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What’s Happening: Yom HaShoah Events, Film Fest, Sephardic Shabbat

[additional-authors]
April 24, 2019
“The Passengers”

FRI APRIL 26

T’Marim Sephardic Shabbat 
Enjoy Mediterranean melodies and sunset breezes when Valley Beth Shalom (VBS) Musician-In-Residence Asher Levy and Cantor Phil Baron lead a T’marim Sephardic Shabbat service at VBS. T’marim means “dates,” signifying the fruity sweetness of the praying and singing. Levy, 23, plays an oud, which resembles a lute, and sings traditional chants of his Syrian ancestors’ Aleppo Halabi community. Congregants typically sway and clap when they hear traditional Jewish music from Yemen, Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Morocco and Greece. 6 p.m. mezze. 6:30 p.m. Sephardic Shabbat service. Free. Valley Beth Shalom, Sher-Lopaty Chapel, 15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino. (818) 788-6000.

Rabbi Zoe Klein Miles

Green New Deal
After Jazz Shabbat services at Temple Isaiah, three veteran climate activists sit down with Rabbi Zoe Klein Miles and examine the Green New Deal, a proposed stimulus program that theorizes humans must take drastic measures in the next dozen years to reduce carbon emissions to counteract the effects of global warming. The speakers are Joe Galliani, organizer of the South Bay Los Angeles Climate Action Group; Russell Greene, who serves on the advisory board of Climate Mobilization; and Kathy Seal, chair of the West L.A. chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. 6:15 p.m. Jazz Shabbat services. 8-9:30 p.m. program. Free. Temple Isaiah, 10345 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 277-2772.

SUN APRIL 28

Holocaust Survivors
In observance of Yom HaShoah, a family community service at Valley Beth Shalom, co-organized by the Mati Center, commemorates the last living survivors of the Treblinka death camp. 3:30 p.m. doors. 4 p.m. family community service. Valley Beth Shalom, 15739 Ventura Blvd., Encino. (818) 788-6000.

Yom Hashoah Commemoration
Six decades after the inaugural Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) took place in Israel, the Los Angeles community gathers in Pan Pacific Park to honor the victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Organized by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles in partnership with more than 50 organizations and synagogues, the public event features survivor testimonies, music and fellowship. 2-3:30 p.m. Free. Pan Pacific Park, 7600 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles. Street parking available on Beverly Boulevard near the park and at CBS Studios, located at Fairfax and La Brea Ave. (323) 761-8000. For information, contact rzaiden@jewishla.org or visit the website. 

5K Walk For Families
The San Fernando Valley branch of Na’amat USA, which serves poor and vulnerable women and children in Israel, holds a five-kilometer walk. Adults are encouraged to attend along with their children and pets. 9 a.m. $25 per walker. Lake Balboa Park, 6300 Balboa Blvd., Encino. (818) 995-4035.

“Forgotten Communities”
“Forgotten Communities: The Holocaust of the Greek Jews,” Sinai Temple’s Holocaust community memorial program for families with children ages 9 and older, recalls the lost and the rescued. The program is co-organized by the Mati Center. After the memorial ceremony, guests are invited to the “Legacy Café” to meet with survivors and hear their stories. 11-11:45 a.m., memorial ceremony. 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Holocaust survivors. Free. Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 351-7021. For more information, email maticenter@gmail.com. sinaitemple.org.

“Homeward LA”
“Homeward LA,” a 10-day, citywide event continuing through May 5, features monologues based on stories of homeless people. At Temple Adat Elohim, 18 community members share stories, with Leasa Shukiar directing the readers, who are backed by a six-person musical ensemble. Denise Cortes, executive director of Harbor House, opens the evening with an introduction about Conejo Valley homelessness. 6:45 p.m. $20. Temple Adat Elohim, 2420 E. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks. (805) 497-7101.

“The Wall”
To commemorate Yom HaShoah, a staged reading of “The Wall” will take place at the Pasadena Playhouse. The play recalls the heroic resistance and fighting by desperate Jews in the 1943 Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Nazis entered the ghetto on April 19 to deport surviving Jews, and for 25 days Jews fought back until being overcome and sent to death camps. The play is read by the JFed Players of the Jewish Federation of the Greater San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys. 8-10 p.m. $22. Pasadena Playhouse, 39 S. El Molino Ave., Pasadena.  (626) 356-7529.  

