Celebrate the “new year” for trees. Enjoy fresh & dried fruits, & juices grown on trees from the Land of Israel; includes dairy dinner (tuna salad, chips, challah rolls) & dessert. No charge; however reservations are required by Jan. 20.
Join other Schmooze Singles for happy hour and complimentary appetizers followed by a stroll with good company through the art galleries of Old Town Scottsdale during the Scottsdale Artwalk. Please RSVP to info@azschmooze.com by Monday, January 25th. Tell your friends!
More information can be found on the Facebook event page or Meetup event page.
Appetizers are being generously sponsored by the Dana Cheryl Beitscher Charitable Foundation.
Adults Night Out-Wine Tasting with Congregation Merkaz Ha Iyr
Join Merkaz Ha Iyr for wine tasting and conversation on Saturday, January 30, 2016 at 6 p.m. at a congregant’s home. Everyone welcome. Additional details are available by calling Jill at: 602-320-1791. Merkaz Ha Iyr is a reform style, progressive shul that is inclusive and welcoming to all, and members come from all over the Valley.
The 11th Annual West Valley Jewish Film Festival will be held on Jan. 30 and 31 and Feb. 1 at Beth Emeth Congregation, 13702 W Meeker Road, Sun City West. The festival has a musical theme this year. There will be moments of recollection, gratitude, joy and warmth.
The three films to be shown are “The Outrageous Sophie Tucker,” “Orchestra of Exiles” and “Flory’s Flame.”
Tickets for each film are $10 if purchased at the door. Tickets bought in advance are $9 per film or three films for $25.
“The Outrageous Sophie Tucker”
Saturday, Jan. 30, 6:30 pm
Jazz singer and comedian Sophie Tucker, the self-proclaimed “Last of the Red Hot Mamas,” was one of the best-known entertainers of the 20th century. She was also a Jewish immigrant and a runaway mother before she became a superstar. This gripping documentary follows her 60-year career from vaudeville to Broadway, and to radio, movies and television.
A brief commentary on each film will precede its screening, and complimentary refreshments will be served after each screening.
For additional information, call 623 584-7210.
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.
Teege’s 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.
NefeshSoul Music & Arts Presents Susan Colin in Concert.
Sundays, Jan. 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31
Early Play: 7:30-10 a.m. & Late Play: 9 a.m. – noon
Valley of the Sun JCC – 12701 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale 85254
The J has pickup basketball games Sunday mornings for ages 18+. Gather your friends and family for a great game of organized pickup. See you on the court! Free to J members; $10 for non-members. Information and registration: 480.483.7121 ext. 1283 or sports@vosjcc.org.