March 11 - 18, 2010

Community Activities...

THE SYNAGOGUE ARCHITECTURE, ART and APPEAL - Photographs by Jono David. February 21 – April 15. Reception – Sunday, March 14, 6-8 p.m. (free admission), JCC of Greater Washington, 6125 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD 20852. A 75-photograph celebration of the synagogue worldwide — featuring its architecture, art and appeal — including a special focus on the synagogues of India. Architecture is the style in which a building has been constructed. Art is the expression of the architecture, including creative skill and visual beauty. Art is also seen in a neat stack of prayer books, an attractive row of pews, a finely embroidered parochet (an Ark tapestry), a pane of stained glass, or a tallit prayer shawl left casually behind in the sanctuary. Appeal is both the emotional power a synagogue evokes and those urgent requests we call tefilah, or prayer. Contact 301-348-3770 or visit www.jccgw.org for more information.

The JCC of Northern Virginia is pleased to invite the community to enjoy the upcoming exhibit, “VISIONS.” Through April 13. The three “Visions” artists are united in their use of color and design yet has a creative and varied approach to their art. Fran Abrams creates her images out of polymer clay capturing “the fluid sense of fabric caught at a moment in time”. Mina Oka Hanig’s paintings consist of small squares that create a mosaic-like effect, each being unique. Cherie M. Redlinger creates abstractions from her life experiences, reflecting the artist within. Join us and meet the artists at an evening reception: Sunday, March 7, 5:15pm—7:15pm.

The Foundation for Jewish Studies Distinguished Scholar Series:
The Life of Death: What Our Rabbis Tell Us About The World To Come at B’nai Israel Congregation, 6301 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD, 301-881-6550. Thursday, March 11, 7:30-9:00 pm. Professor David Kraemer. Professor Kraemer is the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Olam Haba – The world to come. What is it? Judaism’s beliefs regarding these matters affect how Jews understand life, death, and everything in between. This lecture will explore past Jewish beliefs about what comes after this life, correcting many misconceptions and asking what differences changes in these beliefs might make.
Are the Holidays Late This Year? Judaism and the Lessons of Modern Biblical Scholarship at Temple Shalom, 8401 Grubb Rd., Chevy Chase, MD. 301-587-2273. Thursday, March 18, 7:30-9:00 pm. Professor James Kugel. Professor James Kugel is the Director of the Institute for the History of the Jewish Bible, Bar Ilan University. Some of the most familiar holidays in the Jewish calendar look very different in the light of biblical research. What is more, the Dead Sea Scrolls have revealed that, compared with the "Jewish calendar" we use today, Jews in late biblical times used an entirely different calendar -- one in which the holidays were never "late this year". What are Jews today to make of these findings?

Several Capitol Hill congregations, under the aegis of the Capitol Hill Faith Forum, will hold a Second Annual INTERFAITH HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE SERVICE on Sunday, April 11, at 4 PM at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 221 E. Capitol St., NE. The theme of this year's service is “The Choice of Courage” and will honor those who rescued victims of the Nazi Holocaust. A four part Lenten Film Series will precede the interfaith service and will feature four full-length films that depict courage in the face of genocidal violence. The entire community is invited to attend and participate in the interfaith service as well as each of the Sunday evenings throughout March from 6:30-8:30 PM. The film series includes [the first one was on March 7]: March 14 - THE NASTY GIRL (Das Schreckliche Mädchen) (PG-13), St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 3rd and A. St. SE. German high schooler Sonya (Lena Stolze) decides to write an essay about her town's history during the Third Reich and its heroic resistance to Nazi tyranny. To her (and the town's) dismay, she instead uncovers evidence of collaboration with the regime. As she digs deeper, she must struggle against the vocal and violent opposition to her search for the truth. This provocative satire won a BAFTA Award for Best Film. Not in the English Language. March 21 – THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (R), Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, 421 Seward Square, SE. During an African medical mission in the 1970s, Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy) impresses brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Forest Whitaker, in an Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning role) by acting swiftly in a crisis and becomes the dictator's personal physician. Garrigan enjoys the perks of his new position, until he begins to become aware of Amin's inhumanity -- and his own complicity. March 28 - WEAPONS OF THE SPIRIT (NR). Lutheran Church of the Reformation, 212 East Capitol St. SE. In this historical documentary, a small French village goes against the Vichy government by saving 5,000 Jews from falling into the hands of the Nazis during World War II. Director and narrator Pierre Sauvage's parents were among those who were hidden by the townsfolk. Newsreels show the persecution of Jews in Paris and other locales where over 75,000 were willingly handed over to the Nazis. The villagers interviewed believed it was "the normal thing to do" to risk their lives helping the viciously hunted people.

YOM HA'SHOAH/HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATION, Sunday, April 11, 4:00 p.m.- 5:30 p.m. at B'nai Israel Congregation, 6301 Montrose Road, Rockville, MD, 20852. Dor L'Dor Youth Program runs from 3:00-4:00 p.m. while adults are invited to "Unto Every Person There is A Name" before the community service begins at 4:00 p.m. The Community Commemoration will feature a memorial candle lighting, Kaddish, reflection, music and poetry. Keynote speakers Eli Rosenbaum, the longest serving investigator and prosecutor of Nazis in the United States, and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who is extending this work to all perpetrators of human rights violations through the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice. For more information, please contact the JCRC at 301-770-0881 / 703-962-9230.

