Jewish News, July 8, 2022

CORBIN’S LEGACY

Alan and Joan Leafman keep their daughter’s memory alive

Forging unique relationships with Phoenix’s sister city in Israel

MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR

In 1972, the city of Phoenix joined the Sister Cities International (SCI) movement by creating the Phoenix Sister Cities (PSC) program. The movement, started by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, proposed a citizen diplomacy initiative, creating bonds between people around the world.

“Phoenix currently has 11 sister cities, including Ramat Gan, Israel,” said Rita Marko, president and CEO of Phoenix Sister Cities. Ramat Gan became Phoenix’s sister city in 2005.

In the past, through the program, Phoenix worked with Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts and Bar-Ilan University. With Israel being the startup nation, and Ramat Gan located less than 5 miles from Tel Aviv, that is the next focus for the sister cities. “That’s something that Phoenix is particularly interested in, supporting startup businesses. We’re just starting to explore what that might look like in terms of enriching this relationship further,” said Marko.

According to SCI, “Sister city relationships develop from a number of sources, including but not limited to: preexisting mayoral relationships, trade relationships, historical connections, ancestral/demographic connections, expatriate communities, shared geographic/ sector challenges, faith-based groups and personal experiences.”

“It’s like getting married. We develop a contract, not unlike a ketubah, where we outline each member’s responsibilities and what we hope to do together,” said Marko.

On June 14, one such “marriage” happened between the Phoenix Zoo and Safari Ramat Gan. The relationship began

NEIL LANE IS DESIGNING LUXURY KETUBAHS

The 62-year-old Brooklyn-born designer is now designing ketubahs

Taking the trip of a lifetime

MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR

Agroup of 180 immigrants from Ethiopia landed in Israel on June 1, fulfilling a lifelong dream of making aliyah. The group arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on a flight chartered by The Jewish Agency for Israel. This trip marked the continuation of Operation Zur Israel, an initiative that will reunite 3,000 Ethiopians with their families in Israel in the coming months.

Also on that flight were two local residents, Danielle Gross and Rachel Hoffer. Hoffer, a member of Congregation Beth Tefillah and Or Tzion, is involved with the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix and the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Her role on this trip was as board chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel-North American Council.

The mission included lay leaders and professionals from several Jewish organizations. Gross, a member of Temple Solel, is also a member of the National Young Leadership Cabinet of JFNA.

“The past year and a half with my work with Federation, I’ve been learning about the Ethiopians’ journey, some of the challenges they face,” shared Gross. “This was the peak of it, being able to travel to Ethiopia and see

firsthand. I learned so much.”

The women landed in Ethiopia on May 30 and traveled to the Ethiopian city of Gondar. With a population of nearly 300,000, the city has 6,000 Jews, many of whom have been waiting close to 25 years to make aliyah.

“I don’t think that I had an expectation of what I was going to see and so I went in with open eyes,” said Hoffer. “I’ve heard about Ethiopian Jewry for 30 years, and every time I visit Israel, I’ve gone to an Ethiopian absorption center.

So I’d seen what comes next, but I didn’t

Local Jewish youth competed for national STEM title

A team of local middle schoolers, Eric Wang, Adi Vashistha, Ira Parsons and Chas Skidmore, competed in a national STEM event in Washington, D.C. on June 30. See page 8.

Hoffer, Gross and other members of the National Young Leadership Cabinet of JFNA after landing in Israel.

more than a decade ago when Bert Castro, president and CEO of the Arizona Center for Nature Conservation/Phoenix Zoo, traveled to Ramat Gan with a city delegation and visited Safari Ramat Gan.

“I did consulting there and also learned a little bit about what they were doing,” he said. “They have a really extensive wildlife bird rehabilitation program. That area is one of the biggest migratory bird flyways in the world. A lot of birds come through there, so they do a lot of work when birds get injured rehabilitating them to get them back into the wild.”

Three years ago, while Castro was in Argentina at the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference, he met the new CEO of Safari Ramat Gan, Oren Ben-Yosef, and they had a serious discussion about how both the zoos could work together.

During a June 14 event at the Phoenix Zoo, in front of guests, staff from Safari Ramat Gan and Roi Barzilai, deputy mayor of Ramat Gan, Yosef was presented with a $10,000 check for his zoo’s vulture conservation program.

“We signed a memorandum of understanding that gives us a good platform to start talking seriously about how we can work together and maybe do some keeper exchanges, learn about each other’s educational programming and see about working together on some conservation projects,” said Castro.

Also in the audience during that presentation were Dr. Paul Bendheim and his wife, Judith Amiel-Bendheim, a volunteer with PSC. Raised in Israel, Amiel-Bendheim lived in Ramat Gan for many years and the couple still has a home in the city.

Located on 250 acres and home to the largest animal collection in the entire

Middle East, Safari Ramat Gan is a favorite stop when the Bendheims visit Israel. “It’s a big area where the animals are free [to roam], so you can drive in your car and the animals can come to your window. Then the second part of the zoo is like every other zoo, where the animals are in enclosures.”

She enjoyed the stories the keepers visiting from Israel shared, especially the one involving an unusual feeding method for an orphaned Eurasian griffon vulture.

“There was a vulture that was a baby and the mom died. So, they used a drone to drop meat so that the baby would be able to get the food,” said Amiel-Bendheim. “It was high in the cliffs, so they were not able to access it.”

Castro added that “every bird counts” when you are working with a species as critically endangered as the Eurasian griffon vulture.

“To be able to use that type of technology — to work with the military, the conservation folks and the zoo as part of that program — and to have that kind of success was inspiring,” he said. “They also

have a breeding program and are looking to build more space for additional birds and we thought the money could go to that program and help.”

The Phoenix Zoo has bred more Rüppell’s griffon vultures “than anyone on the planet,” said Castro. Since the Rüppell’s vulture is a cousin to the Eurasian vulture, he hopes to share some of the secrets to the zoo’s success with their Israeli counterparts.

Castro would also like Safari Ramat Gan to be involved in the Arabian oryx program. The antelope species was extinct in the wild as of 1972. He shared that the Phoenix Zoo started the “mother herd” from 13 animals and now there are 7,000-8,000 oryx worldwide. There’s a good chance that any oryx in a reserve, wildlife park, zoo or in the wild can trace its lineage back to Phoenix.

“I think the world has somehow gotten smaller when it comes to conservation,” said Castro. “It’s not good enough now to focus on regional programs; we have to work together across the world to make these programs successful. We know we’ll be more successful if we all work together.” JN

Print Dates

January 7

January 18

February 4

February 18

March 4

March 18

March 25

April 1

April 8

May 6

May 20

June 10

July 8

July 29

August 5

August 19*

September 9

September 16

September 23

October 7

October 14**

October 21

October 28

November 4

November 18

December 2

December 16

p.m. Friday

DEADLINES

EDITORIAL: Noon, Tuesday 9 days prior to publication

ADVERTISING: 11 a.m., Friday 3 days prior to publication

PUBLISHER Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix

GENERAL MANAGER Rich Solomon | 602.639.5861 rsolomon@jewishaz.com

MANAGING EDITOR Mala Blomquist | 602.639.5855 mblomquist@jewishaz.com

ADVERTISING SALES CONSULTANT Jodi Lipson | 602.639.5866 jlipson@jewishaz.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS 602.870.9470 x 1 subscriptions@jewishaz.com

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Frank Wagner | 410.902.2300 ads_phoenixjn@midatlanticmedia.com

Jaime Roberts, Publisher | 2013-2016

Florence Newmark Eckstein, Publisher | 1981-2013

Cecil Newmark, Publisher | 1961-1981

Pearl Newmark, Editor | 1961-1981

M.B. Goldman, Jr., Founder | 1948-1961

PROUD MEMBER OF

have that one piece of the puzzle — what was before. So to be there and better understand this has been a dream from generation to generation.”

Hoffer noticed that the Passover saying, “l’shanah ha ba’ah b’yerushalayim,” “next year in Jerusalem,” was written on the wall of the Jewish community center in Gondar. She realized it had such a different meaning to the Ethiopian Jews living there. It’s not something they say once a year; it’s something they say every day.

Gross shared an experience she had after attending a service at the community center.

“There were some things that were so normal like if I closed my eyes, I could be at my shul at home as we sang the mourner’s kaddish,” she said. “As I was leaving, one woman kissed her hand, then held out her hand and put it to her heart. I did that back to her and the woman next to her did it. I went across the whole row and did that. We can’t speak the same language but it was this, ‘I am here for you’ [gesture]. You don’t need to have words to be able to feel that connection, that love and that admiration.”

Gross said that their agenda was fastpaced, and every minute was accounted for and utilized. Besides going to the community center, they visited a synagogue and cemetery. They also met with Micha Feldmann, who has devoted his life to bringing Ethiopian Jews to Israel and helping them adjust and incorporate into Israeli society.

Gross and Hoffer also visited the Israel embassy in Ethiopia and spoke with Pnina Tameno Shete, minister of aliyah and integration. Shete was born in the Gondar region and made aliyah when she was 3 years old as part of Operation Moses. Shete was also on the flight from Ethiopia to Israel.

While waiting to board the plane to Israel, Hoffer noticed that even though they were traveling with very little — most just had one or two suitcases coming from living in a 150-square-foot room with multiple family members — they were all dressed up.

“Some of the men were wearing suits and the women were wearing floor-length dresses,” Hoffer said. “There was one that stood out to me. A beautiful white dress and on the hem were Jewish stars going all around it and also on the sleeves. It was incredible.”

Gross shared an experience she had on the plane. Being the mom of twin boys, she knows what it is like to take a long trip with children, but she couldn’t imagine the uncertainty facing these families.

“On the plane, we had a little girl sitting in the middle seat, about 7 years old, and her parents were in the row behind us with their two other children,” said

Gross. “We helped the family take care of the children, and I felt this bonding experience with this family. They were going because the grandfather lives in Israel. The plane that we were on was a family reunification plane. Everyone on the plane had a family member living in Israel.”

She learned that the little girl’s name was Elsa, and when it came time for lunch, she hated the Israeli food being served on the plane. Gross thought that is one more thing this child will have to adjust to in their new country.

From the airport, the Ethiopian Jews went to the absorption center. Gross had noticed before boarding the plane many looked fearful but now they all seemed happy and hopeful. The absorption center is like an apartment building where the immigrants will live, learn Hebrew and job skills and eventually receive a down payment for their own place.

“At the absorption center, we spoke with Ethiopian Jews who made aliyah about 18 months prior and it was amazing. One young man spoke perfect English and another one, people were complimenting his Hebrew,” said Gross. “They’re able to leave Ethiopia and have this bright future ahead of them in Israel, the startup nation where so much is possible.”

Hoffer, who had been dreaming of

this trip for some time, always had the image in her mind of the Ethiopian Jews landing in Israel and getting off the plane, dropping to their knees and kissing the ground.

“I think that’s what became clear to me is that it doesn’t end with getting off the plane. It starts when they land in Israel, integrating into society and becoming citizens of the country,” she said. “Bringing both the richness they have and their own culture, along with Israeli culture — and the two being one. Not only is it what’s being offered to the Ethiopians to come to Israel but also they’re going to enrich the society greatly as well.”

Gross shared that when she got home, as she celebrated her twin boys’ 6th birthday, a thought struck her that made her cry.

“There’s a Jewish agency in Ethiopia that provides nutritional supplements for pregnant women, nursing mothers and children from 0-5. They get two meals a day, and due to limited finances, those are the only people able to receive that program,” said Gross. “I kept thinking about my boys and if I lived in Ethiopia, they would no longer be able to get this guaranteed food. It breaks my heart to think of the challenges they have and how much more work could be done there.”

Ethiopian Jews gather for a service at the community center in Gondar, Ethiopia.

Danielle Gross holds her new friend, Elsa, on the flight from Ethiopia to Israel.

COURTESY OF DANIELLE GROSS

TALENT: STAFF ENGINEER, VEHICLE CONTROLS: Developing and maintain control software, leading and developing software tests, system debugging, and code optimization. Req’s Master’s degree in Elec Eng or related eld w/36 months of experience w/model-based dev, verifying software, and software revision control.

Travel req’d

SEND TECHNICAL RESUME TO ATTN: HR, NIKOLA MOTOR CO., 4141 E BROADWAY ROAD, PHOENIX, AZ 85040

Changes ahead for Chabad of Scottsdale

ELLEN BRAUNSTEIN

Aboy’s yeshiva doubles in size. A professionals’ group gets younger leadership. Kosher cooks fire up a new commercial dairy kitchen.

Those are some of the changes happening at Chabad of Scottsdale. So swift is the expansion that the footprint at 10215 N. Scottsdale Rd. in Scottsdale needs to grow.

A search for more affordable space continues as Chabad seeks the funds to physically expand for classrooms and dormitories, said Rabbi Yossi Levertov, the founding spiritual leader and director with his wife, Dina. Levertov also leads Yeshiva of Scottsdale, which opened this school year with 24 students. Twice that many observant teens will enroll next school year.

“We rely on miracles at Chabad and it’s not a cliché,” Levertov said. “We need that one Jew with a good heart who is going to help us get there.”

Chabad of Scottsdale has secured more than $600,000 in an online fundraising campaign.

