered patio, and two ADA-certified restrooms, according to an email the J sent to members.

“We’re very excited about the opportunity that this provides the J and the community at large,” says Todd Rockoff, the J’s president and CEO, expressing gratitude for “the generosity of the Sarvers and many other donors who’ve helped make that initial match.”

“Tennis has been an important part of what we do at the J,” he says, and he expects the J’s membership will grow as a result of the improvements to the Sarver Tennis Center.

Rockoff notes that Laykold Masters is the official surface of the Miami Open. It provides force reduction that is “kinder on your joints.”

“We’ve also used this opportunity to

Chuck Reisig, Tucson Jewish Community Center director of tennis, poses in a forklift prior to the removal of the tennis courts’ current surface.

expand and enhance our program. So we’ve developed some strategic partnerships in the community to teach tennis to underserved and underprivileged children,” says Rockoff.

Along with the six tennis courts, the outdoor basketball court will be converted to a multi-sport court that can be used for teaching youth tennis, which requires smaller courts, as well as for pickleball and basketball games. This “will transform the Sarver Tennis Center into one of the really active and vibrant parts of the J,” Rockoff says.

The installation of the new courts is underway, and two courts should be available for play by April 8, with the remaining courts ready on May 6.

Rockoff, who was a competitive tennis player in middle and high school, says the new surface may even inspire him to get back on the court.

For Betty Anne, “The great thing about the J is that it serves the entire Tucson community. My parents strongly believed that when you live in a community and you take from a community, you must give back.”

The J is continuing to accept donations toward the Sarver Tennis Center renovation. Contact Caitlin Dixon at 299-3000, ext. 176.

Friends visiting from out of town?

Check out the Restaurant Resource on pages 13-16 for great dining out ideas!

7475 N LA CHOLLA BLVD 520-544-6195 (OUTSIDE THE FOOTHILLS MALL) CURRENT STYLES FROM THE LAST FEW YEARS ONLY

Markets fluctuate.

Relationships shouldn’t.

(520) 584-3036 burt.derman@wfadvisors.com 4051 East Sunrise Drive, Suite 200 Burt G. Derman,

CFP® First Vice President Investments

Investment and Insurance Products: NOT FDIC Insured • NO Bank Guarantee • MAY Lose Value

Wells Fargo is a trade name used by Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. Member SPIC, a registered broker-dealer and non-bank affiliate of Wells Fargo & Company. @2016 Wells Fargo Clearing Services, LLC. All rights reserved. 0816-03253 (9987-v)1-A2088

MINNESOTA GRASS FED BEEF “From our family farm in Canby, MN, to your table” Individual cuts available at diamondkgrassfedbeef.com or at Terra Designs 5425 E Pima St Tucson AZ 85712 terradesigns.com Call or contact Bill Krause at (520)349-3970 March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

3

LOCAL

Photo: AJP archive

Expert to lead pre-Pesach kosher grocery tour

Rabbi Eliezer Eidlitz (right) leads a tour of kosher products at an Albertson’s supermarket in Tucson on March 19, 2017.

R Nobody offers more choices in window fashions than Hunter Douglas. Contact us today and discover the vast selection of fabrics, textures, styles and colors for your home. We provide the expert guidance you need when designing the home of your dreams.

OUR SELECTION, SERVICE & INSTALLATION ARE UNSURPASSED • Hunter Douglas PowerView® Motorization Specialist • FREE in home consultation on new blinds • Expert installers with years of experience • We REPAIR blinds! Visit our Repair Shop

Visit our showroom and see why we’re Your One Stop Blind Shop 8049 E. Lakeside Pkwy • 520-790-4102 www.bndcustomblinds.com Licensed • Bonded • Insured

M-F: 8am - 5pm Sat: 10am - 2pm ROC166296 *Manufacturer’s mail-in rebate offer valid for qualifying purchases made 1/12/19 - 4/8/19 from participating dealers in the U.S. only. Rebate will be issued in the form of a prepaid reward card and mailed within 4 weeks of rebate claim approval. Funds do not expire. Subject to applicable law, a $2.00 monthly fee will be assessed against card balance 6 months after card issuance and each month thereafter. See complete terms distributed with reward card. Additional limitations may apply. Ask participating dealer for details and rebate form. ©2019 Hunter Douglas. All rights reserved.

All trademarks used herein are the property of Hunter Douglas or their respective owners. 19Q1NPVIC3

4

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

enowned kosher authority Rabbi Eliezer Eidlitz is returning to Tucson to lead his acclaimed “Yes, It’s Kosher!” supermarket walking tour on Sunday, March 31, in advance of Passover.

Eidlitz last led the tour in Tucson in 2017.

This year’s event will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the Albertson’s at 2854 N. Campbell Ave. (at Glenn Street).

The free tour, co-sponsored by Congregation Chofetz Chayim, the Southwest Torah Institute and Albertson’s, includes food samples and wine tastings. Participants will have the opportunity to get answers to their kosher questions, as well as learning about what’s new in kosher in 2019.

Eidlitz is director of the Kosher Information Bureau. The bureau’s website, www.kosherquest.org, is the world’s largest kosher food information site, listing over 30,000 products that are reliably certified as kosher. Supermarkets, manufacturers, and the media consult with Eidlitz, who has directed the Kosher Information Bureau for over 30 years. He is the author of a comprehensive kosher food reference guide, “Is It Kosher?” Eidlitz attended the Ponevez Yeshiva in Israel and received his ordination from Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, Maryland.

For more information, contact Rabbi Israel Becker at 747-7780.

Talk to focus on domestic violence survivors

L

EAH (Let’s End Abusive vocacy and systems advocacy; Households), a program and coordinated community of Jewish Family & Chilresponse. dren’s Services of Southern ArHitzke has been empowizona, with community partner ering survivors for nearly 30 Hadassah Nurses Council, will years. Her experience includes present, “Freeing Survivors working as a domestic violence of Domestic Violence from legal advocate, shelter director, Stigma and Self-Blame” with program director, clinical diDeena Gayle Hitzke, Ed.D., Deena Gayle Hitzke, Ed.D. rector, grant writer, research on Sunday, April 7, 10 a.m. to and development director, and noon at Congregation Bet Shalom. psychotherapist. Her current interests inHitzke is director of the elder crime volve teaching older adults to emancipate victims’ services at the Administration of themselves from internalized ageism and Resources and Choices, a nonprofit agency other negative stereotypes using storythat serves Tucson, Southern Arizona and telling, reminiscence and other creative the Phoenix metro area. She will lead an strategies. interactive discussion on the dynamics of The workshop is free. RSVP to Irene domestic violence; stereotypes and stig- Gefter at igefter@jfcstucson.org or 795mas; reducing self-blame; effective self-ad- 0300, ext. 2271.

MEN’S continued from page 1

Isaac Figueroa, Eric Mellan, and Kippur.

“Beneath his tough business persona — and his employees love him — he’s the sweetest guy I know,” says Present, who adds that Kippur “has high expectations of himself as a Jewish leader and he’s re-

ally stepped up to the plate many times, in many different arenas.” He also has high expectations of others, says Present, which makes him an effective mentor.

The cost of the evening is $36, plus a $180 minimum pledge to the Federation’s 2019 Community Campaign ($18 for students). RSVP by April 2 at www.jfsa. org/mensnightout or contact Geri Bertagnolli at geri@jfsa.org or 647-8468.

LOCAL Unity marks interfaith vigil honoring Muslim terror victims DEBE CAMPBELL AJP Assistant Editor

Photo: Debe Campbell/AJP

T

ucson community members attended a vigil at the Muslim Community Center of Tucson on Monday to express solidarity and commemorate the 50 people killed in the March 14 shootings at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Another 50 people were wounded in the shootings. Mayor Jonathan Rothschild spoke on behalf of Tucson, and Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, representing the local Jewish community, was one of seven local religious leaders from the Northwest Multifaith Fellowship speaking at the vigil. Imam Watheq Alobaidi, Ph.D., hosted the event.

“Terrorists have no religion,” Alobaidi told the audience. “All religions invite human beings to be good and build a world of love, compassion, and peace. All the prophets and messiahs have the same message,” from Adam to Abraham to Isaac … to Jesus and Mohammed, “for human beings to serve only one God, the creator of this universe. We need all the community together to have unity and strength.”

“Words and images have been weaponized to spread hate, to infect others with the poisonous ideology of white supremacy and hatred of the other,” said Rothschild. “Hate is a powerful emotion. It can make a person feel powerful.

But it can be defeated by societies that are committed to truth, reason, and love — by individuals who are committed to truth, reason, and love.”

Other speakers included Father Mario Mariano, Bishop Steve Nicholls, Rev. John Angiulo, Christian Science practitioner Loren Mayhew, Jesse McManus of the Baha’i faith, and Pastor Glenn Barteau.

About 700, including many of the Jewish faith, packed the center’s gymnasium, with standing room only, for the two-hour evening observance. A bell rang as each of 50 candles were lit, and names read aloud. The unifying message from each speaker was a condemnation of terrorism and the spreading of fear, encouragement to come together to know and welcome neighbors, sharing commonalities instead of differences between human beings, and, overwhelmingly, to focus on love.

MCCT interfaith dialogue leader Ayaz Malik opened the evening, sharing facts to refute myths about Islam. He related an anecdote of a Muslim family accosted on the street, told to “Go back home.” The 8-year-old child responded, “I don’t want to go back home, Daddy, I thought we were going out to eat.” MCCT board member Maqsood Ahmed noted that members of the Muslim diaspora who worship at the center come from 40 different countries or origin. “The accusation by some in the world is that Muslims who look like they come from somewhere else are ‘others’ and are not welcome,” Louchheim told the AJP. “This is their home. Many are U.S. citizens, and they chose this place as their home.

“The Muslim community came together for our vigil [on Oct. 29 for the victims of the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh] and brought flowers and notes of support,” Louchheim noted. “Our [Tucson] Jewish and Muslim communities have become close over the past 25 years. It is something we’ve fostered in an important way, especially since 9/11. The most important thing is that we’ve come together many times, fortunately not always after devastation.”

“We hope we will never need to meet for another vigil,”

Aliya Malik lights candles commemorating the 50 Muslim terror victims killed in New Zealand on March 14, at the Muslim Community Center in Northwest Tucson on Monday night.

says Oshrat Barel, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona vice president of community engagement. “This vigil was powerful, with a genuine sense of togetherness. The words of all of the religious leaders were profound and inspired all the attendees to leave, not only with prayers and thoughts but to act even with small gestures, toward our neighbors.

“I am proud of our Jewish community and rabbis. I recognized so many of them at the vigil, who came to support our Muslim friends and partners,” Barel continues. “Both Imam Watheq and our Synagogue-Federation Dialogue members agree we need to do more to promote in-depth, multi-faith understanding.”

Louchheim said that eighth grade students from Temple Emanu-El, Or Chadash, and Congregation Chaverim each year meet Muslim youth to get to know each other and visit each other’s houses of worship. “Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are very closely related. The students are surprised they have so much in common.”

He told AJP that the Synagogue-Federation Dialogue also is fostering greater dialogue among Tucson’s religious communities, with many things happening behind the scenes, including plans for a panel of interfaith speakers at an area evangelical church in May. The third annual Northwest Tucson Interfaith Celebration of Unity and Prayer, Gratitude Summit in the Desert, held at MCCT on March 7, actually set the stage for the vigil with the same group of interfaith leaders, says Ahmed. The group’s next gathering will be an interfaith community potluck picnic, “Becoming One in Faith and Gratitude,” open to the public, on Saturday, March 30, noon to 3 p.m. at Canada del Oro Riverfront Park, Bobcat Ramada, 551 N. Lambert Lane in Oro Valley. To RSVP and sign up to bring food, go to https://bit.ly/2Whpmet.

March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

5

COMMENTARY We must protect Christchurch families, as Pittsburgh protected mine MARNIE FIENBERG JTA PITTSBURGH

Photo: Carl Court/Getty Images

T

he universe cracks. That’s how you feel when a beloved family member is violently torn from this world while she or he is at prayer. That’s how 50 families half a world away feel right now in the wake of Friday’s violent attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, which claimed the lives of at least 50 people.

I know because only six months ago, I was in their shoes. It’s like I am stuck in a cruel time machine taking me back to Oct. 27, 2018, when my mother-in-law, Joyce Fienberg, was among the 11 Jews murdered at the Tree of Life synagogue here.

New Zealand may be halfway around the globe, but it’s the same story of hate and violence against people peacefully praying to their Creator. I wish I was there to comfort the families and help support them in their pain and agony. I can’t stop crying for those left behind, especially the children. Children who are old enough to understand that there is loss, but don’t understand the meaningless and utterly in-

A picture is left among flowers and tributes near the Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 18, 2019.

sane hatred that spawned it. Remembering the look on your children’s faces when you told them that their grandmother is dead from hatred haunts you every day.

To the families that are reeling, I want to say that we in the Jewish community are your siblings; we are all children of Abraham. We are appalled at this attack

and mourn your loss deeply. We pray for peace, and I personally will pray today that your families are sitting beside Allah in paradise.

In October and November, the biggest gift that the Pittsburgh community gave to my family was space and deep love.

We had space to mourn — the reporters

and politics were kept away from us in a bubble made of love and unbreakable Pittsburgh steel. We continued to feel this love through boxes and boxes of letters, stories, poems and even quilts — all sent to us from strangers around the world, including our friends in the Muslim community. This ongoing love is what still helps me get out of bed every day.

Regardless of the distance, these families in New Zealand need your love, respect and space. They need to know that 99 percent of the people in this world are amazing, loving people. They need to know that their families are not defined by the way they died, but by the way they lived.

Today I don’t have an answer, any more than I did six months ago. Today all I have are tears. Tomorrow, maybe, we can all work together to find a solution and a way to protect all of us, especially when we are at our most vulnerable.

Marnie Fienberg is a strategic planner and communicator recently turned activist to fight against hate and anti-Semitism. She is leading a new grassroots program to fight anti-Semitism called 2 for Seder.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AJP or its publisher, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.

Russian Jewish mogul: European anti-Semitism sadly not a thing of the past VIKTOR VEKSELBERG JTA MOSCOW srael’s Minister of Immigration and Absorption, Yoav Gallant, recently lashed out at France for an increase of anti-Semitic incidents and called upon

I

French Jews to leave the country and emigrate to Israel for their own safety.

Such a significant statement by an Israeli government official in the midst of a rising anti-Semitic tide across Europe is alarming. Only a few years ago, it seemed to me, and perhaps to many others as well, that anti-Semitism was a thing of

3718 E. River Rd., Suite 272, Tucson, AZ 85718 • 520-319-1112 www.azjewishpost.com • localnews@azjewishpost.com The Arizona Jewish Post (ISSN 1053-5616) is published biweekly except July for a total of 24 issues.

The publisher is the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona located at 3718 E. River Rd., Tucson, AZ 85718.

Inclusion of paid advertisements does not imply an endorsement of any product, service or person by the Arizona Jewish Post or its publisher.

The Arizona Jewish Post does not guarantee the Kashrut of any merchandise advertised.

