HEADLINES | 6
LEGAL | 10
SAFE SHELTER
JEWISH LEGAL AID
Several local synagogues open their doors to unsheltered families
Attorney Sam Saks founded the free referral service in 2013
JANUARY 24, 2025 | TEVET 24, 5785 | VOLUME 77, NUMBER 10
$1.50
Grant enables Scottsdale teen tops Chinese members to get language contests healthy with S Gesher SHANNON LEVITT | STAFF WRITER
MALA BLOMQUIST | MANAGING EDITOR
W
hen Amy Hummell, executive director of Gesher Disability Resources in Scottsdale, met Chef Amber Sampson at a Women’s Leadership Institute event, the chef shared her interest in teaching cooking classes to Gesher’s members. So, when Hummell found out that Gesher was the recipient of a $10,000 Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation grant, one of her first calls was to Sampson. Sampson is a food anthropologist and archaeologist, and the intersection of food and disability was something she studied while procuring her master’s in gastronomy. She also has family members with disabilities. “When Amy called me and said, we need a chef for this, it wasn’t just about somebody who can cook food because a lot of people can do that. But you also need to understand the sensory and accessibility of cooking with disabilities — and for me, it’s a wonderful joy,” she said. “Amber truly is amazing,” said Hummell. “She has disability in her family, so she just ‘gets it’ and has an innate ability to work with families with disabilities.” Sampson taught the third class in the series in the kitchen at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus (ILJCC) in Scottsdale on Sunday, Jan. 5. The first two classes were held at Gesher’s residential homes, Shalom House and Keshet House. “It’s the first time we’ve applied for the grant,” said Stacy Rosenthal, director of programs at Gesher. “We thought we had a unique membership base that could benefit from learning healthy SEE GESHER, PAGE 2
hiraz Rothschild did something nearly unparalleled for an American teen last fall. In October, she stood on stage in Tianjin, China, dancing, answering questions and extemporaneously speaking in Chinese before a television audience of a hundred million viewers in the world’s second-most populous nation. The road that ended with Rothschild being one of the final global competitors from a field of 113 in the “Chinese Bridge” Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students was not what the high school senior expected when she first entered a language contest at the Chinese consulate in San Francisco last spring. Shiraz Rothschild performed a Chinese water sleeves dance. COURTESY OF SHIRAZ ROTHSCHILD Rothschild, who attended Pardes Jewish Day School in Scottsdale and is now preparing to graduate from a private California high school, spent a large portion of her childhood in Beijing. In January 2020, after spending their holidays with Rothschild’s grandparents in Arizona, her family intended to return to China. However, the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to that plan and they ended up staying in Scottsdale, where they are members of both Congregation Or Tzion and Congregation Beth Tefillah. SEE CONTESTS, PAGE 3
Inflammation and nutrition Registered dietitian nutritionist Tav Gross shares ways to combat chronic inflammation through diet. See page 11. PHOTO COURTESY OF TAV GROSS
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