THE WOLFMAN RETURNS JAN. 24
By Barbara Schwartz
Temple Havurat Emet announces the Annual Fashion Show to be held at the Oakwood Clubhouse, 24218 S Oakwood Blvd. in Sun Lakes, AZ. Be sure to join us at 11 am on Feb. 28 for a sumptuous luncheon, catered and served by the Oakwood staff.
Then enjoy the show of all the newest and best fashions sponsored by Dillard’s Department store from the Chandler Fashion Mall Shopping Center.
The event will features raffle prizes, door prizes, and the event’s traditional hat raffle (a hat covered in green folding money)!
Look for the signs up and down Riggs Road with further information.
Tickets are $25. Tickets will be sold at Sun Lakes Phase 1 Clubhouse on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (Feb. 1-15) from 10 am to noon. Tickets will also be available on Tuesdays (Feb. 2, 9 and 16) from 10 am to noon at Ace Hardware on Riggs Road.
If you are unable to get your tickets in person, please call Jean at 480-802-0185 and we will deliver your tickets to your Sun Lakes address. Please make your reservations by Feb. 16.
SPEAKER DISCUSSES DISCOVERY OF FAMILY’S NAZI PAST JAN. 30
The author of the internationally bestselling memoir, My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family’s Nazi Past will speak in Scottsdale on Jan. 30 at 7:30 pm in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
When Jennifer Teege, a German-Nigerian woman, randomly picked up a library book from the shelf, her whole life – her whole sense of self – changed forever. Recognizing photos of her mother and grandmother in the book, she discovered a horrifying fact they had kept from her: her grandfather was Amon Goeth, the vicious Nazi commandant so chillingly depicted by Ralph Fiennes in Schindler’s List – a man known and despised the world over.
Although she was placed in an orphanage and then adopted at a young age, as a child Jennifer Teege had some contact with her biological mother and grandmother. Yet neither revealed their family legacy. At age 38, Teege began to learn the scope of her grandfather’s crimes – he was known as the Nazi “butcher of Plaszów concentration camp”. She realized that if her grandfather had met her – a black woman – he would have killed her.
Arizona visit is sponsored by Generations After, a program of the Phoenix Holocaust Survivors’ Association, and the Martin Springer Institute at Northern Arizona University where she will also speak on Jan. 28.
Her Valley appearance will be held at Congregation Beth Israel, 10460 N 56th St., Scottsdale. Seating is limited. Tickets are available at phoenixhsa.org or by calling 480-792-6736. General tickets are $10; tickets for students and members of Generations After, PHSA and CBI are $7. There is no charge for Holocaust survivors, but reservations are required.
Teege’s Arizona presentations will be conducted on stage in conversation with Dr. Bjorn Krondorfer, director of NAU’s Martin Springer Institute and son of a German World War II soldier, and Janice Friebaum, chair of Generations After and daughter of a Holocaust survivor.
Beth Ami hosts “Battle for Soul of Islam” Jan. 24
The Beth Ami Temple Speaker Series presents Dr. Zuhdi Jasser speaking on “The Battle for the Soul of Islam” at Beth Ami Temple in Paradise Valley at 2 pm, Sunday, Jan. 24.
The son of Syrian immigrants who escaped the oppressive Baath regime of Syria in the mid-1960s for American freedom, Dr. Jasser is a devout Muslim and founder and President of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy. The AIFD is the most prominent American Muslim organization confronting the ideologies of political Islam and openly countering the belief that the Muslim faith is inextricably rooted to the concept of the Islamic State. The public is encouraged and welcome to attend this important discussion sponsored by Beth Ami Temple. The boutique Reform temple’s Speaker Series brings to light important topics that not only impact the city’s Jewish population, but the entire Phoenix community.
“Dr. Jasser presents a picture of Islam that represents religious tolerance for others and a different perspective,” says Beth Ami Temple Rabbi Arthur Abrams. “It is so important for us to hear about a more moderate view point of Islam.”
