HEADLINES | 8
SPECIAL PULLOUT | B1
CIRCUMCISION QUANDARY
SENIOR LIFESTYLE
Group advocates for uncircumcised
Seniors talk isolation and making changes
DECEMBER 3, 2021 | KISLEV 29, 5782 | VOLUME 74, NUMBER 7
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Neal Kurn, Lindsey Seitchik to be honored at annual gala
Janet Arnold Rees, 73, built community through creativity and connection
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NICOLE RAZ | STAFF WRITER
eal Kurn has witnessed firsthand the enormous growth of the Jewish community in Maricopa County during his 73 years in the state. And he’s proud to be a part of it. “We are basically a first-generation community,” Kurn said. When he moved here as a 14-year-old boy with his family in 1948, he estimates the Jewish community was 1,500 people — max. Now, it’s closer to 100,000 people, according to Arizona State University’s 2019 Jewish Community Survey. Part of any community’s growth and longevity is the financial health of its institutions, and that’s where Kurn, 87, feels he’s left his biggest imprint. In 1971, as a board member and officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, he prepared the first set of bylaws to form the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Phoenix, which assists donors to plan and establish funds for legacy giving. The Martin Pear Jewish Community Center is honoring Kurn for his legacy at its annual gala on Dec. 4, along with Lindsey Seitchik, an MPJCC board member. Jay Jacobs, CEO of the MPJCC, said Kurn and Seitchik are both “great role models for compassion and service as they strive to make our world a better place.” Kurn spent 55 years as a lawyer specializing in business, estate and charitable planning. He said he always tried to stress the importance of creating endowments and foundations to support institutions, not only in the good times, but also in the bad. “A lot of philanthropy dried up in this community completely in the ‘08-’09 period of time,” he said. He’s glad to see the MPJCC, and the entire Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, now “flourishing,” he said, with a big variety of activities, diversity of members and general “vitality.” SEE GALA, PAGE 2
SHANNON LEVITT | MANAGING EDITOR
anet Arnold Rees never really entertained the idea of retirement. She didn’t need to because she loved what she did. She embodied the adage that if you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life. And through all her various jobs — teacher, preschool director, entrepreneur, theatre producer and social worker — she put the Jewish community first. “Community was the theme of her life,” Tom Rees, her husband, told Jewish News. “She didn’t look at her work as if she was clocking in in the morning and clocking out at night,” he said. “If someone needed something on the weekend, it was fine. It’s who she was, not just what she did. She followed her passion and she loved helping people.” He suspected she would have likely worked well into her 80s because of the joy she derived from it. “It was never about salary or money,” he said. “It was always about how she could help — an amazing trait.” But his supposition will sadly not have the chance to be realized. Janet, senior concierge and creative aging coordinator for Jewish Family & Children’s Service, founder of Arizona Jewish Theatre Company and devoted friend to Greater Phoenix’s Jewish community, died on Tuesday, Nov. 23.
Janet Arnold Rees
PHOTO BY MARK GLUCKMAN
She was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in September. It is a serious lung disease that offers a poor prognosis, and despite her natural vigor and general good health, she declined suddenly, checked herself into the hospital four weeks ago and never left. She was 73. People were shocked and saddened to learn of her death. Several turned to social media to express their heartbreak, calling Janet a “stalwart” and “an integral part of the community.” Adjectives like “fabulous, kind, caring, admirable, special and a force,” were used liberally. Several people said they SEE REES, PAGE 3 had seen Janet as recently as
Chanukah games and more Chanukah games and parshah plays were part of Temple Beth Sholom of the East Valley’s festival this year. For more community photos, go to p. 22. PHOTO BY SARAH BOCHENEK
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