METROPOLITAN NEW YORK
Lectures and Discussions
A Spanish Hero: Andrée Aelion discusses her recent biography, “The Woman Who Defied Kings: The Life and Times of Doña Gracia Nasi,” about a Jewish woman living in Spain during the Inquisition. As thousands of Jews were being tortured and killed, including her husband, a 20-something Nasi appointed herself leader of the conversos, or Jews who were forcibly converted to Catholicism. Nasi organized the escape of Jewish refugees and helped resettle them. She fled to Antwerp, then to Venice and Ferrara in Italy, ultimately settling in the Ottoman Empire. In her final years, she organized an attempt to resettle refugees in Palestine. Central Queens YM & YWHA, 67-09 108th St., Forest Hills; July 22, 1:30 p.m.; $3 suggested. (718-268-5011)
At Risk: Bernardo Kliksberg, author of “Social Justice — A Jewish Perspective,” and Avi Beker, secretary-general of the World Jewish Congress, discuss the Jewish community in Argentina and the country’s economic downturn. Kliksberg discusses his book, the issues facing Argentina’s Jewish community and what Americans can do to help; Beker provides an international perspective. Makor, 35 W. 67th St.; July 23, 7 p.m.; $10, $5 students. (212-601-1000 or www.makor.org)
Performance
Finding Mr. Right: Ronit Ray performs in “Alter Ego,” a one-woman show that is part cabaret, part musical comedy. The show, written and conceived by Ray and director Cheryl Stern, explores the actress’s life and loves and the pressure from her family to get married. Ray’s act is followed by stand-up comedian Tommy Koenig and singer-songwriter Stephen Cornine. Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W. 46th St.; July 22, performance 7 p.m., stand-up 8:30 p.m., music 9:30 p.m.; $10, two-drink minimum. (212-757-0788 or www.ronitray.com)
Opposing Forces: As part of “Lincoln Center Festival 2003,” the Batsheva Dance Company performs in the New York premiere of “Anaphaza,” choreographed by artistic director Ohad Naharin. The title refers to anaphase, the point during cell mitosis when chromosomes divide and are pulled to opposite poles; the piece plays with ideas of separation and unity. Twenty-four dancers fuse dance, theater, opera, improvisation and film in this high-energy, 90-minute work. The music — some prerecorded, some live — ranges from traditional Hebrew songs to rock. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York State Theater, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza; July 23-July 26, 8 p.m.; $25-$65. (212-875-5456 or www.lincolncenter.org)
Exhibition
Spanish Treasures: The Judaica Museum of the Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale presents “Treasures of Sepharad,” curated by Ita Aber, a Jewish art historian, artist and Judaic textiles expert. The 40-piece exhibition introduces viewers to a broad spectrum of cultures that influenced artists of Sephardic origin from communities in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Materials on view include a shawl worn by Egyptian women for synagogue and ritual use, a Turkish mirror that became a Torah shield and a selection of amulets. The Hebrew Home for the Aged at Riverdale, Judaica Museum, 5961 Palisade Ave., the Bronx; through Nov. 26, Sun. 1 p.m.-5 p.m., Mon.-Thu., 1 p.m.-4:30 p.m., free. (718-581-1787)
Tour
Lower East Side Memories: Laurie Tobias Cohen, executive director of the not-for-profit Lower East Side Conservancy, leads the way to neighborhood synagogues and other historic sites. Stops include the restored Bialystoker Synagogue; “Yiddish Newspaper Row”; the Henry Street Settlement; the Educational Alliance; an authentic shteibl, or one-room prayer house, in continuous use since the 19th century, and Kehila Kedosha Janina, the only remaining Greek, Romaniote synagogue in the Western hemisphere. Meet at Bialystoker Synagogue, 7-11 Bialystoker Place (aka Willet Place); July 27, 10:45 a.m.-1:45 p.m.; $16, $14 seniors, $12 students. (212-374-4100 or www.nycjewishtours.org)
CALIFORNIA
‘Jewtopia’: In the comedy “Jewtopia,” written by and starring Sam Wolfson and Bryan Fogel, two 29-year-old single men, Adam Lipshitz (Wolfson) and Chris O’Connell (Fogel), make a pact to help each other in the dating arena. Chris, a gentile, is obsessed with dating Jewish girls while Adam, a Jew, is obsessed with dating gentile girls. After meeting at a Jewish singles mixer, Chris promises to show Adam Jdate.com — aka “Jewtopia” — and to find him a Jewish girl, and Adam promises to bring Chris undercover into the Jewish community as a Jew. The Coast Play House, 835 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles; through Aug. 3, Thu.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m.; $26.50-$27.50. (800-595-4849 or www.jewtopiaplay.com)
