The Circuit

Temple’s got class

Temple Ramat Zion Preschool in Northridge opened its first-ever kindergarten class this week. The office of State Sen. Richard Alarcón (D-Dist. 20) presented the school with a congratulatory certificate at the opening ceremony.

Brain trust

Art of the Brain, founded by brain cancer survivor Judi Kaufman, will hold its third annual fundraising gala on Sept. 28 at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

The event will be a celebration of life, highlighted by a short documentary titled, “A Courageous Journey — Living with Brain Cancer,” which features real-life stories of courage and hope, as told by the brain cancer patients of the UCLA Neuro-Oncology program.

Proceeds raised by Art of the Brain will go to brain cancer research at the UCLA Neuro-Oncology program. For information, contact (310) 825-5074; visit www.artofthebrain.org

Hey Judea!

Behold the local students departing on Hadassah’s Young Judea Year Course 2002-2003 — The Los Angeles Delegation. (From left) Jonathan Nedjat-Haiem, Revital Shoham, Miranda Markham, Ariella Kram and Talya Gates-Monasch. Not pictured: Yona Walt, Deborah Shulman and Joshua Shiffrin.

The light touch

Fifth District Supervisor Michael Antonovich, far right, presented a scroll to Judge Leslie Light, center, California’s most senior Superior Court judge, upon his retirement after 35 years of public service.

Keyes to the state

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and media commentator Dr. Alan Keyes recently flew El Al to pay a solidarity visit to Israel, where he and his wife met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert.

Bittersweet reunion

Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy in Beverly Hills was touched by the 2001 Sbarro’s pizzeria bombing in which alumna Shoshana Hayman Greenbaum was killed. A recent Harkham Hillel alumni reunion was dedicated in her memory. Coincidentally, the pizzeria’s owner visited Hillel’s dean, Rabbi Menachem Gottesman, on behalf of ZAKA-Identification of Disaster Victims. Harkham Hillel purchased an ambulance for the organization’s use.

Howdy, partners!

The Physicians/Scientists Friends of Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) will hold an evening of cancer awareness called “Partners in Research” where the evening’s topic will be “Advances in Breast Cancer Management.” The dessert reception, to be held at Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel in Westwood, will welcome Dr. Joshua D. I. Ellenhorn. ICRF president and UCLA professor Benjamin Bonavida will moderate. For information, call (323) 651-120

Exit, stage left

After four years as president of B’nai B’rith International, Richard Heideman has announced that he will be stepping down from the post.

Aronson’s alternatives

Judy Aronson has been appointed chair for the 28th Annual Conference of Alternatives in Jewish Education, sponsored by the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education, which will take place at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, from Aug. 17-21, 2003. For more information, visit www.caje.org.

News of the negev

American Associates of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev reported that professor Stanley Fischer, former deputy head of the International Monetary Fund, will serve as a consultant on international affairs to the head of the University. Also making Ben-Gurion news: Gila Gamliel, head of the Student Association at Ben-Gurion, was elected chair of the National Student Union on Aug. 23. She is the first woman to hold the post.

A sure bet

VISIONS: The Next Generation, the young professionals division of the Israel Cancer Research Fund (ICRF), returns with its Second Annual Monte Carlo Night at the Marina Beach Marriott Hotel on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 8:00 p.m. Moneys raised at this yearly singles magnet go toward ICRF’s annual commitment to funding cancer research in Israel.

While last year’s inaugural Monte Carlo Night at the Park Plaza near downtown Los Angeles was very successful, VISIONS founder Greg Bell is excited about the indoor/outdoor setting of this year’s Westside location, where attendees will partake in food and cocktails while playing blackjack, craps and roulette.

“The goal is to raise $25,000 and fully fund a fellowship,” Bell told The Circuit. “Last year, we raised $15,000. But our group has grown in size substantially since then.”

For more information, call (323) 651-1200 or visit www.icrfvisions.org /montecarlo.

Public loitering

More than 500 people stood in line for tickets to the University of Judaism’s Department of Continuing Education 2003 Public Lecture Series. The series returns this year with another roster of high-caliber guests, including Benjamin Netanyahu, Henry Kissinger, Al and Tipper Gore and Mario Cuomo. Photo by Peter Halmagyi

She’s a Fellow

Local Daphna Renan is among 30 recipients of the 2002 Paul and Daisy Soros New American Fellows.

Renan, 23, was born in Tel Aviv before relocating with her family to Los Angeles. She received her bachelor’s degree in East Asian studies from Yale University, where she graduated summa cum laude and was a Phi Beta Kappa. Having completed her master’s in international and comparative legal studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, Renan is now in her first year of Yale Law School. Her chief interest is in the confluence of international human rights and national civil rights issues. Renan has twice visited China.

Fellows receive up to $20,000 in stipends plus half-tuition for as many as two years of graduate study at any higher-learning institution in the United States. Renan was selected from more than 1,000 New American Fellows applicants and 84 finalists, representing 141 countries.