The Arizona Jewish Post reserves the right to refuse any advertisement.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Phyllis Braun

pbraun@azjewishpost.com

ADVERTISING MANAGER Bertí S. Brodsky berti@azjewishpost.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR Debe Campbell

dcampbell@azjewishpost.com

ADVERTISING SALES Marla Handler

marla@azjewishpost.com

OFFICE MANAGER — April Bauer office@azjewishpost.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNER — Michelle Shapiro michelle@azjewishpost.com

Arizona Jewish Post Advisory Board Damion Alexander, Myles Beck, Barbara Befferman Danes, Bruce Beyer (chairman), Roberta Elliott, Cathy Karson, Steve Weintraub Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Stuart Mellan, President • Fran Katz, Senior Vice President • Shelly Silverman, Chairman of the Board

6

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

the past and that the open societies of the modern world will no longer tolerate such extremist views. Yet recent incidents in present-day Europe, Ukraine and the United States make one wonder whether anti-Semitism has been prematurely relegated to the dustbin of history.

Last year, my hometown of Drohobych in western Ukraine witnessed the reopening of a choral synagogue that my father Felix and I helped to rebuild. This synagogue, dating back to the mid-nineteenth century, used to be the biggest in all of Eastern Galicia. The dedication ceremony was not meant to be all pomp and circumstance, and still over 5,000 people showed up that day. For Drohobych, with its population of 70,000, this is truly an astronomical figure. Many families traveled from afar to attend the dedication of the synagogue in person.

But only a few weeks later, unidentified criminals smashed the synagogue’s windows. Apparently, the fact that the town now has an active Jewish synagogue that was rebuilt with the money donated by a Russian businessperson made some unhappy.

This is just one example of a hate crime that Ukrainian Jews have witnessed over the past few months. Another Jewish synagogue was desecrated in Lviv. In Kolo-

myya, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, a memorial wall at a local Jewish cemetery was defiled with graffiti depicting a man throwing the star of David into a trash can. In mid-February, swastikas appeared on the plasma screens in a Kiev shopping mall.

No wonder Jewish communities all over the world were greatly alarmed by the torchlight procession in the Ukrainian capital on New Year’s Eve. Recent incidents in France, which is home to Europe’s largest Jewish community, have exposed serious issues with tolerance in developed, democratic nations as well. In January 2015, during the shooting at the editorial office of Charlie Hebdo, one of the terrorists attacked a kosher grocery store in Paris killing four people.

In late February of this year, some 80 graves were desecrated at a Jewish cemetery in the small town of Quatzenheim, located in the Alsace region of France.

According to a recent poll, 44 percent of France’s “yellow vests” movement believes there is a Zionist conspiracy in the world. It is hardly surprising that Jewish children in France have to move to private schools in order to avoid the bullying that is rampant today in the country’s public school system.

See Russian, page 7

times by telling the story of the Holocaust and keeping its continued from page 6 memory alive for later generations.

French President EmThe Holocaust was the most manuel Macron has admitted vicious expression of antithat anti-Semitic incidents in Semitism, which started from the country doubled in 2018, a series of restrictions on the reaching an appalling 541 incirights of Jews. Anti-Semitism dents that have been officially Viktor Vekselberg survived in this form followreported. ing World War II under the But France is by no means an excep- Soviet Union. Unwritten rules forbade tion. Last February, Joan Ryan, an MP Jews from assuming positions in the govfrom the Labour Party in the British ernmental and public spheres. They were House of Commons, announced her even unable to enroll in the nation’s top departure from the party, which “has universities. Fortunately, today’s Russia is become infected with the scourge of not operating in such a manner. anti-Semitic racism.” The worst attack Yet, no one can be considered immune on American Jewry to date happened in from aggression and violence. We all reOctober 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania member the attacks on Moscow’s Bolwhere a man opened fire in a synagogue. shaya Bronnaya synagogue in 2006. Of Eleven people were killed in the massacre. course, the level of anti-Semitism in toAccording to U.S. media, the attacker had day’s Russia is generally lower than in Euopenly expressed his hate for Jews on so- ropean countries and the United States. cial media for quite some time, and yet, But as some studies show, the number of no one did anything to stop him or report anti-Semitic statements made in Russia’s him to the authorities. public sphere is on the rise, which is exEvery third Jew living in Europe today tremely alarming. has experienced acts of intolerance, acIdeas of supremacy (national, relicording to a poll taken at a round-table gious, etc.) are gaining in popularity. In on anti-Semitism at this year’s World Eco- their new modern forms, (as an effective nomic Forum. march or an original provocation), they In our modern world, with its excessive become convenient, reliable and highly and never-ending flow of information, effective instruments of influencing the these kinds of reports are often pushed public, which urgently requires a poweroff to the side or buried under the mas- ful antidote. sive onslaught of other news stories. They I firmly believe that the search for new may all seem rather insignificant as long ways to counteract anti-Semitism can be as the tragedy [afflicts] others and does successfully continued here in Moscow. not come to our door.

It must involve top experts from leading This is a grave mistake our predecesmuseums, which preserve the memory of sors already made in the 1930s, failing to the tragedies of our past and can very well grasp the full extent of what was happenunderstand the signs of a looming disaster. ing back then in Germany after the Nazi An open and free public debate about party rose to power. It is important not to anti-Semitic incidents, their causes and forget the lessons of the Holocaust. the ways of addressing them would be of For me, it is a tragic chapter in my great help. This could enable us to develfamily’s own history. Before World War op new policies that would help raise the II, Jews accounted for the greater part of levels of tolerance in different countries.

Drohobych’s population. During Nazi It would be a great idea to get the world’s Germany’s retreat, over 15,000 Jews were largest museums involved in this project killed, many of whom had been placed in of which the stated mission is to preserve ghettos. Among them were most of my relatives on my father’s side, including 17 the memory of the tragic chapters of the men and women in total whose remains human past.

Through our joint efforts, we will sucwere scattered in a mass grave. ceed in bringing a brighter future, unburThis May, the Jewish Museum and dened by intolerance and the sins of past Tolerance Center in Moscow will open centuries, ever closer to each and every a new memorial dedicated to the Jewish resistance fighters in concentration camps one of us.

PJ LIBRARY RADIO APP!

RUSSIAN

and ghettos. It will serve as the symbol of their boundless heroism and as a token of remembrance for all those whose names were lost in mass graves. The mission of this memorial is to prevent a future Holocaust and to forestall the looming of dark

Viktor Vekselberg is chairperson of Renova Group’s board of directors and head of the Moscow Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center’s supervisory council on a new tide of intolerance.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AJP or its publisher, the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.

Please thank our advertisers for supporting our Jewish community

Stream fun, kid-centric, Jewish music & stories 24/7. Download PJ Library Radio App at www.pjlibraryradio.com/getpjlr

Affordable Burials Cremations Pre-planned Arrangements

Serving Families for Over 45 Years

Reflecting on a life well lived.

3435 N. 1st Ave. • (520) 888-1111 • www.abbeyfc.com

Amy Spencer CPA P.C.

Serving Tucson and Southern Arizona

Accuracy + Integrity Accounting & Bookkeeping Services Tax Preparation and Planning for Business, Personal & Trust Certified QuickBooks Pro Financial Statements Payroll and Sales Tax amy@amyspencercpa.com

2980 E. Fort Lowell Road, Tucson

520-881-5437 March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

7

VOLUNTEER SALUTE ALEXANDRA SHARON PERE AJP INTERN

O

ne Sunday each month, two dedicated psychotherapists come together to provide a salutary space for female cancer patients and survivors in the Tucson Jewish community.

Alice Steinfeld and Helene Rothstein are therapists and friends who facilitate the cancer support group, CHAI Circle.

CHAI (Cancer, Healing and Inspiration) Circle has met for the past 17 years.

The group, which operates under the auspices of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona, provides education, mentoring, socialization, spirituality, and support within a Jewish context. Sessions often are leavened with humor.

Rothstein has worked as a therapist for 40 years, specializing in children’s counseling, and is now semi-retired.

Steinfeld has been working as a therapist for over 25 years counseling adults, children and couples on loss, grief, and life transitions.

Along with CHAI Circle, the two women work together at Canyon Ranch Wellness Resort in the life management department.

Steinfeld was the first to become involved with CHAI Circle after her close friend, Bryna Zehngut, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Zehngut, who died in 2008, sought to have a free discussion space available to Jewish women with cancer and asked Steinfeld to facilitate some of the meetings.

Over time Steinfeld became more present as a discussion leader for the group.

“It became clearer from the members of the group, that they were expressing feelings that were really deep and consistency was important to them,” she says.

The position of leading confidential group sessions made her feel it necessary to have another facilitator who could also be a consistent presence.

When the spot for a second facilitator opened, Steinfeld asked Rothstein to lead the groups with her.

“It’s been a great journey for Alice and

Photo courtesy Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona

CHAI Circle brings power, connection to local women living with cancer

CHAI Circle volunteers Helene Rothstein, left, and Alice Steinfeld

me, in terms of our friendship and profession,” says Rothstein.

The group brought them closer together as friends, so it doesn’t come as a surprise when they say that group members cultivate similar relationships. Some of the members have been attending since the beginning.

“I think there is a sanctity about our group sessions,” Steinfeld says. “They really preserve this as a special time.”

Steinfeld and Rothstein acknowledge that the relationships these women build go beyond friendships. They become sacred relationships built on equal parts testimony and listening.

“I think people attend the group for their own purposes, as well as a gift to others,” Rothstein says.

The women are remarkably generous to each other, says Steinfeld. There’s a willingness to be there for one another and listen, even if they may not be close friends.

Each month’s meeting has a new theme, chosen by the group’s board. Guest speakers often support the themes, which have included everything from art to nutrition to yoga. Rothstein explains that they will usually read from the Torah and group members are given the opportunity to connect healing with spirituality.

Rothstein says, “It’s a fabulous opportunity for them to start thinking on a different level about something that they hadn’t thought about before.”

The group members are encouraged

THANK YOU to all of our wonderful volunteers! thrift store

Shop • Volunteer • Donate to benefit local Jewish organizations

5851 E. Speedway • 327-5252 Hours: Everyday 10am-5pm No Sales Tax!

BRING AD FOR

20% OFF FULL PRICE ITEM

8

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

to ask personal questions throughout the session to reaffirm how the information correlates to their own lives.

Steinfeld says that she has learned and grown along with the women from her years of facilitating CHAI Circle.

“When I experience personal stressors or situations that have been medically scary for me or a loved one, I can draw upon the strength exhibited in this group,” she says.

The two women speak highly about a power that manifests during the group’s discussions.

“There is a celebration of life, even though it may not be the life they want,”

says Rothstein.

Discussions range from diagnoses to family and travel.

“They are great at being their own best references; they know about what’s going on in the community with resources and treatments,” Steinfeld. “They are incredible resources to each other.”

Steinfeld and Rothstein are overwhelmingly proud of CHAI Circle’s function within the community.

“Helene and I both love doing this and it’s from the bottom of our hearts,” Steinfeld says. “Nobody does life alone and we want to provide the ability for people to have each other.”

GIVE TO WILDLIFE

A P R I L 2 , 2 01 9 WWW. A ZG I V E S .O R G / T U C S O N W I L D L I F E Mentor a youth aging out of foster care.

BE PART OF THE ONLY WILDLIFE HOSPITAL IN SOUTHERN ARIZONA WWW.TUCSONWILDLIFE.COM

Together, we

thrive.

Thrive Mentor Program ArizonasChildren.org | 1.844.747.1533

March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

9

10

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

VOLUNTEER SALUTE Winter resident active in Tucson, East Coast communities DEBE CAMPBELL AJP Assistant Editor

Photo: AJP archive

N

ancy Lefkowitz is a “winter resident.” But the six months of the year she lives in Tucson, “we really live here,” she says, and her community engagement certainly proves it.

“Having worked with Nancy over the last several years, I know she is always ready to take on responsibilities — even when others are sitting on their hands hoping you won’t look their way,” says Carol Weinstein, president of Congregation M’Kor Hayim, where Lefkowitz currently serves on the board and chairs the social action committee. “She is efficient, organized, and has seemingly boundless energy. Now that I am president, I am more aware of this than ever before, and I am especially appreciative.”

Lefkowitz also chairs M’Kor Hayim’s initiative to pack and deliver food to needy elementary school families over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, part of Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s “Making A Difference Every Day: The Homer Davis Project.” She also spent three years on JFSA’s Senior Task Force and looks to rejoin when the group reorganizes.

Lefkowitz and her husband, Joel Alpert, made the move to Tucson 12 years ago. They return to Massachusetts for the summer months, where she is equally committed to volunteering in her community. There, she spends months working on the High Holidays Honors Committee, assigning 350 honors for members of Temple Emunah in Lexington. She also volunteered for four years with the Schechter Holocaust home visitation program in Waltham and for 15 years has co-chaired it’s Family Table program, with Temple Emunah, that helps feed 350 families in the Greater Boston Area. And, she’s chaired Ivrit la Kol- Hebrew for All adult education at the temple for a decade.

In Tucson, she volunteers with JFCS’s annual Matzah & More program, where she was the chair for eight years.

She still volunteers to pack and deliver food for the program, which provides holiday food on Passover for those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford specialty holiday food items. She led the volunteer committee for the program, conducting outreach to partner agencies and the community and coordinating fundraising through various congregations.

Among her favorite “jobs” in Tucson is being a docent at the Jewish History Museum and Holocaust History Center. Since 2017, she has chaired the volunteer development committee to identify new docents and generally

Nancy Lefkowitz has voonunteered with Jewish Family & Children’s Services Matzah & More program for many years.

“keep things going. I’m very happy at the museum, not just for the content but also for the people that come to visit.

More than half that come are not Jewish. They ask lots of good questions and offer good information. I always learn from them,” she notes. “What a place — with wonderful people and activities. They’ve done a marvelous job in the last three years. Being in on the ground floor and seeing it flourish has been very special.”

In 2010, Lefkowitz delivered food for Meals on Wheels and started volunteering at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona. She organized the food bank’s volunteer appreciation event for eight years, helped organize annual events recognizing donors for four years, and volunteered in the administrative department.

She’s also a volunteer reader for Sun Sounds of Arizona, a radio station for the visually handicapped. “I’ve read several novels, a non-fiction book, short stories, and poems since 2011.” In 2018, she participated with hundreds of volunteers in Tucson’s Point-in-Time homeless count of 1,017 sheltered homeless and 363 unsheltered homeless.

“It starts at 6 a.m., and we literally walk the streets in a group, looking under bushes and everywhere,” she recalls.

She would like to participate in the annual project again Diagnosed last fall with breast cancer, she completed surgery and treatment before returning to Tucson. “So far, so good,” she says. This experience hasn’t diminished her interest in community action, walking, biking, and hiking.

“We try to do physical activities, and we love the cultural activities in Tucson. We try to do that as much as we can,” she says, explaining that traffic back east, crowds and expense makes it near impossible to enjoy. “It’s great to be able to take advantage of these things. We are fortunate to be here.”

Hadassah Southern Arizona acknowledges with grateful appreciation its board members and all other volunteers for their dedication, time and expertise.

We thank our amazing volunteers and members!

You are terrific!

For info or to volunteer please call Marsha 520-529-7477

www.hsa.hadassah.org March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

11

VOLUNTEER SALUTE

Check them out at www.azgives.org.

T

Self-advocate raises autism awareness in Tucson

he Autism Society of Southern Arizona will hold its 13th Annual Autism Walk & Resource Fair on Saturday, April 6, in Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium at Kino Park Sports Complex, 2500 E. Ajo Way. Registration begins at 7:30 a.m. and the Walk and Resource Fair runs from 9 a.m.–1 p.m.