Saved by Music: As part of its summer film series, the Simon Wiesenthal Center screens Jocelyn Glatzer’s “The Flute Player,” a documentary about Arn Chorn-Pond, a human-rights activist and musician who survived Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge, which between 1975 and 1979 killed 90% of the country’s traditional musicians. Chorn-Pond’s life was spared so that he could play propaganda songs on the flute for his captors. The film follows him as he returns to Cambodia 20 years after he left to look for other surviving musicians in hopes of bringing Cambodia’s once-outlawed traditional music back to its people. Rabbi Ari Hier leads a post-screening discussion comparing the Cambodian genocide to the Holocaust and this documentary to “The Pianist.” Simon Wiesenthal Center, Museum of Tolerance, 3786 West Pico Blvd., Los Angeles; July 20, 7 p.m.; free. (310-552-4595, ext. 21 or www.wiesenthal.com)
MASSACHUSETTS
Community Challenges: As the second part of Brandeis University’s three-week “Brandeis in the Berkshires” institute, Deborah Lipstadt, Dorot professor of modern Jewish and Holocaust studies at Emory University, discusses challenges and opportunities facing the American Jewish community. Shakespeare & Company, Founder’s Theatre, 70 Kemble St., Lenox; July 28, 8 p.m.; $5. (413-637-1199 or www.brandeis.edu)
NEW JERSEY
Musical Sabbath: For “Shabbat Tzavta,” Cantor Ilan Mambor on guitar and dulcimer is joined by Tzvi Rapaport on accordion, Jane Koch on keyboards, Faryn Kates on flute, Sylvia Rubin on violin, and David Grupper and Jimmy Cohen on percussion. Musical selections range from Jewish folk music to klezmer, Sephardic, Israeli, chasidic and contemporary liturgical tunes. Among the composers represented are Danny Maseng, Sol Zim, Shlomo Carlebach, Avihu Medina, Meir Finkelstein, Nurit Hirsch and Craig Tzubuman. The service is outdoors, weather permitting. Temple Beth Roshin, 585 Russell Ave., Wyckoff; July 25, 8 p.m.; free. (201-891-4466 or www.BethRishon.org)
TEXAS
Last Chance: “How Modern Art Escaped Hitler: From the Holocaust to Houston” features paintings, drawings, prints, photographs and film clips by Josef Albers, Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, Alexej von Jawlensky, Pablo Picasso and 29 other artists hated by Hitler but revered around the world. The exhibition also traces the lives of the artists, showing the Nazis’ impact on 20th-century art. Holocaust Museum Houston, Morgan Family Center, Josef & Edith Mincberg Gallery, 5401 Caroline St.; through July 27, Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.-Sun. noon-5 p.m.; free. (713-942-8000 or www.hmh.org)
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In This Week’s Yiddish Forward
• From the Forward archives — Photos of Jewish television stars of the 1950s.
• Rukhl Schaechter reports on the first reunion of the Jews of Szczecin, Poland, since their forced exile in 1968.
• Gennadi Estraikh looks at the work of German writer Alfred Doblin.
• Moyshe Loyev profiles singer Masha Benya.
• World of Yiddish — A Yiddish teachers’ conference in New York, a seminar in Kiev and a recent concert of Wolf Krakowski.
• S. Simkhovitch reviews Rabbi Arthur Hertzberg’s autobiography.
In This Week’s Russian Forward
• Interviews with the battling owners of the two main Russian-language radio companies, New Life and People’s Wave.
• Arkady Kagan analyzes a social study of Russian Jewish immigrants.
• Zalman Pasnick reports on Norway’s Jewish community.
• Mikhail Feldman reports from Jerusalem on “the situation.”
• Leonid Belyavsky profiles fashion designer Maria Finkler.
This Saturday on ‘The Forverts Hour’ July 19 at 9:00 p.m. on WMCA New York, AM 570
• The Town of Rovne — Chaim Beider
• I.B. Singer: Father Becomes an “Anarchist” — Dovid Rogow
• Bedtime Stories for Adults — Kobi Weitzner
Edited by Boris Sandler/Hosted by Adrienne Cooper
You can also hear our radio magazine on the Internet at http://www.wevd.com
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