Marc Blitzstein (1905–1964) was a groundbreaking American composer whose work reflected both his commitment to social justice and his rich musical heritage. Known for his versatility, Blitzstein made significant contributions to both the classical and musical theater worlds, with works that conveyed a deep sense of purpose and cultural engagement. His Airborne Symphony, championed by Leonard Bernstein, and his Jewish background provide important windows into understanding his life and artistic legacy.

Born in Philadelphia to a Jewish family, Blitzstein was exposed to music early in life. His father, a prominent businessman, and his mother, a pianist, encouraged his musical development. Blitzstein studied piano and music theory as a child and later pursued formal education at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. His early training was steeped in European classical traditions, but his cultural identity as a Jewish American would remain a strong influence throughout his life and works.

Blitzstein’s Jewish background was significant not only in shaping his musical style, but also in influencing his social and political outlook. As a young composer, he became increasingly engaged with politics, especially during the years of the Great Depression. The struggles of working-class Americans and the fight against fascism resonated deeply with Blitzstein, and his music began to reflect these concerns.

Beyond his musical compositions, Marc Blitzstein was deeply engaged in the political and social movements of his time. His Jewish upbringing, which instilled in him a deep sense of moral responsibility, made him a strong advocate for workers’ rights, civil rights, and anti-fascism.

Blitzstein’s political views were not without consequences. In 1939, he was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, as his political positions made him a target of suspicion. Despite these challenges, Blitzstein remained resolute in his commitment to progressive causes, using his music as a vehicle for social change. Blitzstein’s contributions to American music, theater, and political discourse are undeniable, making him a lasting figure in the landscape of 20th-century composition.

One of Blitzstein’s most significant works is the Airborne Symphony, a large-scale choral-orchestral work written during World War II. Premiered in 1946, the choral symphony originated as a collaboration between Blitzstein and the U.S. Air Force, designed to be a tribute to the men and women serving in the Air Force during the war. The work is notable for its symphonic structure and its incorporation of text, which sets poems about the military experience to music. The choral symphony is a deeply emotional and patriotic piece, underscoring Blitzstein’s ability to blend personal expression with collective experience.

The Airborne Symphony was championed by the renowned conductor Leonard Bernstein, who conducted the premiere and was instrumental in bringing the work to public attention. Bernstein, who was known for his own political activity and advocacy for American composers, saw Blitzstein’s choral symphony as a powerful reflection of the wartime ethos. Bernstein’s endorsement of the Airborne Symphony was critical in securing its place in the American classical canon.

Local two-time Grammy- nominated True Concord Voices & Orchestra has been celebrating the 250th anniversary of Tucson’s founding throughout its 2024-25 concert season.  The organization selected Blitzstein’s Airborne Symphony to be the anchor work of its upcoming program intended to commemorate the centenary of the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base with three concerts across greater Tucson beginning February 28.

True Concord received authorization from the Kurt Weill Foundation, which controls Blitzstein’s music, for a new shorter suite edition of the work that eschews the references to war and focuses on the exhilaration of flying and the miracle of flight itself. Tucson has long been fascinated with flight and the skies through Davis-Monthan, the Pima Air and Space Museum and UA’s acclaimed Department of Astronomy.

For more information on the upcoming concerts, click here or call 520-401-2651.

Eric Holtan is Founding Music Director of True Concord Voices & Orchestra. Under his direction, the organization has performed most of the major choral-orchestral works of the canon and premiered dozens of new works by American composers. Originally from Minnesota, Holtan earned a doctor of music degree in choral and orchestral conducting from the University of Arizona.

“Quirky enough to be interesting.”

That’s what Kari Marsh thought when she first heard about Harvest912, a small nonprofit that provides shoes and foot care for unhoused people. Based in Erie, Pa., Harvest912 was looking to start a Tucson branch.

Harvest912 got its start when founders Kit and Tad Jakes, on their way to cook a fancy dinner for a friend, drove past a man wearing only one shoe. They had no cash to give him; instead they headed to a big box store to buy him shoes. After giving the man the new shoes — remarkably, they had picked the right size — the couple felt an overwhelming sense of joy. Within a week they had started Harvest912.

Adding to the quirkiness, the Tucson connection is rooted in the founder love of spicy foods. The Pennsylvania couple creates hot sauces and spicy treats under the “Mad Cow” brand, with profits going to Harvest912, and a fellow chili head in Tucson suggested they start a branch here.

Marsh heard this story at a meeting of Faith That Works Tucson. She offered to help, figuring she’d connect Kit Jakes to local organizations serving the homeless population. Instead Marsh, who leads community outreach for Hope City Church, was inspired to run Harvest912 Tucson.

Congregation Bet Shalom has been partnering with Hope City on other projects, such as making lunches for the unhoused.

Last week, volunteers from Bet Shalom, Hope City, and the wider community took part in a foot care clinic at Gospel Rescue Mission, one of several such clinics Harvest912 Tucson has held at locations around town convenient for the unhoused population. The clinic was part of a pre-Thanksgiving outreach event at the mission that included everything from turkey dinners to jumping castles for children.

Anne Lowe, a former Bet Shalom president and inveterate volunteer, was at the mission on November 27, washing the feet of people in need alongside her friend Carrie Jacobi.

In past years, Jacobi has volunteered to help cook and serve Thanksgiving dinners at the mission.

The foot clinic was a chance to do something different, says Jacobi, adding that she heard Marsh speak at a Northwest Tucson Jewish Community lunch and learn.

After having their feet washed, the houseless individuals moved on to a volunteer nurse, Carrie Rubal, who checked their feet for problems and trimmed nails and calluses.

“It was a very moving to see the people who needed to have their feet worked on” by the nurse, Lowe says, because it was obvious they hadn’t had that kind of care in a long time.

“It was nice to be part of a whole day of giving to people,” Lowe adds. “It was a rewarding experience. I’d do it again.”

At the final station, those who had registered in advance received new socks and shoes. The registrations allowed Marsh to bring the correct sizes to the mission. The shoes are donated by Carolina Shoe Company, which offered to donate after Harvest912 asked to buy shoes at cost.

Marsh says Carolina delivers hundreds of shoes to the Tucson branch several times a year, in addition to supplying the Erie branch.

