Phoenix Community Kollel Women’s Division honors Cindy Landesman for ten years of devoted service to the community at their
Spice of Life luncheon
at 10 am at the Pardes Jewish Day School Social Hall on the Ina Levine Jewish Community campus, 12753 N Scottsdale Road.
Guest speaker is Aliza Bulow.
$54. RSVP to programming@aztorah.com
The Valley’s Israel Center, led by director Shahar Edry, is hosting a joyous party for Israel’s 67th Birthday with the theme of Peace, Love and Zionism. The Israel 67 Celebration is being held 11 am-3 pm on April 26 at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, 11270 N Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale.
The festivities begin with an Israeli breakfast followed by an afternoon of music and celebration with activities for all ages. “We’re hoping the Jewish community comes out in force to celebrate and show their support for Israel- now more than ever, ” says Shahar. The event is free and open to the public.
shahare@vosjcc.org
BY CHILDSPLAY – THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
Sunday, April 26: 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
PRESENTED BY CHILDSPLAY – THEATRE FOR YOUNG AUDIENCES
(Tempe, Ariz.) Childsplay and local artist Zarco Guerrero present El Puente, Childsplay’s third Theatre Festival and Mask Procession! Taking place at Tempe Center for the Arts (TCA) on Sunday, April 26 from 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., this unique celebration for families features an afternoon of food, music and art.
Free admission to the festival includes mask-making, fun drama activities for kids, dynamic performances by local artists and other craft activities. Plus, the first 400 people in attendance will receive free admission to the 4pm performance of Childsplay’s The Three Javelinas.
The free performances will begin at 2 p.m. and will continue through the afternoon, featuring:
- Quetzalli Ballet Folklórico
- Desert Sounds Mariachi “Sones del Desierto”Â
- Zarco Guerrero’s Face to Face in a Frenzy
- DJ Sean Derek
- Ballet Folklórico Ollin Yoliztli
Families will also see appearances by Axé Capoeira, La Frida & La Flaca Puppets, and more! To conclude the festival, the community can join a masked procession of kids, families, performers and The Three Javelinas on the beautiful pedestrian bridge crossing Tempe Town Lake. The procession will start around 6:00 p.m.
The festival is the third in a series of events aimed at reaching new audiences and broadening Childsplay’s reach in the community. The events will be held in conjunction with Childsplay productions and are meant to deepen the audience’s connection with the performance.
“The word ‘Puente’ literally means ‘Bridge,'” explains Guerrero. “In every language the word ‘Bridge’ conjures up universal metaphors of transformation, enlightenment, freedom and even our passing into the afterlife. Here in the southwest the metaphor has special significance, as it represents the crossing of the Arizona-Mexican border, migration and the hope of a better life. In our Valley, we are blessed with the perfect locale to create a unique site-specific festival utilizing the bridge to bring this metaphor to life.”
To kick start this year’s festival, Guerrero will be holding mask-making workshops with local groups, nonprofits and community centers throughout the Valley.
The “El Puente Project” is supported by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, with a focus on building demand for the performing arts through work with a Resident Artist. Childsplay is using the $155,000 grant to plan and implement this residency program that seeks to make theatre for young audiences a vital part of Latino families’ cultural experience.
www.childsplayaz.org
Join Generations After at 2 pm, April 26, for a discussion of the book After Long Silence by Helen Fremont, who was raised as a Roman Catholic. It wasn’t until she was an adult, practicing law in Boston, that she discovered her parents were Jewish Holocaust survivors living invented lives. Not even their names were their own. In this powerful memoir, Helen Fremont delves into the secrets that held her family in a bond of silence for more than four decades, recounting with heartbreaking clarity a remarkable tale of survival, as vivid as fiction but with the resonance of truth.
Generations After was started in 2013 to serve as an additional resource to the descendants of Holocaust survivors. The book discussion is at the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road.
RSVP to: phx2g3g@gmail.com
Beth Ami Temple’s Annual Concert features Broadway and Hollywood Jewish composers performed by cantorial soloist Baruch Koritan, accompanied by his wife Ruth Dubinbaum-Koritan.
At 4 pm at the Palo Cristi Presbyterian Church, 3535 E Lincoln Dr. in Paradise Valley.
$20 in advance or $25 at door.
RSVP to Donna Horwitz, 602-997-5623 or azhorwitz@cox.net
A week of celebrating Israel culminates with the Israel 67 Celebration held 4-7 pm at the Tucson JCC on April 26 with Israeli food, music and fun for the whole family. It is free and open to all. 3800 E River Road in Tucson
Todd Rockoff, President and CEO of the J says, “Whether you come for the food, the hand-crafted Judaica, the entertainment or the family fun, we know it will be a great time celebrating Israel!”
tucsonjcc.org
The Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life is honored to welcome renowned artist, speaker, Holocaust education advocate and child of survivors, Helen Hana Weisman on Sunday, April 26th at 7pm. Helen tells the story of her family’s escape to freedom and of her birth in a DP camp and explains, through her “Das Ghetto and The Final Solution” art exhibit and her spiritually moving oil paintings, about how the Jewish people suffered under the reign of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi’s.
Helen was a docent at the original Holocaust Museum in Skokie, IL, and is a docent, and member of the Board of Directors at the new Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Personal interaction with the multifaceted artist and speaker will be encouraged at the end of the program. You will also have an opportunity to take home a modestly priced, personally autographed canvas print of one of Helen’s classic paintings, or a full color book of her artwork, with a portion of the proceeds donated to the Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life.
Pollack Chabad Center for Jewish Life
875 N. McClintock Drive Chandler, Az 85226
Free admission ~ Open to ages 13 and Older
RSVP to 480-855-4333 or info@chabadcenter.com *RSVP by April 23rd to be entered into a raffle for an artist autographed print.*
Fore the Kids Golf Tournament to benefit scholarships at the Valley of the Sun JCC at Gainey Ranch Golf Club, 7600 Gainey Club Dr. in Scottsdale.
Registration and lunch at 11:30 am; shotgun start at 1:15 pm.
A 100-player, best-ball foursome scramble. Golfers of all abilities are welcome.
$250 per person or $900 per foursome.
To register call 480-483-7121 ext. 1213. vosjcc.org
Hope for Today is a spiritual program of recovery for those who suffer from the debilitating effects of chronic pain and chronic illness, based on the Twelve Steps of AA. Offered each Tuesday in April at 3:30 pm by the Deutsch Family Shalom Center at the house at Temple Chai, 4645 E Marilyn Road, off south parking lot. No charge. Contact: cpa-az@cox.net.
What is Torah Studies?
Torah Studies is a weekly text-based Torah study program offered in 275 cities on six continents. Torah Studies was founded in 2004 to provide instructors with well-researched, in-depth classes on the weekly Torah portion. Torah Studies enables students of all backgrounds to gain a true appreciation of cardinal Jewish beliefs and practices.
The Torah Studies Experience
In each session, the Torah Studies student encounters a multi-sensory learning experience including a mix of Jewish texts, discussions, learning activities, illustrative anecdotes, visual aids, and digital multimedia. Jewish texts are weaved together to deepen the student’s understanding of a profound new Torah insight. Lessons focus on contemporary topics of Jewish interest, including personal, social, political, and economical issues. Student textbooks contain readings carefully selected from the entire gamut of Jewish literature including traditional and modern sources. The Torah Studies instructor acts as the guide-on-the-side, rather than the sage-on-the-stage, utilizing modern pedagogic techniques to revolutionize a tradition of classical Jewish learning.