Jewish Arizonans on Campus’ Comedy Night
Dr. Nathan and Judy Laufer will be honored for their incredible commitment to the Jewish education of students on Arizona campuses on Feb. 29. The Laufers have supported the work of Jewish Arizonans on Campus by funding trips to Israel and Europe and helping to fuel students with Jewish enlightening and social programing.
Also featured at the annual comedy night will be comedian Dan Naturman, who was the favorite comedian of judges Drew Carey and Brett Butler on the second season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing.
The event will be held at the Scottsdale Hilton Resort, 6333 N Scottsdale Road, and will begin at 6:30 pm with a dessert reception. The program will begin at 7:30 pm.
Tickets are $54 a person or $25 for students, and many sponsorship opportunities are available. Contact Rabbi Jordan Brumer at rabbijordan@gmail.com for details about sponsorship opportunities. Purchase tickets at http://bitly.com/JACcomedy.
Rabbi Barton Lee speaks at Beth Ami Temple
Recently retired Arizona State University Hillel Director Rabbi Barton Lee will present “Forever Young: A Rabbi’s Challenges Working with Jewish Young Adults on the College Campus” as part of the Beth Ami Temple Speaker Series at Beth Ami Temple in Paradise Valley on Feb. 19 at 2 pm.
Rabbi Lee was the rabbi/executive director of the Hillel Jewish Student Center at ASU for more than 40 years. An ASU faculty associate, he also taught courses in history, religious studies and Jewish studies. Having graduated from Stanford University and Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, he earned his doctorate from Hebrew Union College in 1968. Rabbi Lee has also studied in Israel.
Beth Ami Temple is located inside Palo Cristi Church at 3232 E Lincoln Dr., Paradise Valley. Free, but reservations are recommended: bethamitemple@hotmail.com, 602-956-0805 or bethamitemple.org.
One Rabbi, Two Lectures: Holidays and Jewish Traditions of Love and Marriage
The Secular Humanist Jewish Circle is partnering with the Hillel Foundation and the Secular Student Alliance at the University of Arizona to present a lecture at the Hillel building, 1245 E Second St., Tucson, on Feb. 11 at 6 pm. Rabbi Adam Chalom will discuss “Holidays Without the Holy: Secular Approaches to Religious Tradition.” He will ask the question: If holiday traditions were originally made by people, can they be remade by people as well?
On Feb. 14 from 2:30 to 5 pm Rabbi Chalom will focus on “Love and Marriage: From the Bible to Modern Jewish Life.” This lecture will take place at the Murphy-Wilmot Library, 530 N Wilmot Road, Tucson. Chalom will illuminate the history and reality of creating Jewish families, then and now. There will be time for socializing after the presentation. Participants are encouraged to bring a Valentine’s Day snack to share.
Rabbi Chalom was ordained by the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism in 2001. He received his PhD in Near Eastern Studies – Hebrew and Jewish Cultural Studies concentration from the University of Michigan. In addition to his work with the Institute, Rabbi Chalom is the rabbi of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in north suburban Chicago. His Tucson events are part of a statewide training opportunity.
Rabbi Chalom also will be leading a weekend institute for Congregation Or Adam in Phoenix (see next preview).
Both lectures are free and open to the public. Please RSVP to srubinaz@comcast.net, 520-577-7718 or shjcaz.org.
Weekend seminar focuses on anti-Semitism
Rabbi Adam Chalom, dean of the International Institute for Secular and Humanistic Judaism, will be in Phoenix Feb. 12-14 for Shabbat services and seminar.
He will lead Or Adam Congregation’s Shabbat Service on Friday night, Feb. 12.
The Arizona Jewish Historical Society and Or Adam Congregation are co-sponsoring a seminar “Jewish Cultural View of Zionism, Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism” featuring Rabbi Adam Chalom. Anti-Semitism and Israel have been intertwined since Theodor Herzl witnessed the Dreyfus Trial in 1894, sparking his book The Jewish State and Modern Zionism. Today’s conflicts in Europe, the Middle East and on college campuses are a bewildering, even disturbing, combination of legitimate criticism and irrational hatred. How should American Jews respond?
There will be two sessions on Feb. 13. From 9 am to noon, Rabbi Chalom will speak on “Diaspora, Diversity and Discrimination: Ancient and Medieval Origins.” In the afternoon, 1-4 pm, he will address “Founding, Fighting and Final Solutions: 1870-1948.”
Sunday’s session, “Reacting to Reality: The World Today” will be from 9 am to noon.
The Shabbat service is free. Individual sessions are $20. Cost for the full seminar is $50, which includes bagels Saturday and Sunday and Saturday lunch. Both the lecture and seminar will be held at the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, 122 E Culver St., Phoenix.
For tickets or information, contact oradaminfo@gmail.com or 480-663-7788.
Lectures look at Holocaust and anti-Semitism on campus
As part of the Albert & Liese Eckstein Scholar-in-Residence Lecture series, Dr. Lynn Rapaport, Henry Snyder Professor of Sociology, Pomona College, will present two lectures on Feb. 1.
