Calendar

Jul
22
Fri
Cong. Anshei Israel Traditional Community Shabbat Dinner @ Congregation Anshei Israel
Jul 22 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Enjoy a traditional Shabbat dinner with family and friends at CAI (with linens, china plates and silverware!). Served family-style: roast chicken (vegetarian option upon request), vegetables, sweet kugel, salad and dessert. (Seating will be assigned.) CAI members: adults (ages 13+) $14; children $8; guests: adults $18, children $12. RSVP needed by July 13.

Aug
14
Sun
Belakovskaia Chess Academy for Children – Fall 2016 Semester @ Tucson Jewish Community Center
Aug 14 @ 12:00 pm

WELCOME TO BELAKOVSKAIA CHESS ACADEMY – a Unique Fast-Learning Chess Program for Children in the Southwest U.S.

THE UNIQUE TRAINING PROGRAM IS DESIGNED BY ANJELINA BELAKOVSKAIA – A 3-TIME U.S. WOMEN’S CHESS CHAMPION, WOMAN INTERNATIONAL GRANDMASTER, WORLD CHAMPION AMONG STUDENTS (USSR TEAM) AND LEADER OF THE US OLYMPIC CHESS TEAM

My philosophy is to challenge kids through fast pace, very creative, yet highly organized and logical experience, that broadens their horizons, amazes them at what they are capable of and sets them off to explore and compete.

My goal is to help students develop critical thinking skills that they can utilize on the chess board and beyond, simultaneously preparing them to the States and National competitions.

Chess and Academic Achievements: Numerous studies have proven the benefit of chess in boosting academic achievements – http://www.psmcd.net/otherfiles/BenefitsOfChessInEdScreen2.pdf – and I strongly believe in it from my own experience – most of my students are taking Advanced Math, Reading and other subjects.

Schedule: 16 Weeks –
FALL 1 (8 weeks): Aug 14, 21, 28, Sep 4, 11, 18, 25, Oct 2
Break (1 week)
FALL 2 (8 weeks): Oct 16, 23, 30, Nov 6, 13, 20, __, Dec 4, 11

Each class is limited to 10 students.

OUR PHOTO ALBUMS & MEDIA COVERAGE:
1st Individual and Family Team Chess Tournament in Tucson
PBS / Arizona Public Media (05/27/2014): “US Chess Champion: Game Can Expand Kids Skills
UA@Work: “National Champion Teaches Students How Business Is Like Chess
Chess and Science Festival and All-Girls Chess Tournament at Flandrau Science Center – video
Find updates at: https://www.facebook.com/BelakovskaiaChessAcademy

Aug
21
Sun
Cong. Anshei Israel Welcome Back Party & Open House @ Congregation Anshei Israel
Aug 21 @ 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm

There’s no place like home… there’s no place like CAI! This “Wizard of Oz”-themed event will allow current synagogue members to see old friends after the summer break and make new ones, as well as let those interested in learning more about CAI get acquainted. Clergy, school directors, staff and affiliate group representatives will be on hand to answer questions about the synagogue, its services, schools, programs and gift shop. Learn about our award-winning Preschool/Kindergarten, Religious School & USY programs and ask about our FREE membership program that includes High Holy Days tickets.

Lunch is included and there will be fun activities for all ages (Witch’s jumping castle, Glinda the Good Witch “bubble” balls (requested $1 donation to benefit USY), Twister (get it?), and more. Watch “The Wizard of Oz,” get silly with props in our rainbow backdrop (bring your camera!), and play our CAI/OZ Trivia Contest… you could win a great prize!

IT’S ALL FREE, but we ask that attendees participate in our Mitzvah Project to benefit HOPE Animal Shelter (friends of Toto!). EACH PERSON: PLEASE BRING AS YOUR ADMISSION TO THE EVENT

  • Authority, Trader Joe’s, Fancy Feast or Kirkland brands dry or canned dog/cat food, or;
  • Dog/cat toys, or;
  • Laundry detergent, bleach or dish soap

RSVP by August 12 and be entered in a raffle; winner will be drawn at the party.