The clinic at Gospel Rescue Mission was Harvest912 Tucson’s fourth full foot care clinic with a medical professional. They also hold regular mini clinics, without a health care professional, at Hope City Church. In addition to getting new shoes and socks, mini clinic guests get respite from the weather, lunch, and other items such as hygiene kits and backpacks, says Marsh.

Friendships That Bridge Religious Boundaries

Lowe met Marsh through a mutual friend. When they started talking about their respective congregations, they realized that Bet Shalom’s Rabbi Avi Alpert and Hope City’s Pastor Jeff Logsdon had a lot in common.

Besides being similar in age, “we have a lot of crossover in terms of our respective approaches to what we’re trying to do to help our people,” says Alpert.

Marsh arranged a meeting and the two clergymen hit it off. “We’ve become very good friends,” says Alpert.

“The backstory,” he says, “is that Jeff is involved with Christians United for Israel and I have a longstanding connection with that organization,” including friendships with other pastors.

Logsdon has attended several services at Bet Shalom and Alpert has been a guest speaker at Hope City.

Along with sandwich-making, the congregations have partnered on other programs to aid people in the neighborhood of the church, such as collecting clothing and items for hygiene kits.

“Our people have gotten to know their people and vice versa,” says Alpert. “This summer, we did an event at Mt. Lemmon, just to go hiking. It was wonderful.”

It doesn’t bother Alpert that Harvest912 takes its name from Christian scripture,”even though I must say that I strongly disagree with Christianity,” he says, adding that he and Logsdon talk freely about their religious differences.

Harvest912 is a valuable program, the rabbi says, noting that “it makes many people uncomfortable even to acknowledge that there are people in that kind of need.”

“I think it’s healthy for people in the Jewish community to interact with unhoused people. Any time that we can come together for the common good, it’s great,” he says.

Marsh, an attorney who spent much of her career as a special agent for the FBI, acknowledges that people can be intimidated by the idea of working with the unhoused population.

New Harvest912 volunteers sometimes say, “‘I want to volunteer but I don’t want to wash feet.’ And it doesn’t take long, they get sucked in. There’s something kind of intimate and magical about it,” Marsh says. “I think in an environment where there’s specified boundaries, people aren’t asking for money, people aren’t trying to see if you’ll house them, it’s pretty simple.”

A Volunteer with Four Paws and a Heart of Gold

Marsh had hoped Bet Shalom member Bernie Engelhard could bring his therapy dog, Bella, to the foot clinic at Gospel Rescue Mission.

Although the mission nixed that idea, Bella, an English cream golden retriever, will be on hand for the next mini clinic at Hope City on Dec. 7.

Engelhard and his wife, Elinor, got Bella through Southern Arizona Golden Retriever Rescue almost four years ago. Bella will appear in SAGRR’s 2025 calendar as Miss July.

Bella is certified by the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. She participates in the Read to a Dog program at two elementary schools, helps at-risk kids at a residential treatment center build core strengths such as teamwork and empathy, and visits with patients and staff at the VA Hospital.

At the hospital, Engelhard and Bella spend at least five minutes with each patient.

“I’ve rarely had anyone say I’m not interested in having a therapy dog visit,” he says, noting that studies have shown petting a therapy dog can reduce a person’s blood pressure by up to six points.

“Anxiety goes down, endorphins go up; all those good things,” he says, adding that Bella has also visited with University of Arizona students during finals week.

At the upcoming foot clinic, which will be a new experience for Engelhard and Bella, he anticipates she will help reduce anxiety people may have about letting another person wash their feet.

She should have plenty of people to meet there — at the Gospel Rescue Mission, Marsh handed out 50 mini clinic invitations to people who couldn’t be seen there but were interested in having their feet washed and getting new shoes.

For information about volunteering at a foot clinic, contact Marsh at 520-878-7674 or marshkari@hotmail.com.

As a volunteer at Tucson Medical Center, Linda Kunsberg often conveys this message to patients who arrive for surgery or their loved ones waiting for the procedure to be over.

She explains to patients that the time their doctor told them to arrive is just for checking in; their surgery won’t start for another two hours, or more if the doctor is delayed by an operation that takes longer than expected.

As for family members waiting to see a patient after surgery, that’s in the hands of the nurses. Kunsberg has to wait for their call, and many nurses won’t allow visitors until the patient has fully woken from the anesthesia.

Kunsberg has volunteered on Monday afternoons on the third floor of TMC’s orthopedic and surgical tower since 2012.

“I absolutely enjoy and love it,” she says, noting that while some people get frustrated and yell at her for things out of her control, most are grateful for the services of the volunteers.

After the staff checks a patient in, Kunsberg notes their companion’s information. She also gives the friend or family member the patient’s tracking number, showing them how to follow the patient’s progress on monitors in the lobby, where different colors indicate pre-op, surgery, and other stages until the patient is discharged or moved to another floor for recovery.

Kunsberg is one of TMC’s cadre of more than 440 volunteers.

“There are so many advantages to having a strong volunteer force, whether it is reducing payroll costs or having individuals with a wide experience, but the greatest advantage is the heart of the volunteers,” says Jim Marten, TMC’s director of volunteers since March 2020.

“The volunteers bring such care and compassion to wherever they are participating in the hospital,” he adds.

During his first two years at TMC, there were periods when volunteers were not allowed in the hospital due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It was heartening to see how many volunteers wanted to continue volunteering throughout the COVID crisis, Marten says.

Jewish community member Barbara Esmond, who started volunteering at TMC three or four years before the COVID epidemic, figured she’d be a good fit for the neonatal intensive care unit because twins run in her family, so she’s comfortable handling tiny babies.

After learning the NICU and pediatrics are the hospital’s most popular volunteer slots, she was happy to accept a temporary assignment on a surgical floor.

When an opening in the NICU came up, she decided not to move, because she finds her work rewarding, whether it’s getting coffee for the parents of a child in surgery, who are not supposed to leave the surgical floor, or just talking to someone to help relieve their anxiety.

Esmond spent her working life as a garment contractor in a sewing factory. But she was a candy-striper in elementary and junior high school and later volunteered in hospitals in other cities as an adult.

Esmond also leads the Tucson chapter of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework and volunteers with Hadassah Southern Arizona and Congregation Bet Shalom.

