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Jewish Journal

Connect. Inform. Inspire.

April 26, 2011

Calendar Picks and Clicks: April 26-May 6, 2011

Leave a Comment / Picks and Clicks, What's Happening /

WED | APRIL 27

“COMMUNICATING COMMEMORATION”
Oren Meyers, a visiting communications scholar from the University of Haifa, discusses the interrelations between Yom HaShoah broadcasts on Israeli television and radio and the shaping of Israel’s collective memory. Wed. 4-6 p.m. Free. UCLA, 6275 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles. (310) 825-9646. international.ucla.edu/israel.

VALLEY RUACH BEER TASTING
Sample Belgian beers and compare them with their American and Canadian counterparts. Organized by Adat Ari El’s young professionals organization, the event’s hosts will review the rich history of Belgian brews and provide a lesson in how to taste beer. Attendees are welcome to hang around after the event to sober up. Snack food included with the price of admission. Wed. 7:30-10 p.m. $7 (members), $10 (general). Encino location e-mailed to paid RSVPs prior to the event. (818) 980-3282. valleyruach.org.

SUSAN MCKEOWN & LORIN SKLAMBERG: SAINTS AND TZADIKS
Irish vocalist Susan McKeown and Klezmatics lead singer Lorin Sklamberg perform songs from their 2009 album, which draws on Yiddish and Gaelic traditions in its exploration of love, death, betrothal and betrayal. Guitarist Aidan Brennan accompanies the duo. Wed. 8 p.m. $30 (general), $25 (members), $20 (students). Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 440-4599. skirball.org.

“INTRODUCTION TO ISLAM FOR JEWS”
Rabbi Reuven Firestone, professor of medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, leads tonight’s discussion, the first of a three-part series at Beth Chayim Chadashim. Wed. 7-9 p.m. $45 (general), free (BCC members). Beth Chayim Chadashim, 6000 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 931-7023. bcc-la.org.

FRI | APRIL 29

“MUSICAL OF MUSICALS (THE MUSICAL!)”
This long-running off-Broadway hit is a melting pot of musical bliss that references (and parodies) a who’s who of Jewish musical theater composers: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, and Kander and Ebb. Through May 8. 8 p.m. $12-$15. Dow Arena Theatre, Pierce College Performing Arts Theater, 6201 Winnetka Ave., Woodland Hills. (818) 719-6488. piercecollege.edu.

SUN | MAY 1

“THROUGH YOUR EYES: HOLOCAUST MEMORIALS AROUND THE WORLD”
Today’s Yom HaShoah commemoration includes an exhibition of Holocaust memorial photographs, as seen through the eyes of L.A. community members, and excerpts from the documentary “100 Voices: A Journey Home,” moderated by Cantor Joseph Gole of Sinai Temple and Cantor Nathan Lam of Stephen S. Wise Temple. Sun. 10-11:30 a.m. Free. Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuary, 6150 Mount Sinai Drive, Simi Valley. (800) 600-0076. mt-sinai.com.

“IN THEIR OWN WORDS: DIARIES FROM THE HOLOCAUST”
John Loftus, a former U.S. government prosecutor and Nazi hunter, delivers the keynote during today’s Community Wide Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration at the Los Angeles Holocaust Monument in Pan Pacific Park. The event also features “From Father to Daughter: The Legacy of Carol Deutsch (Antwerp 1894-Buchenwald 1944),” an art exhibition courtesy of the American Society for Yad Vashem. Buses leave from the Federal Building in Westwood at 1:30 p.m. and from the Bernard Milken JCC in West Hills and Valley Beth Shalom in Encino at 1 p.m. Free transportation available by pre-registration only. Sun. 2:45-4:45 p.m. Free. Pan Pacific Park (north end), 7600 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 280-5010. lamoth.org.

“CHAPTER TWO”
Widowed writer George Schneider and divorced actress Jennie Malone must overcome their individual pasts if they hope to have a future together in this comical yet tender look at courtship and marriage. Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical play appears as part of the Celebrity Staged Play Reading Series. Sun. 2 p.m. $16 (general), $14 (members, seniors, students), $12 (senior, student members). Westside Jewish Community Center, 5870 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 556-5225. westsidejcc.org.

MON | MAY 2

“BESA: ALBANIAN MUSLIMS WHO SAVED JEWS DURING THE HOLOCAUST”
Albanian Muslims, driven by a moral code known as besa, rescued 2,000 Jews during World War II. Through portraiture and personal stories, veteran photographer Norman Gershman reflects on the honor, faith and altruism of Albanian Muslims for this Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum-produced exhibition, which opens tonight. Mon. Through Aug. 19. 7 p.m. Free (RSVP required). Museum of Tolerance, 9786 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 772-2498. museumoftolerance.com.

SAT | APRIL 30

YIRAH: AWE-INSPIRING WILDERNESS ADVENTURES
TorahTrek, which connects wilderness, spiritual practice and Judaism, has formed a new group for 20- and 30-somethings to meet regularly for hiking and backpacking. Today’s 4.2-mile hike to the multitiered, 150-foot Escondido Falls — the highest waterfall in the Santa Monica Mountains — starts off easy but increases in difficulty (includes stream crossings). Sat. 3-6:30 p.m. $8-$15 (sliding scale). Escondido Canyon Nature Area, 27200 Winding Way, Malibu (meeting place). (443) 722-4294. torahtrek.com.