The Lubavitcher center built a new dairy kitchen in renovated storage space 30 feet from a meat kitchen to feed an estimated 75 teens. The students came from all over. This year, they traveled from as far as South Africa and Australia. Six students came from Phoenix.

There is a shortage of Chabad high schools, Levertov said. “Outside of large metropolitan areas, there aren’t options and it’s very hard to get into any school — so we need one locally,” Levertov said.

The boys will study at the Jewish Learning Center, adjacent to the Chabad of Scottsdale and will live in a dormitory nearby. Students have 13-hour days with breaks. “It’s an intense program where they literally study all day,” Levertov said.

The Levertovs came to the Greater Phoenix area 30 years ago to start Chabad of Scottsdale. Then it was a town of snowbirds drawn to the scenic desert oasis for its mild winters. Gradually younger Jewish communities formed and the Chabad Lubavitcher movement grew swiftly. Today, 40 centers operate in the state of Arizona.

Levertov considered the city’s changed landscape. “In the old days, many of our winter residents were Holocaust survivors with a sense of Jewish connection ingrained in them. But today we’re working with a new generation, younger people, who have less of an automatic association with Judaism. Our focus has shifted to educate a new demographic,” he told Lubavitch International Magazine last October.

The Levertovs count 10,000 followers on their email list, which includes many donors and supporters. A few hundred call Chabad of Scottsdale their spiritual home. “We have a lot of people who know this is the address just to stop by for anything Jewish,” Levertov said.

According to its website, Chabad of Scottsdale provides synagogue services,

spiritual guidance, community outreach, speakers and education to inspire all Jews to discover their common bond of Jewish faith and observance.

Bryce Schotz, 32, is part of leadership at the shul and was introduced to Chabad at Arizona State University more than ten years ago. When he graduated, he came looking for a welcoming congregation. “I got introduced to Chabad of Scottsdale and I just love the kind of open and welcoming environment they have at their Chabad.”

Schotz, a real estate agent, is married with a baby on the way, takes a recruitment role in planning events for young professionals. That group is growing too.

A new director is coming on board to head the young professionals’ group, said Levertov, who is not ready to say who will replace him. In his 50s, Levertov said it’s time to hand over the reins to a younger generation.

“We’ve been working with young people and many have met at our events, got married

and now have children of their own,” Levertov said.

Chabad also has a Hebrew school, teen program and offers visits to Jews in nursing homes. In addition, the center runs classes and study groups for adults and children, including Torah study, Talmud, Jewish law, Hebrew reading and Chasidic philosophy. The center offers services three times a day, 365 days a year. “People rely on us to say Kaddish if they have a yahrzeit to make sure that person’s not forgotten.”

Schotz can count on a rich Jewish experience at Chabad of Scottsdale. “It just feels like home. I don’t feel silly asking questions. I’m learning something new about Judaism.”

He feels free to observe Judaism in his own way. “You know you are going to get open arms whether you come every single morning for a minyan or just once a year for High Holidays. When you come in, you’re like family.”

Levertov is excited about the future. “Our Chabad center is growing. Our yeshiva is thriving and the sights and sounds of Scottsdale are truly infused with Torah and mitzvot (good deeds),” he said. JN

For more information, visit chabadofscottsdale.org or call 480-998-1410.

Ellen

IN PHOENIX, AZ IS SEEKING THE FOLLOWING ENGINEERING

Rabbi Yossi Levertov COURTESY OF CHABAD OF SCOTTSDALE

Chabad of Scottsdale COURTESY OF CHABAD OF SCOTTSDALE

Struggling with Infertility? The Mishpacha Project is here to help

NADINE BUBECK

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Survey of Family Growth, 1 in 8 couples struggle getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy. As a woman ages, her chance of natural pregnancy drops from around 25% at age 25 to less than 5% at age 40. One Arizona program is insisting: don’t struggle alone.

Launched in 2019, the Mishpacha Project is an Arizona grant program available to help Jewish couples or individuals get pregnant. The goal is to lower the financial stress that comes with infertility and alleviate much of the monetary challenges. The name is fitting; mishpacha means “family” in Hebrew.

“For four years, I struggled to have children with my husband. We went through IVF to have our twins via gestational carrier,” said Cassie WeiszMarin, program board member. “We had no clue there were programs out there that provided financial assistance; that was the hardest part for us. Therefore, being part of the Mishpacha Project is close to my heart.”

Weisz-Marin, along with several local board members, runs the program. They include Rabbi Stephen Kahn, senior rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel; Debbie Yunker Kail, director of Hillel Jewish Student Center at Arizona State University; Jesse Hade, MD, FACOG, a boardcertified reproductive endocrinologist and OBGYN; and Lauren Hendeles, a long-time member of Congregation Beth Israel. In fact, Hendeles and her husband, Zev, conceived two boys via assisted reproductive technology treatments.

“I truly appreciate that Congregation Beth Israel has stepped up to support people who are trying to build their families. Infertility is a unique and deeply personal challenge,” said Yunker Kail.

“Support from the community helps both with the (very high!) cost as well as the emotional roller coaster that we all experience along the journey.”

The Mishpacha Project grant can be used to cover any expenses associated with assisted reproduction, such as egg retrieval, IUI (intrauterine insemination), IVF (in vitro fertilization), PGT-A (genetic testing), FDA testing, ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection), monitoring, lab work and

medications. Preference is given to those who do not have medical insurance coverage for the various fertility treatments or medicines.

“Any member of the Arizona Jewish community will be considered for grants as long as at least one partner is Jewish and there is a commitment to having a Jewish home,” said Weisz-Marin. Additional qualifications include, but are not limited to:

• Female applicants must be between 21-45 years of age. Male applicants must be between 21-50 years of age.

• The grant may be used toward fertility treatments at any fertility clinic that is a member of the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART).

• Applicants must possess the means to offer continued child support (at least one partner must maintain employment).

• Recipients must begin treatment within 12 months of receiving a grant.

• Applicants must have basic health insurance for mother and baby with sufficient prenatal coverage.

• Applicants and co-applicants must have

a combined (if applicable) adjusted gross income under $150,000

Grants are available to same-sex couples, heterosexual couples and singles who cannot afford fertility treatments, surrogacy or adoption.

In addition, they are always looking to improve and expand their program. The board is discussing things like adoption and surrogacy/gestational carriers, but nothing has been set in stone.

“Congregation Beth Israel is committed to the core Jewish value of building mishpacha, with recognition of those families who are struggling with infertility,” said Rabbi Kahn. ”Our mission is to help members achieve their dream of creating a mishpacha through these life-changing grants.” JN

For more information, visit cbiaz.org/ mishpacha-project-fertility-assistance-grants/.

Nadine Bubeck is an author and freelance writer living in Scottsdale.

Have you ever noticed that folks always say the great outdoors? Well, what about the great indoors? Can’t they be great, too?

They sure can. And Maravilla Scottsdale is a perfect example. Some would say it’s about as beautiful as a retirement community can be. But here’s the best part. Maravilla is located smack-dab in the middle of the great outdoors, too. And you can take advantage of it all by joining one (or several) of our many active clubs.

Experience the great indoors AND outdoors for yourself at Maravilla.

Lunch & Learn | Thursday, July 14th • 11:30am

Join us for an informative presentation about our vibrant lifestyle and exceptional services & safeguards. Afterwards, enjoy a tour of our beautiful community, followed by a delicious chef-prepared lunch. To RSVP, please call480.269.1952.

The great outdoors and the great indoors,all in one.

One in 8 couples struggle with fertility. ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS / PORNPAK KHUNATORN

Mesa nonprofit becomes daughter’s legacy

MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR

Before Corbin Leafman’s family moved to Arizona, she lived in the Chicago suburbs. Her family attended Congregation Beth Shalom in Northbrook, Ill., where she became a bat mitzvah and graduated from Hebrew school. Every year, her family would adopt six or seven needy Jewish families and they would deliver a month’s worth of groceries to these families every month.

every day holding a $20 bill so that the lunch ladies knew to give a hot lunch to those children who could not pay for one.

Leafman died from breast cancer three weeks after her 31st birthday, on Jan. 2, 2015. Later that year, her parents, Alan and Joan Leafman, who are members of Chabad of the East Valley, started a nonprofit in her name. “We started Corbin’s Legacy to assure that Corbin would be remembered for how she

weekend. They also arrange for children to take enough food home to last through week-long breaks in the spring and winter.

“During COVID-19, we switched from actual backpacks of food to food cards,” said Joan Leafman. “We were able, not just to help the kids, but to help the kids and their families and to more deeply address food insecurity and not just daily hunger, which, believe me, is rampant.

we’re rather particular about what we distribute — we always make sure that the meals are balanced,” said Joan Leafman.

“We go heavy on protein, and we also give a sweet because my husband is very insistent that kids get cookies. If it were up to me, they would get an extra can of tuna.”

“A lot of these kids either live in their cars or in homes where they have no electricity, and in some cases, no running

Leafman’s motivation as she donated endlessly to whatever organization she came across that was in need. She also became a teacher and would do everything she could to prevent students from going hungry. She taught kindergarten at Title 1 schools (schools with large concentrations of low-income students that receive supplemental federal funds) and was known to walk through the lunch line

lived, which was as a humanitarian,” said Joan Leafman.

Corbin’s Legacy focuses on food insecurity and medical inequity. The Mesa organization runs different initiatives such as Food for Thought, which provides healthy snacks to kids in Title 1 elementary school classrooms, and Weekend Food Warriors, which gives children backpacks of food for the

The organization has no employees and is staffed by volunteers, so every monetary donation they receive goes to purchasing food. “We do the purchasing because

Sundt Construction, Inc.

has F/T Senior Concrete Project Manager/Estimator position in Tempe, AZ. Duties: Review contract reqmts to dtrmine strctrl concrete work scope; Interface w/ ownr, archtct, engnr, contrctrs & subcontrctrs re bid asstnce, design asstnce, value engnring studies, constrctblty review, & prjct schedule anlsis; Price matrl, labor & equipmt, genrl conditions & direct job expnses to complete concrete prjct estimates; Negotiate & write contrctrs awards & P.O. agreemts; Mnge prjct procurement sched for matrl & equipmt, coordinate submittals, & ensure contract doc compliance; Mnge prjct costs to meet/exceed target margins; Establish work break‐down strcture & perform quanty surveys; Review 3D BIM Models prepd by Prjct Enginrs for Cost Codes, Concrete Propties and constrctn sched info; Mnge constrctn documentation pertaining to structural concrete; Prep & mnge prjct billings. Requires: MS in Civil Eng, Constrctn Eng, Constrctn Mgmt, or rltd + 3 yrs exp. Drug test, Bkgrd check. Submit resume by email at recruiting@sundt.com, Incl Job Code SCLP

center, park or car. In the summer of 2020, Corbin’s Legacy delivered its 2 millionth meal to a needy child.

In 2016, the Leafmans held Corbin’s

Willmeng Construction, Inc. has F/T Project Engineer 3 position in Phoenix, AZ. Duties: Review/ anlyze constrctn plans & specs; Asst all aspects of constrctn prjcts from startup thru closeout; Asst w/ subcontrctrs & subcontrcts re scope review, internal requests, change orders, buyout & commnicatn; Create Drawing Logs to memorlize drawing sets; Mnge billing process in cordnatn with Prjct Mgr. Requires: BS in Constrctn Mgmt, Civil Eng, or rltd + 1 yr exp. Bkgrd check. Email resume to careers@willmeng.com, Incl Job Code WCLP-PE3

Legacy Back-to-School Day, bringing 400 underserved children from across the Greater Phoenix area to the A.T. Still University (ATSU) in Mesa. The kids received medical screenings, dental treatments, hot lunches and backpacks full of school supplies.

“After that event, it was such a big success and we were all walking around patting ourselves on the back when Dr. [Harvey] Simon walked up to me and said, ‘This is not enough,’” remembered Joan Leafman. “He said, nicely, ‘You can’t just see children once and think that you’ve done a good job.’ He was right;

see them again. That was the impetus for our first clinic at Emerson [Elementary School].”

The clinic is named after Simon, a retired pediatrician, attorney and associate professor at ATSU, where Joan Leafman is also a professor. In a joint venture between the Mesa Public Schools, ATSU and Corbin’s Legacy, the clinic at Emerson Elementary (and a second one at Guerrero Elementary in Mesa) sees 20-25 children a week, Monday through Thursday during the school year.

“Our physician’s assistants in the A.T. Still program go over to the clinic, and

pediatric rotation,” said Simon. “We do a thorough physical examination but we’re not able to diagnose or treat illness. Joan has put in place a backup with dentists, eye doctors and physicians who see the children if they need to be seen.”

If a child needs further assessment or treatment, the school nurse will contact the parents and refer them to Adelante Healthcare, a community-based health organization.

“When the parent or guardian calls Adelante and says that Corbin’s Legacy has referred them, the child is seen immediately,” said Joan Leafman. “There are no uncomfortable questions for the parents in terms of insurance or anything else, like citizenship, and they see the children for free with the understanding that Adelante will bill Corbin’s Legacy. Having said that, after three years, Adelante has never sent us a bill.” She added, “The preliminary stats that we have indicate that what we are doing is effective. There’s less absenteeism, better behavior in classrooms and what we find mostly is that children need glasses or dental work.”