Kunsberg’s professional career was likewise unrelated to medicine. She was a configuration manager for Hughes Missile Systems and Raytheon for almost 40 years.

“I’ve got to be busy,” says Kunsberg, who often fills in for other TMC volunteers in addition to her shift and volunteers for the Arizona Bowl, political campaigns, and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s annual campaign.

Fay Green started volunteering at TMC in 2016; she’d spent 30 years as an administrator in a vascular surgeon’s office.

“I was used to being around patients, people that were ill and needed comforting,” says Green, who heard about TMC’s volunteer program from a fellow Anshei Israel congregant, Linda Silverman.

Green has volunteered at other medical nonprofits, including Planned Parenthood, and has been on the Tucson International Jewish Film Festival committee for the last 12 years.

She started at TMC near the intensive care unit and cardiac catheterization laboratory but took a break when she and her husband went to Israel for his sabbatical. For the past three years, Green has volunteered in the second-floor surgical lobby.

“I feel like I’m doing a good deed for patients, and a really good deed to my heart,” she says.

Green notes that the second floor provides everything from outpatient procedures to open-heart surgeries.

“Fortunately, we have a quiet room or meditation room,” she says, for families that need more privacy.

Sometimes, she says, people are excited after getting the doctor’s post-surgery report and want someone to hug, “because everything is so much better than they thought. And so, we’re there.”

Silverman, a TMC volunteer since 2008, works in the NICU.

“The joyous part of the job is interacting with the babies, holding or feeding them,” she says. But often the nurses and the babies’ parents have everything under control and she spends her time folding laundry.

Silverman worked for the University of Arizona from 1992 to 2007, providing support in the pediatric cardiology division, followed by pediatric nephrology, and finally in the applied mathematics program.

“I really liked working with the medical students and the residents” because of their maturity and dedication. she says. The same was true of master’s and doctoral students in applied math.

Silverman took a break from volunteering when her husband, Shelby, became ill, but returned to TMC for a weekly two-hour shift a few months after his death in June 2023.

Silverman volunteers with the JPSA campaign and reads Torah at Anshei Israel. She also participates in the nationwide Women’s Health Initiative study, which, she explains, “is based on the reality that most medical research is done on men.”

Her volunteerism is partly inspired by her father, who logged 9,000 hours as a volunteer at the San Diego Hebrew Home for the Aged and lived to be 96.

Another Silverman, Judy, is Green’s volunteer partner on the second floor of TMC’s surgical tower.

Judy has also volunteered in TMC’s Ronald McDonald room, a respite area for people visiting the NICU, pediatrics, and labor and delivery. She still substitutes there on occasion.

Like Green, Judy spent most of her career in the medical field, working in front and back-office positions. She grew up on Long Island but has lived in Tucson for 47 years.

“I’m a frustrated nurse,” she says, explaining that she attended nursing school in Manhattan, including working with drug-addicted babies at Beth Israel Hospital, but dropped out when she was still in her late teens. To this day, she reads medical books and journals to stay abreast of the latest advances.

Judy, who opted for early retirement 13 years ago, used to volunteer two days a week at TMC. But she also plays mah jongg three times a week and decided she needed one free weekday for errands and appointments.

“We have a wonderful group of women — and men — who volunteer. I think they’re just very caring people,” Judy says. “It’s fascinating to me. I learn something new all the time.”

“Hopefully, I make a difference in someone’s life.”

Friendship is the common denominator for three Jewish handicraft groups in Tucson.

The Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework, the longest-running of the three, is part of a national organization dedicated to passing Jewish needlework traditions to future generations. Members use various techniques, from embroidery to beading to needlepoint, to create Judaic items for ritual and cultural use. Barbara Esmond founded the Tucson chapter in 2012 and organizes the monthly meetings.

The Northwest Needlers recently changed their name to The Knitzvah Project to reflect their main purpose: knitting or crocheting items for charity. The group began nine years ago under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and is now part of the Northwest Tucson Jewish Community. During the pandemic, members met on Zoom; now their meetings rotate between Zoom and members’ homes, with lunch meetings every six weeks at different local restaurants where they can stay and knit after the meal.

Chabad of Oro Valley Handicrafters, which started in October 2023, welcomes people who engage in any kind of handicraft. Most members knit or crochet, but participants have also done quilting, jewelry making, macrame, and needlepoint. Some work on items for charity; others create for themselves or their families. The main aim is to foster friendships among like-minded people, says the group’s founder and coordinator, Sharon Lichtbach Plotnick.

The projects are not necessarily Judaica, but Plotnick opens each meeting with an inspirational Jewish quote from Chabad.org or from a book on loan from Mushkie Zimmerman, one of Chabad of Oro Valley’s leaders.

In Tucson’s small Jewish community, crossover among the groups is common. Plotnick also attends meetings of The Knitzvah Project. Judith Feldman, the Knitzvah Project’s coordinator, is a regular at Handicrafters gatherings. Lois Bodin, a Pomegranate member, also travels from her eastside home to Knitzvah Project meetings; the NWTJC welcomes participants from all over Southern Arizona.

Members of all three groups enjoy chatting while they work, with topics ranging from food and families to health, travel, and politics. And yes, there is talk of patterns, stitches, and techniques, whether it is longtime knitters learning to crochet or vice versa at Knitzvah meetings, or how to do the embroidery stitches with exotic names like huck, Brazilian, and hardanger that made Esmond fall in love with the Pomegranate Guild.

Artist Anne Lowe, a longtime member, calls on her design skills to help Esmond create new projects for the Pomegranate group.

Bodin, a Pomegranate member in Tucson for 11 years and in Las Vegas for 10 years before that, says that although she’s not “a master stitcher” like Esmond, she’s made interesting and beautiful projects that she has framed and hanging in her home.

At Pomegranate meetings, members often share what’s happening at their synagogues, since they belong to different congregations, she says.

Craft groups, she says, “are a wonderful way when you come into the community to meet people from all over.”

Tucson-born Sheri Karobonik, a fabric artist and certified master knitter, also comes to Pomegranate meetings for the company.