At 10:30 am she will speak about “The Holocaust in Popular Culture: A Close Look at Schindler’s List.” The lecture will be on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University in room 4401 of Lattie F. Coor Hall, 976 S Forest Mall.
Her evening lecture will focus on “Anti-Semitism on College Campuses.” The 7 pm talk will be at the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, 122 E Culver St., Phoenix.
Rapaport is the author of Jews in Germany after the Holocaust: Memory, Identity, and Jewish-German Relations, which won the 1998 Most Distinguished Publication Award in the Sociology of Religion from the American Sociological Association. She is currently working on a project about the portrayal of Holocaust in American popular culture from the 1940s to present day.
The Albert and Liese Eckstein Scholar-in-Residence program is made possible through an endowment established by the late Dr. Albert and Liese Eckstein, with additional contributions from the Eckstein family and Friends of Jewish Studies. The program features annual lectures by experts in the field of Jewish Studies.
Both lectures are free, but RSVP is requested at jewishstudies.clas.asu.edu/rsvp or 480-727-5151.
New Exhibit at the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center
The Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center opened a new exhibit Jan. 31 entitled, “The World Knew: Jan Karski’s Mission for Humanity.”
The exhibit details the life and actions of a Polish resistance member and courier during World War II who gained first-hand information about Nazi atrocities against Jews and brought that information to the West. In particular, Karski was smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto as well as a transit/labor camp to witness what was taking place and was then smuggled to London, where he met with British Foreign Minister Anthony Eden and also later Franklin D. Roosevelt in Washington. It is a tragic story of a man who was witness to the Holocaust and who was largely disregarded by the world.
The exhibit also celebrates other Polish righteous gentiles who saved Jews during WWII. It is being co-sponsored by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland and the Arizona Jewish Historical Society.
The basic exhibit was curated by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Los Angeles. The AJHS is adding to it by soliciting objects of interest from the local Polish community and other connections. Phoenix artist Robert Sutz has volunteered to share his Polish Holocaust art.
On Tues. Feb. 9 at 7 pm the Center will hold the Arizona premiere screening of a documentary film, “Jan Karski and the Lords of Humanity.”
On Feb. 11 at 7 pm, in cooperation with Or Adam Congregation, there will be an author presentation: Two Among the Rightous Few: A Story of Courage in the Holocaust by Marty Brounstein.
On Feb. 18 at 7 pm there will be a book discussion of Jan Karski’s Story of a Secret State, originally published in 1944. The discussion is being led by the AZJHS president Mark Sendrow, who is a former student of Karski’s at Georgetown University.
There is also a live concert of music by Chopin on March 15 performed by the Rice Brothers in an effort to help foster better relations between Poles and Jews.
The exhibit will run through March 31. Admission is $5 (AZJHS members, students, survivors, and active duty military free). Special arrangements for groups.
Arizona Jewish Historical Society, Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center, 122 E Culver Street, Phoenix. 602-241-7870 or azjhs.org.
Super Bowl Champion Shares His Teshuvah Journey
Alan Veingrad was the only Jewish player on the Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboy Team. On Feb. 2 he will share his riveting personal story of self-discovery following his retirement from the NFL with the Phoenix Community Kollel.
This is the first of two talks in the Kollel’s Distinguished Speaker Lecture series. The second on March 8 will feature Judge Dan Butler, whose lectures inspire audiences to overcome tragedy and make the most of a bad day. Both lectures will be at 7:30 pm at the Scottsdale Hilton, 6333 N. Scottsdale Road.
Alan vividly relates the discipline of being a professional athlete to the process of becoming a Torah-observant Jew. His story is one of Jewish pride in the least likely of places. He relays his personal breakthroughs and accomplishments during his five years as an offensive lineman with the Green Bay Packers and two years with the Dallas Cowboys playing for legendary coach Jimmy Johnson, alongside hall of fame quarterback Troy Aikman and record-breaking running back Emmitt Smith. With remarkable candor and alacrity, Alan keeps his audiences spellbound with his accounts of the intense training, ruthless competitive atmosphere and performance requirements of professional football life.
Since his retirement, Alan has used his championship experience to score big in his business.
Perhaps most compelling is Alan’s account of finding himself and his religious identity following his NFL career as he became increasingly aware of the blankness in his heart and the emptiness in his soul. As Alan reacquainted himself with the teachings, values and practices of Jewish life, he began to get a glimpse of what was missing. In this very personal presentation, Alan shares the steps that have led to his own spiritual journey where he has found a deepening sense of contentment and a renewed sense of purpose.
Alan was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, his alma mater Texas A&M, Commerce Athletic Hall of Fame and invited to the White House for the first ever reception honoring Jewish American heritage month.
Tickets are $10 or $15 for both lectures. Register at aztorah.com, programming@aztorah.com or 602-433-0300, ext. 105.