Simon noted that the benefits are

twofold: for the medical students to see actual patients rather than simulations and for the elementary children to be in a comfortable environment when they see a doctor. “The program has become part of the school community, which psychologically I think is very helpful for the school and the families,” he said.

“There’s no negative. It meets problems that need to be dealt with and makes everyone happy.”

In the future, the Leafmans would like to have mobile oral health and medical units to serve several schools every week.

They also think other communities could create these food programs and clinics.

“We both believe in early prevention and that good nutrition goes a long way toward developing good health, and we’re able to catch those medical conditions in our clinics when things go wrong. I think it’s a pretty easily duplicated model,” said Alan Leafman.

“Some of the best moments that we’ve had in doing this is when we treat a kid and they walk out of the clinic saying,

‘I’m going to be a doctor.’”

For more information, visit corbinslegacy.org.

$10OFF

Children receive backpacks filled with food for the weekend. COURTESY OF CORBIN’S LEGACY

Local Jewish youth competed for national STEM title

MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR

Ateam of local middle schoolers, Ira Parsons, Eric Wang, Adi Vashistha and Chas Skidmore, competed in a national STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) event in Washington, D.C. on June 30. The team, called “Concrete Captains,” participated in eCybermission, an Armysponsored online STEM competition for students in sixth through ninth grade, and won at both the state and regional levels before moving on to the national competition.

To compete in eCybermission, a twoto four-member student team must submit either a science- or engineeringbased concept that explores or solves a community problem. Concrete Captains winning entry offers an app designed to give directions for walking or wheeling from one point to another, using routes that avoid mobility hazards like damaged sidewalks and cracked or broken concrete. They hope their design will benefit the entire community beyond the mobility challenged — including pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders, rollerbladers and parents with strollers.

“They talked about a variety of issues and one of the boys had been hurt while scootering. He hit some bad concrete and cut himself up,” said Audrey Skidmore, mom of Ira Parsons and the team’s adult adviser. Ira also remembered a photo of his late great-grandmother who had to use a modified walker with large wheels to go to her mailbox because the regular wheels would not make it over the concrete. “They decided this was an issue they were interested in solving,” added Skidmore.

“Tikkun olam has always been fundamental to my Jewish identity,” said 13-year-old Ira who, as a fourth-grader, co-chaired an effort at his congregation that collected almost half a ton of nonperishable food for Arizona teens aging out of foster care. The family belongs to Or Adam Congregation for Humanistic Judaism, where Ira’s father, Bill Parsons, is president.

The team solicited input from Ability360, a 40-year-old Phoenix nonprofit that offers services to empower people with disabilities, including technical assistance regarding the Americans with Disabilities

STAFF WRITER

Phoenix Jewish News, an award-winning publication that has been in circulation since 1948, is looking for a full-time sta writer. Jewish News is a publishing project of Mid-Atlantic Media and as an employee of Mid-Atlantic, you would have the opportunity for multiple bylines across the U.S. The o ce of the Jewish News is located in the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, a warm and welcoming atmosphere that enables the writer to be immersed in the community we cover.

REQUIREMENTS:

• 1-3 years of experience in news writing (bachelor’s degree in journalism or communications preferred)

• Solid verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills

• Familiarity with AP Style

• Able to meet strict deadlines

• Digital media experience

• Social media experience

• Photography experience, Adobe InCopy experience, familiarity with the Jewish community a plus

PAY AND BENEFITS:

• $36,000/year

• Health insurance (half paid by employer)

• Paid time o

• Federal and major Jewish holidays o

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Produce 8-10 pieces of content weekly (articles, social media posts, videos)

• Conduct interviews and pitch topics

• Create Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts

• Post articles to website database and Adobe InCopy

• Compile calendar listings for print and web

• Proofread articles and pages prior to print

• Discount membership to JCC (gym, pool, classes)

To apply, email a cover letter, resume and recent clips mblomquist@midatlanticmedia.com No phone calls, please.

Act. They also reached out to ASU’s Smart City Cloud Innovation Center, a collaboration between the Arizona State University and Amazon Web Services, to better understand app design.

Darrel Christenson, vice president of community integration at Ability360, was impressed when he first met the middle schoolers via Zoom. “Their questions were so well spoken and thought out, I felt like I was talking to Ph.D.s,” he said. “Young people just don’t think about how the environment impacts those with mobility impairments. All aspects of independent living in the community are affected by our physical environment. It’s the environment that we need to continue to improve on, but it isn’t only making a difference with the physical sidewalks, it’s also a huge awareness project.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 4 U.S. adults — 61 million Americans — have a disability that impacts major life activities. The most common disability type, mobility, affects 1 in 7 adults. With age, disability becomes more common, affecting about 2 in 5 adults age 65 and older.

“They’re still in the design phase,” said Skidmore. “They’ve given an initial layout for screens and accepted feedback and modified them and they’re hoping if they get some attention that maybe that’ll get to the point of actually being constructed and used.”

The boys hope a large company like MapQuest or Google Maps will want to work with them to include it as part of their existing services.

Ira, Eric, Adi and Chas (who is also Ira’s cousin) competed against four other teams on June 30. Almost 1,900 teams, from grades six through nine, submitted projects from across America but Concrete Captains was the only Arizona team to advance from any grade.

Although they did not win the national title, each of the boys returned home with a medal, a college-savings bond and a week of memories to last a lifetime. Skidmore said that they’re already looking forward to next year’s competition, using their invaluable experience from this year to guide them in choosing another important problem that STEM can tackle for our community.

Last year, three of the boys competed as a team to show how used cooking oil could be an environmentally responsible alternative to water for dust mitigation on construction sites. They won first place in the state’s sixth-grade competition but did not advance to the regional or national rounds.

“In the [eCybermission] competition, you can go the science or engineering route and this is the second year they picked the engineering route. They like to make and design things,” said Skidmore. “I’m proud of them.” JN

www.jewishaz.com

The Concrete Captains, from left, Eric Wang, Adi Vashistha, Ira Parsons and Chas Skidmore.

‘Fiddler’ documentary celebrates Jewish goy

JARRAD SAFFREN

‘Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen” is a documentary about the nonJewish film director, Norman Jewison, who turned the classic Jewish story and play, “Fiddler on the Roof,” into an Oscar-winning movie.

In our childish and simplistic culture of today, Jewison’s leading role might have risen to the level of controversy. There might have been a social media cycle about how the director was “appropriating” Jewish culture. Or, if there wasn’t, someone like Sarah Silverman probably would have argued that there should have been, and that the absence of such a conversation was clear evidence of widespread antisemitism.

“Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen,” though, is a 2022 documentary, out on Amazon Prime, that dares to celebrate Jewison for his celebration of the Jewish people.

And make no mistake: The man deserves to be celebrated. What the director did, as the doc’s director Daniel Raim shows by focusing on Jewison as his primary subject, was bring the Sholem Aleichem story and Joseph Stein play to a mass audience.

Chaim Topol, the actor who plays the main character Tevye in the 1971 film, explains to Raim at one point that more than 1 billion people saw “Fiddler on the Roof” in theaters, including moviegoers as far away as Japan. The doc points out after its opening credits that New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael described Fiddler as “the most powerful movie musical ever made.” The adaptation made more than $80 million at the box office and received eight Oscar nominations, the most of that year.

Its power, as several people explain in “Fiddler’s Journey,” is in its ability to both explain Jewish culture and capture

timeless themes.

Tevye is a classic Jewish shtetl character; he’s committed to tradition, he maintains a dialogue with God and he’s deeply concerned about the wellbeing of his daughters. At the same time, he’s a character that any father or parent can relate to. As the song “Sunrise, Sunset” portrays in such moving fashion, it’s hard when your kids get old, when you have to let them go and when you grow to understand that everything is ephemeral.

As a non-Jewish artist who liked and appreciated Jewish culture, Jewison saw and understood this duality. He was also able to convey it through an art form, movies, built for an audience of all religions.

Would a Jewish director have been able to do that?

We will never know. But what “Fiddler’s Journey” makes clear is that Jewison was just the guy for this job.

Raim, a documentary filmmaker who was born in Israel, aimed with this documentary to do the work of a magazine-style oral history and go behind the scenes of the making of a classic film. To do so, he interviewed Topol and the women who played his daughters — Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh and Neva Small; he also talked to the men who helped Jewison with musical direction, lyrics and set design in John Williams, Sheldon Harnick and Robert F. Boyle; he even included the insights of Kenneth Turan, the longtime film critic for the Los Angeles Times.

But while all of those people add a lot, this is not a documentary about them. It’s

about Jewison, whose story starts, finishes and forms the spine of this 88-minute movie.

The director was a Christian boy whose classmates in Toronto mistook him for being Jewish due to his last name. After guiding a string of successful comedies and the Oscar-winning “In the Heat of the Night” in the 1960s, Jewison got the chance to helm “Fiddler on the Roof.”

But he was worried that the studio executives were making the same mistake his classmates once made. So, he told them he was a goy. They said that was exactly why they wanted him. They felt he could transcend the Jewish audience of the story and play, both of which were written by Jews.

Raim then implies that the success of “Fiddler” made Jewison feel a sense of

pride in the identity he was forced to take on. Over the rest of the film, Jewison recounts a story of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir wiping away a tear during a screening and of a later visit to the father of modern Israel, David Ben-Gurion, who tells him that anyone “crazy enough to want to be Jewish” is.

Finally, late in the documentary, Raim shows footage of Jewison winning a lifetime achievement at the 1999 Oscars. He gets up on stage and says, “Not bad for a goy.”

Truer words have nary been spoken in the history of Jewish film. They also could have formed the tagline of this documentary. JN

Jarrad Saffren is a staff writer for the Jewish Exponent, a Jewish News-affiliated publication.

A new documentary gives ‘Hallelujah’ back to Leonard Cohen — and to Judaism

ANDREW LAPIN | JTA

Leonard Cohen wrote around 150 verses to “Hallelujah,” or so the scholars claim.

The beloved Canadian folk singer, who fused Jewish mysticism with pop mythology for a global audience, wrote several hit songs over his 50-year career, including many, such as “Who By Fire” and “You Want It Darker,” that are unmistakably Jewish in content. But none of them were as successful, or as poredover, as “Hallelujah,” which has been covered around 300 times and played at weddings, funerals, church services and every possible occasion in between.

With its allusions to King David and Samson and Delilah, questioning of a higher purpose and obscure but tantalizing lyrics, few works by a Jewish artist have been subject to so much scrutiny and interpretation — much to the bafflement of its composer.

The new documentary “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” does not recount all 150 verses, despite how fervently some of Cohen’s more devout acolytes may long to hear their minor falls and major lifts. But it does play “Hallelujah” many, many times, and allows some of the artists who have covered it, including Brandi Carlile and Rufus Wainwright, to explain what the song has meant to them.

Importantly, “Hallelujah” the film

seeks to explore the song’s relationship not only to its creator, but also to Judaism in general.

Directors Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine, inspired by the nonfiction book “The Holy or the Broken” by Alan Light, use interviews with Cohen’s close friends, creative partners and lovers to explore both the song’s and Cohen’s legacies. Other documentarians and authors have tread this ground before, exploring specific chapters of his story like his Greek Isle romance with Marianne Ihlen in the 1960s and his Israel concerts during the Yom Kippur War.

But the framing device of a single song affords unique narrative opportunities. The film structures Cohen’s life into the periods before and after “Hallelujah,” released on 1984’s “Various Positions” album when Cohen was already 50. It shows how his Jewish upbringing in Montreal and love of questioning certain aspects of the faith, including how he “was touched as a child by that kind of charged speech I heard in the synagogue,” played a pivotal role in its creation (his faith was strong but he needed proof). Cohen began work on “Various Positions” when he was in his 40s — the time when, according to Jewish tradition, Jews may begin studying Kabbalah.

Facing the end of his relationship with partner Suzanne Elrod and searching

for a way to signify the former poet and ‘60s icon was turning over a new leaf, Cohen also briefly debated changing his name to September, which his rabbi Mordecai Findley notes in the film translates to “Elul” — the Hebrew month on the verge of autumn that signifies renewal.

Those new beginnings, the film argues, were best symbolized with “Hallelujah”: a blaze of light in every word. But nothing in Cohen’s life came easy, and the song’s road to popularity wasn’t straight. Columbia Records opted not to release “Various Positions” in the United States, and the song languished in obscurity as a Cohen deep cut until first Bob Dylan and then John Cale revived it.

It wasn’t until the young Jeff Buckley discovered and did his own variation of Cale’s recording in 1994 (while Cohen, discouraged by the music industry, had decamped to a Zen monastery) that “Hallelujah” became the phenomenon it is today. New generations embraced Buckley’s haunted, ethereal take on the lyrics, and his death at a young age added to the song’s mystique. The Cale cover’s prominent exposure in “Shrek” in 2001 didn’t hurt, either.

As the influence of the song spins far away from this Montreal Jewish troubadour, and he loses his life savings after being swindled by his longtime

business manager, the film offers a memorable sequence that doesn’t feature Cohen at all. It’s a montage of 2000sera talent show contestants offering up endless covers of “Hallelujah,” backed by bombastic strings and synthesizers, lodging the song firmly in the American canon by any means necessary.

