Artists open Creating Spot
Artists Bobby Harr and Cheryl Senkfor recently opened The Creating Spot in Scottsdale. It’s a contemporary studio where adults of all ages can sign up to create original pieces of art including jewelry, fused glass and fiber arts.
In addition to the classes and workshops that will be taught by Cheryl, Bobby and other local artists, there is a gallery space where original works of art can be purchased. The space is also available for hosting events such as birthdays, bachelorette parties, team building, book clubs and more.
Both Bobby and Cheryl are longtime members of the Valley Jewish community. Cheryl concentrates on personally designed, knitted jewelry using pure silver, gold and copper wire. Bobby creates fused and kiln-formed glass Judaica and art objects. He will be offering a fused glass mezuzah workshop and will also have his mezuzot and menorahs for sale in the mini gallery. Stop by their studio at 7127 E Sixth Ave. in Scottsdale.
480-272-6004 | thecreatingspot.com
Miracle Mile Deli moves
For the past 66 years, Miracle Mile Deli has served the Valley’s finest and freshest East Coast favorites under three generations of one family. Josh Garcia, son of current owners Jill and George Garcia, and grandson of Jack Grodzinsky, the original owner, is now running the day-to-day operations.
The original deli was located on the “Miracle Mile” at 16th Street and McDowell in Phoenix. Since then it has been in a number of locations, most recently at the Camelback Colonnade, where it has been for the last 15 years. On June 9, the iconic deli is moving from the Camelback location to a new stand-alone building at 4433 N 16th St. in Phoenix, just two blocks south of Camelback. The modern 6,600-square-foot restaurant was built from the ground up and features an inviting wrap-around patio that is perfect for outside dining. This new location includes four microbrews on tap, seasonal wines, homemade pies a la mode and real ice cream milkshakes.
The new location will also be open for weekend breakfast, Saturdays and Sundays, 7-11 am. Miracle Mile will enhance their to-go service at the new location with a walk-up window for take away orders and online ordering. The entire Garcia family is excited to welcome customers to their new “home” and look forward to serving the Valley community for many years to come.
miraclemiledeli.com
Rabbi Schneider new board president
At its May meeting, the Board of Rabbis of Greater Phoenix elected a slate of officers for a two-year term. Officers are: president, Rabbi Jeremy Schneider; vice president, Rabbi Dr. Robert Kravitz; secretary, Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman; treasurer, Rabbi Micah Caplan; and immediate past president, Rabbi Rony Keller
The Board of Rabbis is committed to fostering Klal Yisrael and providing leadership to the community. Members of the Board of Rabbis are ordained rabbis who maintain membership in recognized national rabbinical organizations that adhere to professional ethical codes. Board of Rabbis community projects include local sponsorship of The Melton Program and the Community Tikkun Leil Shavuot, A Night of Jewish Learning, which was held on May 21.
phoenixbor@gmail.com
Anne Lowe retires from JFSA’s NW Division
Anne Lowe retired April 2 after nearly nine years working for the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. In that time she was able to coalesce the Jewish population of the northwest suburbs of Tucson into a cohesive Jewish community, even though there is no synagogue in that 11-ZIP-code area, which includes Oro Valley, Marana, Catalina, SaddleBrooke and Avra Valley. The federation Northwest office continues to function and a new Northwest Division director is being sought. There are ongoing mah jongg games, book club groups, Rosh Hodesh gatherings and other events.
Anne retired primarily because her husband is teaching in Singapore for a semester, and she wanted to join him. She told Arizona Jewish Life that she has attended the United Hebrew Congregation’s Shabbat dinner and service; it is a congregation of about 150 families that have been together in Singapore for 22 years. No synagogue yet, but they just hired Rabbi Nathan Alfred of London to head their “Progressive Congregation.” She also has attended services at Maghain Avoth (Shield of our Fathers) Orthodox synagogue, which has been there since 1878. She has plans to visit another Orthodox synagogue, Chesed-El. The area’s Jewish community started when Baghdadi Jews settled in Singapore during the silk trade years of the early 1800s. Anne and her husband will return to Tucson in the fall.
Andre Ivory serves Scottsdale and Sun City Jewish groups
The Valley Jewish community welcomes a new communal professional who is taking on dual positions – one in Scottsdale and the other in Sun City. But coming from Los Angeles, the distances aren’t daunting to Andre Ivory.
Andre is a dynamic Jewish educator with 17 years of dedicated service to the Jewish community. Specializing in experiential Jewish education, Andre has served congregations and Jewish institutions in Los Angeles, Toronto and Phoenix. Andre’s commitment to the Jewish community is driven by his love for the values of Torah, Avodah and G’milut Chasadim. Every day, Andre strives to impart these values on the adults and children he instructs.
Andre serves as outreach coordinator for the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Phoenix and came into that position in August of 2014. He serves as coordinator of the BJE’s program for Jewish young professionals called ACT, a service learning project aimed at connecting young Jews with their basic Jewish values. ACT is an acronym for Action, Connect and Think, the focus of the volunteer project. ACT aims to promote Jewish communal volunteerism, connecting our community through volunteerism while contemplating how social action fits into our Jewish lives. Andre also teaches classes for BJE.
In addition to his service with BJE, he proudly serves as religious school director at Temple Beth Shalom in Sun City, coming on board there in fall of 2014.
ACT: bjephoenix.org | andre.ivory@gmail.com
