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What’s Happening: Israeli FilmFest, ‘Bridging the Divide’

[additional-authors]
November 6, 2019

FRI NOV 8

Shabbat and Free Genetic Testing
Sinai Temple’s Friday Night Live for young professionals at Atid includes a potential bonus: In addition to the instrumental music, singing at Shabbat services and dinner, Atid partners with JScreen, a nonprofit screening program for Jewish genetic diseases. Free genetic screening is offered to the first 50 people who purchase dinner tickets. Organized by the Neuromuscular Disease Foundation. JScreen registration is open to people ages 21-39. 7 p.m. doors open, wine and candy. 7:30 p.m. services. 8:30 p.m. dinner. $20. Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd. (310) 474-1518.

Enlightened Shabbat and Potluck
Mishkon Tephilo holds the community Shabbat experience, Na’or: An Intentional Chanting Prayer Experience, led by Rabbi Aviva Funke, one of the creators of Na’or. The enlightened Shabbat includes a vegetarian potluck dinner. No RSVP needed. 6:15 p.m. BYOB drinks in the Hampton foyer. 6:35 p.m. services in the Social Hall. 8 p.m. free potluck dinner in the chapel. Mishkon Tephilo, 206 Main St., Venice. (310) 392-3029.

In Honor of Veterans
On the eve of Veterans Day, a special Shabbat service at Wilshire Boulevard Temple celebrates Jewish pride in the military and pays tribute to veterans in the community. Stick around for the formal opening of the temple’s Jewish American Medal of Honor recipients exhibit. 7 p.m. Free. Wilshire Boulevard Temple, 3663 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 388-2401.

Shabbat Spark!
The busy, upbeat evening at Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills (TEBH) begins with a congregational dinner to fuel the body before refueling the spirit. “Shabbat Spark!” is part rock, part soul, all Shabbat, featuring TEBH’s six-piece rock band, student “Soul Singers,” junior cantors and religious school students. Together, they lead the Shabbat service and also pay tribute to America’s military veterans on the eve of Veterans Day. No need to hold your books while praying; the words appear on a large screen. 6:30 p.m. Free. Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills, Corwin Family Sanctuary, 300 N. Clark Drive, Beverly Hills. (310) 288-3737.

SAT NOV 9

Chloe Pourmorady

Chloe Pourmorady
While live music is not uncommon during Friday night services, it is on Shabbat morning. That makes the appearance of Chloe Pourmorady and her band at this morning’s Sinai Temple service noteworthy. The Feit Family Shabbat Live program also features Sinai Rabbi David Wolpe, Craig Taubman and the Sinai Temple clergy. Services are at 9:30 a.m., with Pourmorady and her band performing at 11 a.m. Free. Sinai Temple, 10400 Wilshire Blvd. (310) 474-1518.

Lunch with the IDF
Iranian-Jewish congregation Nessah Synagogue holds a Shabbat lunch with a team of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers. Come hear their harrowing stories of close calls in their daily lives on the front lines. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Luncheon follows services. $260 per adult. $50 per child 13-and-under, $3,000 for a table of 10 with IDF member. Nessah Synagogue, Simcha Hall, 142 S. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills. (310) 273-2400. To purchase tickets, contact jenna.griffin@fidf.org.

SUN NOV 10

Special Needs Basketbal Program
Beginning this morning, Special Maccabees, a program for Jewish special needs athletes, is introducing a free 12-week basketball program for Jewish boys and girls and men and women with special needs, from ages 15-60. Practices are conducted separately at the Westside Jewish Community Center (JCC). The program provides athletes with an opportunity to play basketball and interact with other special needs athletes under the guidance of committed coaches. 9:15-10:45 a.m. Free. Westside JCC, 4870 W. Olympic Blvd. For additional information, contact Jeff Liss at jliss72@verizon or (310) 985-9676.

“Ashes to Blossoms”
Marking the one-year anniversary of the Woolsey fire that destroyed the Shalom Institute and Camp JCA Shalom, camp leaders are looking to the present and the future with “Ashes to Blossoms.” This past summer, the debris was removed, but much work still needs to be done. Join Shalom Institute staff and their partner, Tree People, for a day of service, followed by a commemoration of the fire that struck on Nov. 9, 2018. All ages are welcome. 1-3 p.m. service. 3-4 p.m. ceremony. Free. Shalom Institute, 34342 Mulholland Hwy., Malibu. (818) 889-5500. Registration required at eventbrite.com.

