LIFESTYLE & CULTURE | 10
SPECIAL SECTION | B1
BLUE SEAS AHEAD
SENIOR LIFESTYLE
Take a trip to Anna Maria Island
From female sharpshooters to comic-book barons
MAY 3, 2019 | NISAN 28, 5779 | VOLUME 71, NUMBER 29
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California synagogue Jewish Federation introduces LGBTQ Pride initiative shooting hits close to home NICK ENQUIST | STAFF WRITER
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NICK ENQUIST | STAFF WRITER
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n April 27, six months to the day after the massacre at Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha synagogue in Pittsburgh that left 11 dead and six injured, a gunman opened fire at Chabad of Poway in Southern California on the last day of Passover, killing one and injuring three. Shortly after the shooting, Jews across the Valley once again offered their condolences to victims and came together to share concerns about the tragedy. For some residents in the Valley, the news hit close to home. For Chabad of Mesa Rabbi Laibel Blotner, news of the tragedy was particularly devastating. Blotner’s daughter is married to the son of Chabad of Poway Rabbi Yisrael Goldstein. Goldstein, who lost his right index finger during the shooting, created the Chabad center in Poway in 1986 and has served as its rabbi since then. “We were sitting at the holiday table on Saturday when a member of the community burst in, very distraught, and shared with us the terrible news,” Blotner wrote in an email. “We immediately informed our daughter and son-in-law who thank G-d were with us for the holiday and not in Poway. We began to recite psalms and prayed.” Blotner said he has received an outpouring of support from
n Sunday, April 7, at this year’s Phoenix Pride Parade, more than 300 Jews from different congregations and synagogues across the Valley banded together to show support for the LGBTQ community. As they marched together, many donned orange shirts that had the Hebrew word for love, Ahava, printed on them. While the Pride Parade has ended, it is not the end of Jewish SEE LGBTQ, PAGE 2
More than 300 Jews attend the Phoenix Pride Parade on Sunday, April 7. PHOTO PROVIDED BY CANTOR ROSS WOLMAN
Going green The Phoenix area is lucky to have two growing seasons instead of one, as columnist Bob Roth reminds readers in his Aging Today column. Gardening is especially good for seniors: It is active but not too strenuous; challenging but also incredibly rewarding. And if a first attempt at gardening brings nothing but brown leaves and fallow dirt, there’s the second growing season to make things right. See Page B4 for more.
SEE SHOOTING, PAGE 3
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