Tucsonan Hattie Groskind is the organization’s first self-advocate. She is a member of its board of directors and chair of its self-advocate council. She began her involvement with the Autism Society in 2016 as a member of the program committee, co-facilitated a monthly adult social club from December 2016-May 2018, and has been a board member since September 2017.

“I’m currently working to form a panel of adults on the spectrum because we already have a family and professional advisory committee, and I want to increase the first-person voices the board hears,” says Groskind, who notes that Josh Anbar, another young Jewish community member, also is on the board. Groskind attended the Autism Society of America’s national conference this summer in Washington, D.C., where she spoke to local

Photo: Darin Wallentine

180 Tucson nonprofits are participating in Arizona Gives Day on April 2.

Cheerleaders celebrate walkers at the Autism Society of Southern Arizona’s 2018 Autism Walk

senators and representatives about laws that affect the lives of people with autism.

Groskind will be helping with registration at the walk.

For more information, visit www.as-az.org.

Peace Corps veterans keep giving service where needed DEBE CAMPBELL AJP Assistant Editor

12

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

Photo Debe Campbell/AJP

T

he Peace Corps takes a unique approach to making a difference. The altruistic, hands-on, volunteer program, founded in 1961, provides social and economic development abroad. Through technical assistance, it promotes mutual understanding between Americans and foreign populations. Many U.S. college undergrads complete two-year assignments in developing nations, often working in rural environments. Following service, educational awards assist with continued studies.

Graduate students Katy Cremer and David Thalenberg became Peace Corps Paul D. Coverdell Fellows in the fall semester, having previously completed service, Cremer in 2017 in Namibia and Thalenberg last year in Paraguay.

“They are both outstanding Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows,” says Georgia Ehlers, director of fellowships and community engagement for the University of Arizona’s Coverdell Fellows. “Coverdell transitions return Peace Corps volunteers” back to student life, Thalenberg says.

With the Coverdell community, “we already have friends on campus,” adds Cremer.

Among the 120 universities working with the Coverdell Fellowship, the UA has the nation’s largest group, taking in 25 new fellows each year. Students receive tuition remission, scholarships, a stipend, and rent allowance. UA offers fellows one of the best deals, says Cremer. In return, fellows must spend 10 hours weekly in volunteer, technical outreach to local agencies. They also participate in furthering the Peace Corps mission, social service projects, and professional and leadership development.

Cremer completed her undergraduate degree in anthropology and sociology, minoring in biology, at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where she was treasurer of the Student Jewish Organization. She took the TaglitBirthright Trip to Israel and worked in Jewish overnight

Peace Corps Coverdell Fellows Katy Cremer and David Thalenberg at the University of Arizona Campus Women’s Plaza of Honor.

camps during undergraduate school.

In rural Namibia, she was a community health volunteer, tackling the human immunodeficiency virus and tuberculosis issues. She developed after-school youth health clubs, and Camp YEAH (Youth Exploring and Achieving in Health), to teach regional adolescents about teen pregnancy and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. She trained youth to share with others what they learned and worked with a local counterpart to build sustainability. “The best part was working with kids,” Cremer recalls.

At UA, she is pursuing a public health master’s in epidemiology while contributing hours to Lutheran Social Services of the Southwest’s refugee resettlement efforts. She works with the medical case manager to support resident refugees, primarily from the Congo, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, See Service, page 18

RECIPE Pink pickled turnips taste as good they look and are easy to make SONYA SANFORD THE NOSHER

Photo: Sonya Sanford

P

ink pickled turnips are a fixture of Middle Eastern cuisine, and it’s hard to find a restaurant shawarma plate without them. Their roselike magenta color makes you forget that these pickles are in fact made from an often overlooked root vegetable. Their seemingly unnatural pink color is not a result of synthetic food colorings, but comes from the addition of red beets that impart their deep-hued color to the white-fleshed turnips as they ferment.

Turnips have a sharp mustardy flavor that is similar in pungency to a radish, and that becomes mellower and sweeter when cooked or pickled. Turnips are usually found tucked away next to rutabagas and parsnips in the produce section of most grocery stores. If you pick them up at a farmer’s market, you might get lucky enough to find some smallsized tender turnips with their greens still attached. Don’t let go of those greens; sautéed with butter and garlic, they’re a delicious side all on their own.

Turnip greens can also be used in their raw form, and make a spicy leafy addition to a salad or sandwich.

Pink pickled turnips taste as good as they look. They are salty, vinegary and peppery, and their aromatic acidity

Pink pickled turnips

helps cut through the richness of crispy fried falafel, grilled meats, or spicy foods. I also like them alongside brunch.

They are less sour than pickled cucumbers and nicely complement a buttery omelette and fried or roasted potatoes.

You can buy pickled turnips at any Middle Eastern or Persian market, but they are surprisingly easy to make at home. Peeled and cut into small pieces, the turnips go into a jar with some sliced beets. A simple brine of salt, water, vinegar and a few aromatics gets added to the vegetables. Let the turnips hang out

in the brine for less than a week, and then they’re ready to go and can last in the fridge for a month. The recipe is simple, the ingredients are minimal and inexpensive, and the finished product adds beauty and tangy brightness to any plate of food.

Ingredients: 3 cups water 1/3 cup kosher salt 1 tablespoon sugar (optional) 2 bay leaves 1 teaspoon black peppercorns (optional) 1 cup white vinegar

2 pounds turnips 1 small beet 2 cloves garlic Directions: 1. Add water, salt, sugar, bay and peppercorns to a pot and bring to a simmer.

Simmer for 3-5 minutes until the salt and sugar are completely dissolved and the bay and pepper have begun to flavor the brine. Allow the liquid to cool slightly before adding the vinegar.

2. While it’s cooling, peel the turnips and cut them into batons or pieces that are about 1/2-inch thick. If using baby turnips, you do not need to peel them and you can halve or quarter them depending on their size. Peel and thinly slice the beet. Peel and slightly crush the garlic cloves.

3. Add a few sliced beets to the bottom of a clean mason jar (or jars). Fill the jar with the cut turnip and garlic, and top with a few more slices of beet.

4. Add the vinegar to the cooled water and salt solution. Pour the brine into the jar(s) so that the vegetables are fully covered in the liquid. Add the bay leaves and peppercorns from the brine. Close the jars, and place in a cool dark place for 5 days.

5. After the turnips ferment for 5 days, they are ready to eat. You can refrigerate them for up to a month. Makes 6 cups.

Bring in this ad and get 25% OFF your first visit!

(520) 270-7779 4230 N. Oracle Road Mon-Sat: 11a-9p Sun: Noon-4p March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

13

Where good friends meet to eat

Serving the Community for over 30 Years Great homestyle cooking including Jewish Delicacies Breakfast / Lunch • Gluten-free Menu Open 7 days a week • 7 a.m.-3 p.m. • 520-825-2525

16140 N. Oracle Road, Catalina • clairescafe.net

authentic Peruvian cuisine, with a unique Pisco craft cocktail list

Friends visiting from out of town?

Forty Niner Country Club 12000 E. Tanque Verde Rd www.FORTYNINERCC.com amber@fortyninercc.com 520.749.4925 x207

520-900-7310 1745 E River Rd in the Joesler Village Mon-Thr 11a-9p Fri-Sat 11a-10p Happy Hour 3p-6p every day Live music on weekends! visit website to make reservations villaperutucson.com

FINE CASUAL ITALIAN DINING

ORO VALLEY

Also Serving Breakfast & Pizza

10325 N La Cañada Dr Tucson, AZ 85737

520.297.3777

FOOTHILLS

5605 E River Rd Tucson, AZ 85750

520.300.6860

www.caffetorinotucson.com

14

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

Like us

BUY ONE GET ONE ½ OFF

Consider taking them to one of these fine local restaurants

Buy one Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner Entrée and get one ½ off.

Equal or Lesser Value. Breakfast served Thu-Sun only. Not valid with any other specials or offers.

Expires 5/31/19.

Must present this ad.

BOOK YOUR NEXT EVENT WITH US! HAPPY HOUR DAILY 3PM-6PM

11AM -9PM

Sunday-Thursday

11AM -10PM

Friday-Saturday

Better tasting. Better for you.

2721 E. Speedway Blvd.

(520) 269-6888

5635 E. Broadway Blvd.

(520) 347-2159

grazepremiumbur gers.com

Greek, Turkish & Middle Eastern cuisine

“YEARS, MAY YOU ALWAYS GET MORE”

Belly Friday Dancing & Satu Nights rday !

Experience

From small bites to big plates…

dining with a view!

HAPPY HOUR: Monday night 20% off all skewers, and Wednesday night all draft beer for $3.99

625 E. Wetmore Rd at Tucson Mall Open for Christmas & New Years!

Lunch & Dinner

For Reservations, Pick up, or Catering call

(520) 347-3766 Hours: 11a-10p Daily

5855 E. Broadway Blvd.

TucsonShishKebabHouse.com 520-745-5308

Open to the public 7 days a week Lunch • Dinner Sunday Brunch!

4949 W. Heritage Club Blvd.

Marana | 520-579-9574

www.thehighlandsatdovemountain.com March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

15

lly!

Fina

A delicious Greek restaurant Now open on the East side!

36 OUTSTANDING HOMEMADE FLAVORS SUNDAES & SHAKES

Let them eat cake...

Gluten free of course!

For Birthdays, Weddings, Special Occasions, or just because

Daily lunch Special 11a - 3:30p

www.opasbest.com 4590 E Broadway Blvd • 520-838-0687 Sun - Thu 11a - 9p • Fri - Sat 11a - 10p

210 N 4TH AVE (ACROSS FROM O’MALLEY’S) M-F 12PM-10PM � 520 861 0140

4500 E. Speedway, Suite 41 • 209-2872

Sun-Mon 6am-5pm | Tues-Thur 6am–6:30pm | Fri-Sat 6am-9:30pm

Order Direct from maltajoe.com Perfect for Bar/Bat Mitzvahs Free Delivery all over the Tucson area!

Artisan, Savory Pastries!

By Appointment Only

(520) 812-6563

500 N. 4th Avenue

520-624-6886 Mon-Sat 11a-10p

athenson4thave.com (Northeast corner of 4th Avenue & 6th Street)

!!!

OPEN W O N

Something for Everyone!

TUCSON’S NEWEST INDOOR/OUTDOOR FOOD & FULL BAR DESTINATION CREATED FROM RE-PURPOSED BOXCARS FEATURING A FUN 2nd STORY PATIO! 238 N 4TH AVENUE � (520) 405-1835 11AM TILL 2AM 16

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

•Veggie

Combos

•Meat

Combos

•Spicy

or Mild

•Avocado Salad •Fresh Donuts & Sweet Bread Too!

5553 E. Grant Road Mon-Sat: 11am - 9pm | Sun: 12pm - 9pm QueenShebaTucson.com (520) 336-3736

IN FOCUS

The Arizona Jewish Post has an immediate opening for an Advertising Sales Representative.

UA Hillel commemorates Holocaust At least 500 people stopped by the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation’s 28th Annual Holocaust Vigil, held over 24 hours beginning at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, March 13. Volunteers read the names of victims throughout the vigil. Visitors also had the opportunity to participate in an art project, meet with survivors who live in Tucson, and learn about Jewish resistance during the Holocaust.

The Advertising Sales Representative will identify, qualify and solicit prospective advertisers for this niche publication. Sales experience necessary, preferably with non-tangibles. Outside sales/prospecting skills a plus. Bachelor’s degree preferred. Generous commissionbased compensation, flexible schedule, training provided.

Photos: Alexandra Sharon Pere/AJP

Please send resume to Advertising Sales Manager Bertí S. Brodsky at Berti@azjewishpost.com

At the University of Arizona Hillel Foundation’s 28th Annual Holocaust Vigil on March 13, Holocaust survivor Yulia Genina holds rubber stamps she will use, along with markers, to decorate a tile in honor of a child killed in the Holocaust. Each participant took the tile they made and a slip of paper with the child’s name home with them, “to remember this child and ‘Never again,’” says UA Hillel Executive Director Michelle Blumenberg.

Students examine exhibits at the Holocaust Vigil, including a museum pod framed with the infamous sign that hung above the gates at the Auschwitz concentration camp, which reads ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (Work sets you free).

A museum pod at the vigil memorializes the millions of Jews and others murdered at Nazi concentration camps, as well as those who survived.

March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

17

ARTS / LOCAL

Remember to recycle this paper when you finish enjoying it.

SculptureTucson promoting art with annual festival

Cat Hospital of Tucson Helping you take care of your cat... for life

520.546.2086

Minta L. Keyes, D.V.M. BOARD CERTIFIED IN INTERNAL MEDICINE

7292 E. Broadway, Tucson Arizona

Photo courtesy SculptureTucson

CatVetTucson.com

SculptureTucson founders from left, Jeff Timan, Steve Kimble, and Barbara Grygutis

PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

T

he SculptureTucson Festival Show and Sale, the largest outdoor juried show in Arizona, will be held Saturday, April 6, 9:30-6 p.m., and Sunday, April 7, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park, 3482 E. River Road.

Now in its second year, the free festival will showcase more than 60 local and regional sculptors. Last year, more than 5,000 people attended, says Jeff Timan, one of the organizers along with local artists Barbara Grygutis and Steve Kimble.

“We were happily shocked,” says Timan, a local businessman and artist, who explains that his efforts to introduce more sculpture to Tucson began with helping build the Sculpture Garden at the Tucson Jewish Community Center (see box). Taking a long-term approach, he also hopes to see sculptures installed on the Loop bike path.

“But the J was a really good start,” he says, noting that it was where he first got to know Grygutis, a renowned artist who has been commissioned to create more than 75 large-scale works of public art throughout North America. Kimble is the founder of Metal Arts Village and a lawyer, Timan adds, “but probably now more devoted to sculpture.”

Although all of the organizers’ own work is abstract, says Timan, the festival includes both abstract and rep-

SERVICE continued from page 12

and Afghanistan.

Thalenberg is an Israeli native who moved to Arizona with his family as a youngster. A graduate of Northern Arizona University with a dual degree in Latin American studies and public administration, he is pursuing his masters in the same fields. In Paraguay, he worked in an urban environment in community economic development through tourism. He was able to help identify sites of touristic interest, develop a tour guide course to train workers, create a tour route and initiate promotion for

18

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

resentational works as well as diversity in materials and cultures. The festival also brings in other art forms, with dance, poetry and music performances. Food trucks will be on hand.

SculptureTucson is a nonprofit organization. With the festival, it aims to establish a signature event that will attract visitors from around the country, boost the local economy, and help artists to make a living.

A opening night patron’s reception on Friday, April 5 is an opportunity to preview and purchase art before the festival opens to the public. The reception, which will include live music, a hosted bar and hors d’oeuvres, will run 5-9 p.m.; tickets are $50 and are available at www.SculptureTucson.org.

Tucson J plans new sculpture exhibition The Sculpture Garden at the Tucson Jewish Community Center will open its ninth annual exhibition of new work, featuring nine new artists, with a brunch event on Sunday, March 24, beginning at 10 a.m. with mimosas and time to wander the garden.

