In the Greater Community
Note: The items below are NOT in date order.
August
Walk With Friendship Circle (FC) 2022
Sunday, August 28, 10:30 AM, AchieveKids, 3860 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto
Bay Area Friendship Circle is excited to announce Ninja Warrior WalkWithFC 2022! The first WalkWithFC started in 2013 with 250 walkers. Their goal this year is to raise $150,000 with 400 Ninja Warrior walkers! Join in this fun filled day for our community. All are welcome! LEARN MORE & REGISTER.
HaZamir: International Jewish Teen Choir
Tuesday, August 23, 7:00 PM, Zoom
Please HaZamir for a short multimedia Zoom information session on to learn about HaZamir (for teens in grades 9-12) and HaZaPrep, the only Jewish Choral Preparatory Program in the world for 7th and 8th graders. HaZamir serves as a powerful on ramp to Jewish Teen Engagement that has impacted thousands of teens across the United States and Israel.
Click Here To Join the HaZamir
Meeting ID: 830 3582 4157
Passcode: 026161
HaZamir provides a unique opportunity for Jewish teens to sing sophisticated choral music with a group of 400 of their peers from across the United States and Israel. HaZamir stands out as a one-of-a-kind, trans-denominational experience that inspires and educates our teens on many levels: Jewishly, musically and socially. Our local chapter, HaZamir Silicon Valley, is having auditions and information sessions in late August! Teens and their families are invited to contact hazamirsv@googlegroups.com to RSVP and hear from peers who have sung with HaZamir in venues like Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. HaZamir welcomes all musical Jewish 8th-12th graders who meet the following criteria:
- Have a passion for music and singing
- Can attend our weekly Sunday rehearsals during the school year
Prior knowledge of Hebrew and synagogue affiliation are not required. Learn more at www.HaZamir.org.
Art Exhibit—The Shmita Year: Release, Renewal and Rest
Daily Through Friday, September 30, OFJCC
The OFJCC Koch Gallery of the Schultz Cultural Arts Hall is proud to present the work of local artists who explore the themes of Shmita (Shabbat of the land) and contemplate what we can glean from the idea of Shmita in the diaspora. The exhibit is open to the general public and admission is free. LEARN MORE
The Jewish Community Library Pushcart at the Oshman Family JCC is back!
First Wednesday of Each Month, 8:30 AM to 1:30 PM, OFJCC Freidenrich Park Grass Area, Behind Building B (administration offices)
Come check out something from the OFJCC Pushcart! Select from newly stocked popular Jewish literature, probing commentary and nonfiction, children’s books, DVDs and more! Request items from the Library’s catalog of 40,000 titles, to be delivered to you at the Palo Alto Pushcart. Then, simply return materials to the monthly Pushcart, or anytime to the Fitness Center front desk. Contact leah@jewishlearning.works for more information.
The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited
At The Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco
On View Through August 14, 2022
The Contemporary Jewish Museum (The CJM) presents The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited, celebrating the creative vision of trailblazing puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, inventor, and filmmaker Jim Henson. Featuring more than 150 objects from the beloved worlds of Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, The Dark Crystal, and more, the exhibition highlights Henson’s groundbreaking work for film and television, indelible mark on popular culture, and the profound social impact of his work. While Henson himself was not Jewish, his work celebrates diversity and inclusion, inspiring people of all ages to look beyond differences and cultivate a more compassionate, inclusive world. Don't miss your chance to see Kermit the Frog, Beaker, Bert, Ernie, Grover, The Count, and more! Use code HENSON18 for 18% off General Admission tickets before the exhibition closes on August 14. Learn more at thecjm.org.
September
Urban Adamah Presents — Kol: A Retreat for Jewish Musica Across the Diaspora
Friday-Sunday, September 9-11
1151 Sixth Street, Berkeley
Join Urban Adamah for a weekend of music, Shabbat practices and community building. This unique participatory retreat brings together singers, musicians and learners of diverse backgrounds and ages to explore both ancestral and modern Jewish music. Everyone is a learner, everyone is a teacher. Together with our faculty teachers, participants will co-create the weekend. Bring your songs and spirit to share. Urban Adamah is committed to making space for Jewish and non-Jewish people of all backgrounds, and they intend to include a diverse array of music cultures. No music experience is required — your inherent creativity is enough. No on-site, overnight accommodations will be available, but vegetarian meals will be provided for all guests. See the schedule and teacher bios for more information. REGISTER
"Rescuers" Photography Exhibit in San Francisco
September 3- October 15, Jack Fischer Gallery, 1275 Minnesota Street, San Francisco
In 1992 photographer Gay Block’s first major exhibition, Rescuers of the Holocaust: Portraits, was shown at the Museum of Modern Art, NY, and following, at over fifty venues across the nation. This September, thirty years later, Block’s Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust will return for public viewing at Jack Fischer Gallery, thanks to the generosity of Bay Area donors Pamela and David Hornik. The exhibition features 28 color portraits of rescuers from around the world who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, and includes the corollary exhibition text articulating the historic and contemporary stories of these remarkable men and women. In addition, Block’s short film, They Risked Their Lives: Holocaust Rescuers, will screen in the adjacent media room throughout the run of the show. LEARH MORE
October
Queer Crip Revelation: Disability Dance, Jewish Text, and the Sacred Potency of Difference — Presented by Professor Julia Watts Belser, The 13th Annual CLGS Georgia Harkness Lecture
Thursday, October 20, 2:30 PM, Zoom
In this online lecture, Professor Julia Watts Belser of Georgetown University probes the embodied ethics and spiritual insights of Claire Cunningham’s Thank You Very Much, a contemporary dance performance that brings queer disability culture into provocative conversation with the glittering world of Elvis tribute artists. Using disability dance to surface unexpected liberatory possibility within biblical and rabbinic Jewish texts, this lecture will bear witness to the violence arrayed against queer and disabled lives and also claim the sacred potency of queer disability joy — illuminating the revelatory power of the choice to unfurl the brilliance of our embodied difference.
REGISTER
We strive to live as a holy community whose study and practice of Judaism inspires and challenges us to "do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8).