HEADLINES | 9
SPECIAL SECTION | 18
KOSHER EXPERIENCE
SENIORS
Fry’s grocery stores are expanding its kosher section
Stephen and Jan Hertzfeld fill their lives with volunteering, traveling and hiking the Arizona Trail
1948
YEARS
2023
JULY 14, 2023 | TAMUZ 25, 5783 | VOLUME 75, NUMBER 20
$1.50
Center for Jewish Stephen Richer and the ‘Jewish Philanthropy legacy’ warning against ignoring grants community dangerous rhetoric more than $1.5 million M SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
T
he Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix (CJP) has awarded grants totalling more than $1.5 million to 29 local and international organizations. The programs funded range from Shabbat dinners for needy families and inclusivity training for summer camps to security funding for Arizona’s small and medium-sized synagogues and the resettlement of Jewish refugees in Israel. CJP considers it a priority to let the Greater Phoenix Jewish community know where its money goes, who benefits and why it’s good for the community, said Richard Kasper, CJP CEO. “I am really proud of the work that was done by the Community Impact Committee and by our board of directors, and you can see why when you look at the list of recipients. There is tremendous diversity in the organizations and programs and their constituents that we’re supporting. It feels like progress,” he said. By funding organizations CJP is “helping them to serve people,” he said, noting it goes beyond the Jewish community. For example, Scottsdale Arts was awarded $7,500 to support its “Hold on to Hope Traveling Exhibition,” which takes viewers on a visual journey to Nazioccupied Poland via the personal photos and anecdotes of local Holocaust survivor Oskar Knoblauch. Although the organization is not Jewish, and many of those viewing the exhibit will likely not be Jewish, it is a valuable Holocaust education program for SEE GRANTS, PAGE 2
aricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer keeps his Twitter DMs (direct messages) open, which is a bit surprising considering he has been pummeled repeatedly by false allegations of malfeasance and sabotage in the 2022 election — claims that Arizona courts have dismissed. Yet, even in the face of violent threats, transparency “is the ethos that I want to embody for this office. You can ask me anything. If you have a direct question or want me to look into a particular voter situation, I’m happy to do it,” he told Jewish News the last week of June. Richer’s of fice is responsible for County Recorder Stephen Richer gives a presentation before an election processing and preserving documents, Maricopa facility tour. COURTESY OF MARICOPA COUNTY RECORDER AND ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT maintaining voter registration records and facilitating early voting in Maricopa County. Along with other election officials, he has been targeted for months by people who refuse to believe the election results, most notably Republican Kari Lake who lost to Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, by less than 20,000 votes. Lake continues to accuse Richer of, among other things, misprinting ballots with the wrong image, putting 300,000 “phony” early-voting ballots into the final count and causing polling place printers to jam on Election Day, even though her claims have been disproven in court. But that hasn’t curtailed Lake and her allies from repeating them. On Thursday, June 22, Richer, also a Republican, took the unusual step of filing a defamation lawsuit against Lake, her campaign and her political action committee. SEE RICHER, PAGE 3
Tips for a better bathroom Simple updates can create a bathroom oasis. See page 20. PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA/CREATIVE COMMONS 4.0
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