Artists will be on hand to discuss their work. Dancers from Hawkinsdance will perform excerpts from “The People Electric,” a new worked that premiered March 15. The cost of the event is $50 for members of the J, $65 for nonmembers. For more information and registration, visit www.tucsonjcc.org or call 299-3000.

the region. He also led three-month-long entrepreneurship courses sector-wide to encourage business startups.

His local outreach is with the Department of Labor’s wage and hours division, helping underserved communities know their labor rights. Thalenberg previously worked with Mitzvah Corps in Seattle (refugee resettlement), New Orleans (civil rights) and Washington, D.C. (homeless outreach); and the Reform Jewish Youth Movement NFTY SOCAL. He has lived, studied and worked in Costa Rica, Brazil, Israel, China, and Paraguay and speaks five languages.

While neither fellow has firm postgraduate plans, they are prepared for bright futures in a community that will be fortunate to have their experience.

ARTS & CULTURE/LOCAL

Photo courtesy Edie Jarolim

Talk will trace family link to ‘Freud’s Butcher’

Siegmund Kornmehl’s butcher shop was at 19 Berggasse in Vienna. Note the swastika on the awning to the right.

Y

ou’ve heard of Sigmund Freud, but what about Siegmund Kornmehl? Kornmehl’s butcher shop shared Freud’s famous Vienna address of 19 Berggasse for 44 years. The butcher was forced to sign over his business to the Nazis in 1938, the same year the Freud family escaped from Austria.

Kornmehl’s great-niece, local writer Edie Jarolim, will present “Freud’s Butcher: A Jewish Roots Journey to Vienna” on Sunday, March 24, 1-2 p.m.at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.

In this slide show and talk, Jarolim introduces the Kornmehl family, who thrived in the city during the same period as the Freuds and intersected with them in a variety of ways.

“I gave the talk at the Freud Museum in Vienna last October,” Jarolim recounts, “and it turned into a family reunion, with members coming from Israel, Amsterdam, London, and New York, several of whom I’d never met before. There’s a good chance another fam-

ily member I have never met is coming to the Tucson talk from Dallas; she already has provided me with a fascinating manuscript about her father, Curtis Allina, who put the heads on Pez candy dispensers — which updates my Vienna talk material.”

Jarolim has a Ph.D. in American literature from New York University and is the author of five books and hundreds of articles on subjects ranging from travel and restaurants to art and dogs. She started the “Freud’s Butcher” blog (www.freuds butcher.com) in 2012, when she discovered a picture of her great uncle’s shop in the Freud Museum.

The cost of the talk is $5 for members of the J and $7 for nonmembers.

Jarolim also will present “Writing Your Family History: An Introduction” at the J, Wednesdays, March 27-May 1, 1-2:30 p.m. The cost of the class is $65 for members and $75 for nonmembers.

For more information, call 299-3000 or visit www.tucsonjcc.org/calendar.

Beit Simcha to host rabbi/comedian Bob Alper

C

ongregation Beit Sim2009 (that’s not a joke). He’s cha will present a Jewappeared on “Good Mornish Comedy Night ing America,” “The Today starring Rabbi Bob Alper on Show,” and the BBC, among Sunday, March 31 at 7 p.m. many others. He is the author Alper, “the world’s only of three books, “Life Doesn’t practicing clergyman doing Get Any Better Than This,” stand-up comedy…intention“A Rabbi Confesses,” and ally,” holds a doctorate from “Thanks, I Needed That,” and Rabbi Bob Alper Princeton Theological Semihis columns and cartoons ran nary and served congregafor several years in the Aritions for 14 years prior to his more than zona Jewish Post. He’s also produced two 30-year comedy career. best-selling comedy CDs and a DVD, Presenting material that’s intelligent, “What are you … a comedian?” sophisticated, and 100 percent clean, The show is for adults and children Alper is featured on Sirius/XM satellite ages 11+. Tickets are $20 in advance and radio daily, often sandwiched between $25 at the door, with sponsorships availBob Newhart and Jerry Seinfeld. He per- able. A sponsor reception will be held at forms nearly 80 shows per year at venues 6 p.m. For tickets and more information, from Hollywood’s Improv to The Mon- visit www.beitsimchatucson.org or call treal Comedy Festival and Muslimfest 276-5675.

March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

19

Alan Aronoff

ARTS & CULTURE / LOCAL

Serving you in Central Tucson, Foothills and surrounding, since 1995

Israel-based Mayumana’s energetic ‘Currents’ coming to Fox

ASSOCIATE BROKER

(520) 631-7222

www.tucsonhouse.com aronoff@longrealty.com

tues - sAt 8Am - 4pm

All Breeds dogs & CAts

The Profe ssional Pe T salon

VETERINARIAN RECOMMENDED Doggie Day Care • Nail Clipping • Gentle Expert Handling •Appointment Requested

(just south of River)

B’nai B’rith SAHUARO LODGE #763

The B’nai B’rith Section at Evergreen Cemetery has affordable standard plots & cremation plots.

Perpetual Care Included • Membership Required

For information call ... 520-615-1205

CLASSIFIED ADS E-BAY COLLECTIBLES e-Bay TRADING ASSISTANT Let us turn your USED ITEMS and COLLECTIBLES into CASH. FREE PICK-UP! www.joedawolf.com 232-2325

TILE / GROUT CLEANING CLEAN TILE & GROUT BEAUTIFULLY. (REYN SHEYN) GUARANTEED. 2 rooms $79.

ORO VALLEY TILE & GROUT CLEANERS Call 331-7777 or visit www.orovalleycarpetcleaners.com.

CLEANING SERVICES MAGIC TOUCH CLEANING SERVICES Thorough, high-quality cleaning. Affordable, convenient, six days a week, weekly, biweekly, monthly. Move-in, move-out, residential, commercial. Licensed & insured (3005947).

Free estimates. 334-0720.

HANDYMENSCH • LOCAL • DEPENDABLE 20+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE NO JOB TOO SMALL • Fix • Repair • Paint Assemble / Disassemble / Install / Hang-up / Take-down Stephen Weinstein 508-654-8017 (Tucson) For information or to place a classified ad, contact April at office@azjewishpost.com or 319-1112.

20

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

The battle between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla inspired Mayumana founders Eylon Nuphar and Boaz Berman to create ‘Currents.’

I

f you like Stomp you’ll love Mayumana” promises the Fox Tucson Theatre, which is presenting “Currents by Mayumana,” an Israeli dance/ rhythm/acrobatics spectacular, with the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona on Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 p.m.

“Currents” is inspired by the historic battle between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla in their quest to find energy sources for the world. On stage, two troupes, each representing a different view of the essence of light and electricity and each inspired by a different esthetic and artistic approach, present a dialogue through unique sounds, lights, and visual effects. The show combines a variety of elements: specially made musical instruments, massive video art projections including video mapping on the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, and 11 skilled

performers from around the world, in constant movement, playing on different instruments and musically juggling between different sounds.

“Currents” has received rave reviews around the world. “Non stop action packed…Part dance, part acrobatics, nothing like we ever saw,” says ABC News. Pariscope raves, “Mayumana — It’s dynamite!”

“Mayumana will be a thrilling event for our community, and the Federation is always grateful for the opportunity to support Fox Theatre’s efforts to bring in fantastic acts from Israel such as this one,” says Stuart Mellan, JFSA president and CEO. The Fox Tucson Theatre is at 17 W. Congress St. Tickets, $24-49, are available at www.foxtucson.com — for 20 percent off use code JFSA20 at checkout — or 547-3040.

Tucson Hebrew Academy’s fifth STEM Festival in the works

H

ow Things Work” is the theme for Tucson Hebrew Academy’s fifth annual free community STEM Festival on Sunday, April 7.

Many exhibitors from previous years will be returning, along with some exciting new organizations, says Jennifer Lehrfeld, THA’s upper school science/STEM teacher. Vector Launch will invite students to send a note into space on board their next microsatellite launch and, encompassing all aspects of STEM, they will be talking with visitors about the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics that go into launching those payloads. Rocketry Works and the Southern Arizona Rocketry Association will once again be launching rockets all day long.

The Fin Foundation will have a shark show-and-tell.

Visitors can join flight challenges with HowThingsFly. com. Tucson Appliance will give visitors an inside look at the appliances they use every day and show us the technology that keeps food cold and gets dishes clean. Like cars?

Take a peek under the hood at everything from a race car to a solar car to a custom vintage exotic and learn just what makes these cars run.

The festival’s biotechnology exhibit will have prosthetic hands and artificial joints on display as well as replacement heart valves, artificial skin, and other new technologies

Photo: www.thastem.com

www.groomingdalestucson.com

292-9436 • 4759 N. 1st Ave.

Photo courtesy Fox Tucson Theatre

NOW FEATURING “CLIPPER VAC®” & FURMINATOR® SHED-LESS TREATMENT FOR A CLEANER ENVIRONMENT FOR YOUR PETS

At a past Tucson Hebrew Academy STEM festival, a visitor plays an electrical fruit piano.

that can keep us living active, healthy lives. Once again, visitors will have plenty of opportunities to get their hands on a variety of critters with the Tucson Reptile Museum’s friendly reptiles and the cuddly insects from University of Arizona’s Insect Discovery. The exhibitor list is continuing to grow — for updates and more information, visit www. thastem.com/stem-festival.

Gates open at 10 a.m. on the THA campus, 3888 E. River Road.

ARTS & CULTURE / LOCAL New ‘Fiddler’ bursting with global, personal connections PHYLLIS BRAUN AJP Executive Editor

our k n Tha tisers er adv

Please patronize our advertisers.

Tell them you saw them in the AJP.

A

Park & 22nd • Peter & Cyd Marcus

520.325.5770

www.allegratucsonaz.com 1300 S. Park Ave., Suite 110 Tucson, AZ 85713

Photo: Joan Marcus

t 45, Israeli actor and theatre director Yehezkel Lazarov may at first seem too young to star as Tevye in the national tour of “Fiddler on the Roof,” which Broadway in Tucson is bringing to Centennial Hall for a one-week run beginning April 9. Audiences have gotten used to Tevye portrayed as an older man — the late Theodore Bikel was 85 when he played the role in Tucson in 2010 — but actually 45 “would be the perfect age for a religious man with five daughters, with the oldest perhaps 18 or 20,” says Lazarov, who himself has three daughters.

In this production of the beloved musical, Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher “brings the story from a very true place,” Lazarov told the AJP in a phone interview, explaining that Sher asks the actors “not to make the characters caricatures, and find a true voice.”

For decades, audiences around the world have responded to the story’s universal themes. Sher’s modern interpretation emphasizes this, Lazarov says. “It tries to show that we’re still in the situation, we’re still in the same problem. We still have citizens who don’t find their home; we still have a lot of people that are citizens that are asking to leave their home, and have no rights.

“It’s important for [Sher] and for us, to make as big a circle as we can make,” he says.

Lazarov sees “Fiddler” as a spiral with three rings, the first being a man who has a monologue or dialogue with God, “which is very intimate, very personal.” Then it moves out to the family, to the love stories of the daughters, and what Tevye goes through, being asked each time to compromise his beliefs. The third circle goes “into the society, the relationships in his community, which again hopefully the audience will understand it’s not only the Jewish community, it’s about everybody.”

“These are the three rings which I love watching happening every night,” he says.

For Lazarov, the story is also deeply personal, something he says he was slow to realize.

When the tour started in October, “I didn’t know how close I am to this thing; I didn’t know how the story is actually a part of my roots.

“Three weeks ago my grandmother died in Israel. She was very religious, my grandmother and my grandfather

Yehezkel Lazarov as Tevye in Broadway in Tucson’s ‘Fiddler on the Roof’

were very religious, and my parents, and me, myself, I had my own monologues to God when I was a kid, this is one part of it. But after she died, I actually understood that she comes from this little place in Russia, this little village in Russia, and they were escaping from pogroms, walking through deserts with camels, with donkeys, 11 brothers and sisters, with their whole community, traveling to Israel early in the last century.

“It suddenly hit me, in the middle of the show, understanding how much this story that I’m telling every day, actually is deeply part of my roots, part of my own story.”

For tickets to “Fiddler on the Roof,” visit www. broadwayintucson.com. Discounts are available for students, seniors 65+ and military.

‘Freedom Song’ at J to blend Passover, addiction stories

F

reedom Song: One Family’s Struggle with Addiction, One Nation’s Path to Recovery” will be staged at the Tucson Jewish Community Center on Tuesday, April 2 at 6:30 p.m.

This musical shatters the myth of Jews being immune to various forms of addiction. Interweaving a Passover Seder with personal stories of addiction, “Freedom Song” poses a stark question: “What are you a slave to?”

The cast members of “Freedom Song” are not actors;

they are addicts in recovery from drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other destructive behaviors. A post-show discussion gives them a chance to answer questions from the audience. Beit T’shuvah, a treatment center in Venice, California, created and presents “Freedom Song.”

The show is suited for audiences in eighth grade and above. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, with a discount for groups of 10. Visit www.tucsonjcc.org or call 299-3000.

Remember to recycle this paper when you finish enjoying it.

March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

21

ARTS & CULTURE Couple aims to photograph every living survivor of Shoah LIOR ZALTZMAN KVELLER

A

t first, it seems like John and Amy Israel Pregulman nailed the ideal “digital nomad” lifestyle. The couple travels the country and the world side by side working for an organization they built together.

“Every day we wake up and go, ‘We can’t believe we’re getting to do this,’” Amy tells me from the passenger seat of the car as the couple is en route to Boulder, Colorado, from their home in Denver.

But here’s the thing: The Pregulmans don’t have a tech startup, nor are their adventures spent scouring markets for handmade textiles or artisanal cheese. Instead, their project takes them to the homes of people who are often overlooked: Holocaust survivors.

KAVOD, the organization founded by the couple, has an impressive twofold mission. The first is to photograph every living Holocaust survivor before they die. The second: to help those survivors living in poverty with emergency assistance that helps them get food on the table and the medicine they need, among other things.

“It’s very privileged work,” says Amy, 49, the organization’s sole paid employee. “It’s a privilege to meet them, it’s a privilege to hear their stories and be a witness, and it’s a privilege to be able to make a small impact in their lives.

And work together to be able to do that — it’s so unique.”

John, 61, has photographed nearly 800 survivors, and KAVOD has helped more than 1,000 survivors with donations. As of February, the couple’s work has taken them to 37 cities, including Prague, Krakow and Tokyo.

KAVOD is a Hebrew word that means “respect,” and that value is deeply ingrained in everything the organization does, from how John takes the pictures to how they distribute their donations.

“You meet [these] incredible, positive, happy, accomplished people who overcame horrible experiences in most of their childhood or their teenage years, and in the beginning I would take the photos in black and white,” John says. “And they would say to me, ‘That really is kind of stark, and it makes us look sad, it doesn’t portray us the way we want to look.’”

So John started taking the photos in color. Since he thought a large, professional camera would intimidate his subjects, he decided to use a simple Sony digital.

KAVOD started five years ago when John, who is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, was asked by a friend to photograph survivors at the Holocaust museum in Skokie, Illinois. For the former professional photographer, the connection with his subjects was immediate. He photographed 65 survivors in the span of three days. He decided to make this a passion project, going around the country and taking photos of survivors.

But the story of KAVOD also is, quite wonderfully, a love story. It was through this project that John and Amy met and fell in love.

One day, John was contacted by friends in Memphis.

