UPDATE: Shabbat Livestream; Other Events Called Off

Editor’s Note: This story will continue to update as more events are canceled or postponed. We will update you as events also turn to Zoom or other forms of live-streaming.

THU MARCH 19

COVID Crisis Discussion
Wilshire Boulevard Temple Rabbi Steve Leder leads an online discussion, “Teachings from the Covid Crisis,” featuring insights about the current crisis facing the world. This is the first in a video series that will be posted. All ages. 3 p.m. For more information, click here.

“Ask. Dr. Adva”
Dr. Adva Gadoth, an infectious disease specialist at UCLA and NuRoots member, takes questions about the coronavirus during a virtual Q-and-A. 6:30 p.m. Visit the NuRoots Instagram page at instagram.com/nurootsla and register through the Zoom link in the bio.

FRI MARCH 20

“Sex, Addiction & Love” — POSTPONED
Jewish Women’s Theatre’s latest production is “Sex, Addiction & Love in the 21st Century,” featuring love-centered storylines that may sound outrageous — even dangerous — but more often are tender stories of love’s greatest hits: the first crush, the joy of holding hands and the sexual awakening of a high school freshman. JWT is hoping to substitute  this show for its May salon. For more information, visit Jewish Women’s Theatre online here.

National Refugee Shabbat — ONLINE
National Refugee Shabbat, a HIAS project that dedicates the joy of Shabbat to refugees and asylum seekers, is offering online resources, including a resource guide and a video from HIAS CEO Mark Hetfield to help guide Shabbat at home this weekend. For more information, including several do-it-yourself-style educational programs, as well as a liturgical reading, sermon talking points and a text study, click here.

Kabbalat Shabbat Livestream
Join Valley Beth Shalom (VBS) for a livestream of a Kabbalat Shabbat service, featuring Rabbi Noah Farkas and Cantor Phil Baron, on Facebook Live. 5-6 p.m. For more information, visit vbs.org.

Rabbi Laura Geller — POSTPONED
Rabbi Laura Geller, the first woman rabbi to lead a major metropolitan congregation, is the guest speaker at Kol Ami’s monthly Shabbat dinner, which takes place on the third Friday of every month. Geller, rabbi emerita of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, discusses her book “Getting Good at Getting Older.” The evening includes a catered Chinese meal. 6:30 p.m. service. 7:30-9 p.m. dinner. $18. Congregation Kol Ami, 1200 N. La Brea Ave., West Hollywood. RSVP by emailing reception@kol-ami.org. kol-ami.org.

“Stand Up to Hatred” — CANCELED
Temple of the Arts’ “Gospel Shabbat: Stand Up to Hatred” is a musical evening addressing anti-Semitism and racism in society and how to unite communities of faith. Participants in the program include the 40-voice Spirit of David Gospel Choir and Voices of Destiny of the Greater Zion Church Family of Compton. Pastor Michael Fisher and Temple of the Arts Rabbi David Baron are among the speakers.

SUN MARCH 22

“Michael Mitzvah Day” — CANCELED 

The Temple Menorah community gathers to honor the memory of college student Michael Porzucki, who died in 2003 while hiking in Europe. The community performs mitzvot in his memory. In past years, activities at the annual event have included a beach cleanup, writing letters to soldiers and knitting.

“Odessa, Odessa” — CANCELED
Author Barbara Artson appears at Shomrei Torah Synagogue and discusses “Odessa, Odessa.” Her story opens with two brothers from a line of rabbis and cantors who seek to escape anti-Semitism by emigrating in separate directions. One goes to America, the other to Israel. She tracks one family’s progress from Brighton Beach to Los Angeles.

“Hitler’s Tasters” — POSTPONED
A performance of “Hitler’s Tasters” raises funds for Open Temple. The show — playwright Michelle Kholos Brooks’ dark comedy about four young German women who had the “honor” of being hired as Adolf Hitler’s food tasters — is based on true events with shades of 2020. Following the performance is a discussion on “Hitler as Our Hilarious Imaginary Friend,” featuring Kholos Brooks, her husband, author Max Brooks, and Journal Publisher and Editor-in-Chief David Suissa, examining depictions of Hitler in pop culture. Rabbi Lori Shapiro moderates. 3 p.m. $180, $360. Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Ave., Venice.

TUE MARCH 24

“Hate in the Hood” — CANCELED
Wilshire Boulevard Temple holds a panel discussion on the rise of hate groups in Los Angeles. Speakers are Georgette Pickering, a supervisory special agent with the FBI; Joanna Mendelson, director of special projects for the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism; and Corey Wenter, head of security for Wilshire Boulevard Temple. Former New York Times columnist and temple congregant Michael Janofsky moderates.

Robert Reich — CANCELED
UC Berkeley professor Robert Reich, who has served in three presidential administrations, appears in conversation with Emmy Award winner Larry Wilmore. They discuss Reich’s new book, “The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It.” Reich explains why he maintains that wealth and power have interacted to install an elite oligarchy that has eviscerated the middle class.

THU MARCH 26

Violins of Hope — CANCELED
“Violins of Hope,” a concert featuring violins that were played during the Holocaust and were later rescued and restored, takes place at Sephardic Temple. Among the violins that will be played is the one that saved the life of the late Cantor Isaac Behar, who served at Sephardic Temple. Special guests include Holocaust survivor Susanne Reyto, chair of Violins of Hope, and Amnon and Avshi Weinstein, the father-son team who devoted the last two decades to restoring the violins. The event also includes a tribute to Behar.

“Women in Resistance” — CANCELED
The closing program of Yad Vashem’s “Educate Against Hate” series features Na’ama Shik discussing “Women in Resistance: The Heroic Role of Women in the Holocaust.” Israeli-born filmmaker Guy Nattiv, the grandson of survivors, moderates a Q&A session with Shik, director of Yad Vashem’s Educational Technology Department.

“Who Will Write Our History” — CANCELED
“Who Will Write Our History,” the first film documenting the clandestine effort by numerous leaders within the Warsaw Ghetto to gather 60,000 pages of evidence of Nazi lies, screens at American Jewish University. Director-producer Roberta Grossman and Suzy Snyder, curator of the National Institute for Holocaust Documentation at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, speak after the screening. Rabbi Jocee Hudson of Temple Israel of Hollywood moderates.

“The Last Resort” — POSTPONED
The Miami Beach-based documentary “The Last Resort,” which screens at American Jewish University, is an ambitious 10-year project that chronicles the largest and most famous destination for Jewish retirees in the 1970s and ’80s. A discussion follows the screening. 1 p.m. $15. American Jewish University, Burton Sperber Jewish Community Library, 15600 Mulholland Drive.

“Otto Frank” — POSTPONED
Actor-writer Roger Guenveur Smith returns to the Bootleg Theatre with his new solo show, “Otto Frank,” a historical account of Anne Frank’s father. The seed for “Otto Frank” was planted when Smith was invited to Amsterdam to perform “Rodney King” and he visited the Anne Frank House. Smith tried to imagine how Frank felt after the war, having lost his wife and two daughters. Bootleg Theatre, 2220 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles.

Have an event coming up? Send your information two weeks prior to the event to ryant@jewishjournal.com for consideration. For groups staging an event that requires an RSVP, please submit details about the event the week before the RSVP deadline.

Correction March 19: A listing about Valley Beth Shalom (VBS) was updated to reflect that VBS is live-streaming its Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday at 5 p.m.