The Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MOCA) newest exhibition, “Ends of the Earth: Land Art to 1974,” on view through Sept. 3 at the Geffen Contemporary, raises one important question: Just what is Land Art? If you think it is easily answered, you are probably wrong. When it comes to the art of ideas and the Earth, very little is set in stone — unless, of course, it’s set in stone.
When Jewish sisters Selma and Jenny agree to discuss their Holocaust experiences with the younger generation of Osnabrück, the German city of their youth, they’re flooded by emotions and memories. Back home in Paris, the 80-something sisters open up about the anti-Semitism that colored their past as they cook in the kitchen together. Written by Helene Cixous and directed by Georges Bigot. Don’t miss tonight’s U.S. premiere. Sat. Through July 28. 7 p.m. $20 (general), $15 (students and seniors). Ivy Substation, 9070 Venice Blvd., Culver City. (310) 838-4264. theactorsgang.com.
Two Los Angeles-area American Technion Society (ATS) leaders received honors from the Technion — Israel Institute of Technology during the university’s International Board of Governors meeting, held June 10-13 in Haifa.
My bat mitzvah invitation had bright purple embossed text on a hot pink card with my name enlarged in decorative script at the top and daisies adorning the bottom. Twenty-plus years later, I remember eagerly waiting for my friends to receive the invitations and running home weeks later to check the mailbox for the return of the RSVP envelopes. Secured in a scrapbook, the invitation is a treasured memento.
Unless you can read artistically distorted Hebrew, you might not realize that the logo of a program by Spain’s tourism board spells out the four letters of “Sepharad,” the Hebrew word for Spain. And unless you know European geography, you might not realize that the distorted Hebrew letters represent the outline — the national borders — of Spain.
The Academy for Jewish Religion, California (AJR-CA), graduated its 10th class of rabbinic and cantorial ordinees last month. The transdenominational seminary has graduated close to 90 rabbis, cantors and chaplains since 2003, and nearly all have found work in Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and non-denominational synagogues, as well as in schools, hospitals and other institutions.
For a congregation that faced millions in debt and a dwindling membership 10 years ago, hosting a “Burn the Mortgage” event was a particularly sweet moment for Shomrei Torah Synagogue. More than 500 people turned out on June 16 to celebrate the Conservative congregation’s final payment on its West Hills complex.
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