At the September Pomegranate meeting, she worked on a scarf to be donated to the Navajo Nation, where winter temperatures often dip below 20 degrees. She explains that teenage Navajo boys, who are often more than 6 feet tall, wrap the scarves over their hats and then around their necks, covering their faces, so the scarves need to be more than 6 feet long.

Karobonik, who is ambidextrous and recently began knitting left-handed to keep from being bored, also makes up to 13 dozen hats annually for kids of all ages in the Flowing Wells school district.

The Knitzvah Project began with four members and now has “a solid group of eight,” Feldman says. They began knitting hats for a single kindergarten class at Homer Davis Elementary School and now make hats for all three kindergarten classes, plus extras for kids in other grades. Homer Davis, where more than 85% of students live below the U.S. poverty level, is the focus of an ongoing, multifaceted Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona project.

The Knitzvahs’ tzedakah doesn’t stop there. They also make hats, scarves, neck warmers, and fingerless mittens for unhoused women at Sister Jose Women’s Center; shawls for DaVita Tucson Central Dialysis patients; and tiny sweaters and hats for premature babies at Tucson Medical Center’s neonatal unit.

Other projects over the years have included lap blankets and slippers for care homes, twiddle muffs for people with dementia, and knitted dolls that became part of a humanitarian mission to Africa.

The group accepts gifts of yarn – Feldman recalls one donation that filled the trunk and back seat of her car plus more she held on her lap – but members also buy and share yarn.

“We don’t make mistakes, we make design elements” is one of the Knitzvahs’ cardinal rules, says Feldman, who has been knitting since she was eight years old. The other is, “If it’s not fun, you don’t have to do it.”

At a Knitzvah’s meeting in a restaurant this summer, the attendees touched base with a member who was out of town via a brief video call.

“It’s very casual, it’s very low pressure. Mostly it’s social, but I think we do good work. And anybody and everybody is welcome,” Feldman says.

For more information about the Knitzvah Project, email judithgfeldman@gmail.com; for the Pomegranate Guild, email Esmond at brealjs@gmail.com, and for the Handicrafters, email Plotnick at sharon_gross@yahoo.com.

It is with great excitement that we introduce THA alumna and Director of Admissions, Allison Weiss. Allison (Class of 2004) makes a wonderful addition to the admissions team, with ten years of classroom experience in Tucson and Phoenix. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership. “I have fond memories of my childhood at THA. I think about the cherished lifelong friendships,” Allison reflected. “I think about the strong morals and values THA instilled in me that I still apply to everyday life.”

As she steps into the Director of Admissions role, Allison is excited to share the THA experience with families. Our exemplary academics, personalized student attention, and dual language learning coupled with volunteerism, Jewish values, and incredible travel opportunities offer more to children from kindergarten through eighth grade.  Graduates of THA enroll in the best high schools and colleges with a solid educational foundation and a meaningful connection to the world around them.

We invite you to see what makes THA an exceptional educational experience for students, and an embracing warm community for parents, with an informational playdate on October 6th at a THA family home. Chat with current THA parents, meet Allison (Director of Admissions) and Johanna (Head of School), get to know our dedicated teachers, and ask any questions you have about our Jewish Community Day School!

Private and group campus tours are also available. Generous financial aid is available to make a THA education a reality for every family.

RSVP for the October 6th Informational Playdate at thaaz.org/playdate or connect with Allison at aweiss@thaaz.org or 520-529-3888.

Giving blood can save lives – and it only takes about an hour. The actual blood draw takes approximately 10 minutes.

Two local synagogues scheduled blood drives this summer. Congregation Anshei Israel held its latest Red Cross blood drive on Sunday, Aug. 18 and Kol Ami Synagogue will have one on Sunday, Sept. 8.

The timing is good. The American Red Cross, which provides 40% of the blood to medical facilities across the U.S., has seen a more than 25% decrease in its national supply since July 1.

A blood drive puts “the idea of pikuach nefesh, the Jewish value of saving a life, into practice,” says Kol Ami’s Rabbi Malcolm Cohen.

One pint of blood can save three lives, according to the Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health.

“Jewish tradition teaches that one who saves a life, it is as if they save an entire world. We are so proud of these efforts and all our donors who are truly saving lives and our world,” says Anshei Israel’s Rabbi Sara Metz.

Donating blood is “a great opportunity to give a piece of yourself,” says Catherine Rosenberg, a Kol Ami social action/social justice committee member who is coordinating this year’s blood drives for the synagogue. She also gives blood at Kol Ami drives.

Blood drive donors can sign up to give whole blood, which is the typical donation, or to give a “Power Red” donation that collects two units of red blood cells but returns most of the plasma and platelets to the donor.

The Power Red donation takes longer than giving whole blood, says Rosenberg, who notes that Power Red donors can give up to three times a year, while whole blood donors can give six times a year, every eight weeks.

Kol Ami and Anshei Israel each hold drives twice a year; Kol Ami’s next drive after Sept. 8 will be Jan. 12, 2025. Donations can also be made at Tucson’s two Red Cross blood donation centers.

Reasons people might need a blood transfusion include surgery, complications from pregnancy, organ transplants, trauma, and chronic disease, says Rosenberg, who is hoping to fill about 60 slots for Sept. 8.

Nancy Stoler, one of the 30 people who gave blood at Anshei Israel on Aug. 18, has donated blood since she was 18 years old, inspired in part by a family member with chronic disease.

“My brother needs blood all the time,” she says, explaining that her brother, who lives in New York, has a rare internal bleeding disorder, hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia.

A retired middle school teacher who still fills in occasionally as a substitute, Stoler says frequent nosebleeds can be a sign of HHT. She has referred students to the school nurse or told their parents about getting them checked for HHT.

Stoler made sure to eat spinach and red meat, both rich in iron, leading up to her donation.

Along with eating iron-rich foods before donating, donors should aim for a good night’s sleep the night before, eat a healthy breakfast, and drink extra fluids, says Rosenberg. They should continue to drink extra liquids for 24 to 48 hours after donating.

Fran Stoler, Nancy’s sister-in-law, coordinates the Anshei Israel blood drives with longtime volunteer Margo Gray, who makes the pre-drive phone calls to past and prospective donors.

“When Margo calls, I answer,” says Sue Ross. “It’s important that we have a reserve. There’s too much need.”