Sep
14
Wed
Israel in the Media: Beyond the Headlines @ Temple Kol Ami
Sep 14 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee & Temple Kol Ami cordially invite you to Israel in the Media: Beyond the Headlines featuring author and journalist Matti Friedman.

Matti Friedman is the author of Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story, a war memoir of the often forgotten events that took place in the 1990s at the Pumpkin, a small military outpost in Lebanon. His first book, The Aleppo Codex, won the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize, the American Library Association’s Sophia Brody Medal, the Canadian Jewish Book Award and other honors. It was published in Israel, Australia, Holland, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Russia and South Korea.

Friedman’s reporting has taken him from Israel to Lebanon, Morocco, Moscow and the Caucasus, and his writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post and elsewhere. He is a former Associated Press correspondent and a regular contributor to Tablet Magazine. Two essays he wrote about media coverage of Israel after the 2014 Gaza War, for Tablet and The Atlantic, triggered intense discussion and have been shared together on Facebook more than 100,000 times. He was born in Toronto and lives in Jerusalem.

Join us for a fascinating lecture and discussion at Temple Kol Ami.

Please visit www.aipac.org/PHXEOC/ to register or call 602-277-3318.

Event Details

Cost: $18 (Advanced registration required: please RSVP by September 8)

Date: Wednesday, September 14

Location: Temple Kol Ami (15030 N 64th Street, Scottsdale, AZ 85254)

Time: 6PM Registration & Reception | 6:30PM Program

Apr
23
Sun
Shalom in Every Home: The Role of Spirituality in a Healthy Household @ Jewish Community Center
Apr 23 @ 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

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.

Apr
30
Sun
Shalom in Every Home: Nourishing Love & Happiness–Mindfulness Techniques & Relationship Health @ Jewish Community Center
Apr 30 @ 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

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.

Dec
16
Sun
A Sunday of Laughs with comedian Peter Fogel @ East Valley JCC
Dec 16 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm

Comedian Peter J. Fogel has worked or appeared on more than 20 television shows and has performed on cruise ships and at comedy clubs, performing arts centers and Las Vegas theaters. He is currently the national touring star of “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy.”

(Two shows: 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.)

A Sunday of Laughs with comedian Peter Fogel @ East Valley JCC
Dec 16 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Comedian Peter J. Fogel has worked or appeared on more than 20 television shows and has performed on cruise ships and at comedy clubs, performing arts centers and Las Vegas theaters. He is currently the national touring star of “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish & I’m in Therapy.”

(Two shows: 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.)

Nov
18
Mon
Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi: The Gray Zone of Holocaust Survival @ Chandler Center for the Arts
Nov 18 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

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.

Mar
15
Sun
CANCELED Klezmer Fest @ East Valley JCC
Mar 15 @ 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm

The East Valley JCC and the City of Chandler will host the annual Klezmer Fest from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 15,  at the East Valley JCC, 908 N. Alma School Road, Chandler.

Lively and upbeat,  klezmer is the traditional Jewish folk music of Eastern European Jewish communities. Over time, the style of music has grown to include instrumental music, Yiddish vocal music and modern fusion music that combines klezmer with world music such as Afro-pop, rock or hip hop. 

This music festival will also include a Yiddish Experience that includes workshops and lectures focusing on topics such as genealogy and the Yiddish language. In addition, there will be children’s activities, such as inflatables, face-painting and a petting zoo, as well as kosher pizza and salads available for sale by Brad’s Mobile Pizza Oven. 

Local bands include Jerusafunk, a nine-piece ensemble from Phoenix that blends traditional klezmer music with American Funk and other world music genres, such as jazz, salsa and samba; the Rural Street Klezmer Band of Temple Emanuel of Tempe that plays traditional Jewish soul music inspired by Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Yiddish theater and American jazz; Zaftic, whose rich and succulent sound is a mixture of Turkish, Arabic, Baroque, Irish and jazz; and Klezmerkaba, an 11-piece band from Tucson whose repertoire consists of klezmer pieces steeped in Eastern European tradition, as well as familiar Jewish, Yiddish and Israeli pieces from different eras and ethnicities. The festival will conclude with a massive jam session featuring all the musicians.

Tickets are $15 adults, $5 children up to age 12.

Visit evjcc.org/klezmerfest

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