METROPOLITAN NEW YORK
Lectures and Discussions
Publication Party: The National Council of Jewish Women celebrates the arrival of the fifth volume of the Jewish Women’s Literary Annual, published by the Eleanor Leff Jewish Women’s Resource Center, with author readings and a performance by jazz trumpeter Amy Schrift. NCJW New York Section, 820 Second Ave.; March 12, please call for time; free, reservations required. (212-687-5030, ext. 33)
The Moral Imperative: In “Spiritual Activism: I Am My Brother’s Keeper,” Rabbi Avi Weiss outlines the moral responsibility we all share for our fellow human beings. Queens College, LeFrak Concert Hall, 65-30 Kissena Boulevard , Flushing; March 12, 7:30 p.m.; free. (718-997-5730)
Bookish: “The Holocaust Kid” author Sonia Pilcer reads from and discusses her faux memoir about being a second-generation survivor, which she is. Jewish Historical Society, 123 E. 55th St.; March 16, 2 p.m.; $5. (212-415-5544)
Performance
A Boy’s Tale: Brad Levinson’s drama “A Ritual of Faith,” presented by the Emerging Artists Theatre under the direction of Igor Goldin, is a fictionalized account of the true story of a 6-year-old Italian Jew during the mid-1800s who was taken from his family and raised as a Catholic by Pope Pius IX. The Lion Theater, 410 W. 42nd St.; through April 6, Wed.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m.; $25, reservations suggested. (212-279-4200 or www.ticketcentral.com)
Dance of Darkness: The 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Project presents the world premiere of the Heidi Lansky Dance Company’s “Bound,” an evening-length piece developed from a solo work based on Bernard Schlink’s Holocaust novel, “The Reader,” about a German teenager’s affair with an older Polish woman. The dance is set to music by Vivaldi, as well as commissioned works by Marty Beller and Randall Woolf. The Duke, 229 W. 42nd St.; March 12-March 13 and March 15, 8 p.m., March 16, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m..; $20, reservations recommended. (212-415-5500 or www.92ndsty.org)
Music
At the Kavehoys: The lead singer of the klezmer band Brave Old World, Michael Alpert, performs a concert of Yiddish songs as part of the “Kavehoyz” (coffee house) series. Congress for Jewish Culture, 25 E. 21st St.; March 13, 8 p.m.; $5, includes kosher pastry and coffee. (212-505-8040)
Celebrating Wolpe: In “Stefan Wolpe in New York,” the Graduate Center of the City University of New York presents two days of talks and concerts dedicated to the life and work of the German-born composer Wolpe (1902-1972). CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Ave.; March 14 talks 1 p.m.-5 p.m., concert 7 p.m., and March 15 talks 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m., concert 3:30 p.m.; free, reservations suggested. (212-817-8215 or http://web.gc.cuny.edu/cepp)
World Beats: The Pharaoh’s Daughter Chamber Project opens for Habrera Hativeet (The Natural Gathering) for an evening of “global Jewish fusion,” offering up sounds from near and faraway places, including Yemen and Morocco, Iran and India and, of course, the Jewish state. Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St.; March 16, 7 p.m.; $25, reservations recommended. (tickets 212-239-6200 or www.Telecharge.com, info. 212-539-8770 or www.joespub.com)
Film
Making a Splash: If you like to do the back float and you’re a fan of the silver screen, then the “Dive-In Movie” might be right for you. The Central Queens YM & YWHA invites families to its poolside screening of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, “Jaws.” The shark scenes might give you the chills, but the pool’s 86-degree water won’t. And no, this isn’t a Purim prank. The Central Queens YM & YWHA, 67-09 108th St., Forest Hills, Queens; March 15, 8 p.m.; $10, $24 families of four. (718-268-5011, ext. 213)
The Fab Four (Intellectuals): Joseph Dorman’s 1996 documentary “Arguing the World” takes a look at the lives and politics of Irving Howe, Irving Kristol, Daniel Bell and Nathan Glazer, social critics who came of age during the Depression in the locker bays of New York’s City College. The screening is part of “New York, New York,” a festival that includes a staging of Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers,” a chamber music series, an exhibition and a symposium. Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, 350 S. Dahlia St., Shwayder Theatre, Denver; March 13, 7:30 p.m.; $5, please call for additional festival information. (303-316-6360 or www.mizelcenter.org)
PENNSYLVANIA
Philly Premieres: For its sixth annual New Filmmakers Weekend, the Gershman Y screens a feature and a short. Eren Preis and Amiram Amitai’s “The Case of Jonathan Pollard” (U.S.A., 2002) takes a look at the Israeli spy behind American bars, and Jared Cowan’s “Kibitz Room” explores the role the delicatessen plays as a Jewish institution. The Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad Street (at Pine), Philadelphia; March 15, 8 p.m., $10; March 16, 2 p.m., $8; March 17, 7:30 p.m.; $7. (215-446-3033 or www.gershmany.org)
NEW JERSEY
Changing Landscapes: Forward columnist Jenna Weissman Joselit, author of “The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture, 1880-1950” and “A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character and the Promise of America,” takes a look at the variety of places American Jews have called home in “From the Urban Ghetto to the Suburbs: The Reshaping of the American Jewish Landscape.” Rutgers University, Trayes Hall, Douglass College Center, 100 George St., New Brunswick; March 12, 7:30 p.m.; free, reservations required by March 6. (732-932-2033 or http://jewishstudies.rutgers.edu)
TEXAS
Building Blocks: Instead of using letters as the building blocks of her language, the Brazil-born Deborah Rolnik Raichman makes them the building blocks of her art, using the aleph-bet as the point of departure for her bright watercolors. In “The Art of Hebrew Letters,” she explores the mystical meanings attributed to Hebrew characters. Jewish Community Association of Austin, 7300 Hart Lane, Exhibit Hall, Austin; through March 24, Mon.-Thu. 9 a.m.-10 p.m. and Fri.-Sun. 9 a.m.-6 p.m.; free. (512-735-8000)
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