And while the initial versions of the song incorporated stanzas that mixed both Cohen’s spiritual and carnal musings, the “American Idol” and “X Factor” renditions on parade are decidedly G-rated and devoid of Cohen’s trademark doubt and ambiguity: They couldn’t feel, so they tried to touch. What the film winds up showing is the song’s steady march toward secularization.

Who does “Hallelujah” belong to, at the end of the day? Is it even Jewish? Is it even Cohen’s? The film spins out its influence and then tries to run it back. But when one hears the song enough times, in enough different settings, and realizes it’s touching everyone who hears it on some deep, imperceptible level, it becomes something else: a piece of art that simply came into the world, perhaps, as the song itself hints, through divine providence. JN

“Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” opened July 1 in New York and Los Angeles, with further expansion to follow.

COURTESY OF GRAEME MITCHELL/SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

Toward an abortion rights solution

There is a school of thought that promotes a practical approach to problem solving: Once you identify the problem, skip the hand-wringing and recriminations and move directly to possible solutions.

That approach seems particularly appropriate in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent Dobbs decision, which overturned the half-century abortion rights ruling in Roe v. Wade. Rather than obsessing over the loss through demonstrations, rants and finger pointing — which help vent emotion but do very little to address the issue — focus on the development of solutions for the problem.

That’s the approach President Joe Biden took on the issue last week. “I believe we have to codify Roe vs Wade in the law, and the way to do that is to make sure the Congress votes to do that,” he said. In other words, Biden wants to establish a federal right to abortion under the Roe standard.

In Arizona, Attorney General Mark Brnovich stated on June 29 that a territorial law from 1864, declaring that

anyone who facilitates a procedure that causes a miscarriage or abortion can face a prison sentence between two to five years, is now in effect and effectively bans abortion in the state.

IN ARIZONA, ATTORNEY GENERAL MARK BRNOVICH STATED ON JUNE 29 THAT A TERRITORIAL LAW FROM 1864, DECLARING THAT ANYONE WHO FACILITATES A PROCEDURE THAT CAUSES A MISCARRIAGE OR ABORTION CAN FACE A PRISON SENTENCE BETWEEN TWO TO FIVE YEARS, IS NOW IN EFFECT AND EFFECTIVELY BANS ABORTION IN THE STATE.

With anti-abortion laws going into effect and mounting concern about abortion rights around the country, the enactment of a federal law on abortion and privacy rights is needed. But given the 50-50 partisan divide in the Senate,

NATO on the upswing

Reports indicate that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reasons for invading Ukraine was to prevent Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance that the West had mostly forgotten about. If those reports are correct, Putin’s NATO calculations appear to be as flawed as his Ukrainian war calculations. Because, if anything, Putin’s war has led to an increased international focus on NATO, the alliance’s unification against a common enemy and to its programmatic resurgence and membership growth.

This was all apparent at the NATO summit held last week in Madrid — attended by all 30 Allied leaders, and key NATO partners from Europe and Asia. There, Turkey dropped its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO — and those two countries agreed to do more about Kurdish terrorism and to drop an arms embargo against Turkey, while the United States agreed to explore selling fighter jets to Turkey — clearing the way for Sweden and Finland to join the alliance.

It will likely take several months for

Sweden and Finland to officially join, but their inclusion in NATO represents a major blow to Russia. With those two new members, NATO’s border with Russia will grow by 800 miles, more than doubling the length of NATO’s current presence on the Russian frontier,

it will be difficult to attain — particularly in light of the Senate filibuster rule of procedure which calls for a supermajority to cut off debate. Biden, a Senate institutionalist, who respects the filibuster rule, wants an exception here — similar to the exception already in place for the Senate’s confirmation of judicial nominees, which allows confirmation by a simple majority. We agree with that approach for the limited purpose

of reestablishing abortion rights under a federal standard.

But Democrats may not have the votes. Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia have signaled that they oppose a change in the filibuster on the abortion issue. And though Biden has said that he would be “happy to go straight around” objections from them should the Democrats prevail in November, the projection of a Democratic Senate majority following the coming mid-terms appears to be wishful thinking. So, the time to act is now, with focus on Manchin and Sinema and upon possibly sympathetic Republican moderates on this issue. That won’t be easy. But focusing on a solution has the potential to be more effective than endless hours of demonstration, recrimination and continued complaining about the heightened conservative tilt of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Whatever your position on the issue, we urge you to express your view with your vote in the upcoming primaries and general elections. Don’t sit this one out. JN

neighbor. Putin’s war changed it all. Member expansion was not the only significant news to come out of last week’s summit. The U.S. announced it is sending more forces to Europe, and the NATO secretary general announced a significant increase in the alliance’s rapid

BEFORE THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE, SWEDEN AND FINLAND PARTNERED WITH NATO FOR DECADES BUT SAW NO THREAT TO THEIR SECURITY FROM THEIR RUSSIAN NEIGHBOR. PUTIN’S WAR CHANGED IT ALL.

along with control of some new strategic territory. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland partnered with NATO for decades but saw no threat to their security from their Russian

reaction force. NATO also released a new Strategic Concept for the first time in over a decade, clarifying the threat that Russia poses to the West. In addition, NATO is now focused on the danger of China’s

ON OPINION

growing influence. Leaders from Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia joined the summit, reflecting NATO’s increasing focus on Asia and the Pacific, and lending credence to the concern that a Russian victory in Ukraine could embolden China.

Outside of the summit, NATO is apparently also growing closer to Israel. NATO has reportedly expressed an interest in Israeli technology. Israel, which has a non-NATO alliance status, sees an expanded relationship with NATO as a possible means to help build or solidify Israel’s relationships with NATO member nations, such as its near neighbor, Turkey. We applaud these developments. It is important that the NATO military alliance not be the “paper tiger” its critics have accused it of being. By expanding its membership, deploying additional troops and addressing the threats posed by Russia and China, NATO is demonstrating that it is able to respond to a changing world and that it is not a Cold War relic. These and other developments at the summit show the world that NATO is on the upswing. JN

We are a diverse community. The views expressed in the signed opinion columns and letters to the editor published in the Jewish News are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the officers and boards of the Jewish Community Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Media or the staff of the Jewish News. Letters must respond to content published by the Jewish News and should be a maximum of 200 words. They may be edited for space and clarity. Unsigned letters will not be published. Letters and op-ed submissions should be sent to editor@jewishaz.com.

NOTE

An honour to serve

METTANNAH JACOBSON onour. Favourite. Colour. Notice anything interesting about these words?

If you felt that something was just a bit off, that mayhaps there was an extra letter, you would be correct. What exactly am I pointing out? The letter “u” inserted into these words gives away that I’m Canadian. Ten points to you if you ever figured that out from the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix’s (JCRC) recent Twitter or Facebook posts. Ten points to me if my Canadian-ness went undetected.

If you were asking yourself, “What on earth is a Canadian doing working at the JCRC?” We both would be asking the same question. Fortunately, we live in an increasingly digital age whereby a simple posting on a website for Jewish job seekers was all it took to connect the Great White North to the Grand Canyon State.

As a first-generation Canadian, I was keenly aware of what it meant to be

part of both a local and global Jewish community. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet Jews from all over and learn about what their Jewish lives are like and some of the issues they must confront. While each place exists within its own context, we all share the same hopes and confront similar issues.

This is a big reason why I was drawn to the Phoenix JCRC, fresh — OK, maybe no longer as fresh — out of university where I had been involved in campus politics. My student activism made me feel like I was doing something. I was using my voice and tools in the space I was in to do something for my community.

Being given free rein to read and post and discuss what I had an interest in, helped me to grow these interests beyond what was happening at university. During my nine months at the JCRC, executive director Paul Rockower and I would discuss what public diplomacy is and how it’s done, often in ways we think it should not be done. And then, it would have to be put into practice as we confronted real things affecting our local and global Jewish communities.

One of the interesting things I had to contend with professionally is the very human concept of going from times of simcha (happiness) to times of tzaros (trying times or troubles). To be human is to err but is also to go from things that are light-hearted to serious — to awful and back in moments.

When you are working in public diplomacy and your work is social-media related, how do you deal with content when tragedy occurs? I’ll do the second most Jewish thing and answer with a story in place of another question.

Think back to the tragedy at Meron, Israel, in May 2021, where 45 souls were lost in the midst of an extremely joyous occasion. Reports of more and more injury and deaths came in as Lag b’Omer was arriving in North America, heartbreaking reports when the joyous time was finally reaching us. That idea of finding simcha while also reeling from tragedy is something I had to learn how to do.

Not just once, of course. The Colleyville hostage situation, the Buffalo shooting, the Uvalde school shooting, the numerous

attacks against Israelis and Jews of all stripes, arson, hate crimes, to name a few, this year alone.

This leads to a question plaguing the Jewish people: How do we move on from tragedy? How do we continue living and finding the good when there is so much heartache and tzaros? This led to the question of what can I do for my global community when I’m physically distant?

My time at the JCRC has helped to answer these questions — and provided a voice and language to other questions that I’m unsure have an answer.

My university experiences were a massive asset coming into my fellowship, but there is nothing like actual experience. I got the chance to be involved with national (Canada included) organizations like The Jewish Federations of North America and American Jewish Committee, as well as connecting with local Phoenix and Arizona initiatives like the Arizona Faith Network and within the JCRC board.

As my JCRC fellowship comes to an end

Google’s ‘sentient’ AI can’t count in a minyan, but it still raises ethical dilemmas

MOIS NAVON | JTA

When a Google engineer told an interviewer that an artificial intelligence (AI) technology developed by the company had become “sentient,” it touched off a passionate debate about what it would mean for a machine to have human-like self-awareness.

Why the hullabaloo? In part, the story feeds into current anxieties that AI itself will somehow threaten humankind, and that “thinking” machines will develop wills of their own.

But there is also the deep concern that if a machine is sentient, it is no longer an inanimate object with no moral status or “rights” (e.g., we owe nothing to a rock) but rather an animate being with the status of a “moral patient” to whom we owe consideration.

I am a rabbi and an engineer and am currently writing my doctoral thesis on the “Moral Status of AI” at Bar Ilan University. In Jewish terms, if machines become sentient, they become the object of the command “tzar baalei hayim” — which demands we not harm living creatures. Philosopher Jeremy Bentham similarly declared that entities become moral subjects when we answer

the question “Can they suffer?” in the affirmative.

This is what makes the Google engineer’s claim alarming, for he has shifted the status of the computer, with whom he had a conversation, from an object to a subject. That is, the computer (known as LaMDA) can no longer be thought of as a machine but as a being that “can suffer,” and hence a being with moral rights.

“Sentience” is an enigmatic label used in philosophy and AI circles referring to the capacity to feel, to experience. It is a generic term referring to some level of consciousness, believed to exist in biological beings on a spectrum — from a relatively basic sensitivity in simple creatures (e.g., earthworms) to more robust experience in so-called “higher” organisms (e.g., dolphins, chimpanzees).

Ultimately, however, there is a qualitative jump to humans who have second-order consciousness, what religious people refer to as “soul,” and what gives us the ability to think about our experiences — not simply experience them.

The question then becomes: what is the basis of this claim of sentience? Here

we enter the philosophical quagmire known as “other minds.” We human beings actually have no really good test to determine if anyone is sentient. We assume that our fellow biological creatures are sentient because we know we are. That, along with our shared biology and shared behavioral reactions to things like pain and pleasure, allow us to assume we’re all sentient.

So what about machines? Many a test has been proposed to determine sentience in machines, the most famous being “The Turing Test,” delineated by Alan Turing, father of modern computing, in his seminal 1950 article, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.” He proposed that when a human being can’t tell if he is talking to another human being or a machine, the machine can be said to have achieved human-like intelligence — i.e., accompanied with consciousness.

From a cursory reading of the interview that the Google engineer conducted with LaMDA, it seems relatively clear that the Turing Test has been passed. That said, numerous machines have passed the Turing Test over recent years — so many that most, if not all, researchers today

do not believe passing the Turing Test demonstrates anything but sophisticated language processing, not consciousness. Furthermore, after tens of variations on the test have been developed to determine consciousness, philosopher Selmer Bringsjord declared, “Only God would know a priori, because his test would be direct and nonempirical.”

Setting aside the current media frenzy over LaMDA, how are we to approach this question of sentient AI? That is, given that engineering teams around the world have been working on “machine consciousness” since the mid-1990s, what are we to do if they achieve it? Or more urgently, should they even be allowed to achieve it? Indeed, ethicists claim that this question is more intractable than the question to permit the cloning of animals.

From a Jewish perspective, I believe a cogent answer to this moral dilemma can be gleaned from the following Talmudic vignette (Sanhedrin 65b), in which a rabbi appears to have created a sentient humanoid, or “gavra”:

Rava said: If the righteous desired it,

The Louvre and Parshah Chukas

he year was 1242. Nicolas Donin, an apostate Jew, put the Talmud on trial. The advocates were Jewry’s greatest luminaries, Rabeinu Yechiel (the son of the Rosh), Moses of Coucy and other Tosafists. Rabeinu Yechiel made the greatest mistake a Jew could make; in an “ecclesial debate,” he won. The king of France, Louis IX, ordered all copies of the Talmud burnt. On June 17, 1242, 24 cartloads of painstakingly handwritten gemorahs were burnt in a courtyard at the location where the Louvre Museum stands today. The Louvre, home to some of the most exquisite works of art, carries with it an ugly image. Hours learning pages of gemorah, sweet divine pleasure, consumed by flames of ignorance and hatred.

