What’s Happening: History of Jewish Women, Hezbollah Panel

FRI MAY 24

Housing the Homeless 
Tommy Newman, director of public affairs at United Way, joins Shabbat dinner at Stephen Wise Temple and leads a discussion about United Way’s strategies for tackling Los Angeles homelessness, including management of homeless services, prevention strategies and permanent supportive housing solutions. This is part of the synagogue’s “Housing the Homeless” series. 7:30-9 p.m. $30. Stephen Wise Temple, 15500 Stephen S. Wise Drive, Los Angeles. (310) 476-8561.

Final Shabbat Spark
As the school year closes, Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills holds a Memorial Day Shabbat Spark and Barbecue and Teen Service. The final Shabbat Spark of the year features inspiring American tunes fused with favorite Shabbat Spark melodies. 5:15 p.m. barbecue. 6:15 p.m. services. Members free, non-members $25. Temple Emanuel Corwin Family Sanctuary, 8844 Burton Way, Beverly Hills. (310) 288-3737.

Sephardic Music and Prayer
Adat Ari El’s sanctuary undergoes a cultural change as master artist Asher Shasho Levy and his ensemble hold an energetic Erev Shabbat Tefillah featuring Sephardic melodies with authentic instruments. A Sephardic dinner follows. 6 p.m. tefillah. Free. 7:30 p.m. dinner. $21. 6-9 p.m. Adat Ari El, 12020 Burbank Blvd., Valley Village. (818) 766-9426.

Shabbat on the Beach
Surrounded by surf and sand, Kehillat Israel invites families and friends to spend not only Shabbat at the beach, but to also join in celebrating graduating seniors. At Will Rogers State Beach, guests convene near the Kehillat Israel banner by Lifeguard Station No. 5. Parking is at the intersection of Temescal Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway. 5:30 p.m. picnic. 6:15 p.m. Shabbat services and graduation celebration. Free. Kehillat Israel, 16019 W. Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. (310) 459-2328.

Family Lag B’omer Campfire
Calling all families to join in Kol Tikvah’s Family Lag b’Omer Campfire Shabbat in the West Valley. After Rabbi Jon Hanish and Cantor Noa Shaashua lead services, everyone is invited outside to gather round a campfire where tasty s’mores, dessert and coffee will be made and served. Free. No RSVP necessary. 6:30 p.m. Kol Tikvah, 20400 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills. (818) 348-0670.

Carlebach Shabbat
Nearly 25 years after his death, the music of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach lives on at the Calabasas shul’s “Carlebach Shabbaton,” with Rabbi Ahron Adler serving as scholar-in-residence. A pulpit rabbi most recently in Katamon, Jerusalem, Adler is a student of Carlebach’s music and life. He travels the world telling audiences how Carlebach and his melodies have inspired him since he first performed them as a fourth-
grader at an assembly in his Manhattan yeshiva. 6:45 p.m. Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat. 7:45 p.m. dinner. RSVP required. $45 adults, $25 children. May 25, 9:40 a.m. Shabbat services, followed by Kiddush and oneg Shabbat. Calabasas Shul at Bay Laurel Elementary School, 24740 Paseo Primario, Calabasas. (818) 724-7485.  

Camp Neshama Retreat
Join young adults in their 20s and 30s for Camp Neshama, a traditional Jewish getaway over a four-day holiday weekend featuring a blend of Shabbat, camp activities and Mother Nature high in the mountains. Rabbi Yonah Bookstein of Pico Shul leads the retreat and promises spirited Judaism and an experience that parallels summer camp. Highlights include yoga, swimming, archery, a zip line-and-ropes course and silent disco. 2 p.m. Through May 27. $249. Dovid Oved Retreat Center, 3500 Seymour Road, Running Springs. (909) 359-2000.

TUE MAY 28

Safety for Children
Child safety expert Pattie Fitzgerald, founder of Safely Ever After and author of “No Trespassing, This Is My Body,” lectures on child safety at IKAR as part of the Early Childhood Center’s Parent Speaker Series. Fitzgerald addresses what parents need to know about safety for their children, how they should teach their children proper safety skills and where they should start. 7:30-9 p.m. $15 advance, $20 door. IKAR event space, 1729 S. La Cienega Blvd. (323) 634-1870.