YOM HA'SHOAH/HOLOCAUST COMMEMORATION, Sunday, April 11, 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. at Beth El Hebrew Congregation, 3830 Seminary Road, Alexandria. This year’s theme is “Conscience: The Courage to Act.” Keynote Speaker Arthur Berger will present “Diplomats By Day... Raoul Wallenberg, George Mantello and Other Unsung Heroes.” Dor L’ Dor Program (5:30-7:00 p.m.) youth and survivors will view Holocaust short film “The Pigeon” and reflect upon its message while adults are invited to “Unto Every Person There Is A Name” before the community service opens for all at 7:00 p.m. For more information, please contact the JCRC at 301-770-0881 / 703-962-9230

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Center For Advanced Holocaust Studies presents the 2010 Ina Levine Annual Lecture by Oleg Budnitskii "JEWISH REVENGE"? SOVIET JEWISH OFFICERS' ENCOUNTERS WITH GERMANY, 1945, Thursday, March 18, 7 p.m. Helena Rubinstein Auditorium, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Professor Budnitskii will present his work on Soviet Jewish identity through the lens of the Soviet Jewish military experience of World War II. Professor Budnitskii is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow, Academic Director of the International Center for Russian and Eastern European Jewish Studies in Moscow, and Professor of History in the Department of Jewish Studies at the Institute of Asian and African Studies at Moscow State University. He is the author of numerous publications on the political history of Russia and Russian Jewry of the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century, including Russian Jews between the Reds and the Whites 1917-1920 (2005). Reservations are requested at www.ushmm.org/events/levinelecture2010 .

The National Museum of American Jewish Military History, 1811 R Street, NW Washington DC 20009, hosts David Laskin, Wednesday, March 25, from 12pm-2pm to start off our monthly spring Noontime Lectures series. Mr. Laskin will be reading from his book and signing copies. THE LONG WAY HOME, unfolds the experience of American immigrants in The First World War from 1917-1918. Three of the twelve men were Jewish – and one of the soldiers, named Meyer Epstein, David found through a notice placed in the Museum’s quarterly magazine, The Jewish Veteran. Mr. Laskin met Private Epstein’s son Len, at his home in New Jersey and he shared stories of his father’s immigration and military service through stories and photographs. One of the other Jewish soldiers in the book is Samuel Goldberg, whom David met and interviewed when Mr. Goldberg was 106 years old! At the time he was the oldest Jewish veteran of the Great War. The third Jewish veteran in the book is Sam Dreben, who was famous in his day as the Fighting Jew. Dreben was a career soldier who served many times in the US armed forces as well as being a soldier of fortune in Mexico. General Pershing said Dreben was the bravest solder he had ever met. Hear Mr. Laskin speak on the involvement of additional Jewish Americans of distinction, especially immigrants, in the First World War, including Sam Dreben who won the Distinguished Service Cross and William Sawelson who won the Medal of Honor. Mr. Laskin will conclude with a question and answer period and the signing of books. The Museum exhibits will be open for tours before and after the event. Docents will be available. For more information contact Mary Westley at (202) 265-6280 or mwestley@jwv.org. Admission is free. For more information on the author and the book, visit www.thelongwayhomebook.com. For more information on the National Museum of American Jewish Military History visit www.nmajmh.org.

The Program for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University presents:
JEWS and MUSLIMS in FRANCE: The Challenge of Multiculturalism in Contemporary Europe. March 17-18, Time TBD - Copley Formal Lounge RSVP. Event France's current struggle to integrate its sizable North-African Muslim minority has stirred public debate about the relationship between French republican tradition and the cultural pluralism sought by France's ethnic and religious minorities. Brought to international attention by the "headscarf affair," the debate is between the traditional republican approach to integration, which favors a universalist and civic definition of French identity and a democratic approach that denounces the current State ideology of "egalitarianism" as self-deceptive and dismissive of the cultural and socioeconomic differences created by France's complex history of immigration.
WHY MIDEAST PEACE MUST BEGIN AT HOME: Bridging the Jewish-Arab Divide in Israel and Beyond. March 22, 12pm - Copley Formal Lounge RSVP. As President Obama ratchets up U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, it is time to examine the progress currently underway to improve relations between Jews and Palestinian- Arabs within Israel herself. Since 2003, Ami Nahshon has served as President and CEO of The Abraham Fund Initiatives, a leading Israeli NGO that advances full inclusion and equality for Israel's Arab citizens.

From the Jewish Study Center: IS THERE FREE SPEECH IN AND ABOUT THE MIDDLE EAST? Thursday, March 18, 7pm - 9pm. Sixth and I Synagogue. In some countries, the wrong kind of speech can land you in prison. In other places, speech is free, but communities strive to impose their own unofficial constraints on what can and cannot be said. Can we talk about the Middle East in a balanced way when the freedom to criticize varies so dramatically between countries? Do inhibitions and insecurities in the American Jewish community skew what “can be said” even in a free system? Our panel explores the challenges to free expression in Israel, in Arab lands, and in debates on the Israeli-Arab conflicts here at home. The moderator, Charles Feinberg is associate rabbi at Adas Israel Congregation. $15 for Jewish Study Center members, $20 for non-members.

ISRAELI STREET FESTIVAL, Sunday, May 2, Fairfax Corner Center, 4100 Monument Corner Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030. 1pm – 5pm. Highlights of the day include: entertainment, food & activities for all ages.