The Maharam Mirotenburg penned a lamentation upon hearing of this event which has become a part of the kinnos

JACOBSON

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

and this work within an American context changes, I hope to continue to be able to collaborate with people of all backgrounds and opinions to continue working towards the goal of unity and public good.

I’ll still be here in the Great White North, but nine months later, I have a bit more inside understanding of what it means to be a Jew in a broader North American context. Having to re-examine the way I saw things and understand the lens I saw through was not the way everyone else did was an important thing to learn.

Being able to compare and contrast ways in which our communities are both similar and worlds apart is an important understanding for me in my Jewish identity and journey. Working with my neighbours to the south has helped me better understand how Jewish communities globally exist within their own contexts, which shapes how they are and their challenges.

Physically, I’m not going anywhere. I’m still at my favourite coffee shops around Montreal. Though my time as the JCRC Fellow is coming to an end, I hope that our ability as a global Jewish community to learn about and support one another only continues to grow. JN

Mettannah Jacobson recently completed a communications and public diplomacy fellowship for the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix.

we say on the 9th of Av. The burning at the Louvre marked the decline of Torah Jewry in France and Germany. In the coming years the Torah took its staff of exile to Eastern Europe, never to return to its former glory in the towns of Worms, Paris and Cologne. This is where the real story begins.

TThe shibolei haleket recounts a mystical dimension to our historical tragedy. The Baalei Hatosfos shaken by the reality that the basic materials for Torah learning have been destroyed, performed a dream request. (A kabalistic ritual where a person entreats G-d for an answer to an enigma, where a piece of vellum is placed under the supplicant’s head and the answer appears in the morning). The answer was “this is the decree of the Torah.” You see, the burning took place on Erev Shabbos Parshah Chukkas. The Magen Avrohom in Siman 580 marks a fast day instituted on every Erev Shabbos Parshah Chukkas specifically for individuals as atonement for the decree of the Torah. Even though these matters are of a lofty nature, let us try to internalize some of the concepts accessible to us.

The commandment of the Parah

Adumah (the red heifer) contains an interesting paradox. On the one hand, it is a commandment that belies explanation. On the other, Moshe Hadarshan clearly explains how the Parah Adumah is a rectification for the (the sin of the golden calf). Perhaps the answer lies in the words, “This is the decree of the Torah.” The word “Torah” means to guide. Guidance must be bestowed with the greatest of clarity. The word “decree” means to fix in place — it requires no explanation. It’s a fact. How do we reconcile this oxymoron? Reb Hirsh Ziditchoiver used to describe how he would learn. “I force my mind to delve to the end of its abilities and when I comprehend the difficulty, I start again. I repeat the cycle till I can no longer understand; that’s where knowledge begins.” The Mahri of Cologne said, “After I have learnt all sifrei kabbala, I daven like a small child.” The Torah is the source of all wisdom. Once a person has exhausted the furthest reaches of Torah he exists within knowledge itself. Existence is not something to think of, it is life itself. On a courtyard in Paris a lesson was learnt. Torah is not a fanciful hobby or religious obligation. We must ascend to

SHABBAT CANDLE LIGHTING

JULY 8 - 7:23 P.M.

JULY 15 - 7:21 P.M.

SHABBAT ENDS

JULY 9 - 8:24 P.M.

JULY 16 - 8:20 P.M.

the very peak of our abilities in order to truly bond with our dear treasure. Rabbi Menachem Schach writes in his magnum opus, Avi Ezri, that he posed a question to the Brisker Rov. How could there be a mitzvah of faith, it is simple that a beautiful, complex world cannot appear without a creator? The Brisker Rov said he posed the same question to his father, Rav Haim. His father answered, “You are right, the self-apparent presence of a creator is not faith. Faith is where my mind cannot grasp the presence of Hashem.” We are living through an era where our mind cannot grasp the vagaries of our times. We are living the paradox of decree and Torah. JN

they could create a world, for it is written, “But your iniquities have distinguished between you and God.” Rava created a humanoid (gavra) and sent him to R. Zeira. R. Zeira spoke to him but received no answer. Thereupon [R. Zeira] said to him: “You are a creature from my friend: Return to your dust.”

For R. Zeira, similar to Turing, the power of the soul (i.e., second-order consciousness) is expressed in a being’s ability to articulate itself. R. Zeira, unlike those who apply Turing’s test today, was

able to discern a lack of soul in Rava’s gavra.

Despite R. Zeira’s rejection of the creature, some read in this story permission to create creatures with sentience — after all, Rava was a learned and holy sage, and would not have contravened Jewish law by creating his gavra.

But in context, the story at best expresses deep ambivalence about humans seeking to play God. Recall that the story begins with Rava declaring, “If the righteous desired it, they could create

a world” — that is, a sufficiently righteous person could create a real human ( also known as “a complete world”). Rava’s failed attempt to do so suggests that he was either wrong in his assertion, or that he was not righteous enough.

Some argue that R. Zeira would have been willing to accept a human-level humanoid. But a mystical midrash, or commentary, denies such a claim. In that midrash, the prophet Jeremiah — an embodiment of righteousness — succeeds in creating a human-level humanoid. Yet that very humanoid, upon coming to life, rebukes Jeremiah for making him! Clearly the enterprise of making sentient humanoids is being rejected — a cautionary tendency we see in the vast literature about golems, the inanimate creatures brought to life by rabbinic magic, which invariably run amok.

Space does not permit me to delineate all the moral difficulties entailed in the artificial creation of sentient beings. Suffice it to say that Jewish tradition sides with thought leaders like Joanna Bryson, who said, “Robot builders are ethically obliged to make robots to which robot owners have no ethical obligations.”

Or, in the words of R. Zeira, “Return to your dust.” JN

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

Rabbi Shafir Roizman is the spiritual leader of Ohr Hatorah Congregation in Phoenix.

Find area congregations at jewishaz.com, where you can also find our 2022 Community Directory.

PARSHAH CHUKAT NUMBERS 19:1-22:1

RABBI SHAFIR ROIZMAN

German actor and director Paul Wegener appears in “The Golem,” a 1920 silent movie adaptation of the mystical Jewish tale about an inanimate creature brought to life. COURTESY OF ULLSTEIN BILD VIA GETTY IMAGES

Phoenix businessman offers ‘planning with purpose’

ELYSE HORVATH

When Cliff Shnier moved his family of five from Toronto, Canada, to Arizona in 1994, one of the first connections he made was with the Council for Jews with Special Needs (now Gesher Disability Resources). His oldest son Jesse has autism, so Cliff knew that it was immediately important that he connect his family to his new community. They found strong bonds within the group. Jesse excitedly became a bar mitzvah just before his 21st birthday in the b’nai mitzvah sponsored by the Council and still remains active with Gesher.

Shnier, who is 72, was a trial attorney prior to his move and came to Arizona for a new business opportunity. It wouldn’t be the last shift in his career. As he amassed information in his own family’s planning, Shnier’s experience led him to realize that there was other important work ahead in his professional future. After having legal documents drawn up for his family, he realized something huge was missing. “I walked out of there with a nice set of documents: a beautifully bound will, a family trust, a special needs trust,” Shnier recalled. “But I felt acutely aware of the missing piece; nobody had given me any advice about how much funding the special needs trust required or financial strategies to get there. I knew I had to provide for Jesse’s care and support for the rest of his life. The ideal solution was to have advice that covered both areas — legal and financial.”

In 2014, Shnier earned his financial licensing and began to conceptualize what would become Meridian Special Needs Planning, LLC. The company offers all components for a complete plan: the legal side, including wills, trusts, special needs trusts and other estate planning documents, as well as guardianship; and the financial side, concurrently providing a strategy, including specific guidance on supplemental income for the child with a disability and a detailed roadmap to get there. Meridian consists of Shnier, his business partner Nathan Buckles, and an adjunct attorney who prepares the legal documents. “Having both the legal and the financial planning done under one roof is more efficient and more likely to prevent costly mistakes due to lack of coordination. Only one or two other companies in the entire country offer this,” he said.

“Estate planning when you have a child with special needs is different from what it will be for your neighbors. Not more difficult, but different,” stated Shnier. The wrong planning can have devastating effects, for example, an improper beneficiary designation. If the child receives a lump sum from an inheritance, insurance or gift, they can become disqualified from government benefits potentially worth millions over that child’s lifetime.

Shnier points out that there is more to this planning than law and finance. As important as the financial plan is what Shnier calls family ‘bench strength.’ “We’re not just telling mom and dad to start thinking about setting aside money. We get them thinking about siblings, cousins and others who can play a support role and plan for who steps in once mom and dad no longer can manage,” said Shnier. “It’s a comprehensive plan that helps parents sleep at night.”

It’s evident in speaking with Shnier that he loves the impact of his work. He is grateful that his lived experiences can be put to use, helping parents of kids with special needs feel confident that they are taking

steps at whatever stage they are at to provide care for their families for the long term. He resonates with the saying, ‘When you’ve seen one child with autism, you’ve seen one child with autism,’ because they’re all unique. Yet there are still commonalities. “These parents know that I’ve lived what they’re living. I know what it’s like to be in their shoes. There are certain common experiences and they see in the way I’m able to talk to them something that they wouldn’t see from somebody who hasn’t lived the experience himself.”

Shnier and his business partner get out into the community regularly by conducting workshops for parent support groups, parents served by school special education departments, religious support organizations and advocacy groups. The ultimate goal is to give parents and caregivers peace of mind that there is a plan in place for their kids to have lasting support, even in their eventual absence. “Every time a family walks out of my office with that look of relief on their faces, that is success to me,” shared Shnier with a smile, “because they have finally gotten their estate documents completed and they have a financial plan to get them there. That’s a big deal.” JN

For more information, visit meridiansnp.com.

Elyse Horvath is an entrepreneur and freelance writer living in Scottsdale.

Start over with a growth mindset

BOB ROTH

s older adults transcend the decades, the reality of starting over is rarely a choice. Change is usually dictated by the loss of a spouse, a medical diagnosis, a financial constraint or the inability to perform activities of daily living. It is a demanding and often emotional time for families navigating this change. How can we support our aging adults when starting over is not by choice?

Adult children walk a tightrope, falling into a parenting role. As we gently take the reins, find instances to encourage and praise. Help buoy spirits by stating how proud you are to be their relative or how much you admire their fortitude, bravery, resilience or humble vulnerability.

Our gentle persuasion to try something new and reconnect with friends is often met with resistance. When this occurs, the goal is to try and overcome this fixed mindset, the self-talk that keeps people firmly stuck in a rut and overwhelmed. Conversely, a “growth mindset” is the

Abelief that people can change and based on their own effort, are able to affect their situation. The growth mindset is fueled by optimism and is goal oriented.

Imagine the golf enthusiast who finally retired and defined his days by birdies, bogies and endless stories of the ball that

with former golf friends. The senior propelled by a growth mindset seeks opportunities to expand social networks (not to be confused with the internet-based platforms), even if their spouse managed their social calendar for the past 40 years.

loneliness is the pandemic of our aging population.

Can we do better to plan for this?

I think that we can. Discussions for retirement focus on financial goals, health care advanced directives and estate planning. Our social circles need attention in our 50s and 60s to prepare for the unexpected. Seeking out new friends across generations with varied interests is an insurance policy for the unforeseen reset.

Very often, our life’s journey demands that we start over. Change challenges our natural instincts, whether it be new careers, zip codes or life partners. The underlying message that our primal “lizard brain” sends us is, “Hold on, not so fast. We’re doing a pretty good job of staying alive. Why change now?”

danced around the cup, refusing to drop. Is he still a golfer if decreased mobility prohibits him from playing? This loss is very real and should be acknowledged while encouraging a growth mindset. In this example, suggest a “Tin Cup” movie night or a weekly card game

Regardless of what tragic circumstances compel older adults to start over, a common theme that permeates the new normal, sadly, is social isolation. Whether it’s family members relocating, older adults outliving spouses and siblings or issues of immobility,

COLOR: Right click swatch, and find and replace with correct color

Truly, the building blocks of a life well lived is how we move past the urge to resist the status quo. In order to reach, grow and build on new circumstances, we must cultivate a growth mindset and expand our social networks. JN

Bob Roth is the managing partner of Cypress HomeCare Solutions.

Neil Lane, the official jeweler of ‘The Bachelor,’ is designing luxury ketubahs

SARAH ROSEN | JTA

Jeweler Neil Lane’s name can conjure many things: celebrity engagement rings, for the likes of Madonna, Jennifer Hudson and Ellen DeGeneres. “The Bachelor,” the reality dating show for which he designs the end-of-season rings. Those ubiquitous Kay Jewelers commercials, which often feature trademarked Neil Lane diamonds.

Now the 62-year-old Brooklyn-born designer has embarked on arguably his most Jewish project yet — designing ketubahs, or Jewish marriage contracts, which are often framed and given an artistic aesthetic.

Lane has teamed up with Ketubah. com, releasing four original ketubahs on the platform at the end of May. He has also curated a collection of his favorites by other designers.

A Neil Lane ketubah doesn’t come cheap: they start at $700 and can get much pricier.

The project helped him reconnect with his Ashkenazi roots, he told the Jewish

Telegraphic Agency on the phone from Los Angeles.

