When doctors gave Bob Beliak a diagnosis of kidney disease, his life became a race between the disease’s progression and a long-term medical solution. He and his wife, Marci, were still processing the news while searching for the best possible option.

Matty G’s Steakburgers and Spirits in Mesa is a haven for all sports fans. The menu items are named after classic sports terms, every TV has a game playing and the walls and tables are dressed with paraphernalia from every team imaginable.

The word canapé has buzzed in my ear for decades. It implied fancy food, but I didn’t know what that meant.

Dan Witenstein was inducted into the Arizona Gymnastics Hall of Fame at the USA Gymnastics State Awards Banquet this week at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale. Witenstein is the co-owner and team director of Arizona Sunrays, a popular local gymnastics school.

One might not expect a Phoenix-area bakery to compete with East Coast bakeries when it comes to bagels, but the website Nosher found such a gem in Phoenix. On May 1, Nosher posted “The best bagels in unexpected places around the United States,” and Odelay Bagel Co. was one of seven bakeries …

NEWS RELEASE

Raquel Kahn wants everyone who comes into her dance and workout studio to feel like Beyonce. 

Over the past year, a group of elementary school girls learned about social justice issues and led community service projects as part of G-RAD (Girls Read and Do), a Jewish book and social justice club for girls in grades 1-4 and their mothers.

Desert Mountain High School student Dylan Brooks has attended Camp Daisy and Harry Stein every year consecutively for 10 years. Last summer, he was able to participate in Camp Stein’s Big Trip Israel. It was so profound for Brooks that he was motivated to find a leadership role afterward.

Arizona lawmakers approved an $11.8 billion budget on Memorial Day, which will include funding for the establishment of an Arizona trade office in Israel. Gov. Doug Ducey signed the budget on Friday, May 31. 

Arizona State University’s Hillel chapter was nominated for several categories at the college’s 2018 Pitchfork Awards. ASU Hillel took home the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Organization award, which recognizes the achievements and successes of a registered ASU student organization that …

Scottsdale police removed a “suspicious” individual from the Valley of the Sun JCC’s premises on Saturday, May 11. 

Documentary filmmaker Civia Tamarkin believes that Arizona is on the brink of true social change. She was recently elected president of the National Council of Jewish Women Arizona Section and is already using her new position to help advocate for that change. 

Finding a kidney for a transplant is not easy. I know because I am one of 100,000-plus people on the waiting list for a deceased donor kidney. 

Beth El Congregation will welcome its new spiritual leader, Rabbi Nitzan Stein Kokin, on Monday, Aug. 5. Her arrival ends Beth El’s search for a new rabbi, which began last year.

In an effort to shape the strategic direction of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix, the organization has made a change in its board of directors.  

Last month, a bill that bars government contractors from participating in a boycott of Israel or Israeli-controlled territories was signed into law by Gov. Doug Ducey. 

Jewish War Veterans National Commander Dr. Barry Schneider believes that the veterans’ organization is the Jewish community’s best kept secret, and he’s working to change that.

Four years after the Life & Legacy program launched in the Valley, the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, along with 12 community partners, secured legacy commitments from the community with an estimated value of $31.4 million. The Foundation announced the amount at its annu…

For Shelley Cohn, the past board chair of the Arizona Community Foundation, being inducted into the Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame was quite a shock.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix has announced $1.7 million in allocations for 2019. The funds, from Federation donors and sponsors, will be used to help strengthen Jewish life and help Jews in need locally, in Israel and around the world.

According to the most recent data released by the Anti-Defamation League, anti-Semitic incidents are increasing throughout the country and in Arizona. For the third year in a row, Arizona has seen a rise in anti-Semitic behavior. 

As a Federation, we are proud to host an interfaith men’s mission of community leaders to Israel to develop a better understanding of our cultures and forge relationships that can benefit our local and global community.

Today is Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. The community observes Holocaust Remembrance Day in a variety of ways; at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus the Phoenix Holocaust Association is reading names of those who perished. Additionally, tonight the Association is hosting a panel…

Every day, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, better known as ICE, drops off dozens, if not hundreds, of migrant families at churches across the Valley. After the asylum seekers are dropped off, having been transported from ICE detention centers, the volunteers get busy, people of all…

On Sunday, April 7, at this year’s Phoenix Pride Parade, more than 300 Jews from different congregations and synagogues across the Valley banded together to show support for the LGBTQ community. As they marched together, many donned orange shirts that had the Hebrew word for love, Ahava, pri…

On April 27, six months to the day after the massacre at Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 dead and six injured, a gunman opened fire at Chabad of Poway in Southern California on the last day of Passover, killing one and injuring three. 

Earlier this month, Airbnb reversed its policy to remove listings in the West Bank from its website and phone application.

Jewish overnight camp offers children countless opportunities to find their roots and connect with other Jewish kids. But even though many in the Jewish community consider summer camp a rite of passage, the tuition costs can be a hurdle for some families. 

According to a 2014 poll conducted by the Washington Post, America’s No. 1 fear is public speaking.

Kosher food bank Ezras Cholim of Phoenix is working around the clock to provide enough food for the Passover season.

Benjamin Netanyahu won his fifth term as the prime minister of Israel last week, and reactions have been mixed, both locally and nationally. 

When Benjamin Gottlieb opened his own law firm a couple years ago, he was just 31. 

 Ever since launching in 2016, the local chapter of Shevet Shemesh, the Israeli Scouts youth group, has hosted a Holocaust remembrance ceremony featuring its scouts. In the past, it has been a private affair, but this year the organization has decided to make the event public. 

The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix has awarded $225,136 in discretionary grants to new programs ranging from Holocaust education and interfaith outreach to senior enrichment and genetic testing.

Philanthropist and community stalwart Jean Grossman, who dedicated so much of her time and resources to the Phoenix Jewish community, died on Sunday, April 7. She was 91. 

Just months before its scheduled opening, the Molly Blank Jewish Community Center was vandalized. Two weeks ago, swastikas were painted on windows and carved into the walls. 

Eli Beer, the founder of the volunteer ambulance service United Hatzalah of Israel, spoke at a reception in Central Phoenix this week. He began by asking the audience a simple question: If someone were choking across the street, would anyone in the room try to save them?

On March 22, The Phoenix New Times published a series of private Facebook messages from members of Arizona State University’s College Republicans United (CRU), a student group founded in January 2018 after splitting off from the larger student Republican group, ASU College Republicans. The C…

Rabbi Bonnie Koppell made history by being the first female rabbi to serve in the military. 

Phoenix-based travel photographer Matt Cohen is not only working to make sure the Holocaust is not forgotten, but also that other genocides will be remembered as well. In his latest exhibit at Scottsdale Community College (SCC), Cohen showcases a series of photos in locations that are signif…

For the first time since freshmen Democratic legislators brought renewed scrutiny on the American-Israel relationship — and amidst a rocket attack from Gaza that cut short Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip to the United States — AIPAC held its annual Policy Conference in Washi…

A Tempe woman has decided to move out of her apartment complex after the word “kike” was painted on the side of her car after a parking dispute.

Some kids spend their time playing the latest video games or signing up for sports, but 11-year-old Levi Don is using his time to raise money for the New York-based company Innovation: Africa.

Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss said she did not speak about her experiences enduring persecution of the Nazis until her stepfather, Otto Frank, passed away. She said that for 40 years, “I didn’t talk to my family — or to anybody for that matter.”