Violins of Hope receives grant
Violins of Hope, a project of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, was recently awarded a grant from the Newton and Betty Rosenzweig Fund for the Arts through the Arizona Community Foundation. The Rosenzweigs were ACF’s very first donors who made a planned gift to leave a legacy supporting the community they were so passionate about. In their honor, ACF created an endowment to support arts and culture to benefit Arizona residents and communities.
Violins of Hope tells the remarkable stories of violins played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. Israeli violinmaker Amnon Weinstein has devoted the last 20 years to locating and restoring 60 violins as a tribute to those who were lost, including 400 of his own relatives. He calls these the “Violins of Hope.”
The Violins of Hope program will be in Arizona from February through March 2019. Through concerts, museum exhibition and comprehensive education programs, children, adults, educators and seniors will learn, connect and understand more deeply the significance of the Holocaust, the lessons learned and how these lessons apply to our world today.
Portland couple bring award-winning pizza to Tucson
Marc and Tracy Frankel opened Pizza Luna at 1101 N. Wilmot Road in Tucson on March 13. The Frankels recently moved to Tucson from Portland, OR, where they operated a chain of 18 restaurants, including the award-winning Pizzicato and Lovejoy Bakers. They started Pizzicato in 1989 in the back of a convenience store. Most of their locations are in the Portland area, although they also have franchise operations in San Diego and Encinitas, CA.
Pizza Luna describes their pizza as Neo Neapolitan, thin crust pies that combine baking science, curated ingredients and honed technique. The dough is cold-fermented for three days and baked at a high temperature producing a light and buttery crust, with a hint of sour and a delicate crunch. The pizzas are topped with house-made mozzarella and artisan toppings.
Jason and Jordan Rose – the hosts with the most
Jason and Jordan Rose of Paradise Valley were among the 100 other notables like Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber, Heidi Klum, Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon who made the 2018 “Salonniere 100” list for their extravagant parties.
The Salonniere 100 spotlights honorees from 34 cities and 28 states in the United States and represents a diverse and brilliantly creative group of men and women who share one common trait: an exceptional ability to leverage the power of parties to enhance the lives of others.
Also honored in the Phoenix area were Bob and Renee Parsons. A special focus was placed on those who entertain with enthusiasm, creativity, passion and flair.
Jason Rose, a native of Phoenix is the co-founder of Rose+Moser+Allyn Public and Online Relations and co-founder of the Bentley Scottsdale Polo Championships: Horses & Horsepower and the Stella Artois Derby DayClub at Turf Paradise. Jordan Rose is founder of Rose Law Group, the state’s largest female-owned law firm.
Jewish Community Foundation announces 2018 grants
The Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix announced its 2018 discretionary grants, totaling $224,312, including $16,000 in small grants, to benefit the Jewish community locally and in Israel, through its unrestricted endowment funds, the Jewish Women’s Endowment Fund and other “field of interest” endowments. Chaired by Francine Coles, the Foundation’s grants committee awarded 24 grants to the organizations and programs including the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Genetics Diseases Center, Be-Atzmi, Eretz Ir, IT Works and many more.
New this year, the Foundation added two funding categories: existing programs that address an unmet need; and in Israel, programs that specifically aim to improve relations between Jews and Arabs.
“Last month, I visited a new grantee in the latter category. We delivered Shaloch Manot to Arab neighbors in Abu Tor, which straddles East and West Jerusalem. We explained the meaning of Purim and introduced them to an economic development project, which is part of the program we funded. It was pretty incredible to see how neighbors in this mixed community co-exist,” says Sheryl Quen, JCF director of grants.
Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona welcomes Oshrat Barel
The Weintraub Israel Center’s first woman director and its sixth shlicha (emissary from Israel), Oshrat Barel, completes her transition this month to vice president of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s community engagement department.
The new department will facilitate collaboration among three existing program areas including the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Coalition for Jewish Education and the Weintraub Israel Center.
Oshrat earned her bachelors’ degree in economics and management from the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Yaffo and her MBA from Netanya Academic College. She worked for the Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel, and ran educational programs to train community leaders. Oshrat was director of the Beit Shean-Emek HaMaayanot-Cleveland Partnership2Gether for five years before arriving in Arizona in 2013.
Everyone can be a “math person” with the help of Janice Auerbach
What started out as a way for Janice Auerbach to help her daughter become more proficient in math, has grown into a business. Page A Day Math with the Math Squad is geared for ages 3 to 9 and provides step-by-step practice to promote confidence, independent learning and lasting math facts fluency.
Janice has years of experience tutoring, math volunteer-teaching and then teaching 5th and 6th grade pre-algebra. She believes that everyone can be a “math person” and she creates math books and tools that are colorful, fun and encouraging – helping to inspire to both the student and the parent.
Rabbi Ruven Barkan appointed as part-time director of Hebrew High
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona has appointed Rabbi Ruven Barkan to the part-time position of director of Tucson Hebrew High. Rabbi Barkan will also continue his position as education and youth director at Congregation Anshei Israel.
Rabbi Barkan was born and raised in Tucson, and has 11 years of experience as rabbi-in-residence at the Chicagoland Jewish High School (now Rochelle Zell Jewish High School in Deerfield, IL), his first position after rabbinical school. His background includes study in Israel, working as a counselor at Camp Ramah in California and undergraduate work at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. He was ordained in 2001 at Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