Their father was a Holocaust survivor, and though he had never spoken about his experience to anyone, including his family, he wanted John to take his portrait.

“All of the sudden, he opened up to his children about everything,” John says.

John’s friends were also friends with Amy and arranged for the pair to meet. And so, as John’s friends got the gift of learning their father’s story for the first time,

22

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

Detail from a collage by Lior Zaltzman

he got the gift of meeting his bashert (Yiddish for “destiny” or “soulmate”).

“We started KAVOD in November of 2015, we got married in September 2016,” John says. “So this has really been a wonderful thing to grow this organization, as we grow together as a couple.”

The couple have six children from previous relationships between them, who they say are very supportive of their parents’ work.

The charitable aspect of the organization was a natural outgrowth of the photo project.

“In the beginning, we would mostly go into people’s home to take their pictures,” John says. “Inevitably, after you take an elderly lady’s picture she wants to give you something to eat, like your grandmother would.”

One time, while visiting a survivor in Orlando, “When she took me to her refrigerator, there was nothing there really,” he says. “She said, ‘I had to fix my air conditioner, so I used my grocery money for that and I’m just doing without.’”

For John and Amy, the idea was unacceptable. They soon found out that one-third of Holocaust survivors are living in poverty, according to Blue Card, a charity for Holocaust survivors. In fact, 61 percent of the 100,000 survivors in the United States live on less than $23,000 annually.

Many survivors get a monthly payment, from the Claims Conference or Social Security, but when they have an emergency expense, it blows their budget and they have nothing to fall back on. So they end up using the money they would normally use for medicine or food.

“And so we decided that for KAVOD, we wanted to give emergency, confidential aid to survivors who have a quick need,” John says.

They disperse the money through gift cards to Target and other stores “because anyone could go into a grocery store with a gift card and no one would make them feel like they were different,” according to Amy. There are only three things that John and Amy need to know before they send aid: what the situation is, whether See Photograph, page 23

NEWS BRIEFS The Tree of Life Congregation in Pittsburgh is paying it forward. The congregation has raised more than $40,000 to support the victims and their families of the mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand.

“We feel compelled to come to the aid of those communities, just as our Jewish community was so compassionately supported only a few short months ago by people around the world of many faiths,” the synagogue wrote on its GoFundMe page set up on March 16. “We recall with love the immediate, overwhelming support Tree of Life received from our Muslim brothers and sisters in Pittsburgh.”

The funds will be transferred to an organization authorized to provide support to the Christchurch families and community, according to the synagogue. Until then, the money will be held by the Direct Impact Fund.

Fifty Muslim worshipers were killed and 50 injured following shootings at the Al Noor and Linwood mosques on March 14.

In October, 11 worshippers were killed in the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue building, home to three congregations, by a lone gunman. It was the deadliest attack on Jews in the United States.

“To the families going through the most difficult moments in your lives: the Jewish community of Pittsburgh is with you. Our hearts are with you. We hold you in our prayers,” the synagogue wrote.

“The Soap Myth,” a play about the widely held belief that the Nazis made soap using the body fat of Jewish corpses, debuted a decade ago Off-Off-Broadway. It’s coming back for a short run during a time of rising antiSemitism across the globe.

The four-character show stars Ed Asner as Milton Salzman, a crotchety Holocaust survivor, Tovah Feldshuh (in the first four cities) as Holocaust scholar Esther Feinman, and Dee Pelletier (who appeared in the 2012 National Jewish Theater production) as Holocaust denier Benda Goodsen. Liba Vaynberg plays a young Jewish journalist who befriends Milton, and Ned Eisenberg, known for a recurring role on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” portrays several characters, including a Catskills comic.

There will be 12 performances all told, beginning April 15 at the Bryan Glazer Family JCC in Tampa and ending May 7 at the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh.

During this run, the show will be performed in concert style: there is no set, and the actors sit in place and have scripts in front of them. But the format does little to reduce the poignancy of the play or the rage it is likely to engender.

Milton knows that the soap rumors are fact. Feinman contends there is not sufficient proof to say so unequivocally, and that to make a mistake fuels deniers. Their debate is at the play’s center.

A Brazilian Jewish physicist and astronomer has won the 2019 Templeton Prize for his work blending science and spirituality.

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Gleiser, 60, is the first Latin American to win the award, which he called “the Nobel prize of spirituality,” Brazilian media reported.

“I will work harder than ever to spread my message of global unity and planetary awareness to a wider audience,” Gleiser said in a statement issued by Dartmouth College, the New Hampshire university where he has taught since 1991.

The Templeton prize awards “a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension,” the U.S.-based John Templeton Foundation said in a statement on Tuesday.

In an interview Tuesday with Brazil’s O Globo newspaper, Gleiser said that in the scientific community there are “stinging atheists who find spirituality and religion a waste of time” and also scientists who are “orthodox religious, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, people who believe the more they understand the more they understand the divine creation.”

Gleiser has written best-selling books and appeared on numerous TV and radio shows, discussing science as a spiritual quest to understand the origins of the universe and life on Earth. An agnostic, he doesn’t believe in God, but refuses to write off the possibility of God’s existence completely.

PHOTOGRAPH

“There are days where it’s uplifting, you understand how important it is to bear,” Amy says, “and there are days when I go back to our hotel and I can’t move.”

“We read a lot,” John adds. “I’ve decided that the only books I’m reading these days are books about survivors we’ve met.”

Amy points out that John’s relationships with his subjects extend far beyond the photo shoot.

“He stays in touch with a lot of the survivors,” she says.

“He’s just that guy who is a connector, and it comes out in

every way, including the photos.”

With the recent rise of nationalism and anti-Semitism around the world, John and Amy feel like their work is more important than ever. The couple — who visit a different place almost every week for their work — have no thoughts of slowing down. They’re planning a visit to Israel this summer to take pictures of survivors there.

“We will continue to do this as long as there are survivors,” says John. “We’ve got 10 or 15 more years, and we’re not thinking of it beyond that.”

continued from page 22

the person is a survivor and how much money they need.

The organization’s board usually sends the money within three days.

Though they may have streamlined the aid process, that doesn’t necessarily make it easier to bear witness to their subjects’ harrowing testimonials.

Closing dates for AJP publicity releases are listed below.

Email releases to PUBLICATION DEADLINE localnews@azjewishpost.com Mail to Arizona Jewish Post 3718 E. River Rd., Suite 272 Tucson, AZ 85718 Or fax to 319-1118.

April 5 April 19 May 3 May 17

March 26 April 9 April 23 May 7

Need help with IRS issues?

Lawrence I. Subrin, CPA Tax Preparation & Consulting SHALOM BABY celebrates the birth or adoption of babies and welcomes them to the Jewish Community by delivering a SHALOM BABY GIFT BOX. For more information visit www.jewishtucson.org/jewish-life/shalom-baby or contact the Concierge at 520-299-3000 ext. 241

520-296-7759 Cell: 520-419-1472 Fax 520-296-7767 lsubrincpa@aol.com March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

23

COMMUNITY CALENDAR The calendar deadline is Tuesday, 10 days before the issue date. Our next issue will be published April 5, 2019. Events may be emailed to office@azjewishpost.com, faxed to 319-1118, or mailed to the AJP at 3718 E. River Road, #272, Tucson, AZ 85718. For more information, call 319-1112. See Area Congregations on page 26 for additional synagogue events.

Men’s Mishnah club with Rabbi Israel Becker at Cong. Chofetz Chayim. Sundays, 7:15 a.m.; Monday-Friday, 6:15 a.m.; Saturdays, 8:15 a.m.

747-7780 or yzbecker@me.com.

Chabad of Sierra Vista men’s tefillin club with Rabbi Benzion Shemtov, first Sundays, 9 a.m., at 401 Suffolk Drive. 820-6256 or www. jewishsierravista.com.

“Too Jewish” radio show with Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon on KVOI 1030 AM (also KAPR and KJAA), Sundays at 9 a.m. March 24, Comedian Rabbi Bob Alper. March 31, Rabbi Marc Gitler, 929 North America, online and app-based daily Bible chapter program. April 7, Bram Presser, author of National Jewish Book Award-winning debut novel “The Book of Dirt.”

Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley bagel breakfast and Yiddish club, first Sundays, 9:30 a.m. Members, $7; nonmembers, $10.

648-6690 or 399-3474.

Temple Emanu-El adult class, “Faces of Torah,” facilitated by Jesse Davis, most Sundays, 10:15-11:30 a.m., through April 28. See schedule on www.jewishtucson.org. 327-4501.

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.

Tucson J Israeli Dance, taught by Brandi Hawkins, 2nd and 4th Sundays, partners, 4:45-6 p.m.; open circle, 6-7 p.m. Members, $8; nonmembers, $10. 299-3000.

Friday / March 22

11 AM: Jewish History Museum gallery chat, “Protest.” Count Ferdinand von Galen discusses his great uncle, Bishop of Münster, Clemens August Count von Galen, who protested killings of Germans with disabilities in a 1941 sermon. Free. 564 S. Stone Ave. www.jewishhistory museum.org or 670-9073.

ONGOING Cong. Anshei Israel parent-tot class, led by Lindsey Embree. Mondays, 9-11 a.m. Children up to 24 months and their parent(s). Free. Mandatory vaccination policy. Call Nancy Auslander at 745-5550 or visit www.caiaz.org.

Temple Emanu-El mah jongg, Mondays, 10 a.m. 327-4501.

Cong. Anshei Israel mah jongg, Mondays, 10 a.m.-noon. All levels, men and women. Contact Evelyn at 885-4102 or esigafus@aol.com.

Tucson J current events discussion, Mondays, noon-1:30 p.m. Members, $1; nonmembers, $2.

Bring or buy lunch, 11:30 a.m. 299-3000, ext. 147.

Cong. Bet Shalom yoga, Mondays, 4:30-5:30 p.m. $5. 577-1171.

Jewish 12-step sobriety support group meets Mondays, 6:30-8 p.m. at Cong. Bet Shalom. dcmack1952@gmail.com.

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.

Awakening Through Jewish Meditation — Discover Freedom, with Reb Brian Yosef, Tuesdays/Sundays at 10:30 a.m., at Cong. Bet staff). Includes lunch. Free. RSVP to Allison Wexler at awexler@tucsonjcc.org.

10 AM-1 PM: Tucson J Sculpture Garden new exhibition opening and brunch. Meet the artists and see dance performance by Hawkinsdance. Members, $50; nonmembers, $65. Register at www.tucsonjcc.org or 299-3000.

Saturday / March 23

10:15 -11:15 AM: Cong. Chofetz Chayim children’s performance, Music, Memories & Mitzvahs: The Joy of Purim, at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, 2221 N. Rosemont Blvd. www.tucsontorah.org. or 747-7780.

Sunday / March 24

1-2 PM: Tucson J lecture, Freud’s Butcher: A Jewish Roots Journey to Vienna, with Edie Jarolim. Members, $5; nonmembers, $7. Contact Jeremy Thompson at jthompson@tucsonjcc.org or 299-3000.

7-11 PM: JPride Purim Party, Under the Sea, at the Tucson J. $10 in advance, $18 at door.

299-3000.

8:30 AM: Hadassah Southern Arizona Adopt-a-Roadway cleanup. Meet at JCC parking lot. Wear closed-toed shoes, hat, sunscreen.

Bring water and gloves. Contact Mike Jacobson at 748-7333.

9:15 AM: Jewish War Veterans FriedmanPaul Post 201 breakfast meeting at B'nai B'rith Covenant House, 4414 E. 2nd St. Contact Seymour Shapiro at 398-5360.

9:30 AM-3:30 PM: Special Abilities and Inclusion Initiative in partnership with Tucson J presents professional development day with four educators from New York-based Matan organization. Separate tracks for administrators and direct service providers (teachers, camp

24

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

2-4 PM: Temple Emanu-El Sunday Salon, “Jews of Iberia,” with Stu Berger. Free. Register at 327-4501.

Monday / March 25

1:30 PM: Hadassah Southern Arizona Book Club East discusses “Origin” by Dan Brown, Dusenberry-River Library, 5605 E. River Road.

Contact Maxine Murray at 885-5800.

5 PM: 10th Annual Cindy Wool Memorial Seminar on Humanism in Healthcare. Dr. Danielle Ofri of New York’s Bellevue Hospital presents “What Patients Say, What Doctors

Shalom. Free. www.torahofawakening.com.

Temple Emanu-El “Stitch and Kvetch,” third Tuesdays, 6-7:30 p.m. 327-4501.

Tucson J social bridge, Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon-3 p.m., year round. Drop-ins welcome. Meets in library on second floor. 299-3000.

Tucson J canasta group, Tuesdays and Thursdays, noon. Instruction available and a beginners’ table every week. Call or text Lisa at 977-4054.

Cong. Anshei Israel Talmud on Tuesday with Rabbi Robert Eisen. Meets 6 p.m. 745-5550.

Weintraub Israel Center Shirat HaShirim Hebrew choir, Tuesdays, 7 p.m. Learn to sing in Hebrew. Contact Rina Paz at 304-7943 or ericashem@cox.net.

Tucson J Israeli dance classes, Tuesdays.

Beginners, 7:30 p.m.; intermediate, 8:15 p.m.; advanced, 9 p.m. Taught by Lisa Goldberg.

Members, $8; nonmembers, $10. 299-3000.

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 8854102 or esigafus@aol.com.

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

Chabad of Sierra Vista women’s class Hear.” Co-sponsored by JFSA Maimonides Society and University of Arizona College of Medicine.

Seminar begins with cocktails at 5 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m., keynote at 7 p.m., at Tucson Marriott University Park Hotel, 880 E. Second St. Tickets are $100. Keynote with coffee and dessert, $18.

Free for medical students. RSVP for availability at www.jfsa.org/cindy-wool or call 647-8468.

7-8:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El class, “CrossCultural Currents in Modern Mizrahi Music” with Music Director Bob Lopez-Hanshaw. Call 327-4501 for fees and registration.

Tuesday / March 26

8:30-10 AM: Tucson Hebrew Academy Tuesday Tours. At THA. Contact Gabby Erbst at 529-3888.

Thursday / March 28

7 PM: Electromagnetic Safety Alliance and Dr. Hillel and Jenny Baldwin present, “Wireless Technology and Your Health,” with Magda Havas, Ph.D. Proceeds benefit Electromagnetic Safety Alliance. $5 in advance, $7 at door.

At Tucson J. www.magdahavas.com or www. emsafetyalliance.org.

Friday / March 29

5:45 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Shir Hadash Shabbat: A New Song musical Shabbat.

745-5550.

with Rabbi Benzion Shemtov, last Wednesdays, 2 p.m., 401 Suffolk Drive. 820-6256 or www.jewishsierravista.com.

Chabad Tucson lunch and learn with Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin, Wednesdays, 12:15 p.m. at 5th Street Kitchen and Deli, 5071 E. Fifth St. www. chabadtucson.com.

Jewish mothers/grandmothers special needs support group for those with children/grandchildren, youth or adult, with special needs, third Wednesdays, 7-8:30 p.m. at Tucson J. Contact Joyce Stuehringer at 299-5920.

Temple Emanu-El Jewish novels club with Linda Levine. Third Thursdays, 2-4 p.m. 327-4501.

“Biblical Breakthroughs with Rabbi Becker” at the Southwest Torah Institute. Fridays, noon, for men and women. 747-7780 or yzbecker@me.com.