Dr. Jasser regularly briefs members of Congress on the threat of political Islam and has been called to testify on the issue of Muslim radicalization in the United States. During the event, Dr. Jasser will provide insight into the historical context of the cauldron in the Middle East that brewed ISIS and lay out the only path forward for the world’s interests: the promotion of a “Liberty Doctrine” in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Arab Awakening of 2011 presented the region with a major opportunity at a transformation away from old Arabic military dictatorships toward liberty. Instead, this created a vacuum that is being filled by Islamist movements. Beth Ami Temple is located inside Palo Cristi Church at 3232 E Lincoln Dr., Paradise Valley.
The program is free, but reservations are required.
602-956-0805 | bethamitemple@hotmail.com
Susan Colin Jan. 30 concert benefits NefeshSoul
Singer and Valley resident Susan Colin will perform a concert on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 pm as a fundraiser for NefeshSoul, a progressive Jewish congregation.
The event will be held at the Valley Unitarian-Universalist Congregation at 6400 W Del Rio St., Chandler, AZ 85226.
Colin is an award-winning composer whose contemporary settings of Jewish and Jewish-themed music are used by congregations around the country.
“This is the Jewish music for everyone,” says Colin.
Singing in both English and Hebrew, using diverse musical styles that incorporate world beats, jazz and folk, Colin’s warm, angelic voice draws listeners to a place of spirituality.
One reviewer wrote, “Susan Colin sings with a clarity that is breathtaking and rare.” (Dallas Morning News).
Colin has released five CDs, including “The Work of a Lifetime,” which was recorded in 2015 in Phoenix at Brick Road Studios and Big Bug Sound.
Colin’s “Healing Song,” “Psalm 150” and her newest hit, “Blessings,” are available along with all her music at iTunes, oySongs and CDBaby.
While many songs are contemplative, many are upbeat, and some songs take a lighter approach.
“Call Your Mother” is a fun yet poignant expression of a parent’s experience of the empty nest.
Accompanying Colin at this concert are Valley musicians: Shea Marshall (piano), Scott Leader (guitar), Joe Costello, (drums) and Bob Lashier (bass).
Colin is the cantorial soloist and music director at NefeshSoul. She also sings at Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale for b’nai mitzvah, and is the owner of oySongs.com, an online distributor of Jewish music.
Tickets for the concert are $10 for adults, $5 for children under 18, and $20 for families (parents with children living at home).
480-759-1930 | nefeshsoul.com
OPERATION ENTEBBE: A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT IN TUCSON AND THE VALLEY
IDF’s elite Red Beret paratrooper Sassy Reuven shares his role in the famed hostage rescue mission code named “Operation Thunderbolt” Jan. 24 in Tucson and Jan. 25 in Phoenix.
Hosted by Chabad Tucson and the Weintraub Israel Center, the Tucson talk will be at 7 pm at Congregation Young Israel. Chabad of Scottsdale hosts the 6:30 pm program in the Valley as part of its Jews in the World Lecture series.
Forty years ago, Sassy and 100 commandos flew more than 2,500 miles to Uganda to rescue more than 100 Israeli and Jewish passengers held hostage by Arab terrorists. Sassy will share his personal experience of the daring July 1976 operation that lasted 90 minutes, and rescued 102 hostages.
Five Israeli commandos were wounded and one, the unit commander, Lt. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, was killed. All the hijackers, three hostages and 45 Ugandan soldiers were killed.
Sassy will recount the mission step-by-step from the moment he was called to duty. His story is Israel’s story of courage, endurance, optimism and a willingness to sacrifice it all for the right to live in freedom.
Sassy now lives in Calabasas, CA, with his wife and three children.
Tickets for the Jan. 24 talk at Congregation Young Israel/Chabad (2443 E Fourth St., Tucson) are $18. For tickets, visit chabadtucson.com/rsvp or 520-881-7956.
Tickets for the Jan. 25 program at Chabad of Scottsdale (10215 N Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale) are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. For tickets, visit chabadofscottsdale.org or call 480-998-1410.