Fran, who can no longer donate because she has low blood pressure, says spending two days a year overseeing the drives is an easy way for her to give back. Since she works full-time as a high school librarian, she’s grateful Gray takes on the more time-consuming role.

Besides helping to save or improve other people’s lives, donating blood may enhance the donor’s health. Altruism and volunteering are linked to a lower risk of depression and greater longevity, according to Columbia University Irving Medical Center, while donating blood regularly is also linked to a lower risk for heart attacks.

Register here for the Sept. 8 blood drive at Kol Ami or contact Rosenberg with questions.

What’s more, health insurance must cover those services, says Katie Cohen, BSN, RN, IBCLC, the founder of Thrive Theory Lactation & Infant Feeding in Tucson.

Under the Affordable Care Act, insurance plans (except “grandfathered” plans) must cover lactation support services in full as a preventive service, says Cohen, who adds that most plans will cover at least six appointments, which ideally start before the baby is born.

“When we take a preventive approach and families know what to expect, some of the problems that are so common can either be prevented or I can give them tools to deal with those problems,” she says. “It doesn’t snowball into something that derails their whole breastfeeding journey.”

If appropriate, Cohen likes to involve spouses/partners and grandparents in her work.

Cohen moved to Tucson in 2014 after earning her nursing degree from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she met her husband, Zachary Cohen, when both were freshmen.

As a public health nurse, she worked primarily with mothers and babies, first as part of Pima County’s Nurse-Family Partnership and then as the pediatric nurse team lead for the Tohono O’odham Nation.

Cohen had already started her training as a lactation consultant when she gave birth to her daughter almost six years ago. She describes her breastfeeding journey as “challenging,” with several hospital stays that separated her from her baby. This meant she had to revise her original intention of exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months.

The experience gave her the impetus to complete the certification process, which included 14 college courses in the health sciences; 95 hours of lactation-specific education; 1,000 clinical practice hours; and passing the International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant exam. She was certified five years ago and recently renewed her certification after completing 75 hours of continuing education.

Before starting Thrive Theory Lactation in 2023, she worked with a startup that used telemedicine to expand access to lactation support. She is also a professional development coordinator for the United States Lactation Consultant Association.

Cohen emphasizes that her approach to working with families is personalized, relationship-based, and judgment-free.

Although she has firsthand experience with many of the challenges her clients face, “it’s not one size fits all,” she says. “Just because they are experiencing a similar challenge doesn’t mean what worked for me will work for them.”

Cohen provides same or next-day appointments for urgent problems such as shallow latch and nipple pain, low milk supply or oversupply, tongue tie, bottle refusal, and poor weight gain. Other common issues she helps families deal with include knowing if their baby is getting enough to eat, choosing a breast pump, preparing to return to work, beginning solid foods, and weaning.

For some Jewish clients, additional issues may include pumping on Shabbat and handling kashrut when starting a baby on solids.

“Katie is great. She is very much a problem solver,” says Alexis Tuo, a mother of twin boys, who appreciates that Cohen seeks the root cause of problems instead of treating the symptoms.

“When I had clogged ducts or blisters she was able to find the reason behind it, and that was inflammation,” she says, adding, “Most people would just say, ‘OK, you need to put ice on it.’”

Cohen did recommend ice after feedings plus an over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. She also suggested two new dietary supplements instead of one Tuo had read about online.

“There’s a lot of conflicting information on the internet,” Tuo says. “It’s nice to have someone whose job it is, and who is passionate about studying to find the most current, evidence-based research.

Cohen helped Tuo experiment with different flange sizes for the breast pump to reduce irritation.

“She also taught me how to use the settings on the pump correctly, which was huge,” says Tuo. “I was able to increase my milk supply once the inflammation went away, almost double.”

Tuo, whose twins were initially on oxygen, also appreciates that Cohen’s services include the option of in-home visits in addition to telemedicine and in-office visits.

Cohen, who also shares breastfeeding tips on social media with the handle @ThriveLactationTheory, sees her work as a calling, “all part of that repairing the world philosophy.”

She finds that when she tells people what she does, women are always eager to share their breastfeeding stories, even if they are now grandmothers or great-grandmothers.

“That’s a vulnerable, tender, and important time in our lives and it sticks with you,” she says. “Getting to be that person who makes a difference is very special to me.”

The Northwest Tucson Jewish Community, a nonprofit organization, aims “to enrich the educational, cultural, and social life primarily of Jewish residents in Northwest Tucson,” according to its mission statement.

“Primarily” is a clue that despite its name, the NWTJC does not impose strict geographical limits: The mission statement goes on to welcome “any Jewish resident in the Tucson area.”

The NWTJC is equally flexible in defining its audience as “all people who are Jewish or wish to consider themselves as part of the Jewish community through their relationships, ideas or spiritual beliefs.”

“We keep adding members,” says Marsha Foresman, chair of the NWTJC board, who notes that the organization, which does not charge dues, has about 250 people on its email list.

The NWTJC is eclectic in its programming, too. Each month, the NWTJC sponsors at least one educational event and one social event, often a get-together at a local restaurant. The Feb. 13 educational event will feature Alex Miller, a human rights attorney with broad experience working on asylum and border issues. Miller is an adjunct professor at the University of Arizona College of Law.

Other speakers have included an executive from the local chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association and an expert in water supply management, who spoke about present and future water demands on the Colorado River. Rabbi Stephanie Aaron of Congregation Chaverim spoke about her experiences with the International March of the Living Holocaust education program. Mushkie Zimmerman of Chabad of Oro Valley gave a Zoom tutorial on making hamantaschen for Purim. Rabbi Malcolm Cohen of Kol Ami presented a lecture on the Jewish communities of Europe. Rabbi Sanford Seltzer of the Institute for Jewish Services and Studies (SaddleBrooke) lectured on the styles and mores of Jews and Christians in medieval Europe.

The NWTJC, currently an all-volunteer organization, has its roots in a Northwest initiative the Jewish Federation, now part of Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA), started in 2001. This project grew into the Ruth and Irving Olson Center for Jewish Life/Northwest Division, with a small office at Oracle and Magee Roads. In October 2019 the Olson Center moved into a larger space in the same office complex. But the pandemic hit in early 2020, making in-person events impossible. In 2021, then-Federation CEO Graham Hoffman closed the center.