“It’s my history. It’s my ritual. It’s a very personal journey,” he said.

Lane spoke about his Jewish upbringing, some Jewish icons he has worked with and why designing ketubahs is in his DNA.

JTA: Tell me about your Jewish upbringing in Brooklyn.

NL: I grew up in an area called Marine Park. I was bused in as a little kid to Coney Island to go to a yeshiva called Yeshiva Shaare Zedek. My grandparents are all from Russia and Poland, and they wanted me to go. I hated it! I was kind of a truant and never studied. My family was part of the Jewish community. We didn’t keep Shabbat but we had a typical Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and I had a bar mitzvah, and when I was little the kosher butchers used to deliver meat.

I think my father used to hide bacon in the bottom shelf of the fridge!

How did this ketubah collaboration come to be?

I never would have thought of doing it but I’ve always been aware of ketubahs

— I studied at the Kabbalah Centre for 20 years and I’ve been to many Jewish weddings. I also started as an antique dealer buying antiques, and sometimes I’d work in Pennsylvania — the Pennsylvania Dutch have something called a fraktur. And they were very decorated, not unlike a ketubah. So it was somewhere in my consciousness.

The company we’re working with is progressive in their ideas, so open and modern. In the 19th century, the ketubahs were really traditionally decorated and all the same format, like a biblical tablet. But now the ketubahs have all these different references. They have all the traditional ones, but they have modern ones too: art deco, non-traditional, abstract, floral. Why not have a ketubah that goes with your house?

What were some of your influences as you were designing them?

There’s definitely the spirituality of it. Art is very spiritual. To be an artist, there is a spirituality and a trust in the universe and a trust in what you do. There’s a faith involved. So it was right up my alley. I

grow flowers and florals are a constant inspiration. Also sparkle and glamor — one of the ketubahs is very iridescent. And I work abstractly with colors, metals and metallics. The facet of the diamond has a geometricity in it, and the metallic design is a very triangular abstraction of diamonds. So in my imagination I try to bring all of that to what I’m doing. Did you do any sort of historical research into the ketubah? That kind of tradition and historical reference in an artwork is interesting for me. Being a student of art, the historical references are always there, especially medieval references. In my travels, I used to buy old Megillahs, the ones that weren’t destroyed. The Renaissance references were also interesting because of how elaborate they were.

I remember when I was a little kid, I went with my family to a rabbi’s house, and he had this beautiful ketubah on his wall. It was probably a Renaissance revival one. It was probably from Europe and it could have been from the early part of the 20th century. Some modern ketubahs

have [influences] that are historically relevant, that have been relevant to the Jewish people since… When was the first ketubah? I don’t know! God handed it down and they carried it through Egypt! The designs are my own, but they’re an homage to the past with a taste of the future.

You’ve designed for style royalty. Any memorable Jewish moments?

I was commissioned to design jewels for Elizabeth Taylor’s 70th birthday. It was an intimate party and everyone got a Neil Lane rockstar-type giant ’70s necklace. Everyone had one at their place setting. And Barbra Streisand — you can’t get more Jewish than that! I’ve worked with her a zillion times.

You’re famous for designing the engagement rings on “The Bachelor.” If there were a Jewish “Bachelor” couple interested in a ketubah, would you be willing to design one for them?

Of course I would! I’d probably incorporate into the design where they did the ring proposal… I would incorporate some of the design I did on their ring… Even though a ring is a small jewel, it holds so much meaning and significance. I try to create a lot of detail in the rings that emulates or somehow includes that love.

The ketubah is central to the ritual of getting married, and that moment of forming a family is so important in Jewish tradition. What does it mean to you to be involved in these crucial moments of people’s lives?

It’s an honor and humbling to design so many people’s wedding rings that are part of their lives in that small-jewel way. Even on “The Bachelor,” I meet bachelors and show them rings and they have children now! With ketubahs, it’s a combination of that feeling and also the feeling that it’s my tradition. It’s my history. It’s my ritual. It’s a very personal journey.

My grandparents emigrated from Eastern Europe — I’m 99.99% Ashkenazi — and there was the tragedy of the Holocaust. And continuing this kind of tradition — not in the same way, but in a new, enlivened, different way, in a contemporary modern way — it’s very exciting. It’s an honor to be able to do that my whole career, being in people’s lives in that special moment. And now to be able to design a special work of art to celebrate that union, not just in the physical form of a jewel ring, but now in an artistic form — well, that’s right up my alley. I’m doing exactly what God wanted me to do. JN

COLOR: Right click swatch, and find and replace with correct color

Neil Lane, who has designed for the stars, spoke with JTA about his Jewish upbringing, the Jewish icons COURTESY OF AUTHENTIC BRANDS GROUP

Jewish attorney running to be Arizona’s top cop

MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR

Rodney Glassman is no stranger when it comes to running for elected office.

He started his political career as a Democrat, serving on the city council for the city of Tucson from 2007 to 2010. He left that seat to launch a U.S. Senate campaign against U.S. Sen. John McCain. Glassman lost that election and subsequent others for Arizona Corporation Commission and Maricopa County Assessor.

The difference between the elections is that, for the last two, Glassman changed political parties and is currently running as a Republican for attorney general of Arizona.

Glassman said that he changed from a Democrat to a Republican on “June 16, 2015, the day President Trump announced his candidacy.”

He continued, “Two things happened. First off, I grew up. I’m a 44-year-old father, husband and an Air Force major, so my priorities changed and during that same time, the Democratic Party shifted far left. I became more conservative and the Democrats moved way left.”

This campaign is also different for Glassman as he put his law practice at Beus Gilbert McGroeder PLLC, where he is of counsel, on hold before starting his campaign. He also completed his Air Force commitments for the year, including serving as head attorney for the active-duty legal offices at both Luke Air Force Base in Glendale and Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, Texas. Glassman has been a judge advocate general (JAG) in the U.S. Air Force Reserve for more than a decade.

Glassman is also active in the Jewish community. He and his wife, Sasha, and their two daughters are members of Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale. He is a supporter of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and sits on the Desert States board of Jewish National Fund-USA.

Arizona Jews voiced concern when Glassman held a fundraiser with Rep. Paul Gosar in Prescott on Feb. 19. Gosar has been linked publicly to Nicholas Fuentes, a person who the Anti-Defamation League calls “a white supremacist leader and organizer and podcaster who seeks to forge a white nationalist alternative to the mainstream GOP.”

In February 2021, Gosar was the keynote speaker at the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), an annual white nationalist and far-right political conference organized by Fuentes. The following day, Fuentes posted a photo to Twitter of himself and the congressman at a restaurant, captioning it a “great meeting.” Then on March 7, 2021, Gosar tweeted an image with the words, “Tell everyone America first is inevitable,” with #AmericaFirst, the motto and name of the white nationalist movement headed by Fuentes.

For the 2022 AFPAC conference, Gosar appeared via a recorded welcome message. Gosar received bipartisan backlash after his appearance and an April 2 article in Newsweek reported that he had turned on Fuentes. “Speaking with Politico about the conference, the congressman blamed his appearance on a ‘miscommunication’ and said the video was meant to go to other groups including the American Principles and Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) instead.”

know anything about the group” before speaking at the conference and, “The young people that were being misled by somebody — we should be trying to mentor, trying to change them. I’ve given up on dealing with Nick. Nick’s got a problem with his mouth.”

Glassman claimed that his involvement with Gosar only became an issue after thousands of emails were sent out by Kris Mayes, a Democratic candidate running for attorney general.

“It was because the presumptive Democratic nominee was sending out emails about how the Jewish candidate is endorsed by Congressman Gosar, who’s endorsed me in every race I’ve ever run,” said Glassman.

But when questioned about Gosar’s reported ties to white nationalists and tweets referencing white nationalism, Glassman replied, “He’s supporting my candidacy. He’s never asked me to go and comment on his Twitter feed.”

He continued, “Congressman Gosar supports me. I’m building a coalition of people that want me to be the attorney general and part of building a coalition is having a diverse group of people. To have the support in my race of one of the staunchest fighters for the Jewish state of Israel in our country is wonderful.”

Glassman is running for attorney general to “protect you from the government” at the federal level and he emphasized enforcing immigration laws and fighting illegal immigration “because illegal immigration impacts our schools, health care and public safety.”

He commented that children need protecting “from school districts pushing critical race theory and human sexuality instead of focusing on reading, writing and math.”

And Glassman also noted examples of government overreach at the state level, such as mandates when the state government shuts down businesses. “Business owners and their customers know when businesses should be open and when they should be closed,” he said, and when local government is “trying to defund the police and eliminate qualified immunity — the legal precedent that allows police officers to make split-second decisions.”

The role of attorney general is to be Arizona’s “top cop,” and Glassman is proud to be endorsed by “boots on the ground law enforcement across Arizona.” There are currently 11 law enforcement associations endorsing Glassman from Chandler to El Mirage; the Professional Firefighters of Arizona association is also endorsing him.

“I’m running against five other Republicans in this primary, none of whom have ever run a law office or have been endorsed by law enforcement,” said Glassman. “I think the most important, relevant thing is that a Jewish community member is running for top cop in Arizona with the support of the cops.”

One endorsement that Glassman doesn’t have is from former President Donald Trump. On June 14, Trump endorsed veteran and former prosecutor Abraham Hamadeh.

“Abraham Hamadeh is a fantastic candidate running for Arizona attorney general,” Trump said in a statement from his Save America PAC, adding that Hamadeh “knows what happened in the 2020 election and will enforce voting laws so that our elections are free and fair again.”

Glassman said the 2020 election results in Arizona would have had a different outcome if current Attorney General Mark Brnovich had enforced the laws already on the books. Some of these laws include two forms of valid identification to register to vote, preventing ballot harvesting and counties managing an audit of their permanent early voting list. Glassman also said Brnovich should have taken Arizona Proposition 208 (raising taxes on high-earning Arizona residents to fund education spending) off the ballot before the election.

“The attorney general should have fought to keep that unconstitutional ballot Initiative [Prop. 208] off the ballot. Twenty-five million dollars came from out of state and 50,000 volunteers were on the streets going door to door to get out the Democrat vote,” said Glassman. “It’s the attorney general’s job to open an investigation and do an audit after the election, before the certification, and he didn’t do that either. [Brnovich] failed Arizona before, during and after the election.”

Glassman reiterated that protecting Arizonans from the government and enforcing laws that are already on the books is the reason he is running. He also mentioned how important it is for the Jewish community.

“For an affiliated, engaged, philanthropic member of our community to be running to be the top cop, with the support of all the cops and firefighters, is a big deal for us,” said Glassman. “The Republican primary is the first step and what makes it interesting is that, in a sixway primary, our community can matter.” JN

The state primary election is Aug. 2, For more election information, visit azsos.gov.

In first speech as Israeli prime minister, Yair Lapid calls to stem extremism in politics

PHILISSA CRAMER | JTA

Yair Lapid might only be Israel’s interim prime minister, but he appears to be determined to maximize the position in the four months he is guaranteed to occupy it.

In a speech delivered July 2, Lapid laid out a set of beliefs that he said bind Israelis of all ideologies, as well as his diagnosis for why widespread agreement on fundamental ideas hasn’t translated into political harmony.

“The answer is politics,” he said in the speech, published in English by the Times of Israel and in adapted form in Hebrew by Lapid on Twitter.

“In Israel, extremism doesn’t come from the streets to politics. It’s the opposite,” he added. “It flows like lava from politics to the streets. The political sphere has become more and more extreme, violent and vicious, and it is dragging Israeli society along with it. This we must stop. This is our challenge.”

Lapid assumed power on Saturday, days after the Israeli government officially dissolved and weeks after he and his predecessor, Naftali Bennett, announced that they could no longer maintain their

coalition. In that announcement, Bennett announced that Lapid, who had been scheduled to cycle into the prime minister role next year, would become the interim prime minister while the country awaits its fifth round of elections in just over three years.

In his speech, Lapid said Israelis agree that their country should be “Jewish, democratic, liberal, strong, advanced and prosperous.” He also said urgent issues including the danger presented by Iran and terrorism within Israel, the country’s “education crisis” — the school

year just ended with a disruptive teacher strike — and the high cost of living cannot wait until the country’s political turmoil is resolved.

The leader of Israel’s centrist Yesh Atid party, Lapid also offered a vision for the country’s relations with its Arab citizens and Palestinian neighbors that is different from his two right-wing predecessors, Bennett and Benjamin Netanyahu. (He also thanked Israelis for supporting a smooth transition of power, an apparent jab at Netanyahu, who sought to remain in power through multiple elections

and now is seeking to return despite an ongoing corruption trial.)

“We believe that Israel is a Jewish state. Its character is Jewish. Its identity is Jewish. Its relations with its non-Jewish citizens are also Jewish. The book of Leviticus says, ‘But the stranger who dwells with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself,’” Lapid said.

He added, “We believe that so long as Israel’s security needs are met, Israel is a country that seeks peace. Israel stretches out its hand to all the peoples of the Middle East, including the Palestinians, and says: The time has come for you to recognize that we’ll never move from here, let’s learn to live together.”

