Executive Director

We begin this New Year with beginning of the second Book of our Torah: Shemot, most often translated Exodus,when in fact it means Names. Besides the names of our ancestors listed in chapter one, the heroines of chapters one and two are five women. Two have their names recorded. Three others do not.

Shifra and Pua are the midwives who refuse to kill male Hebrew newborns for Pharaoh. There are three other women who play heroic roles in these first two chapters whose names are not given: the baby’s mother, the baby’s sister (or near relative) and Pharaoh’s daughter who saves Moses and raises him as her own. More

At the dawn of our people’s history – four thousand years ago – two people set off on a journey. They did not know where their travels would take them. They only knew that they heard a voice, telling them that a great and blessed nation would form as a result of this journey. And, that was enough to set Abraham and Sarah off to leave the place of their birth on a journey that would change the world.

It is interesting that for our children who leave our little Tucson, they tell us opportunities for adventure and success are to be found in great cities like New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Some of our children are in London, Seoul and Tokyo. Great cities all! More