Hezbollah’s Expanding Reach
Israeli defense experts regard Hezbollah as the country’s chief security threat. During tonight’s Wilshire Boulevard Temple program, a panel of high-ranking U.S. military, national security and human rights experts discuss “Hezbollah’s Expanding Reach: Eliminationist Anti-Semitism and Illicit Networks Across Continents.” Speakers are retired Lt. Gen. John Toolan of the U.S. Marine Corps; retired Col. Ian Corey of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps; professor Rachel E. VanLandingham, a retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Air Force; and Daniel Schwammenthal, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Transatlantic Institute. Leo Nayfeld, managing director of the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, moderates. 7-9 p.m. Free. Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Irmas Campus, 11661 W. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 388-2401.

WED MAY 29

Artistic Spectrum of Learning
The annual opening of Valley Beth Shalom’s (VBS) “OurSpace: The Artistic Spectrum of Jewish Learning for Adults” encourages special-needs adults ages 18 and older to participate in lifelong Jewish learning through the arts while socializing with friends and community. The real value of this program is that over the past 10 years, as professional artists have come to work with VBS members, they have discovered hidden talents among numerous special-needs artists. Artistic Spectrum features original artworks. Meet the artists at the opening along with guest artists. 7-9 p.m. Free. Valley Beth Shalom, 15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino. (818) 788-6000. 

“Being Deborah: A History of Jewish Women”
Commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month, L.A. City Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and David Ryu convene “Being Deborah: A History of Jewish Women Creating Change in Los Angeles,” at L.A. City Hall. The gathering includes performances by Jewish Women’s Theatre and the Shalhevet High School ChoirHawks. Also participating are L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, L.A. City Councilmembers Paul Koretz, Paul Krekorian and Greig Smith; City Controller Ron Galperin and City Attorney Mike Feuer.  10 a.m. council presentation and performances by Jewish Women’s Theatre and Shalhevet ChoirHawks. 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. reception and exhibit tours. RSVP required. (213) 473-7004.

Germans, Jews and Capitalism
During the program “The Jewish Touchstone in the German Critique of Capitalism,” University of Wisconsin sociology professor Chad Alan Goldberg argues that despite the differences among four thinkers, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Werner Sombart and Georg Simmel, all conceived the unique nature of modern capitalism with references to Jews and Judaism. Goldberg’s 2017 book, “Modernity and the Jews in Western Social Thought,” was a National Jewish Books Awards finalist. UCLA assistant sociology professor Aliza Luft moderates. 4-6 p.m. Free. UCLA Faculty Center, 480 Charles E. Young Drive East. (310) 267-5327.

“A Jewish Musical Journey”
Sinai Temple undertakes a musical journey across the decades when the Conservative congregation opens its archives, which have been untouched for more than 40 years. This multimedia program includes live performances, spoken word and vocal recordings, drawing from an archive of musical manuscripts, photos and recordings dating back over a century. The evening includes music and remarks by Cantor Marcus Feldman, Cantor Joseph Gole and Aryell Cohen, among others. 7:30-9 p.m. Free. RSVP
by May 24. Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 474-3228. .

THU MAY 30

First Poker Tournament
Jews for Judaism, founded in 1985 in Los Angeles by Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz, holds its inaugural charity poker tournament at Sephardic Temple. Rookies are welcome and lessons are available 30 minutes before the tournament. Unlimited rebuys are available, cash and credit cards are accepted. Ages 21 and older only. The “Last Man Standing” prize is a Hublot Blue Chronograph Titanium watch. Includes dinner, dessert and open bar. 6 p.m. doors open. 7 p.m. rookie lessons. 7:30 p.m. tournament begins. $250 per single player ticket, $180 double stack add-on, $150 non-player ticket. Sephardic Temple, 10500 Wilshire 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.