TUE APRIL 30

“The Dig”

“The Dig”
Written and performed by Stacie Chaiken and featuring original music written and performed by Yuval Ron, the one-woman play, “The Dig: Death, Genesis and the Double Helix,” follows an American archeologist seeking to discover the truth about an artifact in Israel, one that could have transforming effects not only on Israel and the Middle East but on the entire world. 7 p.m. Free. UCLA Glorya Kaufman Dance Theater, 10367 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles. (310) 825-9646.  

Trump Aide At Sinai
Jason Greenblatt, assistant to President Donald Trump and special representative for international negotiations, sits down for a discussion with Sinai Temple Senior Rabbi David Wolpe. Although there is plenty about Trump to analyze, including the recent release of the Mueller report, the two likely will discuss Greenblatt’s work crafting the highly anticipated Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. The son of Hungarian-Jewish refugees, Greenblatt, the father of six children, worked as Trump’s real estate lawyer before Trump’s presidential victory in 2016 resulted in him joining the president’s administration. 7:30-9:30 p.m. $18 general. Free, Sinai members. Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (310) 481-3228.

WED MAY 1

Past Meets Present 
On an evening when the worst tragedy in Jewish history is remembered, Matthew Friedman, senior associate regional director at the Anti-Defamation League, discusses how anti-Semitism has become ubiquitous again. The program is a joint effort of Shomrei Torah Synagogue and Temple Aliyah. 7:15 p.m. minyan. 7:30 p.m. Friedman speaks. 8:30 p.m. memorial service. Free. Temple Aliyah, 6025 Valley Circle Blvd., Woodland Hills. (818) 346-3545.

“The Strength to Tell”
The Yom HaShoah community-wide program at Beth Jacob Congregation features the screening of a film about the trial in Israel of Nazi commander Adolf Eichmann, a major organizer of the Holocaust, who was hanged in 1962. “The Strength to Tell” is about at-risk Jerusalem teenagers who interview the final surviving witnesses of the Eichmann trial. The teens create a play built around the stories they were told. 7:30-9 p.m. 
Beth Jacob Congregation, 9030 W. Olympic Blvd., Beverly Hills. (310) 278-1911.

THU MAY 2

“Love, Life and Paint!”
The latest “With Daniella” event, featuring psychotherapist and relationship coach Daniella Bloom and leading networker Avital Khazanov, is an adult paint night — without brushes and without fingers. Curious? Join single-and-ready-to-mingle Jewish professionals from ages 30 to 50 for “Love, Life and Paint!” Bloom talks about the heart of creativity with the goal of helping guests visualize the kind of life and love they desire. Wine, cheese and painting aprons provided. Kosher options available. 8 p.m. $39-$59. San Fernando Valley Art Center, 18312 Oxnard St., Tarzana. (818) 697-5525., daniellabloom.com.

“Menashe”

“Menashe”
A screening of “Menashe” — a 2017 drama that tells the story of a recently widowed Chasidic grocer in Brooklyn who struggles against tradition to gain custody of his son — concludes Kehillat Ma’arav’s Jewish Film Series. The Yiddish-language film was shot in secret within the Chasidic community. 7 p.m. doors open. 7:30 p.m. film. $10. Kehillat Ma’arav, 1715 21st St., Santa Monica. (310) 829-0566.

“The Passengers”

L.A. Jewish Film Festival
The 14th annual Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival, a weeklong celebration of Jewish film, features 27 screenings at 11 theaters and venues from Beverly Hills to Santa Clarita. The opening night celebrates the pioneering Hollywood filmmaker Carl Laemmle, who, affectionately known as “Uncle Carl,” founded Universal Studios and helped rescue 300 families from his native Germany. The 2018 documentary “Carl Laemmle” screens tonight and Hollywood director Peter Bogdanovich receives the Marvin Paige Hollywood Legacy Award. Additional films playing through May 9 include “Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog,” the personal story springing from when Nazis barred Jewish ownership of pets; culinary comedy “Chewdaism: A Taste of Jewish Montreal,” and “The Passengers,” about the history of Ethiopia’s Jewish community. The Jewish Journal co-sponsors the festival. Opening night: 7:15 p.m. doors, 8 p.m. program begins. $40 opening night. For other films: $15 general admission, $13 students and seniors. For more information, call (800) 838-3006 or visit the website.


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.

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