TUE | MAY 3

“PRISONER OF HER PAST”
Follow Chicago Tribune jazz critic Howard Reich as he sets out across the United States and Eastern Europe to uncover why his Holocaust survivor mother believes the world is conspiring to kill her. The documentary explores a little-known disorder: late-onset post-traumatic stress disorder. A Q-and-A with Reich and producer Joanna Rudnick follows. Tue. 7:30 p.m. Free (RSVP required). Museum of Tolerance, 9786 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 772-2498. museumoftolerance.com.

WED | MAY 4

“OUT OF THE WILDERNESS”
Rabbi David Rosen, director of the American Jewish Committee’s department of interreligious affairs, discusses 40 years of Catholic-Jewish relations with the Rev. Patrick Desbois, president of Yahad-In Unum, an organization that facilitates meetings between Catholic bishops and Jewish Orthodox leaders. Holli Levitsky, director of Loyola Marymount University’s Jewish studies program, moderates the discussion. Wed. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Free (RSVP required). Loyola Marymount University, Hilton Center for Business, Room 100, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles. (310) 338-7664. ajclosangeles.org.

THU | MAY 5

MOTHER’S DAY BRUNCH
New York Times columnist Alina Tugend, author of “Better by Mistake: The Unexpected Benefits of Being Wrong,” speaks at today’s annual brunch. Attendees are asked to bring toiletry items that will be used in Mother’s Day baskets for women in shelters and transitional living facilities. Thu. 10 a.m.-noon. $40. Stephen S. Wise Temple, Zeldin-Hershenson Hall, 15500 Stephen S Wise Drive, Los Angeles. (310) 476-8561. wisela.org.

Calendar Picks and Clicks: April 26-May 6, 2011 Read More »

Israeli astronaut’s story highlights Jewish film fest

Leave a Comment / Culture, Entertainment, Film /

The Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival returns to town for the sixth year May 5-12 with a diverse menu of 26 feature movies, documentaries and shorts.

“Our films are not just selected, they are chosen,” festival director Hilary Helstein said. Her picks cover such themes as tradition and identity, conflict and issues, history and legacy, and inspiration.

Screenings will be offered at 10 different venues, ranging from the Westside, Beverly Hills and mid-Wilshire to the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and Thousand Oaks.

The opening-night red-carpet gala at the Writers Guild of America Theatre on May 5 will present “An Article of Hope,” which chronicles the brave life and tragic death of Ilan Ramon, Israel’s first, and so far only, astronaut.

The date of the screening is symbolic in itself as May 5 marks the 50th anniversary of the first American launch into space.

Israel could not have picked a better representative of the Jewish state than Ramon. His mother and grandmother were “graduates of Auschwitz,” whose recollections gave Ramon a deep awareness of the threats facing Jewish life and Israel, and the imperative to defend both.

From boyhood, he dreamed of flying, and, after joining the Israel air force, he became the youngest pilot in the daring 1981 mission to destroy Iraq’s nuclear reactor.

He was a natural to be picked as the Israeli payload specialist to join four men and two women on the space shuttle Columbia mission, set for January 2003.

Among the intimate footage are scenes of intensive training and lighthearted breaks, including an interlude in which Ramon leads his American comrades in a peppy round of Israeli cheers.

According to all the testimony, Ramon was that rarity, a modest man of action, “quiet on the ground, a fighter in the air,” as one of his Israeli superiors put it.

The film includes detailed scenes of the space shuttle flight and technology, but its heart lies in Ramon’s personal story, exemplified by the items he took with him into space as his very own payload.

Included were a barbed-wire mezuzah, a gift from the local “1939” Club; a pencil sketch of “Moon Landscape” drawn by a 16-year-old boy killed at Auschwitz; a dollar from the Lubavitcher rebbe; and a miniature Torah scroll, the size of a man’s hand, a gift from a Holocaust survivor.

“Ilan saw himself as the representative of Israel and of all the Jewish people,” his widow, Rona, said.

On the 16th and last day of the Columbia mission, 16 minutes before the scheduled touchdown at Cape Canaveral, the space shuttle disintegrated during its entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.

Scraps of Ramon’s diary were recovered, but not the tiny Torah. On the next mission, Canadian astronaut Steve MacLean carried a replica into space in memory of his friend Ilan.

Following the 8 p.m. screening on May 5, director Dan Cohen will participate in a discussion of “An Article of Hope.”

Other highlighted festival films include:

“Strangers No More,” a short documentary on the children of the Bialik-Rogozin School in Tel Aviv, who have come to Israel after fleeing poverty and political strife in their homelands, which won an Oscar this year.

“Precious Life,” which explores Israeli-Palestinian relations through the story of an Israeli doctor and Palestinian mother who attempt to get treatment for her baby.

“Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story,” which traces the Jewish love affair with the great American game, especially when the likes of Hank Greenberg or Sandy Koufax are in the lineup.

The closing presentation, on May 12, is “Who Do You Love,” a fictionalized bio-pic about Leonard and Phil Chess, two Jewish immigrant brothers from Poland who helped transform rhythm and blues into classic rock ’n’ roll.

For ticket and other information, visit www.lajfilmfest.org, phone (800) 838-3006, or buy in person at the Westside Jewish Community Center.

Israeli astronaut’s story highlights Jewish film fest Read More »