Jewish History Museum core exhibition, “Meanings Not Yet Imagined.” Holocaust History Center, “Call Me Rohingya,” photographs by Andrew Stanbridge, through May 31.

564 S. Stone Ave. 670-9073.

Beth Shalom Temple Center of Green Valley fine art gallery presents “Sacred Intention” by Marlene Burns, through April 1.

648-6690.

Tucson J fine art gallery presents “IsraAID: Humanitarian Heroes Around the World,” photo exhibit, through March 29. 2993000.

Sunday / March 31

7:45-10 AM: Tucson J Purim Costume 10K Timed Run/Walk. Also 5K and 1K run/walk. $10 for 1K (not timed), $25 for 5K, $40 for 10K if register by March 30. www.tucsonjcc.org/ programs/sports/special-events.

9:30 AM-NOON: Tucson J Science Sunday.

Recommended for ages 2-8. Free. Contact info@ tucsonjcc.org or 299-3000.

10 AM-12:30 PM: Cong. Chofetz Chayim children’s program, Music, Memories & Mitzvahs: Passover: Lessons for a Lifetime. Ages 5-11, with Rabbi Israel Becker. First two Sundays at Chofetz Chayim, third is performance at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. Continues April 7 and April 14. $36. Multi-child discount available. Register at www.tucsontorah.org. or 747-7780.

1:30-3:30 PM: Cong. Chofetz Chayim “Yes, It’s Kosher!” supermarket walking tour, including food and wine tasting. At Albertsons, 2854 N. Campbell Ave. Free. Contact Rabbi Israel Becker at 747-7780.

2-4 PM: Temple Emanu-El class, Original Hasidism, with Bob Schwartz. Free. Register at 327-4501.

2:30 PM: Homer Davis Project 10 Year Anniversary Celebration. At JFSA, 3718 E. River Road. Free. RSVP by March 22 at www.jfsa.org/ hdcelebration or meloebl@jfsa.org.

3 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel Mishpacha (family) program, “Jews in the Desert.” Family friendly hike at Sabino Canyon, 5700 N. Sabino Canyon Road. Free to attend, but there is a parking fee. RSVP to Nichole Chorny at 745-5550, ext.

228 or cantorialsoloist@caiaz.org.

7 PM: Cong. Beit Simcha Jewish Comedy Night, with Rabbi Bob Alper. $20 in advance, $25 at door. Ages 11 and up are welcome. Register at www.beitsimchatucson.org or 276-5675.

Tuesday / April 2

6:30-8 PM: Tucson J presents, “Freedom Song: One Family’s Struggle with Addiction, One Nation’s Path to Recovery.” Cast members are addicts in recovery. Post-show discussion. $15 in advance, $20 at door. 299-3000.

7-8:30 PM: Temple Emanu-El class, Jews in Baseball with Jim Overmyer, baseball historian.

Free. Register at 327-4501.

Thursday / April 4

7:30 PM: Fox Tucson Theatre and JFSA presents Currents by Mayumana, Israeli rhythm/ dance/acrobatics. Tickets $24-$49. At Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress St. 547-3040.

Friday / April 5

5:45 PM: Cong. Anshei Israel “BOGO” Family Shabbat Service and Dinner. Bring a Jewish family who has not experienced CAI’s family Shabbat services and/or dinners before, and CAI will cover the cost of dinner for the host family and guests. Otherwise cost is $25 per family (two adults and up to four children) for members; $30 for a guest family; adults, $10 per person. Dinner is 6:15 p.m. Open lounge with games follows.

RSVP for dinner by April 1 at www.caiaz.org or 745-5550.

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

Saturday / April 6

NOON: Cong. Anshei Israel book club discusses “Waking Lions,” by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen. Contact Helen Rib at 299-0340 or helenrib@ yahoo.com.

Sunday / April 7

9:30-10:30 AM: Cong. Anshei Adult Education Kollel: Passover, “The Ten Plagues: Who Suffered… and Why?” with Rabbi Robert Eisen. Free. RSVP by April 3 to Sierra at 7455550, ext. 225.

10 AM-2 PM: Tucson Hebrew Academy 5th Annual STEM Festival, “How Things Work.”

529-3888.

10 AM-NOON: JFCS LEAH (Let’s End Abusive Households) program and community

partner Hadassah Nurses Council present “Freeing Survivors of Domestic Violence From Stigma and Self-Blame,” with Deena Gayle Hitzke, Ed.D., director of Elder Crime Victims’ Services at the Administration of Resources and Choices. At Cong. Bet Shalom. Free. RSVP to Irene Gefter at igefter@jfcstucson.org or 7950300, ext. 2271.

10:45 AM – 12:15 PM: Congregation M’kor Hayim/Episcopal Church of the Apostles discussion, “Jewish Values/Christian Values: The Same or Different?” led by Rabbi Helen Cohn and Rev. Debra Asis. Dialogue on beliefs and practices of the liberal Episcopal Church and Reform Judaism. At Episcopal Church of the Apostles, 12111 N La Cholla Blvd. 904-1881.

11 AM: Cong. Anshei Israel Kadima youth group chocolate Seder. All youth welcome.

745-5550.

11 AM-1 PM: Chabad Tucson Wine Tasting & Matzah Sale. Kosher wines and Shmura Matzah.

Sell your chametz. At Chabad Lubavitch of Tucson/Cong. Young Israel, 2443 E. 4th St. 975-4489.

2-3:30 PM: Southern Arizona Women’s Chorus presents “Sacred & Profane,” in Hebrew, Latin, and English. At Tucson J. $10. 299-3000.

3:30-5 PM: Handmaker presents rabbi lecture, “Why good things happen to bad people,” with Rabbi Yossie Shemtov of Congregation Young Israel, Rabbi Thomas Louchheim of Congregation Or Chadash, and Rabbi Robert Eisen of Congregation Anshei Israel. Free. At Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging, 2221 N. Rosemont Blvd. Contact Nanci Levy at 322-3632 or nlevy@ handmaker.org.

NORTHWEST TUCSON

ONGOING

JFSA Northwest Division Olson Center for Jewish Life chair yoga with a Jewish flair taught by Bonnie Golden. 190 N. Magee Road, #162. Mondays, 10-11 a.m. $7 per class or $25 for four. 505-4161 or northwestjewish@jfsa.org.

Northwest Needlers create hand-stitched items for donation in the Jewish community.

Meets at JFSA Northwest Division Olson Center for Jewish Life, Tuesdays, 1-3 p.m. RSVP to judithgfeldman@gmail.com or 505-4161.

JFSA Northwest Division Olson Center for Jewish Life mah jongg, meets Wednesdays, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., 505-4161.

Chabad of Oro Valley adult education class, Jewish learning with Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman. Wednesdays at 7 p.m., at 1217 W. Faldo Drive. 477-8672 or www.jewishorovalley.com.

Thursday / March 28

4 PM: JFSA Northwest Division Olson Center for Jewish Life Men’s Group tour of Hamilton Distillers, 2106 Forbes Blvd., #103. Wear closed-toe shoes; cat allergy alert. $25 for tour.

RSVP for availability at 505-4161.

Friday / March 29

5-6 PM Family Shabbat in the Northwest, with Rabbi Batsheva Appel of Temple Emanu-El

and PJ Library. Free. At JFSA Northwest Division Olson Center for Jewish Life, 190 N. Magee Road, # 162. 505-4161. RSVP at www.jfsa.org/ nwfamilyshabbat.

Monday / April 1

2-3:30 PM: Chabad of Oro Valley presents Challah with a Twist. Make challah dough and learn braiding techniques. $18 suggested donation at door. At JFSA Northwest Division Olson Center for Jewish Life, 190 N. Magee Road, #162. RSVP to Mushkie@jewishorovalley.com or northwestjewish@jfsa.org.

Saturday / March 30

NOON-3 P.M.: Interfaith potluck picnic, “Becoming One in Faith and Gratitude,” hosted by Northwest Interfaith Fellowship at Canada del Oro Riverfront Park, Bobcat Ramada, 551 N. Lambert Lane. Suggested arrival time, 11:30 a.m. Plates, cups, and utensils will be provided. RSVP at https://bit.ly/2Whpmet. For more information, contact Father Miguel of St. Odilia Parish at 297-7271.

Thursday / April 4

6 PM: Chabad of Oro Valley presents “Musical Musings,” Shtetl melodies, Jewish contemporary artists and Chassidic Niggunim. At private residence. RSVP for address at office@ jewishorovalley.com.

Monday / April 8

7 PM: Arizona Center for Judaic Studies presents a Rabbi Marcus Breger Memorial Lecture, “Quest for Solomon’s Mines - The Future of Biblical Archaeology on Land & Beneath the Sea,” with Thomas Evan Levy, Ph.D., of University of California, San Diego. Free.

At Tucson J. 626-5758 or www.judaic.arizona.edu.

Tuesday / April 9

11:30 AM Brandeis National Committee spring luncheon and officer installation at Lodge on the Desert, 306 N. Alvernon Way. Proceeds benefit Elaine Lisberg Tucson Chapter BNC Endowed Scholarship. Bring teen hygiene products and high school supplies. $37. Send check by April 1, payable to BNC, to Barbara Wilder, 14106 N. Forthcamp Court, Tucson, AZ 85755.

6 PM: JFSA Men’s Night Out, whiskey and Scotch tasting, food trucks, at Tucson J Sculpture Garden. MENtor award presentation honoring Gary Kippur. $36. Minimum pledge of $180 ($18 students) required to JFSA 2019 Community Campaign. RSVP by April 2 at www.jfsa.org/mensnightout or contact geri@jfsa.org or 647-8468.

Explore our website

azjewishpost.com News & views from the Jewish world from Tucson to Israel — Iceland to Tunisia.

For advertising opportunities, call 319-1112.

March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

25

RABBI’S CORNER One year for only $36!

Name

(every other Friday, 24 times a year) tax-deductible except for the first $10 For home delivery, subscribe online at www.azjewishpost.com. Or send this coupon to: Arizona Jewish Post, 3718 E. River Road, Suite 272, Tucson AZ 85718 Or call (520) 319-1112

(PLEASE PRINT)

_________________________________________________________________________________ Phone

Address _____________________________________________________________________________________ Street

Enclosed is my check made payable to the Arizona Jewish Post or

City

State

Zip Code

Charge my MC / Visa / Amex / Discover ________________________________________________________ Exp. Date ____________________________________________________________________________________ CVV code Signature

AREA CONGREGATIONS CONSERVATIVE Congregation anshei israel

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

Congregation Bet shalom 3881 E. River Road, Tucson, AZ 85718 • (520) 577-1171 Rabbi Hazzan Avraham Alpert • www.cbsaz.org Shabbat services: Fri., 5:30 p.m. (followed by monthly dinners — call for info); Sat. 9:30 a.m., Camp Shabbat (ages 6-10) 10 a.m.-noon, followed

by Kiddush lunch; 12:30-2 p.m. CBS Think Tank discussion led by Rabbi Dr. Howard Schwartz and Prof. David Graizbord; monthly Tot Shabbat (call for dates) / Weekday services: Wed. 8:15 a.m. / Hagim 9:30 a.m.

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

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

Mincha, Maariv and Havdallah TBA.

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

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.

3001 E. Skyline Drive, Suite 117, Tucson, AZ 85718 • (520) 276-5675 Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon • www.beitsimchatucson.org Shabbat services: Fri., 6:30 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m., with Torah study at 9 a.m; monthly Shabbat morning hikes.

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

Congregation Kol simChah

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

Congregation m’Kor hayim

ORTHODOX Congregation ChoFetz Chayim/southwest torah institute

ChaBad oro valley

REFORM Congregation Beit simCha

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

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

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

temple Kol hamidBar 228 N. Canyon Drive, Sierra Vista • (520) 458-8637 kolhamidbar.tripod.com Mailing address: P.O. Box 908, Sierra Vista, AZ 85636, Friday night Torah study group: 6 - 7:15 p.m. / Shabbat services: Fri., 7:30 p.m.

Beth shalom temple Center

seCular humanist Jewish CirCle

handmaKer resident synagogue

university oF arizona hillel Foundation

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.

26

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

RABBI AVRAHAM ALPERT CONGREGATION BET SHALOM

D

o you get frustrated from reading the news? If you are like me, you find it difficult to restrain yourself from posting and reposting on social media in response to the stories that upset you. It’s good, though, to have other ways to answer the irritations that come with facing reality. It may not be your go-to method or your intuitive paradigm of delivering your message, but why not consider writing a prayer on the topic in which you are engaged?

I do this from time to time. It feels good to get the sentiment off my chest.

Prayer is not magic and God is not the cosmic Santa Claus who fulfills and delivers our every request. Nevertheless, people hear our prayers and of course Hashem hears our words. There is no telling what kind of positive response a prayer can elicit. I wrote this following prayer recently and read it aloud on Shabbat and received much encouraging feedback afterward. I hope it inspires you: Dear God, Please teach your children to stop hating the Jews. Help the people on this amazing planet to understand that the children of Jacob are involved in the betterment of humanity. Help the nations of the world to see that the Jewish people are not evil, we are not greedy, we are not exploiters, we are not conspirators. Help them see that we are striving to bring beautiful solutions to this broken world.

Help Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and every name that humanity calls itself, help them to find the courage to stop blaming us for the problems in this world. Help our own people who are ashamed to be Jews; ashamed to be counted as members of the Nation of Israel; help our people to appreciate the beautiful blessings that we bring to this world. Help us to draw closer to You and to Your Torah. Help us to stop hating ourselves. Help everyone, every Gentile and every Jew, to stop pretending that we Jews who persist in the Diaspora, and we Jews who thrive in our homeland, to stop pretending that we are to blame.

Help the leaders and their disciples to stop rejecting us, stop hating us, and start loving us. Drive away Jew-hatred, drive away anti-Semitism and replace it with kindness and hope leading the world truly back to You, and let us all say Amen.

Going Away?

OTHER 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.

Composing prayers as a response to the world

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

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

Don’t forget to stop delivery of the AJP at least a week before you leave town!

Fill out the “delivery stops” form online at: www.azjewishpost.com/print-subscription or call 647-8441 to leave a message with your name, address, zip code, telephone number and the dates you will be away.

OUR TOWN Business briefs

People in the news

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has hired Paul Patterson as a community security consultant. His office is located at the Harvey and Deanna Evenchik Center for Jewish Philanthropy, but he is available to synagogues and Jewish agencies and organizations throughout the community. Patterson, a 23-year veteran of law enforcement, is currently employed as a court security officer for the United States District Court. He served as a member of the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training subject matter expert committee on defensive tactics/intermediate weapons. His law enforcement assignments have included civic event coordinator/terrorism liaison officer, state regional training center coordinator, mobile field force grenadier, special weapons and tactics team operator, bicycle patrol officer and uniform patrol officer.

Arizona Theatre Company has named Sean Daniels as artistic director. Daniels spent the last five years as artistic director at Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, Massachusetts. Previously, he served as associate artistic director at Actors Theatre of Louisville, Kentucky. Daniels’ professional experience also includes positions at the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York, and California Shakespeare Theater in Berkeley, California. From 1995 to 2004, he was co-founder and artistic director of Dad’s Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta.