Rabbi Susan Goldberg

“The Art of Peacemaking”
Is peace among religions attainable? Two Jews, two Muslims and a Catholic priest address that question during an interfaith panel discussion. Speakers include Rabbi Susan Goldberg of Nefesh, Rabbi Mel Gottlieb of the Academy of Jewish Religion in California (AJRCA), Tasneem Noor of NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change and Father Alexei Smith of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Co-organized by AJRCA and Claremont Lincoln University. Seating is limited. A Q-and-A and opportunity to network and take action follows the discussion. 3-4:30 p.m. Free. UCLA Hillel, Spiegel Auditorium, 574 Hilgard Ave. For more information, contact Sara Gertler at sgertler@claremontlincoln.edu or call (909) 667-4413.

“Marvelous Life” of Stan Lee
Discover how the late Marvel Comics co-creator Stan Lee became the face and voice of comics. Tonight, his colleague, Danny Fingeroth, author of “A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee,” and animation historian Jerry Beck sit down for a discussion about Lee at the Skirball Cultural Center. They examine how Lee, who worked with partners like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko to create Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Avengers, was also haunted by controversy throughout his career. 7:30 p.m. $10 general admission, $5 members. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. (310) 440-4500.

MON NOV 11

“OHR”
For the first 36 years of Lara Mizel’s life, her mother’s tragic death was shrouded in mystery. The new documentary, “Ohr,” produced by Lara and Cheston Mizel, prominent leaders in the Pico-Robertson community, finally reveals what happened to Shirley Frysh. Lara Mizel grew up knowing almost nothing about her mother, but she refused to compromise her search. The Mizels appear for a special screening of “Ohr” at the Museum of Tolerance (MOT), participating in a Q-and-A with Academy Award-winning writer and director Richard Trank. Reception follows. RSVP required. 7:30 p.m. Free. Museum of Tolerance, 9786 Pico Blvd. (310) 772-2505.

TUE NOV 12

Israel Film Festival
The 33rd annual Israel Film Festival (IFF), the largest showcase of Israeli films in the U.S., launches a two-week run, beginning with a gala opening ceremony for 1,000 guests at the Steve Tisch Cinema Center at the Saban Theatre. “Incitement,” the story of events leading to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination 24 years ago this month, opens the festival. Also tonight, two motion picture veterans, producers Arthur Cohn and Sharon Harel-Cohen, receive the IFF Lifetime Achievement Award and the Achievement in Film Award, respectively. The festival continues through Nov. 26, with more than 40 films screened at three sites across the city. Opening night 7:30 p.m. $125 VIP, $50 general. Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Ahrya Fine Arts, 8556 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. Laemmle Town Center, 17200 Ventura Blvd., Encino. (310) 247-1800.

WED NOV 13

“Jews in Blue and Gray”

Jews in Blue and Gray”
Allegiances during the Civil War split the Jewish community as deeply as the nation. “Jews in Blue and Gray,” the first documentary film to explore the role of Jews during the Civil War, spotlights the history of the 10,000 Jews who fought on both sides in America’s deadliest war more than 150 years ago. The film highlights how some prominent Jewish voices used the Torah to justify slavery, while others led the abolitionist movement. The screening is held as part of the “DocJewmentary” film series at Congregation Kol Ami. 7:30 p.m. $5 Kol Ami members, $18 general. Congregation Kol Ami, 1200 N. La Brea Ave., West Hollywood. (323) 606-0996.

THU NOV 14

“Bridging the Divide”
The Israel-based Polyphony Quartet, which brings together Jewish and Arab musicians to play classical, Jewish and Middle Eastern music, performs “Bridging the Divide,” a concert at the Pico Union Project. Violinists Yamen Saadi and Edi Kotlyar, violist Yoav Yatzkin and cellist Mahdi Saadi perform music from Mozart, Bartok and Schubert as well as arrangements of Arab and Jewish folk tunes. Following the concert, a Q-and-A features the musicians and Nabeel Abboud-Ashkar, co-founder of the Polyphony Foundation, which aims to bring together Arab and Jewish communities in Israel and serve as a worldwide model of cultural exchange, dialogue and partnership. 7-9 p.m. Free. Pico Union Project, 1153 Valencia St., Los Angeles. (213) 915-0084.

“Jews in the South”
No strangers to prejudice and confrontation wherever they have lived, one wonders why American Jews moved into the South in the 19th and 20th centuries. Lauren Acker, a U.S. history instructor at Pasadena City College, provides a response in her lecture, “A People In-Between: Jews in the South,” exploring the complexities of navigating religion and race from the time of slavery through Jim Crow segregation. 7 p.m. Free. Temple Beth Am, 1039 S. La Cienega Blvd. (310) 652-7353. tbala.org. For information about an upcoming Beth Am bus tour to the South after Passover, visit the link above.


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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