If you asked Shlomo Pri-tal 30 years ago what his retirement would look like, he never would have imagined it would include making glass art.
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As 2022 approaches, Arizona State University’s Jewish organizations are examining their goals for the coming year to better serve Jewish students.
Chabad at Arizona State University hosted its annual Chanukah Extravaganza on Tuesday, Nov. 30. Attendees called it a success.
Dr. Robert Ziltzer, 58, could have spent his entire medical career running his successful primary care practice in Scottsdale. It was his plan when he went to medical school in New York, where he was also born and bar mitzvahed. He even stayed in school an extra year in order to become board…
Twins Eli and Brian Hemmert of North Scottsdale weren’t sure what they wanted to do for their b’nai mitzvah project — until Aug. 27.
Emery Kutz knows all too well how food can bring people together---and keep them apart.
A group of 12 Jewish tweens are fundraising to ensure a jolly Christmas for two local kindergartners.
Five-year-old Levi Miller has been asking to go to the Children’s Museum of Phoenix for a year.
Jewish students at Arizona State University held a “Jewish and Proud” rally on the Tempe campus last Thursday, Nov. 4, in response to several antisemitic flyers found around the school a few days earlier on Nov. 1.
Stacy Rosenthal, Congregation Beth Israel’s senior director of education and youth engagement, has been working in Jewish education for nearly two decades and has held about every position there is. Now, she is one of several educators at the start of something new for Reform teens in Greate…
"Bet El synagogue Casablanca -torah scrolls" by dlisbona is licensed under CC BY 2.0
The leadership team at Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley began planning High Holiday services in May.
In my pediatric practice, I ask about bullying: “Are there any bullies or mean kids in your school?” or “Have you ever gotten picked on?” Parents will occasionally nod their heads, but children nearly always respond affirmatively.
Eleven chosen teens, including Hannah Gilmartin — in the back row third from left and Colin Morris, back row on right — meet with Israel President Isaac Herzog during CTeen’s Heritage Quest summer Israel trip.
After more than a year, buses filled with youth tour groups were again zipping around Israel this summer.
In May, New York-based Chidon Sefer HaMitzvos hosted its annual international Jewish law competition for grades four through eight. More than 5,000 students were tested through a series of exams and competitions on their knowledge of the Torah’s 613 commandments.
Chloe Breger, a seventh-grade science and social studies teacher in the Glendale Elementary District, is eager to get back to the classroom next month.
Chabad of Arizona is opening two new high schools in August.
The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix awarded $141,000 in scholarships for children hoping to attend Jewish day and sleep-away camps this summer. The need-based scholarships were granted to 108 families with children at 41 different camps throughout the United States and Canada.
For Rachell Krell, summertime isn’t about taking a well-deserved rest. After finishing her junior year at Northern Arizona University, where she was recognized for her work in the honors college, awarded scholarships and selected for a place in STARS College — an organization for students pu…
Emma Lammersen, 15, is one of two Arizonans who are part of a relatively new national Jewish teen group called Sababa Society.
When Princeton University announced last fall that it was not ready to let students return to campus, Jacob Miller, 20, decided it was time for a different type of learning experience. He took a leave of absence from Princeton, determined to be living in Israel by January 2021.
Menachem Mendel Academy will begin its 2021 fall academic year with a new offering: a preschool.
Emma Schwarz, 16 and a sophomore at Verde Valley School in Sedona, won first place in this year’s Anti-Defamation League’s No Place for Hate® essay contest. Her essay, “A Generational Legacy,” was inspired by her grandfather’s efforts to spy on the Ku Klux Klan and report on its activity to …
Rebecca Wolf remembers when she first learned about the Holocaust. She was about 8 or 9 years old and in Hebrew school.
What do you do with 50ish unused yarmulkes from a wedding 25 years ago?
Laura Drachler had to hustle to finish one last task before she could drop off her kids at Congregation Beth Israel’s Camp Stein for the summer. On May 14, both Max, 14, and Zoe, 12, received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and by the time they arrive at camp, they will be fully protected.
Eden Levi doesn’t think of herself as a writer, and she’s not planning to make it a career. But last month, the 17-year-old junior at Shearim Torah High School for Girls published a book and is selling it on Amazon.
Morgan Singer wasn’t planning to be a stay-at-home mom.
The East Valley Jewish Community Center launched its “Conversation with the Rabbi” podcast March 30.
Six-year-old “A” (name withheld upon request) was growing up plagued with anxiety. Living in a community in central Israel, his mother “S” told JNS that her now ex-husband, the boy’s father, was both physically and mentally abusive towards his son.
Lani Harrison of Scottsdale is risk averse when it comes to her kids. But when she learned Moderna would be starting a trial for a children’s vaccine against COVID-19 in Phoenix, she didn’t hesitate to try and enroll her children, ages 8, 6 and 4.
Temple Beth Shalom is the only Reform congregation in the West Valley, and we have a multi-generational and egalitarian membership. We are proud of our history of inclusivity and that we are able to offer a full range of educational programming, community and social functions and religious s…
Benjamin Doherty liked the small, intimate pod system that Shemesh Camp at Martin Pear Jewish Community Center created last summer as a measure of protection against COVID-19. As a kid who can get easily overwhelmed by the chaos of large groups, the camp’s shift away from bigger cohorts work…
B’nai mitzvah ceremonies have transformed during the COVID-19 pandemic from crowded affairs to limited gatherings of friends and family. Over the past year people have become used to watching a Haftorah reading via Zoom instead of inside a sanctuary.
Eva Markowitz, 11, hugged her grandparents for the first time in over a year the week before Passover.
Liza Golden knows how to throw a party. She threw a bash for about 130 people for her daughter’s bat mitzvah in 2014 and again for her son’s bar mitzvah in 2017.
By the time Marlie Nochomovitz finally got her driver’s license, there was nowhere to go.
My grandchildren get excited by the Passover story.
Passover is a great opportunity for young children to get involved with the planning and preparation of the seder. While we’re still dealing with Zoom seders, here are some ideas to make the holiday fun for the whole family.
Zoom call for NFTY Southwest team at NFTY’s convention
After Saturday night’s Havdalah service at NC21, NFTY’s 2021 convention, Dan Nichols, a famous Jewish rock musician, performed a digital concert while NFTYites waved the glow sticks they received in their merch packages. They were celebrating community and music together.
Isabell Kondkhorov, 16, loved her CTeen chapter in Newton, Massachusetts. She even decided to stay as a member once she had moved across the country to Phoenix. Now a sophomore at Pinnacle High School, Kondkhorov is part of three chapters: Newton, Gilbert and the newly-formed Phoenix chapter…
It's still March, but camp directors and other Jewish professionals are thinking about June's archery, kayaks and rope climbing. With summer camp slated to begin in approximately three months, staff are feverishly preparing for the challenge of operating during a pandemic.
With about three months to go until summer, most Jewish overnight camps are planning to open for the season. They also, however, cherished hopes well into the pandemic that they would be able to do the same last year.