Daniels says seeing ATC productions in his youth, when his family lived in Mesa, inspired his career in theater. He comes from a long line of Arizonans; his great-grandfather, Jesse Udall, was chief justice of the Arizona Supreme Court.

The Drawing Studio has selected Em Martin Brott, MBA, as executive director. Most recently, Brott was chief development officer for Our Family Services, and previously worked for more than a decade as a river ecologist, community organizer, and fundraiser at the Sonoran Institute. She holds a master of business administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona; a master of science in environmental studies from Lund University in Sweden, and received her undergraduate degree at Harvard University, where she studied biology.

She serves on the boards of directors for the Sky Island Alliance and the Planned Giving Roundtable of Southern Arizona. Brott is a past Tucson 40 Under 40 awardee, and this year, she is a fellow in the Tucson Public Voice Fellowship sponsored by the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona and the University of Arizona.

The University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine will be named for Dr. Andrew Weil, who has committed $15 million to the center, bringing his total giving to the center to $20 million. In addition to renaming the center for the integrative medicine pioneer and best-selling author, his gift establishes the Andrew Weil Endowed Chair in Integrative Medicine, the Andrew Weil Endowed Chair for Research in Integrative Medicine and the Andrew Weil Endowed Program Fund for Integrative Medicine.

The Zuckerman Family Foundation has issued a $2 million matching challenge to support scholarships and programs at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. For more information, visit www.uafoundation.org/zuckermanchallenge.

Photo courtesy Tucson Hebrew Academy

In focus

THA class wins blue ribbons at regional science fair Students in Melissa Landau’s third grade class at Tucson Hebrew Academy won a SARSEF first place Grand Award for their project at the Southern Arizona Research, Science and Engineering Foundation fair on March 7 in the animal and plant sciences category. The project, “Germination Station,” allowed

students to use the scientific method to answer this question: Does the size of a kidney bean (seed) affect the speed and percentage of germination? The project was inspired by student questions during lessons that introduced the process of plant domestication and selecting plant traits based on inheritance and variation.

Anna Howe will play the role of Mary Lennox in Arts Express’ production of “The Secret Garden,” March 22-31 at the Berger Performing Arts Center. Howe, a sixth-grader at Orange Grove Middle School, is a former Tucson Hebrew Academy student. Howe began performing with Kids Unlimited when she was in preschool. This summer, she attended Stagedoor Manor camp in Loch Sheldrake, New York, where her performance as Jane Banks in Mary Poppins made her the youngest actress to win “Best Actress in a Major Musical,” and landed her a New York City manager and an audition for “Frozen” on Broadway. Anna has eosinophilic esophagitis, and in 2017, she won the “Breaking Barriers” national essay contest through Major League Baseball and Scholastic. Anna also frequently sings the national anthem for the University of Arizona baseball and women’s basketball games.

Alma Hernandez is one of 10 women featured in the #ShareHerStory initiative by the Jewish Multiracial Network, Jewish Women’s Archive, and Repair the World.

This year, the Purim-inspired campaign is focusing on modern day Jewish women of color, indigenous, Mizrahi and Sephardi women. Hernandez, a Tucsonan, is highlighted as the first Jewish Latina lawmaker elected to the Arizona legislature.

To read the stories, visit www.werepair.org/purim.

Memorial service A memorial gathering for John Felman, a former Tucson Jewish Community Center employee, honoring him at the one-year anniversary of his passing, will be held Sunday, March 31 at 4 p.m. at the home of his sister, Roberta Lewis. RSVP at dogonitart@gmail.com.

Send announcements to localnews@azjewishpost.com or call 319-1112

RON WEST

Exceptional prices paid for antiques you didn’t even know you had!

I buy fine sterling silver, costume and fine gold jewelry, Native American jewelry, antiques, anything Tiffany, vintage paintings and prints, candelabras, collections and much more.

PLUS — I give you more $$$!

520-444-4632

March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

27

CREATING FUTURE LEADERS SINCE 1973

Join our community! Now enrolling for the 2019-2020 school year!

3888 E. River Road • 520.529.3888 • www.thaaz.org

28

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

Laughter, activity, support help Tucson Cancer Conquerers boost wellness DEBE CAMPBELL AJP Assistant Editor

years ago. “Out of a cancer diagnosis, our blessing was finding each other,” Kutoroff adds.

Marlyne Freedman never had cancer but joined the group as a “buddy.” Buddies, also called supporters or “bras,” Over 5000 Products In Stock!

Sales – Service – Rentals Mobility & Safety Specialists!

tion this Ad M en

10%OFF

Entire Purchase Does not apply to Lift Chairs & Scooters. Cannot be combined w/ other discounts.

520.290.0337 | ShopMedTech.com Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm | Sat. 9am-1pm

make up about 25 percent of the 100 active members. They include family members and friends of survivors or those who didn’t survive. “I wanted to find a way to give back outside the Jewish community,” says Freedman, a former Jewish

See Conquerers, page S-7

Ronald M. Mann, M.D. of Catalina Dermatology Board Certified Dermatologist

CATA L

LOC

(L-R): Gila Ben-Jamin, Arlene Kutoroff, and Sheryl Boris at a recent University of Arizona women’s basketball game where cancer survivors were recognized, with Tucson Cancer Conquerors participating.

A DERMATO IN

GY LO

FREE

!

VERY

ELI AL D

Photo courtesy Marlyne Freedman

F

or nearly a half-century, Gila BenJamin had a secret she refused to share. She reluctantly accompanied a friend to a meeting of Tucson Cancer Conquerors 17 months ago and called it life-changing. There, for the first time, she was able to talk about what had once been a taboo subject: “The Big C.” “One person can change your life. This group has changed me,” she exults. “I never talked about being a 46-year cancer survivor before, and now I brag about it.”

Ben-Jamin is one of several Jewish community members who are avid members and volunteers of TCC, a non-profit that actively supports cancer patients and survivors. Pam Chess and Arlene Kutoroff joined the organization near its inception. “It’s a club that no one wanted to join,” says Kutoroff, the group’s secretary, a 12-year survivor. Chess, the vice-president, discovered the group when she was going through chemo and radiation 16

Federation of Southern Arizona senior vice president who remains active on the JFSA board. She is on the TCC advisory committee, chairing sponsorships.

Chess explains that newcomers are welcomed and offered peer support in an upbeat way. “It’s not a pity party, we laugh a lot,” she says. “You can find someone in the group who has had the same surgery and experience as you, and they can help you repair yourself.”

“The challenge for some women with different or rare cancers is finding someone [on the outside] to talk about it. Family members understand, but they don’t ‘understand.’ You might not be able to talk [to a family member] about how to manage a particular cancer, but the emotions are the same,” says Kutoroff. TCC also provides support resources outside the group. “The philosophy is to support all cancer organizations in town because we’re all in this together.”

They call the group a sisterhood, although a few men do participate. “The

Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology, American College of Mohs Micrographic Surgery and Cutaneous Oncology

Now offeriNg Laser surgery & Laser Hair removaL 7355 E. Tanque Verde • 529-8883

Accepting new patients • Medicare and most insurance plans are accepted

March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

S-1

The well-groomed man ... ... Comes to El Continental!

Tucson’s Premiere Barbers for over 55 years!

Quality Precision Styling Color Work Mani / Pedi at the chair Men Women & Children

520

795-1981 3015 E Speedway Blvd. elcontinentalbarbers.com

Open Tue-Sat 9am-6pm

Life’s too short to use cheap yarn!

Yarn & Fiber Arts Supplies

Everything for Knitting, Crocheting, Spinning, Weaving & Felting Classes • Semi-private lessons • Crafting groups • Knit nights www.grandmasspinningwheel.com 6544 E Tanque Verde, Ste 150 • (520) 290-3738

Mention you saw us in the AZ Jewish Post for a 10% discount on yarn!

S-2

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

UA Cancer Center optimistic on new research

T

he University of nations will expand treatArizona Cancer ment options for patients Center performed and extend their survival. experiments indicating “PIM inhibitors have that a triple-combination been developed by multherapy might significanttiple pharmaceutical comly boost the immune syspanies,” Kraft says. “They tem’s ability to fight cancer need to go into trials in a and improve patient surmore diverse group of tuvival. Collaborating with mor types to make an imresearchers at the Medical pact on cancer treatment University of South Caroand patients’ lives.” lina, the team published its Kraft further explained Andrew S. Kraft, M.D. results online in “Clinical to the AJP that it would be Cancer Research” in October 2018. a matter of time before the therapy gets to This is good news, but its use will be patients, although ACT already is in use slow in implementation, says Andrew S. in humans. The three components must Kraft, M.D., director of the UA Cancer be trialed and found safe and effective inCenter. dividually before they can be combined.

The group focused on a protein called “Then it will take time and convincing to PIM kinase, which normally is integral get the pharmaceutical companies to do it,” for cell growth, but can go awry to cause Kraft adds. cancer. Their experiments suggested that In addressing Israel’s Accelerated Evowhen combined with two types of immu- lution Biotechnologies Ltd. recent claim notherapy treatments, a drug that “blocks” of discovering a complete cure for cancer PIM kinase could help extend immune Kraft says, “Everyone is trying new and memory, enabling a longer-lasting im- novel things. We’d all like to cure cancer.” mune response.

While the AEBi system uses peptides to “The focus on PIM came out of my lab- deliver toxins to kill cancer cells, Kraft oratory,” says Kraft. “PIM kinase is an im- notes that there are Federal Drug Adportant target in cancer. This collaborative ministration-approved agents that have work shows that inhibiting this enzyme antibodies linked to toxins that already can greatly enhance immunotherapy and are in use in some patients. “It’s hard to impact cancer.” tell where they are in trials” with the IsT cells, the “foot soldiers” of the immune raeli approach. system, eliminate threats such as viruses An accomplished cancer researcher and bacteria. Theoretically, they should and drug developer, Kraft left MUSC in be able to seek and destroy cancer, but of- 2014 to lead the UA Cancer Center. He ten they need help recognizing tumors as is the Sydney E. Salmon endowed chair, “foreign.” In recent years, immunotherapy associate vice president for oncology prohas been used to “train” patients’ T cells to grams for the UA Health Sciences, and recognize cancer and mount an aggressive professor of medicine and senior associimmune response. ate dean for translational research at the Adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) is a type UA College of Medicine — Tucson. Beof immunotherapy that involves infus- tween college and medical school, Kraft ing patients with T cells with strong anti- attended Weizmann Institute of Scicancer properties. These “supercharged” T ence in Rehovot, Israel, spending three cells, however, can die out before the dis- months in the biochemistry department. ease clears, leading to relapse. By combin“Everything is a building experience. ing ACT with a PIM inhibitor and another We build our expertise. This experience type of immunotherapy called a check- helped me build mine,” he says. point inhibitor, the UA and MUSC teams The UA Cancer Center is the only were able to extend that immune response National Cancer Institute-designated in lab experiments, as the inhibitors pro- Comprehensive Cancer Center with long the life of adoptive T cells. headquarters in Arizona, with more than Their experiments pitted this triple- a dozen research and education offices combination therapy against melanoma, throughout the state, and more than 300 the sixth-most common cancer in Arizo- physicians and scientists working togethna, according to the Arizona Department er to prevent and cure cancer. For more of Health Services — but their results could information, visit www.uacc.arizona.edu. have implications for other cancer types as AJP Assistant Editor Debe Campbell contributed well. The hope is that better drug combi- to this report.

Tucson talk to explore health risks of Wi-Fi technology

Wome n’s

Brooks Glycerin 17

PHYLLIS BRAUN

It doesn’t get softer than this! DNA LOFT cushioning, a plush fit and super soft transitions make every stride luxurious.

Who said running has to hurt?

AJP Executive Editor

F

HELPING TUCSONANS GET FIT SINCE 1981

For all Runners & Walkers Mon-Fri 10-6 • Sat 10-5

325-5097 | RunningShopAZ.com | 3055 N. Campbell

Photo courtesy Electromagnetic Safety Alliance Inc.

ourteen years ago, Jenny Baldwin, wife of Tucson neurosurgeon Hillel Baldwin, was having sleep problems and was diagnosed with restless leg’s syndrome and periodic limb movement disorder, making it almost impossible for her to get deep, restorative sleep.

But over the past three years, she says, her symptoms “became increasingly more uncomfortable and unexplainable. Have you ever imagined what it would feel like to be food being zapped in a microwave oven? Everything inside me was throbbing, pulsating, tingling and vibrating. My nervous system was perpetually in fight or flight mode, even when I felt [emotionally] tranquil. My heart was always racing and pounding in my chest and it didn’t make any sense. It felt like my body was struggling to function. And it just kept getting worse.”

She started getting headaches and noticed a tremor every evening after doing restorative yoga. Hillel thought her tremor might be caused by sleep deprivation, she says, “because on paper I was healthy.”

On her birthday this October, she recalls, “Hillel greeted me so cheerfully in the morning and I just started sobbing. I had never felt so sick in my life.”

A week later, while watching a film called “Take Back Your Power” about the smart meters used by electric companies, they came upon what they believe is the answer: electrosensitivity or microwave illness also called electrohypersensitivity.

On Thursday, March 28 at 7 p.m., the Baldwins are co-sponsoring a talk by Magda Havas, Ph.D., an environmental toxicologist from Canada, “Wireless Technology and Your Health: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” The event, which is co-sponsored by Elizabeth Kelley, executive director of the Tucson-based nonprofit organization, Electromagnetic Safety Alliance Inc., will be held at the Tucson Jewish Community Center.

“Six months ago, we didn’t even know what electrosensitivity was,” Jenny says. “Once we made the connection to my symptoms, it has been front and center in our lives.” Among other revelations, she realized their home’s smart meter was just outside the wall she’d unwittingly chosen for her yoga practice.

The Baldwins started taking steps to shield themselves from electromagnetic radiation, including using a corded landline phone at home and ethernet instead of Wi-Fi. They keep their cell phones on airplane mode except when checking for messages, and have disabled the Bluetooth in their cars.

“We have taken other steps to mitigate EMFs [electromagnetic field waves] at home such as shielding the smart meter” with a special material designed for that purpose, Jenny says. These changes have made a huge difference in how they both feel.

“Our home is our refuge where our bodies and brains are not being assaulted by EMFs. The difference is so tangible to both of us. Our headaches disappear (yes, Hillel gets them too) and my nervous system and heart palpitations quiet down. I’m getting restorative sleep for

Men’s

Magda Havas, Ph.D., is an expert on environmental toxicology.

the first time in over a decade and I don’t have restless legs.”

But she can’t say she’s cured.

“Once you have extreme sensitivity my understanding is that recovery will take time along with a commitment to lifestyle modifications. My nervous system is still unable to regulate itself. I am better in my home environment but public places are difficult, including friends’ homes with Wi-Fi. In order to heal, many people with EHS have had to move off the grid and live in isolation. I’m urging people to take precautionary measures now so they don’t have to go through what I’ve gone through or worse.”

Some of the simple measures she and experts in the field recommend are turning off the Wi-Fi in your home at night while you are sleeping, and not sleeping with your phone beside your head on your night table.

The Baldwins know many people have never heard of EMFs, or are skeptical about the dangers they may pose.

“I would say to the skeptics it is certainly healthy to be skeptical,” Hillel says. “We should however be especially skeptical of technology and systems that have been in place that have generally been accepted blindly over the years. The FDA approved multiple pharmaceuticals at the behest of big Pharma only to have these drugs pulled from the shelves once longer-term data was collected.

