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To find the Shanghai Jewish Center on a recent trip to China, I drove by a guarded gatehouse, past a series of windowless buildings to a large white villa with an elegant marble staircase and grand portico. Inside the brightly lit foyer, a Chinese woman escorted me through heavy wooden doors to what must have been the living room, but was now furnished with eight tables and a wine cabinet. Two businessmen — one in a kippah — chatted quietly over their dinner.

Your child has turned 12, she’s in sixth grade, and suddenly your mailbox, or your inbox, is filling up with invitations. Some are plain and others extravagant, but all bear the same message – your child has been invited to a bar or bat mitzvah!

The Memorial Day weekend signals the start of the summer resort season here in the Valley. As the snowbirds head back north to escape the heat, resilient Arizonans get the opportunity to experience many of the beautiful luxury resorts the Valley has to offer – at steep discounts. Take a look at our Summer Staycation Resort Guide and find a summer resort package you and your family can enjoy.

NEW YORK – The campers wake up in their cabins on Friday morning, dress and go to breakfast. Next comes a range of activities – arts and crafts, archery, kickball.

As part of process to involve the public in identifying unmet needs of older adults in Maricopa County and how best to serve them, the Area Agency on Aging has scheduled public hearings at three Valley locations from March 6-8.

When my son announced that he was planning to ask his girlfriend to become his wife, my husband and I were ecstatic. We had waited a long time for this moment and quickly made arrangements to join the couple for the formal engagement.

Camp Shemesh holds ‘sneak peek’: Camp Shemesh will offer a preview of its activities at a sneak peek event 1:30-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26, at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale.

Jewish preschools in Phoenix and Scottsdale are making a point to include grandparents into their preschool world.

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In the summer of 2010, with just hours to go before campers arrived for the first day of the first season of Eden Village Camp, director Yoni Stadlin got some bad news from the health department: A procedural issue had delayed the issuance of a permit and the camp could not open as scheduled.

Everyone has that one friend or family member with a messy home so crammed with possessions, it’s ready to explode. The rooms and pantry are disorganized, and objects are strewn across the house. They say they will clean it up, but year after year, you attend the holiday party and the house is a big mess. What better gift for that person than a way to get their home and bulging closets organized?

This story is about Magda Herzberger. She is a concentration camp survivor who is 90 years old and is unique. Some concentration camp survivors understandably do not write and speak about the Holocaust. It is too difficult. But Magda does. She is speaking at a private university in Phoenix this month.

As the adult child of a senior, Alison Betts watched her widowed mother become more and more frustrated trying to find and schedule service providers to come to her home.

Two new kosher cookbooks provide new delicious recipes for the holidays: “Kosher Taste” by Amy Stopnicki and “Kosher By Design Brings It Home” by Susie Fishbein.

If you have had a long year of cooking for family, friends and children, and you need a break from the effort cooking a full Thanksgiving meal requires, local restaurants have come to the rescue. Below are several Thanksgiving offers from local restaurants in the Greater Phoenix area.

Two weeks before Hanukkah, Temple Chai in Phoenix will give homeless families the gift of hospitality.

Goodmans Interior Structures recently hosted the 2016 Goodmans Chair Hockey Tournament to benefit First Place AZ, a sister nonprofit to Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center (SARRC). Previous events – the company held similar tournaments from 2002 to 2006 – benefitted SARRC, an agency that provides support for children with autism and their families.

I think most, if not all, of us are sick and tired of politics, the elections and seeing how much money is wasted on political ads, etc. While we generally have little or no control over how that money is spent, we actually do have a lot of control over how our state taxes are allocated.

Sisters Tina “Red” Pennington (a warm-and fuzzy stay-at-home mom) and Mandy “Black” Williams (an extremely pragmatic retired corporate executive) – co-authors of  “What I Learned About Life When My Husband Got Fired!” – discuss the concept of giving.

Life expectancy around the globe has risen dramatically in recent years, resulting in increased demands for better health-related devices, solutions and services. Israel, with the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology at the helm, is meeting those demands.

With the High Holidays behind us and a “clean slate” before us, goal-setting is in order. I’d like to share a few resources to assist you in setting goals for healthier living. “The Slight Edge” by Jeff Olson and “Younger Next Year” by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge, M.D. are two books that provide the how and the why for making good health a priority.

Approximately 50 women joined me at Dance Fusion in the Scottsdale Airpark on Sept. 21 to honor the many women breast cancer survivors and their families and friends in our community.  The event was filled with good feelings, delicious desserts and dance lessons.

‘Creating Your Authentic Path’ workshop to be held in Sedona: Psychotherapist and life coach Bonnie Barness will lead “Creating Your Authentic Path,” a workshop weekend in Sedona, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22 and 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 23. The retreat takes place at The Sedona Creative Life Center, 333 Schnebly Hill Road, Sedona. Cost is $225.

Whoever wins the presidential election this year, the results will be historic. Both major-party candidates have had public personas for decades, yet large portions of the electorate intensely dislike one or the other. There is no denying, however, that either would be a first to hold the office – the first woman president or the first president who has no political, government (non-elected) or military experience.

Arizona’s Congressional District 1 is considered to be one of the most competitive districts in the country now that it’s an open seat, with incumbent Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick running for the U.S. Senate against Sen. John McCain.

Three seats on the five-member Arizona Corporation Commission are up for election this year. Commissioner Bob Stump has termed out; current Republican Commissioners Bob Burns and Andy Tobin are running for re-election. Republican Boyd Dunn also is running, while Democrats William “Bill” Mundell and Tom Chabin are running as a team for two of the open seats.

The presidential primaries are long behind us, but the primary election for other federal offices – the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives – as well as for the Arizona Corporation Commission and Arizona Legislature are still to come.

Monday, Aug. 1 - Registration deadline for primary