Lapid moved into an apartment on the grounds of the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem late Saturday, according to a picture that Lapid’s wife, the author Lihi Lapid, posted to Instagram with the caption “A new beginning.” The official residence is under renovation, so he is staying in an apartment previously used to house security forces, in an arrangement that puts him near the symbolic seat of power but not precisely inside it. JN

Leading Orthodox group praises reversal of standard in Supreme Court ruling on football coach’s prayer

RON KAMPEAS | JTA

Agudath Israel of America praised the reversal of a judicial standard that came about as a result of a Supreme Court ruling backing a public high school football coach who prayed on the fiftyyard line.

Abba Cohen, the Washington director for the haredi Orthodox umbrella body, said the group was pleased that Justice Neil Gorsuch, who wrote the decision for the court’s 6-3 conservative majority, did away with a decades-old standard for assessing whether a government authority violated church-state standards.

Cohen clarified later that this did not mean his organization was praising the entire ruling. “Agudath Israel has long expressed concern about and opposition to denominational public prayer and the proselytization in schools,” he said.

The “Lemon test,” stemming from the 1971 Lemon v. Kurtzman decision, assesses whether a government action advances or inhibits religion. Orthodox groups have long said the test was overly restrictive.

“Rather than offering protection, ‘Lemon’ too often resulted in Establishment Clause hostility toward religion, which itself is constitutionally prohibited,” Cohen said. “The First Amendment is stronger with its demise.”

Gorsuch in his decision said the Lemon test should be superseded by more recent traditions that refer to “historical practices and understandings.”

“The Constitution and the best of our

traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike,” Gorsuch wrote.

Monday’s ruling backed Joseph Kennedy, an assistant coach in the Seattle area who was let go from his job because he would not stop on-field prayers. The coach asserted, and the Court majority agreed, that his prayers were “private,” even though his players would join in.

Jewish civil rights groups said the ruling put at risk a 1992 ruling banning clergy from praying in schools. That ruling, which the groups said protected children from proselytizers, was spurred by Jewish parents in Rhode Island.

The Orthodox Union, the umbrella body for Modern Orthodox groups and synagogues, declined to comment on Gorsuch’s decision, named Kennedy v. Bremerton School District.

Rabbi Levi Shemtov, the executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch (Chabad), said he had mixed feelings about the ruling. Chabad has advocated for years for moments of silence in public schools, seeing them as a means for reflection and promoting more considered behavior.

But Shemtov said the coach’s Christian prayer was not quite the same. “A parochial prayer can present some real problems while a moment of silence is all but unassailable,” Shemtov said in an interview.  A moment of silence “gives each individual the right to worship in the privacy of their own mind even in the presence of others.” JN

Yair Lapid, then Israel’s foreign minister, speaks at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Oct. 12, 2022.

COURTESY OF ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES

Former Bremerton High School assistant football coach Joe Kennedy takes a knee in front of the U.S. Supreme Court after his legal case, Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District, was argued before the court, April 25, 2022. COURTESY OF WIN MCNAMEE/GETTY IMAGES

Featured Event

THURDAY-SUNDAY, JULY 14-17

Free virtual screening of the French film “The Law” : Join the Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival for a free film screening. “The Law” is a timely biopic tracing Health Minister Simone Veil’s fight in the National Assembly in 1974 to legalize abortion in France. Go to gpjff.org and follow the instructions to reserve your ticket to the free online screening.

A single viewing is available per household from Thursday, July 14 through Sunday, July 17.

Events

SUNDAY, JULY 10

ASU Prep Academy Community Event at Pilgrim Rest: 12-3 p.m. Join ASU Prep Pilgrim Rest, 1401 E. Jefferson St., Phoenix to celebrate the start of back-to-school season with some free family fun and a tour of this new tuition-free public school serving students from pre K to sixth grade. For more information, visit asupreppilgrim.com.

SUNDAY, JULY 10, 17 & 24

Summer Splash Pool Parties at The J: 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on July 10 & 17; 6-8:30 p.m. on July 24. Join the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale for fun by the pool including a DJ, rock wall, splash pad, crafts for the kids and more! milk + honey will be grilling burgers and hot dogs for purchase. Cost: Free; registration is required. For more information, visit vosjcc.org.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13

Songs & Stories: A Tribute to Burt Bacharach: 1-2 p.m. Join entertainer Gilda Solve for a live, musical performance filled with stories and insights about composer, songwriter, producer and pianist Burt Bacharach. For more information, contact info@evjcc.org.

SATURDAY, JULY 16, 23 & 30

Middle Eastern Percussion - Beginner Level: 12:45-1:45 p.m. Join One World Dance and Music Studio, 3312 N. Third St., Phoenix to learn the fundamentals of Middle Eastern rhythms on tabla/doubek (drum), riq (tambourine) and zills (finger cymbals). Cost: $20 per class. For more information, visit oneworlddanceandmusic.com.

THURSDAY, JULY 21

Wonderspaces Visit and Lunch: 12-3 p.m. Enjoy lunch at Kona Grill and then explore Wonderspaces, a 16,000-square-foot location featuring 13 immersive, interactive and conversation-provoking works of art in a socially-distanced environment. Cost: $65 for non-members; $55 for Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center members. For more information, visit vosjcc.org.

SATURDAY, JULY 23

Daniel Silva discusses ‘Portrait of an Unknown Woman’: 7-8 p.m. Join the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale for a discussion of Daniel Silva’s new book in conversation with Jamie Gangel. Cost: $35 ticket admits one and includes a signed book. For more information, visit poisonedpen.com.

SUNDAY, JULY 24

Songs and Stories from the World Songbook: 3 p.m. Join the Arizona Jewish Historical Society, 122 E. Culver St,, Phoenix for a live performance featuring Shana Rebilas Bousard and Joe Bousard performing ”Songs and Stories from the World

Songbook.” For more information, visit azjhs.org/ summer-music-series.

THURSDAYS

Storytime at Modern Milk: 9:30 a.m. Join Modern Milk, 3802 N. Scottsdale Rd, #163, Scottsdale for an in-person storytime for babies, toddlers and preschoolers. We will integrate favorite children’s books and songs while giving parents new ideas for play. Cost: $5. For more information and to register, visit modernmilk.com/after-baby.

SUNDAYS

BAGELS: 9-11 a.m. Join the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, for Bagels And Gabbing Every Last Sunday of the month in-person. Grab a bagel and a cup of coffee and enjoy some time with your friends and make new ones. You must register to attend. Bagels and coffee will be provided. Cost: Free for members, $5 for guests. For more information and to register, visit apm. activecommunities.com/valleyofthesunjcc/ Activity_Search/1787.

MONDAYS

Mahjong: 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Join the East Valley Jewish Community Center, 908 N. Alma School Rd., Chandler in-person for mahjong. This program is intended for players with prior experience and for those who have received the COVID-19 vaccination. Masks will be required. Cost: Free. For more information and to register, visit evjcc.org/mahjong. For further questions, call the EVJCC at 480-897-0588.

Virtual Meetings, Lectures & Classes

MONDAYS

Ethics of Our Fathers: 7 p.m. Learn with Rabbi Zalman Levertov online. Tune in at: bit. ly/2Y0wdgv. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Quotable Quotes by our Sages: 7 p.m. Learn with Rabbi Shlomy Levertov online. Tune in at: JewishParadiseValley.com/class. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Partners in Torah: 7:30 p.m. Join a growing group of inspired learners with Project Inspire. Cost: Free. Tune in at: us04web.zoom. us/j/3940479736#success, password is 613. For more information, email Robin Meyerson at robin@projectinspireaz.com.

Learning to Trust in God: 7:30 p.m. Learn with Rabbi Yossi Friedman online. Tune in at: ChabadAZ.com/LiveClass. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Torah & Tea: 7:30 p.m. Learn with Rabbi Yossie Shemtov online. Cost: Free. For more information, visit Facebook.com/ChabadTucson.

TUESDAYS

Let’s Knit: 1:30-3:30 p.m. Share the pleasure of knitting, crocheting, etc. and help others with a project or pattern. Can’t knit? We can teach you! Every level welcome. We will be sitting outside at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus and social distancing. Our last meeting before August will be Tuesday, May 11. Cost: Free. For more information, email Nicole Garber at nicoleg@mpjcc.org.

Keep Calm and Play Mahjong: 6:30-8:30 p.m. Play mahjong from home with myjongg.net. Cost: Free. To join a table, email Nicole at nicoleg@vosjcc.org.

Maintaining an Upbeat Attitude: 7 p.m. A class exclusively for people in their 20s and 30s, learn how Jewish Mysticism can help with your attitude with Rabbi Shlomy Levertov online. Cost: Free. Tune in at: JewishParadiseValley.com/YJPclass. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

WEDNESDAYS

History of the Jews: 11 a.m. Learn the Jewish journey from Genesis to Moshiach online with Rabbi Ephraim Zimmerman. Cost: Free. Tune in here: zoom.us/j/736434666. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Torah Study with Temple Beth Shalom of the West Valley: 11 a.m.-noon. TBS of the West Valley’s weekly virtual study group explores that week’s portion and studies different perspectives and debates the merits of various arguments. Intended for adults, Torah study is open to students of all levels. The goal is to achieve an understanding of what the text is and what it can teach us in the contemporary world. For more information, contact the TBS office at (623) 977-3240.

Happiness Hour: 11:30 a.m. An online class taught by Rabbi Pinchas Allouche that delves into texts and references culled from our traditions to address a relevant topic and draw uplifting life lessons from it. For more information or to join, visit cbtvirtualworld.com.

Torah Study with Chabad: Noon. Take a weekly journey to the soul of Torah online with Rabbi Yossi Levertov. Cost: Free. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Lunch & Learn: 12:15 PM. Grab some food and learn online with Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin. Cost: Free. Tune in on Zoom by emailing info@ChabadTucson.com. For more information, visit ChabadTucson.com.

The Thirteen Petalled Rose: 1 p.m. An online Kabbalah class that studies “The Thirteen Petalled Rose” by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz, focusing on the many foundational and transformational concepts of Kaballah and Jewish Mysticism and applying them to everyday

life. For more information or to join, visit cbtvirtualworld.com.

Knit a Mitzvah: 1-30 p.m. On the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, check in with fellow knitters who are making items to donate as part of this Brandeis National Committee Phoenix chapter study group. For more information, contact Ronee Siegel at ronees@aol.com.

JACS: 7:30-8:30 p.m. Virtual support group for Jewish alcoholics, addicts and their friends and family on the first and third Wednesdays of the month. Cost: Free. For more information, email jacsarizona@gmail.com or call 602-692-1004.

Words & Whiskey: 8:30 p.m. Join a free weekly, virtual learning session for men. To RSVP, email rmollenaz@gmail.com or call/text 310-709-3901.

THURSDAYS

Ladies Torah & Tea: 10:30 a.m. Learn about the women of the Torah with Mrs. Leah Levertov online. Cost: Free. Tune in at: ourjewishcenter. com/virtual. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Talmud - Maakos: 11 a.m. Learn with Rabbi Shlomy Levertov. Cost: Free. Tune in at: JewishParadiseValley.com/YJPclass. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Mindfulness Gatherings: Noon. Hosted by Hospice of the Valley via Zoom. Cost: Free. To join by phone dial 1-253-215-8782, meeting ID 486 920 2119#, to get the Zoom link or for further questions contact Gill Hamilton at ghamilton@hov.org or 602-748-3692.

The Science of Everything: 4 p.m. Explore the most fundamental work of Chassidut: the Tanya, with Rabbi Boruch. Cost: Free. Tune in at: zoom.us/j/736434666. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Teen Discussions: 7-8:30 p.m. Learn with Rabbi Tzvi Rimler online, Cost: Free. Tune in at cteen.clickmeeting.com/east-valley. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

SATURDAYS

Saturday Mindfulness Gatherings: 9:30 a.m. Hosted by Hospice of the Valley. To join by phone dial 1-253-215-8782, meeting ID 486 920 2119#. To get the Zoom link or for more information, contact Gill Hamilton at ghamilton@hov.org or 602-748-3692.

Book Discussion: 1:30-2:30 p.m. Join Or Adam Congregation for Humanistic Judaism on the third Saturday of every month for a virtual book discussion. For more information and to register, contact oradaminfo@gmail.com.

COURTESY OF GREATER PHOENIX JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

SUNDAYS

Soul Study: 7:15 a.m. An online class exploring the secrets of the Tanya and Jewish mysticism, taught by Rabbi Pinchas Allouche. Cost: Free.

Chassidus Class: 9 a.m. Learn about the Chasidic movement with Rabbi Yossi Friedman. Cost: Free. Tune in using this link: ChabadAZ.com/LiveClass. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Jewish War Veterans Post 210: 10 a.m. Any active duty service member or veteran is welcome to join monthly meetings, now virtual, every third Sunday, Cost: Free. For more information, email Michael Chambers at c365michael@yahoo.com.

Anxiety in the Modern World: 6 p.m. Learn the secrets of the Torah for living stress-free in the current environment in a virtual class with Rabbi Boruch, with Chabad of Oro Valley. Cost: Free. Tune in using this link: zoom.us/j/736434666. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

Shabbat

FRIDAYS

In-person services: Congregation Beth Israel is holding services in the Goldsmith Sanctuary limited to 100 people, excluding clergy and staff. Members and guests must be fully vaccinated (two weeks since your last vaccination) and wear a mask. Children may attend and must be able to wear a mask for the duration of the service. Participants must pre-register by Thursday at 5 p.m. Priority will be given to members first and then guests. If there are more requests than available seats a lottery system will be used. To make your reservation, contact Gail Gilmartin at 480-951-0323 or at ggilmartin@cbiaz.org.