Members of the Northwest Division’s advisory committee decided to go it alone, forming the NWTJC as a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation in 2021.

Hava Leipzig Holzhauer, who became JPSA president and CEO in December 2023, commends the NWTJC.

“Being new to Tucson, it is exciting to have learned we have a strong Jewish community presence in the Northwest. NWTJC is an important part of our Southern Arizona Jewish community. It is our primary purpose to enhance and sustain our Jewish family. I look forward to spending time in the Northwest, and to building bridges and strengthened partnerships throughout the entire region,” says Holzhauer.

To enhance the NWTJC’s outreach efforts, Foresman has applied for a grant.

“I have a great love for the organization. I hope to see it grow and prosper,” she says.

The NWTJC relies on donations for most of its operating costs, charging nominal fees for its programs. The fee for its lunch and learn events is “chai,” $18, Foreseman says, which helps cover expenses.

Those expenses include food for the lunch and learn events, plus renting meeting space for those events and a biweekly yoga class. There’s also web hosting and a Zoom license, critical for the monthly book club NWTJC co-sponsors with Hadassah Southern Arizona. The book club has met virtually since the pandemic.

Anne Lowe, who shares the board secretary role with Phyllis Gold — both were Northwest directors under the Federation — started the book club in 2006.

Before the Federation’s Northwest program began renting an office in 2012, Lowe recalls, the program held events in a variety of places, including libraries, churches, parks, restaurants, and homes.

“So that’s what we’re doing again,” she says, “with a different organization. We still want the Jewish population of Northwest Tucson to feel they have a presence.”

“People love it,” says Helene Mittleman, the group’s vice chair, who adds that volunteering with the NWTJC is part of her annual resolution to help make the world a better place.

The NWTJC also holds holiday events and other special events, such as art classes. A mah jongg group meets weekly. So does the Knitzvah Project Group, whose members knit and crochet items for charity.

The organization’s growth is slow but steady, says Gold, who is also the group’s program chair.

NWTJC also hosts a Mitzvah Magic circle. Mitzvah Magic is a joint program of Jewish Family & Children’s Services and JPSA’s Women’s Philanthropy Division, which brings together circles of 10 volunteers to provide holiday gifts to needy Jewish individuals or families. NWTJC also has donated to a food bank in Catalina.

“Even though we’re trying to raise money, we will never not provide for others,” Gold says.

Daniel Asia, a classical composer and professor at the University of Arizona Fred Fox School of Music, turned 70 in June. The school paid tribute to him in October with a festival of music by Asia, his teachers, and friends. Asia’s birthday celebration will continue this month with concerts of Jewish music in Philadelphia and New York.

Produced by the Network for New Music and partners including the American Society for Jewish Music, the concerts will feature Asia’s song cycle “Breath in a Ram’s Horn: Songs for My Father.”

The songs, says Asia, are based on the poetry of the late Paul Pines, his friend and longtime collaborator.

The poems deal with “growing up in a somewhat dysfunctional Jewish family” as the son of a Holocaust survivor, Asia says, and “bring together very disparate worlds, uniting a wealth of emotional perspectives,” with imagery ranging from Ecclesiastes to the blues.

“At the core of the work is man’s uneasy place in the universe,” says Asia, yet the poems often reveal “a wry and delicate sense of humor.”

Asia originally wrote “Breath in a Ram’s Horn” for voice and piano, but he arranged this iteration for what is known as a Pierrot ensemble, which includes flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and voice.

“Dan writes exceptionally beautiful vocal music,” says Thomas Schuttenhelm, NNM artistic director, who chose the piece for the concerts. The Philadelphia performance will be held on Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. EST (tickets including a live stream option are available here). The concert at New York’s YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is on Monday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. EST.

The vocalist will be Daniel Taylor, a tenor who sings with Philadelphia’s The Crossing choir.

“The music is beautiful – not all new music is described in that way,” says Susanna Loewy, NNM executive director, who will be the flutist for the concerts.

Featuring works by other Jewish composers along with Asia, the concerts have been titled “What Do We Know: Exploring the Human Experience Through Jewish Texts and Music.”

Local concerts this spring also will include Asia’s work.

The Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra will present “Asia and Dvorak” on March 16 and 17. The Tucson Symphony Orchestra will play Asia’s “At the Far Edge” as part of its “Holst’s Planets” concert on April 12 and 14.

In addition, Asia is looking forward to the debut of his opera, “The Tin Angel,” which is scheduled to be performed in spring 2025 in New York. The opera has been supported by members of the Tucson Jewish community and the broader local community.

“The Tin Angel” opera is based on a murder mystery of the same name by Pines and is set in a jazz club on the Bowery in New York, inspired by The Tin Palace, a club Pines owned and operated in the 1970s.

Although it will take 13 years to bring the opera from page to stage, Asia jokes that at least he is on track to beat Wagner’s time for “The Ring.”

Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny has had a love for Judaism and Jewish music for almost as long as she can remember. “I always had a sense of belonging and connection to the Jewish community,” Chorny says. “From a young age I knew I wanted to do something related to Judaism and music.”

And that “something” evolved into a career at Congregation Anshei Israel, where Chorny is celebrating 10 years as the synagogue’s cantorial soloist. “Since 2014, I have been blessed to have a full-time position at the synagogue that was my first spiritual home, and I’ve loved every moment of it.”

Her passion is inspired by the liturgy, the music and the sense of community. “Singing together creates connection in every direction – to God, the past, the future, and to each other. That’s always drawn me in and made me want to share that connection with others. There’s such beauty and meaning in the melodies we heard growing up and we have a beautiful connection to those memories. But new melodies expand our hearts and enable us to experience the liturgy in new ways, find new meaning in the texts.” That is one of her goals as she introduces new melodies into the prayer services – to keep the community engaged with the texts, thinking about the words, and not just praying by rote.

For Chorny, serving as clergy is about so much more than just the music. Since 2020, she has also served as education and youth director. “My days are always varied. I might be teaching music to 2-year-olds in the morning and visiting a 102-year-old in hospice in the afternoon. I seek to help each congregant connect to Judaism in whatever way is meaningful to them.”

