Central Avenue in Downtown Phoenix is still relatively calm at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday and Eduard Zavurov, owner of Downtown Barber Shop, takes advantage of the quiet to spotlight a collage of family pictures on the wall as he preps for his first customer.
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Running, tripping over dead bodies and an overwhelming sense of fear are the things that Marion Weinzweig remembers most from her childhood in Poland. She was one of only a few family members to survive the Holocaust.
On Sept. 13, the U.S. Census Bureau held a press briefing to spotlight some good news amid an otherwise uneasy economic climate. One of our nation’s stubbornly bad indicators just got a little better.
Pomegranate fruits Jewish tradition
Rabbis across Greater Phoenix, like rabbis the world over, are sitting down right about now to put their thoughts to paper as they prepare to address their congregants for High Holidays.
Tom Horne, the Republican and Jewish candidate for Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction, repeatedly said he wanted to talk about test scores in his debate with Kathy Hoffman, the Democratic candidate and current superintendent.
Arizona is facing a water crisis. The Colorado River, which Arizona and other Western states depend on for water, is at record low levels — so low that cuts have been implemented already, and steeper cuts are on the way, especially for the state’s farmers.
A flyer for Chaparral Theatre Company’s production of “I Never Saw Another Butterfly”
Last month, 16 Chaparral High School students brought “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, one of the world’s biggest and best-known art and media events held annually in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the fourth group of student actors and crew that Ed Como, Chapar…
As a kid in a small Jewish community in the northern Italian city of Milan, Rabbi Michael Beyo was steeped in Sephardi traditions. His father was born in Turkey, the country where his family had lived for 500 years after being expelled from Spain during the Inquisition. But when he stepped o…
Long-time members of Beth El Phoenix — at least those who attended before 1985 — will be greeted with a familiar face at the bimah during this year’s High Holidays. Rabbi Reuven Taff, Beth El’s cantor from 1974 to 1985, will be reprising his old role after leaving to become a rabbi 37 years ago.
StandWithUs (SWU) is an international nonprofit and non-partisan education organization that combats antisemitism and supports Israel. Founded in 2001, SWU empowers students and communities with leadership training and educational programs. It informs through social media, print and digital …
Phoenix’s Jewish community is processing after the weekend’s hostage crisis at a Texas synagogue.
After 20 years at the helm, Barbara Zemel and Jay Bycer are taking a step back as co-presidents of American Friends of Magen David Adom’s Phoenix chapter.
Hannah Dreyfus, an investigative journalist, has spent the last six years both as a member of the Jewish community, and as one of its few watchdogs.
Peter Fogel wants to give Phoenicians a laugh heading into 2022.
(JTA) — In the summer of 1993, Arizona native Aaron Lieberman made friends with three other Jewish college students while working at a camp in upstate New York for kids with social, educational and emotional challenges.
Pictured clockwise from top left: Rabbi Alica Magal, Rabbi Aviva Funke, Rabbi Bonnie Koppell, Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman, Rabbi Debbie Stiel, Rabbi Elana Kanter, Rabbi Suzy Stone, Rabbi Sara Mason-Barkin, Rabbi Nitzan Stein Kokin, Rabbi Nina Perlmutter, Rabbi Mindie Snyder and Rabbi Julie Kozlow
The S.H. and Helen R. Scheuer Chapel on the Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
When Temple Chai Rabbi Bonnie Koppell arrived in Arizona in 1987, people were shocked that she was a rabbi. She was the first woman rabbi in the state. Many times, she heard the words, “I didn’t know that women could be rabbis,” she told Jewish News.
Rabbi Stephen Einstein was happy to retire in 2012. For 36 years, he had been the pulpit rabbi of Congregation B’nai Tzedek, which he founded in Fountain Valley, California.
November marked two years since Arizona opened its trade and investment office in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Marlo Lyons knows a thing or two about making a career change. Over the past 30 years, Lyons, who lives in Scottsdale, has found success in three vastly different industries.