In-person services: Temple Chai is holding Friday evening (5:30 p.m. Nosh, 6:16 p.m. sevice) and Shabbat morning (varying dates and times). For more information, contact Sheana Abrams at (602) 971-1234 or sabrams@templechai.com.

In-person services: Congregation Or Tzion is holding Friday evening (6:00 p.m) and Shabbat morning (9:30 a.m.) services indoors. Services are also live streamed at otaz.org/livestream. For more information about services, events and membership, visit congregationortzion.org or call 480-342-8858.

Tot Shabbat in the Park: 9:30 a.m. Free totShabbat every Friday morning at Cactus Park. Shabbat music, toys and a meaningful preschool Shabbat experience. Is it your child’s birthday? Sponsor a Shabbat for $36.00. For more information and to register, visit playdatesbydesign.com/upcoming-classes.

Shabbat at Beth El: 11-11:45 a.m. Celebrate Shabbat with songs, blessings and inspirational teachings. Rabbi Stein Kokin from Beth El Congregation will lead us the first Friday of every month. Special guests will be welcoming Shabbat during the remainder of the month. For more information or to join, visit bethelphoenix.com.

Welcome Shabbat: 11-11:45 a.m. Join the JFCS Virtual Center for Senior Enrichment each Friday for a soothing and inspiring program to welcome Shabbat. Each week a different guest host will lead the program with song and celebration. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Erev Shabbat Service: 5:30 p.m. Rabbi Alicia Magal will lead a service livestreamed for members of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley. Cost: Free. For more information and to obtain the Zoom link, visit jcsvv.org/contact.

Kabbalat Shabbat: 5:30 p.m. Congregation Kehillah invites you to join services via Zoom, every other Friday, with Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman and cantorial soloists Scott Leader and Erica

Erman. For the dates, visit congregationkehillah. org/events and to register and receive the link, please email info@congregationkehillah.org.

Pre-Shabbat Kiddush Club: 6 p.m. Say kiddush with Rabbi Mendy Levertov online. Cost: Free. Tune in here: ourjewishcenter.com/virtual. For more information, visit chabadaz.com.

In-person Third Friday Shabbat: 7-8 p.m. The Desert Foothills Jewish Community Association hosts a Shabbat service followed by a program. Contact Andrea at 480-664-8847 for more information.

Seniors

MONDAYS

Dance Fusion with Michele Dionisio: 11 a.m.-noon. Presented by JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

Sip & Schmooze: 11 a.m. Sip on kosher coffee or tea, enjoy a homemade pastry and Schmooze with great company every second Monday of the month at Luci’s Barn at the Orchard, located at 7100 N. 12th St., Phoenix. RSVP Appreciated: chani@sosaz.org or (602) 492-7670. For more information, visit www.sosaz.org.

Featured Presentation: 12:30 p.m. Join Smile on Seniors Mondays and Wednesdays to learn from a variety of presenters about topical issues, like Q&As with medical professionals, entertainers and lectures. Cost: Free. For full details visit sosaz.org/virtual or email Rabbi Levi Levertov at levi@sosaz.org.

TUESDAYS

Movie Discussion Group: 11 a.m. Join Smile on Seniors on the third Tuesday of every month hosted by Issy Lifshitz. Cost: Free. For full details and the movie of the month visit sosaz.org/virtual or email Rabbi Levi Levertov at levi@sosaz.org.

Brain Games with Friends: 2-3 p.m. Challenge your brains while having fun. Experts believe that active learning helps maintain brain health by preventing loss of cognitive skills such as memory, reasoning and judgment. For more information or to register, visit vosjcc.org/j-at-home-adults.

WEDNESDAYS

Chair Yoga with Zoe: 11-11:45 a.m. Grab a chair and sit down for a 45-minute chair yoga class with Zoe! Yoga is beneficial to mind, body and spirit. Prior to class, please let Zoe know if you have any limitations in order for exercises to be modified. No prior yoga experience required. Presented by JFCS Center for Senior Enrichment. Cost: Free. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse.

THURSDAYS

In the Kitchen with Benita: 12:30 p.m. Join Smile on Seniors on the fourth Thursday of every month for some delicious cooking or baking fun! Cost: Free. For full details visit sosaz.org/virtual or email Rabbi Levi Levertov at levi@sosaz.org.

FRIDAYS Welcome Shabbat: 11-11:45 a.m. Celebrate Shabbat virtually with songs, blessings and inspirational teachings. For more information and to register, visit jfcsaz.org/events/. Contact CSE Director Jennifer Brauner at seniorcenter@ jfcsaz.org or 602-343-0192 with questions.

Adult Chair Ballet Class: Noon-12:45 p.m. Join Jennifer Cafarella and Elaine Seretis from Ballet Theatre of Phoenix as they teach a ballet class that will help improve strength, flexibility, movement and balance. No prior dance experience required. Presented by the JFCS Virtual Center for Senior Enrichment. For more information, visit jfcsaz.org/cse. JN

Upcoming Special Sections

Double celebration

On May 21, Or Adam Congregation for Humanistic Judaism held a gala evening honoring two significant events: the ordination of Jeffrey Schesnol as rabbi and their 35th anniversary as a congregation. Pictured: Rabbi Jeffrey Schesnol and his wife, Susan.

Mystical talk

Rabbi Reuven Wolf, founder and spiritual director of Maayon Yisroel of Los Angeles, gave a mystical talk on “Free Will” in a private home in Phoenix. About 25 people attended the hourand-a-half discourse.

Gifts for Holocaust survivors

Volunteers with the Phoenix Holocaust Association delivered gifts to some 62 Holocaust survivors living in the Greater Phoenix area. Funding for the gifts was provided by the Claims Conference. Pictured: Sima and Yokov Kogan of Gilbert.

Michael Jay Lipson, MD of Phoenix, Arizona and Netanya, Israel, passed away in Netanya on May 6, 2022. He was 76. He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. He practiced medicine in the Valley for 46 years before retiring and making Aliyah with his beloved wife Stefanie in 2019.

Michael is survived by his wife, Stefanie Ramras Lipson; son, J. Rami Dov Lipson (Jodi Lipson); daughter, Jafi Alyssa Lipson (Josh Lehrer-Graiwer); brother, Stuart Lipson; granddaughters Noa Lena Lehrer, Sasha Ava Lehrer and Tali Amalie Lehrer and grandson, Ethan Gregory Lipson. He was predeceased by his parents, Flora Florence Lipson and Herbert Jacob Lipson.

Services were held at Netanya Shikun Vatikim Cemetery in Netanya, Israel on May 9, 2022.

Donations can be made in his memory to Congregation Beth Tefillah, 6529 E. Shea Blvd., Scottsdale, Arizona 85254 and Jewish National Fund, 42 E. 69th St., New York, New York 10021.

Estelle Arlene (Robbins) Glazman of Tempe, passed away June 24, 2022, at the age 80, after a brief but valiant battle with pancreatic cancer. Estelle was vibrant with a sharp wit that gave her strength to the end. She found joy and laughter with family and friends who lovingly supported her throughout her final weeks. Estelle was rich in love, having been an integral part of her daughters’ and grandchildren’s lives as they grew into adults and started their own families.

Estelle was generous, kind and thoughtful. She was also giving to her community, volunteering, donating blood and crafting blessing bags for decades. Estelle was kind to every new person in her life, which earned her quick friendships from YMCA workout partners and neighbors, to nail stylists and in-home nurses. Estelle and her example of living a kind and thoughtful life will be greatly missed. A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, July 23 at 10 a.m. at Grace Community Church, 1200 E. Southern Ave., Tempe. Reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in Estelle’s memory to PBS or your local public library.

Lawson F. Singer peacefully passed away during the morning of Tuesday, June 7, 2022, at the age of 95. For the past 20 years, Lawson and BettyCarol Singer have been full-time residents of Scottsdale. Over the past few weeks, Lawson has been surrounded by loved ones, and lived his last days in comfort. Betty-Carol has been beautifully caring for him over the past three years, and she has championed his longevity. Lawson lived a wonderfully full and successful life. He is survived by his wife Betty-Carol, their children and grandchildren. Funeral services, with military honors, were held on Sunday, June 12, at Mt. Sinai Cemetery in Phoenix.

SHARE YOUR ENGAGEMENT, WEDDING, BIRTH, BAR/BAT-MITZVAH ANNOUNCEMENT AND ANY OTHER SIMCHA ON BOTH JEWISHAZ.COM AND THE WEEKLY JEWISH NEWS ... FOR FREE . JEWISHAZ.COM

James Andrews – avid golfer, devoted Cubs fan, passionate Beth Israel member, international explorer, legendary teller of dad jokes – died at his home in Scottsdale, AZ on Sunday, June 12, 2022. The cause was head and neck cancer. He was 80.

Jim, as he was known all his life, was born in Chicago on April 1, 1942. After serving two years as a Private in the US Army in the early 1960s, he earned a bachelor’s degree in packaging engineering from Michigan State University in 1966. His career took him to: Pittsburgh, PA; Washington, DC; Syracuse, NY; Portland, OR; and San Francisco, CA, where he met his wife, Susan Sacks. Upon retiring in 2002, he moved to Paramus, NJ and in 2010 settled in Scottsdale, AZ.

Early in his career, he was credited with several notable patents: the Styrofoam egg carton; a burger clamshell container; an airline food tray; and, his son’s favorite, the eight-pack beer holder.

He left Chicago at 18, but Chicago never left Jim. Though he identified with all-things Chicago, he had an insatiable desire to see the world and travelled to more than 100 countries, seven continents and 50 states during his life. When asked the place he most enjoyed traveling to, he always answered, “Antarctica,” which he visited twice. Perhaps, it reminded him of Chicago winters!

Jim was a social person and deeply valued the many, many genuine friendships he made over the years. Just a few months ago, more than 120 of his friends, from across the country, traveled to Scottsdale to celebrate his 80th birthday with him, a moving bookend to a long and loving life.

He is survived by his devoted wife, Susan Sacks; his son, Jay Andrews, of Philadelphia, PA; his daughter, Beth Winter, of New York, NY; two stepdaughters, Beth Seabreeze, of Kensington, MD, and Amy Geibelson, of Los Angeles, CA; and seven grandchildren. Donations in Jim’s memory can be made to Congregation Beth Israel, 10460 N. 56th Street, Scottsdale AZ 85253.

Ardyce Felix passed away on a warm June evening in her apartment at LivGenerations Assisted Living in Scottsdale at the ripe old age of 97.

She had a very rich life, full of family love, world travel, community service and intellectual curiosity. Her love of dance began in childhood in San Jose, California where she performed in local events. She developed lifelong friendships from that time. Her beauty, physical strength, agility and style distinguished her. Lively and energetic, she had an infectious laugh and formidable language skills which sprang from her extensive study of Latin. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley.

Ardyce volunteered her talents and services to causes she believed in. With the National Council of Jewish Women drama troupe she performed in plays for audiences of developmentally and physically disabled children and had a special place in her heart for them. She also worked with Alzheimer’s patients as respite for caregivers at the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center in Calif. In addition, at the JCC, her husband, Stanley, established an endowment in her honor, The Ardyce Felix Performing Arts Fund.

She and Stan enjoyed beautiful homes always filled with music and song. They also traveled far and wide. Perhaps the most important contributions of Ardyce’s and Stan’s life together were creating and nurturing their beloved children and engaging with their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Deeply caring, funloving and entertaining, she will be missed but remain in our hearts always.

We wish to acknowledge the wonderful caregiving provided by the Endeavor staff with Jessica Marcano and Kelley Leanne Hamby, so devoted that they became part of the family.

Within 8 days of their 74-year marriage her husband, Stanley Felix passed away. She is survived by her sister, Marilyn Jacobs; daughters Judith Adler, Margot Zaterman, and Stefanie Felix; grandchildren Aron Adler, Matt Adler, Max Green, Mitchell Green, Amy Zaterman, Danny Zaterman, and Brent Zaterman; and great-grandchildren Kayla and Caden Adler, Shayna, Zach and Sam Adler, Rudy Green, Henry and Bennett Green, Sloane Seltzer and Lily James Hirsch Zaterman.

Make a charitable donation to Jewish News and help support Jewish community journalism.

Recent gifts helped support the kind of reporting that has consistently won the paper many honors, including multiple awards from the American Jewish Press Association, and the kind of critical community coverage that you’ve come to expect from the Jewish News.

With Jewish residents spread out across Arizona, Jewish News helps create a sense of community by providing information readers can use to connect more deeply with our heritage. Your generous gift helps to support local news coverage.

We are a 501(c)(3) organization, so your contributions are tax-deductible. Whether you read us in print or online, please help us continue our commitment to bringing you the local Jewish news that you have come to count on.

Phoenix realtor helps refugeesUkrainian

LEENIKA BELFIELD-MARTIN

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine persists into its fourth week, many Americans are searching for ways to help refugees.

“I saw all the stuff going on with the bombing of the buildings, apartment complexes and

Please subscribe and continue to support JEWISH NEWS with a tax-deductible contribution. Complete the form below or go to jewishaz.com/subplus