The Circuit

Dear Mama

Friends, family and fellow community members gathered at the Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging. s (JHA) Eisenberg Village to celebrate Mother. s Day with the 1,500 residents of the Reseda retirement campus. Hosted by Entertainment Tonight anchor Mary Hart, the seventh annual Mother. s Day celebration featured food, music and dancing. Highlights included elementary students reading their winning entries in the . Why My Mom Is the Best. essay contest. Each year, JHA . a beneficiary agency of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles . sponsors the citywide essay contest, with cash awards of $500 presented to the winning schools. This year, 20,000 entries were received from 80 schools.

JHA also presented its . Mother of the Year. Award to Rosie Espinoza for her tireless efforts and devotion to helping children achieve higher academic standards. Espinoza is the founder of Rosie. s Garage, an after-school tutorial program.

Larry King Live

In other JHA news, Emmy-winning talk-show host Larry King seemed . at Home. kibbitzing with residents while visiting the Reseda site. And the CNN celeb did not leave JHA empty-handed: King was presented with a handmade kipah and freshly baked mandelbrot.

Walk of All Ages

Nearly 800 people participated in a nondenominational kindness-and-friendship walk in Huntington Beach, as part of a goodwill gesture initiated by Hebrew Academy of Huntington Beach. Among those hoofing it at the seven-mile stroll were Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, in-your-face KCBS News consumer advocate Mike . Bogey. Boguslawski, and Huntington Beach. s mayor pro tem, Debbie Cook, who presented a city proclamation dubbing the week of May 20 . Kindness Week. in honor of the event. Overseeing the event were the Academy. s dean, Rabbi Yitzchok Newman, and its principal, Nancy Field.

. E.R.. Goes Mental

Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center honored Pauline Phillips and Jean Phillips (writers of the . Dear Abby. column), the Los Angeles Times and television. s highest-rated drama, . E.R.,. for their continued efforts in promoting awareness about mental illness. The occasion was the fifth annual Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards 2001 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, raising more than $225,000 for the Didi Hirsch Center, which provides counseling, mental health and substance abuse services at 12 locations throughout L.A. County. . E.R.. star Maura Tierney was there to provide emotional (not medical) support. Patty Duke attended, but only one of her (for those who remember her dual roles as identical cousins on . The Patty Duke Show.. ) Jovial Jim Giggans, the beloved KNBC news anchor, was also there.

Sing if You Love Israel

Led by Aliza Narbone, Eretz Cultural Junior Congregation Choir recently celebrated Yom Ha. Atzmaut, mustering an enthusiastic whirlwind of song-singing and flag-waving for Israel. s big 5-3!

Talkin. . Bout My Con-gre-ga-tion!

Congregation Bais Naftoli will throw its ninth Anniversary Breakfast on June 3. Police Permit Commissioner Chairman Andrew Friedman will present certificates of award to honorees Rabbi Boruch Kupfer, Dr. Jacob Kraft and Dr. Steven Katz. Supervisor Mike Antonovich will serve as guest speaker.

Labor of Love

Jewish Labor Committee will celebrate its 66th anniversary at an annual awards brunch to be held at the Century Plaza Hotel on June 3. Mike Garcia, president of Service Employees International Union Local 1877, and Sivan Hamburger, president emeritus of Jewish Labor Committee. s California Region, will be honored.

Tour de Fed

A group of rabbinical students from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion recently toured The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, meeting with representatives of the outreach organization, including Federation President John Fishel and Rabbi Mark Diamond, executive vice president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California.