For Christmas, Lauren Glick and her family usually go to Nee House Chinese Cuisine on Tatum and Thunderbird.
Some mainstays of the Jewish community in Greater Phoenix have announced big changes as 2021 comes to a close.
Like many Jewish moms, Vera Kessler spends much of her time cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, running errands, chauffeuring, helping with homework and preparing for Shabbat.
Paul Staman will celebrate his 102nd birthday on Dec. 29, with Chinese food — a personal favorite — and a beer. His wife, Pauline, and their children will join him, but otherwise it will be a quiet affair.
Alexis Grossman is bringing her career full circle this Sunday when she performs as the headliner comedian at Tempe Improv. It was the first place she performed standup publicly when she was just starting out.
John Pregulman was in Phoenix the weekend of Dec. 11 to see some old friends from BBYO. While in town, he sought out Holocaust survivors living in the area.
Gesher Disability Resources, which serves children and adults affected by a disability through inclusion assistance in the classroom, resource referral, residential support and social groups, celebrated its annual gala on Nov. 6, 2021.
Devorah Medwin has always been intrigued by topics deemed taboo.
‘Tis the season to ask for tax credits. Every eligible organization is making their plea. I know most of the Jewish organizations and their leadership, and they all do avodat kodesh, holy work. I encourage you to support them.
Eleven months into 2021, the words COVID and coronavirus have assumed a dominant place in the international vernacular.
Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund, famously said, “We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make, which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.”
Change is in the air at Temple Emanuel of Tempe. Rabbi Cookie Lea Olshein and Jessie Rubenstein, religious school director, both came aboard last summer ready to put their stamp on the community. Additionally, a new managing director might be in place early next month. In short, temple leade…
Hundreds of Jews across Greater Phoenix celebrated Chanukah this year by attending a public menorah lighting and/or celebration.
Marcy Lewis has known about Momentum for years.
This year’s Martin Pear Jewish Community Center fundraising gala brought together about 460 people in-person after last year’s COVID-19 pandemic-induced pause.
After former House Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head outside a supermarket in Tucson in 2011, it wasn’t clear if she’d survive, let alone be able to speak. Giffords’ injuries, which led her to resign from office, left her with partial paralysis and aphasia, which makes it difficul…
As 2022 approaches, Arizona State University’s Jewish organizations are examining their goals for the coming year to better serve Jewish students.
Mt. Sinai Cemetery in Phoenix is expanding.
Chabad at Arizona State University hosted its annual Chanukah Extravaganza on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Attendees called it a success.
In the last dozen years, Sheryl Bronkesh, president of the Phoenix Holocaust Association, has launched a group for second generation Holocaust survivors, broadened the reach of PHA and helped to ensure the Holocaust is taught in Arizona’s public schools.
Fredric M. London has a two-car garage and a two-car carport at his Gilbert house. All of those spots are reserved for Brass Era cars and other classics that catch his eye.
When my husband and I retired to Arizona 12 years ago, we realized that we had time to volunteer in the Jewish community. Volunteering is a way to give back to the community, but it’s also a wonderful way to get to know one’s
At Temple Kol Ami we have a decades long tradition of participating in social action activities and organizations. We see ourselves as a force for good, “doing Jewish” across Greater Phoenix with unique social programs. One of the things I love about Temple Kol Ami is that as a member, if th…
As part of our alumni association leadership panel series, the Women’s Leadership Institute (WLI) recently sponsored an educational panel called the Founder’s Club. The panel was moderated by Jennifer Rogers of the WLI, and featured Becca Hornstein and Andi Minkoff, founders of two of our co…
Carlos Galindo-Elvira is hoping to be the next Jewish representative in Arizona’s House of Representatives.
Janet Arnold Rees never really entertained the idea of retirement. She didn’t need to. She embodied the adage that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. And through all her various jobs — teacher, preschool director, entrepreneur, theatre producer and social worker…
Janet Arnold Rees, senior concierge and creative aging coordinator for Jewish Family & Children’s Service, died on Tuesday, Nov. 23.
