Saturday, September 10
Party at tonight’s sixth annual Barbie and Ken Toy Drive and you’ll give the kids a reason to smile, too. Cover per person is one new unwrapped toy or combination of toys with a minimum $25 value, for which you get music, open bar and food till the wee hours, or as long as it lasts. Event title notwithstanding, anatomically correct toys are also accepted.
8:30 p.m.-1 a.m. Beverly Hills. R.S.V.P., bfarash@earthlink.net.
Sunday, September 11
The Katrina devastation is worth your attention and donations, but take some time to think about Sept. 11 today, and while you’re at it, help out some other victims of terror. The Society of Young Philanthropists hosts a trunk sale, with 10 percent of proceeds going to OneFamily Solidarity Fund, an organization that provides assistance to terror victims in Israel. For a $5 donation at the door, you can shop their “Philanthroshop” for premium women and men’s denim brands and knits, plus names like T-Bags, Joyaan, Bijou Designs, Trisje Handbags and Christiano men’s shirts.
9 a.m.-9 p.m. $5. Beverly Hills residence, 1006 Elden Way. (310) 271-0060.
Monday, September 12
They say music can reach you where words fail, and so why not investigate the connection between song and soul? This evening, the Gal Einai Center of Los Angeles brings you Kabbalah master Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh in a discussion and exploration titled, “Wings of the Soul: Kabbalah and the Art of Music.” Ginsburgh will be accompanied by violinist Marc Brodsky.
8 p.m. $25. Edgemar Center for the Arts, 2437 Main St., Santa Monica. (310) 392-7327.
Tuesday, September 13
Depression-era Manhattan provides the backdrop for the first production of the Ahmanson’s 2005-2006 season. The play is “Dead End,” which preceded the 1937 Humphrey Bogart film. Written by Sidney Kingsley, it tells the story of a gang of poor teenagers being displaced by the wealthy tenants that threaten to move into their neighborhood. Expect stunning visuals with a set that includes a 40-foot-high New York City skyline and a simulation of the East River, accomplished by filling the playhouse’s orchestra pit with more than 10,000 gallons of water.
Runs through Oct. 16. 135 North Grand Ave., Los Angeles. (213) 628-2772.
Wednesday, September 14
If you’ve missed seeing former Journal staff writer and gifted artist Michael Aushenker’s words and drawings in these here pages, we’ve got fix for ya, at least as far as the art is concerned. On display at Santa Monica’s Novel Cafe through the end of September are 13 of Aushenker’s vibrant paintings. For East Siders, he also has a painting on permanent display at Birds Cafe on Franklin Avenue in Hollywood.
Novel Cafe, 212 Pier Ave., Santa Monica. Birds Cafe, 5925 Franklin Ave., Hollywood. Thursday, September 15 With a title as lovely as “Heir to the Glimmering World,” how can you resist? Especially when it comes from the celebrated literary mind of Cynthia Ozick. This evening, ALOUD at Central Library presents the author, in conversation with new Los Angeles Times book editor David L. Ulin on the subject of her new work based on the real-life Christopher Robin. (Ozick also appears at Dutton’s Beverly Hills on Wed., Sept. 14, at 7 p.m.) 7 p.m. Free. Central Library Mark Taper Auditorium, Fifth and Flower streets, downtown Los Angeles. (213) 228-7025.
Friday, September 16 In his latest off-Broadway comedy, actor and playwright Daniel Stern (“City Slickers”) explores the old cliché about keeping up with the Joneses, as it applies to one out-of-work television actor whose “Jones” happens to be a Streisand. “Barbra’s Wedding” opens the Falcon Theatre’s 2005-2006 series this week, and stars Stern as Babs’ neighbor, and Crystal Bernard (“Wings”) as his wife. Runs through Oct. 9. $25-$37.50. 4252 Riverside Drive, Burbank. (818) 955-8101.
Benichou hopes to see more people speaking up. There is a benefit of roasting food on skewers, à la shish kebab. By cutting meat and vegetables into smaller uniform pieces, the marinade coats more and the food cooks evenly. The life of Sara ends with death. Is attraction based solely on the physical? Or is chemistry based on something deeper? The tight relationship between Trump and Netanyahu masks the real debate over Israel churning in the Republican Party, and Israel’s standing among Democrats has never been lower. Some emphasized the importance of combating antisemitism and protecting Jewish safety, while others called for political engagement and cooperation across party lines. So here we are, stuck with just a few bad options to consider. And that’s just the political superposition of undetermined future – alongside it there’s also the possible – probable? – war with Iran. That is my hope: that by finding things we can do together, by recognizing each other’s humanity, we might come to see each other more fully. At a time when Jewish education is competing for attention in a world dominated by screens, sports, short-form videos and endless streams of content, these easily collectable cards offer a different kind of engagement. There is little chance that the combination of a weakened Trump and an emboldened Democratic Congress produces similar levels of support for aggressive action against Iran and its proxies, and other policies that a wide spectrum of Israelis see as crucial to their security. In the diaspora and in Israel, we cannot turn back the clock and undo the harm that was done to us. But we can shape our own future. Israel is strong and resolute. So must we be. Democrats who were long considered “moderates” or even pro-Israel have been signaling over the course of the last year that they can no longer be relied upon to back a Jewish state under assault by Iran and its terrorist proxies. When each dispute seems existential, an error is a catastrophe and disagreement seems like betrayal. The Torah offers a comforting view of a life beyond this life. We aren’t told what it will be exactly — yes, it’s abstract and vague — but we are told it’s waiting for us as it was for Abraham. History teaches that you can always trust the fanatics to overplay their hand, allowing muscular moderates to reassert power. How do voters reconcile longstanding party loyalties with changing views of Israel, communal security and American political leadership?
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