Chorny grew up in Tucson and became a Bat Mitzvah at Anshei Israel. “I dove into learning the liturgy and Torah. I loved the melodies, loved to be surrounded by other Jewish people and feel like part of the community.” She would often go to services on her own “as the token young person.” After her Bat Mitzvah she continued to lead services and chant Torah and Haftarah. In high school she started thinking about becoming a cantor. While earning a bachelor’s degree in music education with an emphasis in vocal and choral music at the University of Arizona, she taught religious school and tutored B’nai Mitzvah students.

Chorny met her husband, Joel, on a Taglit Birthright Israel trip during her junior year and moved to the Washington, DC area after graduating, where Joel was in law school at George Washington University. When they moved back to Tucson in 2010, Chorny found herself once again immersed in the Jewish community, teaching and leading services part time, while also working as a music teacher in the Sahuarita Unified School District. In 2014, she was asked to apply to be the full-time cantorial soloist at Anshei Israel. “When I was offered the position, I felt like my dream had finally come true.”

That dream has included raising both of her children – Tzippora, 11, and Gideon, 7 – to share her love of Judaism. And she now has the joy and honor of helping Tzippi prepare for her Bat Mitzvah next fall, coming full circle.

Over the years, Chorny pursued cantorial studies off and on and she now plans to complete her training at the Cantorial Internship of the Cantor’s Assembly, while continuing to serve Anshei Israel. She says her role won’t really change; she’ll just have more knowledge to share with the community.

In a fitting tribute to her first decade as cantorial soloist, Congregation Anshei Israel will honor Chorny at “Harmonies from the Heart” – a Shabbaton and concert, February 2-3, with special musical guest Rabbi Josh Warshawsky.

Warshawsky is a Jewish musician, songleader, composer, and educator, who has released five albums of Jewish music and been featured on eight music anthologies. He was ordained in 2019 from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles, served as rabbi-in-residence of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago and is a core educator of Songleader Boot Camp.

“It’s going to be really special to have Rabbi Josh here, to bring his beautiful melodies and the innovations that he’s brought to Jewish music,” says Chorny, who has been incorporating his music into Anshei Israel’s Shabbat services over the last two years. “I’m excited to be able to sing with him over the weekend. I enjoyed learning with him in the past and I can’t wait to share him with the community.”

The highlight of the weekend is a concert on Saturday, February 3, at 7:15 pm featuring many of Warshawky’s original melodies. He will also join Chorny and Rabbi Sara Metz for a family friendly Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday night (followed by dinner) and Shabbat services Saturday morning. All programs are open to the public. The event schedule, tickets and sponsorship information are at www.caiaz.org/harmonies.

Donna Moser, a Lion of Judah member for 23 years, will be honored with the prestigious Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award at the 2022 International Lion of Judah Conference, December 11-13, in Phoenix.

The award commemorates the contributions of the founders of the Lion of Judah, Norma Kipnis-Wilson and Toby Friedland (of blessed memory), by honoring women of valor in each community.

“I am humbled to receive the Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award having become a Lion of Judah in Milwaukee in 1999 (and proudly wearing my pin since),” said Moser.

“After attending business meetings in Tucson, Arizona, my husband and I fell in love with the desert and subsequently bought a ‘getaway’ home in the 90’s to escape the brutal Wisconsin winters. We did not know a soul in Tucson, so we joined a synagogue, Skyline Country Club for tennis, golf, and friendships, and I got involved in our Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. Many remaining and past Federation staff believed in me, guided me, and helped me hone my leadership skills as I held numerous chairwomanships over a 10-year period.”

“We stand together with Israel and in supporting Jews throughout the world. Challenging times test our commitment, but because of our Lions and all the other donors and volunteers, we are prepared to face these challenges head on. Through dedication and good leadership, we can bring about change.”

Among other qualifications, award winners must have been a Lion of Judah for at least 10 continuous years, taken on a leadership role within the Annual Campaign, created a Lion of Judah Endowment, made a significant impact on the Jewish community locally or abroad, encouraged other women to get involved, and embody the spirit and vision of Lion of Judah through a commitment to tzedakah and tikkun olam.

“I am thrilled that Donna is receiving this well-deserved special recognition,” said Emily Richman, Interim CEO at Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona (JPSA). “Donna has made a lasting impact on our community with her time and her treasure. She has committed myriad resources to supporting and leading this community and this award is one way to recognize that incredible commitment.”

Created in 1972, the Lion of Judah program has brought together women of all ages and from many walks of life in order to play an essential role in creating social justice, healing the sick, feeding the hungry, preserving human dignity, and building Jewish identity. Lions of Judah make a minimum gift of $5,000 to JPSA’s (formerly Jewish Federation’s) Annual Campaign. Special programming is held locally and nationally for this committed group of donors.

For more information on the Lion of Judah program, contact Andrew Gale at agale@jparizona.org or 520-647-8450.

Gary Kippur had seen businesses around the country commit to higher education for children and has thought about providing a similar program locally for a long time. Now he’s made the commitment. He said, “when a child is in the fourth grade, it’s the ideal time to show them what educational options are possible to them and to show them that the community cares for them.”

Tucson Iron and Metal chose the students of Mission View Elementary because the school already has a program in place in which the kids set their own goals. The students keep data binders so that they are accountable to themselves. With this program, the students review themselves in the teacher-parent conferences and show their parents their accomplishments and also where there is room for improvement. Tandy Kippur said, “we like this program because there is clear goal setting and expectations coming from the kids and it seems a perfect fit.”

Andrea Kippur, the Kippur’s eldest daughter is also working on the project. She explains the program. “Tucson Iron and Metal has committed to paying the equivalent of two years’ tuition at Pima Community College, or $10,000 to each of the thirty-eight fourth graders at Mission View Elementary. There are no GPA minimums to earn the scholarship. The only requirements are that the student graduate from high school and go to an accredited higher education school, which could be a university, community college or trade school. We feel this will open many avenues for the students to succeed.” The students in this fourth-grade class would be the first in their families to receive a secondary education.