Very few people read the disclaimer that accompanies the update of the iPhone software that includes warnings about the utilization of cell phones next to one’s head. Major insurance companies such as Lloyd’s of London and other carriers have new blanket statements in their policies that exclude any type of electromagnetic-related illnesses. The FCC has provided a federal mandate to communication companies to place cellular instrumentation towers in public locations such as parks, neighborhoods, and schools without public discourse or input. One only has to do a Google search to find out about the multitude of articles that now describe the dangers of cell phone, Bluetooth and wireless technologies and how they affect people on a cellular See Wi-Fi, page S-6

Lashes Extension, Lifting, and Tinting Brows Shaping, Tinting Makeup Bridal, Editorial, Halloween, FX, and Lessons Waxing Facial, Body Specialty Facials & Dermaplaning Celina Marquez Book online: www.wickedjadebeauty.com or call 520.661.1143 wickedjadebeauty@gmail.com

wickedjadebeauty

Hormone yoga helps to relieve many hormone related issues including • PMS • Hot Flashes • Infertility • Hypothyroidism • Insomnia • Depression and Anxiety No previous experience with yoga is required. www.LydieHormoneYoga.com info@lydiehormone yoga.com

(520) 822 7397 March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

S-3

At Tucson’s old Benedictine monastery, Jewish health practitioners aid migrants DEBE CAMPBELL AJP Assistant Editor

Photos: Debe Campbell/AJP

D

isembarking without fanfare and frequently no forewarning, asylum-seekers file, dozens at a time, into the old Benedictine monastery in midtown Tucson. Since Jan. 26, the monastery has been a makeshift “hospitality center” providing a safe place for families released from custody after applying for asylum at the Mexican border.

About 200 volunteers are trained to staff the shelter with donated provisions, coordinated by Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona’s Casa Alitas program for migrants.

On arrival, the guests each meet with volunteer medical professionals for a check-up. There are many doctors, nurse practitioners, nursing and medical students, and visiting registered nurses.

Among them are three University of Arizona College of Medicine clinical and medical faculty members who also are members of Congregation Or Chadash, nurse practitioner Audrey Russell-Kibble and doctors Richard Wahl and Kenneth Iserson, who work at the shelter along with Eve Shapiro, M.D. Different paths led each of them to this emergency community response. Wahl heard about the efforts in October when Teresa Cavendish, Casa Alitas’ operation manager, spoke at Or Chadash. Wahl offered to help and was called in four days later when 1,100 asylum-seekers from the Tucson and Yuma border sectors were released, unannounced, in Tucson.

“We were grossly unprepared,” says Cavendish, who adds that she believes the “large numbers were released to test the strength of our NGOs and community.”

(L-R): Medical volunteers Audrey Russell-Kibble, D.N.P., F.N.P.C., F.A.A.N.P.; Richard Wahl, M.D.; and Kenneth Iserson, M.D., on Feb. 24, in the Benedictine monastery chapel in Tucson that serves as a dormitory for asylum-seekers.

The two Casa Alitas shelters with a total capacity of 30 were insufficient. Interim temporary shelters quickly were set up in motels and houses of worship.

“Everything we’ve gotten is donated,” says Cavendish. “You put it all out there, and it comes. It’s beyond a miracle.” That’s how the monastery became the new hub for assistance. Tucson developer Ross Rulney last year purchased the 6-acre monastery site from the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, who relocated to Missouri. While awaiting permits to begin constructing an apartment complex around it, the monastery sat empty.

He honored a request for its use as a temporary shelter.

The arrivals are mostly from Guate-

mala, Honduras, El Salvador, some from Mexico, Brazil, and a few from Ukraine.

They all journeyed for days or weeks to reach the southern border. Highway robbers accost many travelers en route. Most arrive with the clothes on their backs and little else.

Migrants passing through the Old Pueblo is nothing new. What has changed is the volume crossing the border legally and requesting asylum. In previous years, mostly single men from Mexico, seeking work, were apprehended crossing the border illegally. More than 76,000 migrants crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in February, double the number from the same period last year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

Dedicated to Serving Seniors with Integrity, Care & Compassion

Explore the World in Your Own Backyard!

Experience the spirit of Arizona with a Tucson native as your guide!

We accommodate 1-12 guests for intimate and personalized touring.

The most distinctive, educational, and fun-filled Arizona tours around!

Our high-quality care providers allow your loved one to age peacefully in the comfort of their own home.

(520) 319-8130 www.reisenarizona.com

520.221.2083

InHomeCareTucson.com S-4

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

When single men crossed, they tried to evade capture. The families surrender at legal border crossings. They are fleeing poverty, hunger, pervasive violence, drug cartels, and gangs. Detained for several days and processed near the border by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the asylum-seekers are released in family groups in Tucson, with electronic monitoring ankle bracelets, into the custody of local non-governmental and faith-based agencies, such as CCS. Cavendish notes that many of the asylum-seekers left their countries due to crop failures from environmental impact. “They are malnourished before they leave. In detention, they occasionally give them frozen burritos and crackers. When they arrive, they are starving.” She described a child who got off the bus and stood under a tree in the monastery’s orchard, crying for an orange she saw hanging from the tree.

Russell-Kibbel, a UA College of Medicine clinical assistant professor and family nurse practitioner at St. Elizabeth’s Health Center, was a volunteer with Casa Alitas before its expansion to the monastery. She brought along volunteer nursing students. Juggling clinic, teaching, and life schedules, the medical volunteers are on site as often as possible. “When I have free time I’m here,” says Wahl. A full-time faculty member at Banner University Medical Center and a professor in the UA College of Medicine pediatrics department, he started bringing medical residents to the shelter as part of the teaching experience.

Iserson, a UA professor emeritus, volunteers at Tucson’s free Clinica Amistad and in emergency relief care overseas. He heard the call from Wahl and got aboard.

• Medication reminders • Fall prevention • Post surgery care • Dementia care • Continence care • Bathing assistance • Light housekeeping • Meal preparation • Laundry services

• Errands & Many more services!

Keith & Sarah Condon, RN Owners

This work is no different from any other emergency relief effort he has experienced, he says, gesturing around at the neat rows of green Red Cross cots lining three floors of the monastery.

Shapiro, also a UA pediatrics professor emeritus, coordinated with the Pima County Health Department to donate 500 doses of flu vaccine from the federally-funded Vaccine for Children’s & Adults programs. “The refugee families are accepting of vaccines like nothing I’ve ever seen in this country,” says Shapiro. “No one said no.

They said, ‘We trust you.’” The 500 doses were exhausted in three weeks, but another donation is forthcoming.

From among more than 1,000 arrivals screened from late January to late February, there were instances of pregnancy, rape, acute intestinal disorders, and various routine, non-infectious issues with only one case of tuberculosis, Iserson says. Starvation and dehydration are the most critical issues. “Everyone has kids,” says Iserson of the arrivals. “These are people that, if you passed on the street, look like Americans or people you’d like to have living next door to you.”

The medical care is one small piece of the community response to the arrivals. “There’s food, transportation, cleaning, laundry, clothing . . . there are a dozen teams,” Iserson says, adding that he volunteers because “I still believe in American values. We don’t talk politics here because everyone is on the same page.”

Numerous volunteer translators are on hand to assist

Identification badges for some of the 200 community volunteers assisting asylum-seekers in Tucson. Yellow indicates Spanish-speakers.

with Spanish and Portuguese languages, but there are up to two dozen indigenous languages in Guatemala and five in Honduras that are infrequently spoken outside of those countries. Carlos Enrique de León López, the Guatemalan Consul in Tucson, is a fixture at the site to assist with languages and representation. National Nurses United Registered Nurses Response Network members fly in from around the country to provide overnight staffing and medical assistance each weekend for an av-

erage of 120 guests housed each night.

Volunteers assist arrivals in contacting their sponsoring family members across the country, and in arranging and paying for bus transportation. It can take 24 hours to four days for the bus travel to be ticketed and ready for departure. The international Miles4Migrants program offers donated frequent flier miles for air travel options. Travelers receive bags filled with essential items before they leave. Donors provide clean, often new clothing, shoes and warm jackets for those traveling onward to cold climates. Towels and toiletries are donated for hot showers. While mounds of blankets are washed on site daily, volunteers take home many others to clean and return for the next influx of visitors.

Volunteers serve up hot soup on arrival, three meals a day, and sack lunches for bus journeys of up to three days. Much of the food is cooked offsite by congregations and individuals. High school students make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and restaurants, such as Zemam’s, send beans, rice, and cookies, says Iserson.

Other volunteers cook in the commercial kitchen on site from food donations.

“We’ve helped more folks in this setting than ever before, close to 2,000,” Cavendish said in mid-March. The system has become so effective that ICE recently bused asylum-seekers from the El Paso sector into Tucson.

“We can never move as quickly as they come in, but we are proud to share what we’ve been gifted.”

When you’re Here ...

You’re Home

6161 East Fairmount Street

(520) 344-8890 or (520) 906-6185 www.FairmountAssistedLiving.com March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

S-5

evitable technology so that their quality of life and survival will be maximized. continued from page S-3 “For the skeptics and those unfamiliar with electromagnetic radiation, the Tucson community has a rare and unique level unbeknownst to them.

“There is clear evidence that auto- opportunity to hear and interact with Dr. immune diseases and malignant brain Magda Havas, one of the leading scientumors are on the rise,” he adds. “I just tists in this field. Jenny and I are very exrecently attended two neurosurgery con- cited about supporting this event.”

Havas also will speak following a free ferences that presented studies about the uncontrollable and recurrent nature of screening of the award-winning film brain tumors, while the presenting neu- “Generation Zapped” on Sunday, March rosurgeons are baffled as to why this is 24 at 2 p.m. at the Loft Cinema, which happening despite their best efforts at is co-sponsored by the Electromagnetic achieving a complete removal, with post- Safety Alliance and the Pima County 5G operative MRI scans confirming this. Awareness Coalition. Kelley of the Electromagnetic Safety They are frustratAlliance says she ed that just years hopes families with and sometimes young children and months later, an teens will come to aggressive recursee the film. rence rears its “More parents ugly head on reand teachers are peat MRI scans.

— Jenny Baldwin recognizing there Charlie Teo, M.D., is a direct associaa renowned Australian brain tumor neurosurgeon, has tion between the headaches, brain fog multiple YouTube and TED talks that and anxiety that students and teachers summarize the clear-cut evidence of the are experiencing and exposure to elecrelationship of cell phone use and brain trosmog in the classroom,” Kelley says.

Admission to the March 28 talk at tumors.

“Jenny and I appreciate the impor- the J is $5 in advance and $7 at the door, tance of the technology that surrounds with free admission for students with ID. us and the immeasurable advancements Register at www.tucsonjcc.org/calendar. that have occurred in our lives, but that For more information, visit www.magda at the same time is a double-edged sword havas.org or www.emsafetyalliance.org, that cannot be accepted as completely or contact Kelley at 912-4878. Proceeds safe. We hope to educate the public to be benefit the Electromagnetic Safety Alliwise and prudent consumers of this in- ance, Inc.

WI-FI

“Once you have extreme sensitivity my understanding is that recovery will take time ...”

We Offer You Peace Of Mind 24/7, Even When You Are Alone!

Providing dependable and affordable in-home assistance Also offering:

®

WIN AN ELECTRONIC CAREGIVER SYSTEM AND SERVICE!*

*New clients during the months of February and March are eligible to win this Electronic Caregiver® equipment, plus monitoring services paid by Blue Rose Legacy Home Care. Two winners will be selected.

Minimum contract requirements apply. Ask for details.

Call for a FREE in-home assessment

S-6

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019

520-867-4082 www.blueroselegacy.com

Israel ranked 10th healthiest country in world GABE FRIEDMAN JTA

I

srael is the 10th healthiest country in the world — 54 spots ahead of the United States.

The Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, published Feb. 24, ranked 169 nations based on factors such as life expectancy and access to sanitation and medical care. Countries were penalized for tobacco use and obesity, among other health risks.

Unsurprisingly, the Mediterranean diet — common in Israel, as well as Spain and Italy, numbers one and two

CONQUERERS continued from page S-1

men that come are mostly husbands,” says Chess, adding that it’s a challenge for them when the sisters are talking about female body parts in relation to cancer.

“Men are less likely to open up.”

“We’re there to deliver meals, caring baskets, take others to treatment, doctor appointments or send cards,” says Freedman. “We let them know we care about them and that they’re not by themselves,” Kutoroff adds. Group activities focus on exercise, nutrition, education, and support, using a comprehensive approach to wellness that is essential to cancer prevention, yet benefits anyone.

In collaboration with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, TCC maintains facilities at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park where it recently held a community open house. Member volunteers who are certified personal trainers lead GetFit exercise classes, under the direction of Elizabeth Almli, M.D., the group’s president, volunteer, and a certified oncology personal fitness trainer — also a cancer survivor. Meditative walks are another outdoor program. Nutrition plays a significant role

on the list — was noted in Bloomberg’s analysis.

“Mediterranean diet, supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts, had a lower rate of major cardiovascular events than those assigned to a reduced-fat diet,” says a study cited by Bloomberg.

The rest of the top 10, in order, are: Spain, Italy, Iceland, Japan, Switzerland, Sweden, Australia, Singapore and Norway.

The U.S. placed 64th, largely in part to its high obesity rate. Recent figures from the Centers for Disease Control estimate about 40 percent of the country, or over 93 million citizens, are obese.

in education, with professional speakers contributing time and expertise. A community organic gardening project at nearby Felicia’s Farm augments nutrition, with being outdoors and social interaction as added benefits.

Focusing on laughter as the best medicine, TCC has an active social calendar of monthly birthday dinner celebrations, networking luncheons, out of town wellness retreats, Coffee Café mornings, happy hours, bowling nights, holiday luncheons, and groups for walking, hiking, and a book club. Donations, sponsorships, and fundraising help subsidize program costs, supplemented by a $50 annual membership fee. “Members are welcome to anything we do, whether they come once or 100 times, whatever meets their needs,” says Kutoroff. Members in treatment are exempt from fees, and scholarships are abundant, she adds.

The group also gathers to celebrate the lives of members who die. TCC commissions a commemorative tile, individualized to the member’s personality, and installs it at Fenton Park. “That’s the beauty of our group, remembering,” says Chess.

“It’s from the heart,” Freedman adds.

For more information, visit www.you canconquer.org or email info@tucsoncan cerconquerors.org.

Lasting Impressions Permanent Makeup Great permanent makeup doesn’t happen by chance... it happens by appointment.

Wake Up with Makeup!

• Microblading Expert • Affordable Beauty, Natural Results • Eliminate Tedious Makeup Routines • Rectify Thinning Brows & Lips

520.303.7025 or (cell) 610.570.3927 5855 E. Broadway, Studio 10 (located in Sola Salon)

Deanna Martinez-Hay

Microblading Master Artist

SHALOM BABY celebrates the birth or adoption of babies & welcomes them to the Jewish Community by delivering a SHALOM BABY GIFT BOX. For more information visit: www.jewishtucson.org/jewish-life/shalom-baby or contact the Concierge at 520-299-3000 ext. 241 March 22, 2019, ARIZONA JEWISH POST

S-7

S-8

ARIZONA JEWISH POST, March 22, 2019