Actresses, including Lainie Kazan (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding”) and Liz Sheridan (“Seinfeld”), say the “V” word loud and proud today, in honor of V Day, a global movement aimed at ending violence against women and girls. They present “The Vagina Monologues” along with Eva Tamargo Lemus (“Passions”), April Madson (“Quintuplets”), Jerri Manthey (“Survivor”) and Rolanda Watts (“Sister, Sister”) in a special benefit performance for The Women of Iraq: Under Siege, Jewish Family Service – Family Violence Project and National Council of Jewish Women Los Angeles– Women Helping Women.
7 p.m. (silent auction) 8 p.m. (show) $25-$30. Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. (310) 628-6094.
Sunday, February 27
Future Spielbergs show their stuff at this weekend’s sixth annual International Jewish Student Film Festival at USC. Friday night Shabbat dinner includes a guest panel discussion with industry execs Page Ostrow, Richard Propper and Ken Topolsky; Saturday offers screenings of episodes of honoree Gabe Sachs’ shows “Freaks and Geeks” and “Life as We Know It,” followed by a Q and A. And the official festival takes place today at noon, giving you plenty of time to catch some up-and-comers and still get home for the arrived.
The trial of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager falsely accused of murdering a young girl in 1913, was a dark moment in American history but also galvanized the newly created Anti-Defamation League. The play, “The Knights of Mary Phagan,” is based on the story of the Frank trial and its aftermath, and plays at Theatre 68 through March 20.
8 p.m. (Fri. and Sat.), 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. (Sun.). $20. 5419 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood.
Kupershtein endured extreme hunger, inhumane conditions and constant psychological torment. Yet even in those depths, he fought daily to preserve his humanity.
Kudrow’s connection to comedy runs deeper than her Hollywood career. As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she grew up in a family where humor wasn’t just entertainment — it was a way to cope.
While the documentary succeeds in showing the band’s power and chemistry, and is full of energy, one is left wondering what would have happened if Slovak lived.
The war against two stubborn enemies, such as Iran and Hezbollah, has an interesting lesson to teach on obstacles created by regimes that are polar opposites.
There is something deeply cyclical about Judaism and our holidays. We return to the same story—the same words, the same questions—but we are not the same people telling it. And that changes everything.
Emma’s diary represents testimony of an America, and an American Jewish community, torn asunder during America’s strenuous effort to manifest its founding ideal of the equality of all people who were created in the image of God.
On Yom HaShoah, we speak of six million who were murdered. But I also remember the nine million who lived. Nine million Jews who got up every morning, took their children to school, and strove every day to survive, because they believed in life.
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