Tucson Iron and Metal created The Tucson Iron and Metal Foundation and has established a fund housed at the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) to facilitate the scholarship offering. The money needed to fund the fourth graders secondary education has already been set aside for the students. Graham Hoffman, President and CEO, Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona (JFSA) and JCF comments “The Kippur family and the JFSA are hopeful that by setting this example, others will be motivated to follow in their footsteps and consider similar investments in education to benefit the community.” The Tucson Iron and Metal Fund for Higher Education, serviced by the JCF, is accepting donations for the next class of fourth graders at Mission View Elementary, the class of 2031. Donations can be accepted here.

Additionally, the Lapan Sunshine Foundation located near Mission View Elementary will provide the mentorship and tools needed to ensure that each child graduates high school. Jackie Lapan, CEO states, “We are excited to work with the Kippurs and Mission View Elementary School. In 1989, Patricia Lapan, our founder, wanted to help students who had the drive and determination to succeed, but may not qualify for scholarships. The Lapan College & Career Club provides students and parents with additional resources and information to help them make the most of this opportunity.”

Timeline

A powerful team

Over the almost 75 years of publication, the Arizona Jewish Post has been strengthened and supported by the incredible staff. We are grateful for their hard work and contributions to our community. We extend our special thanks to Phyllis Braun, executive editor, for her 25 years of service.

Braun started with the AJP as an assistant editor in 1996, becoming executive editor in 2002. Prior to moving to Tucson in 1995, she was assistant copy chief at Pocket Books in New York, after working at the legendary Book of the Month Club.

Her dedication to integrity, hardworking attitude, and embodiment of Federation values have been consistent threads throughout her long tenure.

Making a change

JFSA announced that the AJP would be ceasing publication in February 2021 in part due to mounting budgetary pressures, exacerbated by the global pandemic, coupled with the shifting journalistic landscape. This move was made in consultation with and support from the Federation Board of Directors. This story was covered in a Jewish Telegraphic Agency article.

What comes next

Far from being retired or collecting dust, the Arizona Jewish Post will continue to live in many different forms.

As a matter of community history, the Federation is exploring avenues for preserving existing records of the Arizona Jewish Post publication. We will be collecting and cataloging physical and digital copies so that they can be referenced by current and future generations in an archive.

The archive will be a static reference point, an important reminder of this essential piece of communications history in Southern Arizona. But the most meaningful elements of the AJP – as expressed by community members in a variety of ways, including our 1,800-person community planning survey – will find home in new channels. These include lifecycle events, obituaries, and local news stories.

The face Southern Arizona Jewish community’s communications landscape continues to evolve. We look to a bright future of stories and simchas woven throughout a variety of different media. The newspaper that served Southern Arizona in 1946 will be reshaped into a modern vehicle; not under same name, but with the same spirit of togetherness and kehillah.

Tucson neurosurgeon Hillel Z. Baldwin, M.D., will co-chair the EMF Medical Conference, a live virtual scientific event hosted by the Electromagnetic Safety Alliance, Inc., from Jan. 28-31, with Magda Havas, Ph.D., an environmental toxicologist from Canada. This four-day conference features 19.5 CME credits directed towards clinicians from all health care disciplines. EMF stands for electromagnetic field; presenters including leading physicians and research scientists from around the world.  In 2019, Baldwin and his wife, Jenny, who developed electrosensitivity, also known as microwave illness or electrohypersensititvity, co-sponsored a Tucson lecture by Havas on wireless technology and health. Baldwin, a board-certified neurological surgeon since 1996, practices at the Carondelet Neurological Institute of St. Joseph’s Hospital. He has been a practicing surgeon partner at Western Neuro in Tucson since 1992. During his career, Baldwin has served as chief of neurosurgery at Tucson Medical Center, Northwest Medical Center, and El Dorado Hospital in Tucson.

Kylie Truckner has joined the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona as a marketing coordinator. Truckner has a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in psychology from the University of Arizona. She has more than three years of marketing experience at LandHub and Kirk Coaching, both based in Tucson, and enjoys using all aspects of digital marketing to connect with the community.

Eric Jabloner has joined the Arizona Jewish Post as an ad sales representative contractor, selling digital advertising. Jabloner grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, and attended the University of Arizona, receiving a B.A. in drama production in 1979. He worked as a scenic artist for the Arizona Opera Company and the Arizona Theater Company, then traveled the country painting and designing theatrical scenery, museum exhibits, public art, and murals. In New York City, he designed trade shows, museum exhibits, and retail displays, including for The Jewish Museum and the Yeshiva Museum. In the ’90s, he was an account executive for Skyline Exhibits. In 2012, Jabloner returned to Tucson, opened a fine art studio, and began working for PSAV/Encore, an international digital media and live-event company. In 2020, the coronavirus pandemic brought the conventions and expositions business to a standstill.

Peter Kane has joined the Jewish Community Foundation and Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona as project manager. Kane will work cross-functionally across the Foundation and Federation teams, managing a diverse set of projects. Kane was born and raised in Tucson and attended the University of Arizona, where he studied natural resources with a thematic minor in experimental physics. He holds a master’s degree in applied geospatial science, planning and recreation and will be pursuing a MBA online this year. His work experience includes roles at Kartchner Caverns, Fort Huachuca, and most recently the Tucson Airport. Kane has two dogs and loves hiking, camping, and playing video games. He also enjoys caving (spelunking) and serves on the board of a local caving group.

Jennifer Selco, director of Jewish life and learning at the Tucson Jewish Community Center, has been accepted into a JCC Association initiative and certificate program around Israeli education for experiential educators in partnership with the iCenter. While the full cohort includes professionals from many branches of the Jewish communal world, a subset of six JCC professionals will work together throughout and at the conclusion of the six-week program with JCC Association, as a cabinet for ongoing Israel engagement in the field.

Rabbi Israel Becker celebrated 10 years of “Torah Energizer” videos last month. He emailed his 500^th “Energizer” on Dec. 17, dedicated “in loving memory of the departed members of Congregation Chofetz Chayim and supporters of the Southwest Torah Institute.”

Ronald Weinstein, M.D., director of the national award-winning Arizona Telemedicine Program and a professor of pathology, was recognized with a lifetime achievement award by the Phoenix Business Journal at the 2020 Health Care Heroes virtual event Nov. 9. An international pioneer in the field of telemedicine, Weinstein founded the Arizona Telemedicine Program in 1996. Early this year, the program went into overdrive, offering training and assistance to medical professionals in how to develop and expand telehealth opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic.