This interactive and upbeat Shabbat celebration for families incorporates fun-spirited melodies and family-themed activities. We’ll share Shabbat dinner, followed by Open Lounge in the Youth Center with games and fun. Come celebrate Shabbat with ruach (spirit) and your congregational family! Dinner $25 per family (two adults & up to 4 children) and/or adults (13+) $10 per person. RSVP needed by Sept. 12.
For the Summer, Schmooze Young Families (20s-40s) is making a monthly stop at different Phoenix area splash pads for some nice cool fun outdoors! In September, we’ll stop by the new and exciting splash pad at the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center in Scottsdale. Be on the lookout for the Schmooze sign to gather with other Schmooze members. To reserve your space, please RSVP at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/53KJ57F.
You can find more details and RSVP (to let us know if we should be on the lookout for you) through the Facebook event page (https://www.facebook.com/events/1314558858561882) or Meetup event page (https://www.meetup.com/azschmooze/events/233720303).
Held on the Oleisky Courtyard patio
The opportunity to worship outside enables us to better encounter nature, and to remind ourselves that any space can become sacred through the manner in which we use it. Come and help us expand our “worship zone” as we welcome Shabbat.
Sacred time and emotional fullness can help promote meaningful and long-term family health. Enjoy an interactive and reflective conversation about bringing family closer together through age-old practices such as transforming a dining room table into an altar to create shared family spirituality. Speaker Avraham Alpert is the spiritual leader of Congregation Bet Shalom in Tucson and is in his final year of rabbinical seminary at the Academy for Jewish Religion in Los Angeles after serving as a hazzan for more than 18 years. He leads services and officiates a full range of life cycle events, counsels people in need, trains students of all ages, coordinates lay-leaders, develops programs, and teaches creative classes.
This is one of two April lectures in the Shalom in Every Home Healthy Family Lecture Series sponsored by Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona and the LEAH program, which is funded by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.
Please join us in honoring Kathryn Unger for her community leadership, and more than two decades of support for JFCS of Southern Arizona.
With a passion for “Tikkun Olam” (repairing the world) and “Tzedakah” (acts of kindness and justice), Kathy has selflessly dedicated her time and energy to support Jewish organizations, and the under-served diverse populations of our community. She is the Past Chair of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Board of Directors, and has served on the Boards of Directors of JFCS of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.
The speaker for the event is CNN analyst and author David Gregory, a sought-after speaker on politics, world affairs, and now faith since the release of his book “How’s Your Faith? An Unlikely Spiritual Journey.” Over the last 25 years, David Gregory’s career in journalism has taken him across the country and around the world. He is a CNN political analyst, and host of his podcast which features interviews with newsmakers and thought leaders. During his 20 years at NBC News, David served as the moderator of Meet the Press for six years, and was chief White House correspondent during the presidency of George W. Bush. In his book, David writes about his life and quest to deepen his faith.
The emcee is Stella Inger, an Anchor with KGUN 9 in Tucson.
Event steering committee members include:
Barbara Befferman Danes
Heather Caine, Chair
Fred Fruchthendler
Carole Levi
Eric Mellan
Jill Rosenzweig
Betty Anne Sarver
Liz Weiner-Schulman
Incorporating the practice of mindfulness into our lives has a positive impact on our individual well-being. This discussion will focus on the use of mindfulness in couples counseling and specific skills that increase gratitude and compassion in interpersonal relationships. Shari Goettel, LCSW, is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice in Tucson. As a trainer and presenter, Shari draws from her background in Imago Relationship Therapy and Encounter-Centered Couples Therapy, as well her mentors and Buddhist psychology. Shari creates a rich learning space for people to explore new ideas, beliefs and habits.
This is one of two April lectures in the Shalom in Every Home Healthy Family Lecture Series sponsored by Jewish Family & Children’s Services of Southern Arizona and the LEAH program, which is funded by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona.
Open to the public, this FREE weekly class for children 9- to 24-months in age and their parent(s) is a great way to meet other parents, exchange experiences, and provide an opportunity for the children to play together and engage in age-appropriate activities. Facilitated by Gabby Erbst, various experts from different fields of child development and child-care will visit to share their expertise and provide opportunities for discussions. Feel free to bring your friends; it’s open to everyone! (PLEASE NOTE: We have a mandatory vaccination policy.)
Open to the public, this FREE weekly class for children 9- to 24-months in age and their parent(s) is a great way to meet other parents, exchange experiences, and provide an opportunity for the children to play together and engage in age-appropriate activities. Facilitated by Gabby Erbst, various experts from different fields of child development and child-care will visit to share their expertise and provide opportunities for discussions. Feel free to bring your friends; it’s open to everyone! (PLEASE NOTE: We have a mandatory vaccination policy.)
Open to the public, this FREE weekly class for children 9- to 24-months in age and their parent(s) is a great way to meet other parents, exchange experiences, and provide an opportunity for the children to play together and engage in age-appropriate activities. Facilitated by Gabby Erbst, various experts from different fields of child development and child-care will visit to share their expertise and provide opportunities for discussions. Feel free to bring your friends; it’s open to everyone! (PLEASE NOTE: We have a mandatory vaccination policy.)
The Center for Holocaust Education and Human Dignity of the East Valley JCC presents “Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi: The Gray Zone of Holocaust Survival” 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18, at Chandler Center for the Arts.
Professor Nancy Harrowitz of Boston University’s Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies will read written works by two Auschwitz survivors, Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel, and discuss how they started a new life after the Holocaust.
Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi are the two most widely read authors on the subject of the Holocaust. They share their harrowing and deeply moving stories in very different ways, but are tied together through a deeply philosophical perspective, an emphasis on social justice, and the meaningful legacies they have left behind. How do they create an approach to the Holocaust that brings readers to appreciate its importance in today’s world? How can looking at their stories and how they tell them help us understand their relevance? What can we learn from these two writers/survivors? The program is the debut of a partnership with Boston University’s Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies.
Nancy Harrowitz is a professor of Italian and Jewish studies at Boston University. She has published widely on anti-Semitism and gender in the modern period. Her most recent work includes the book “Primo Levi and the Identity of a Survivor.” At Boston University, she teaches courses on modern Italian literature, film and literature produced under fascism, and representations of the Holocaust in literature and film. She also directs the school’s new minor in Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies.