Rabbi Levi Levertov of Phoenix will be leading services and delivering the sermon at Congregation Young Israel of Tucson this Shabbat, August 4, 2012.
Levertov, Director of Chabad of Downtown Phoenix who also leads the Smile on Seniors volunteer organization, is coming with his wife Chani and their 2 children.
Torah reading will be jointly read by Rabbi Levertov and Michael Hoffman. Young Israel's President Jeremy Lite will serve as Gabbai, filling in for Prof. Robert Indik.
The weekly "special kiddush" is co-sponsored by Roma and Rosa Badalov, celebrating the Bat Mitzvah of their daughter Rachel, and Eyal Shahar in honor of his Bar Mitzvah portion (he'll be reading the Haftarah this week).
"We've been enjoying steady attendance at shul this summer with around 50 to 70 people participating in Shabbat morning services," says Young Israel's Rabbi Yossie Shemtov who is out of town this weekend.
"With Rabbi Levertov speaking about the Torah's emphasis on respecting our elders and the Bat Mitzvah, this Shabbat will further prove that G-d has not left to San Diego, as folks here used to claim," he said.
Associate Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin is away as well to be part of the organizing committee of the Global Yarchei Kallah, a prestigious forum for elder rabbis, Rosh Yeshivas and scholars to open next week in New York's Catskills Mountains.
He will be resuming his regular classes on the week of August 26, primarily Bagels, Lox & Torah on Sundays and Lunch & Learn on Wednesdays.