Jlife Extra
Not-So-Gloomy June
Cultural events dominate calendar
By Ilene Schneider
Whether your issue is culture or cancel culture, you have an event to entice you in June. Join the Jewish community for these presentations.
Cancel Culture through a Jewish Lens
June 6
4 PM
CSP is co-sponsoring this program with Bari Weiss, live from New York City, on Sunday June 6, at 4 PM PDT. Journalist and author Bari Weiss believes that cancel culture is damaging cherished American ideals like free speech and thought, pluralism and the presumption of innocence. In a recent piece for the Deseret Magazine, Weiss wrote that liberalism is being threatened by a “new, illiberal orthodoxy that has taken root all around, including in the very institutions meant to uphold the liberal order. Cancellation is this ideology’s most effective weapon.” Rabbi Jason Nevarez will talk with Bari Weiss about how she sees cancel culture changing American society and how we might pull back from it.
Weiss, a former opinion writer and editor at The New York Times, resigned in July 2020, citing a hostile work environment in the clutches of the new illiberal order. Bari Weiss is an opinion writer and editor. She is the author How To Fight Anti-Semitism, published by Crown in September 2019. From 2017 to 2020, Bari was an opinion writer and editor at The New York Times. Vanity Fair called her the paper’s “star opinion writer.” Before joining The Times, Weiss was an opinion editor and an associate book review editor at The Wall Street Journal. Previously, Weiss was a senior editor at Tablet, the online magazine of Jewish news, politics and culture, where she edited the site’s political and news coverage. Through her columns and speeches, Weiss has changed the way we think about important issues, including #MeToo, freedom of speech and our common culture. Weiss is a regular commentator on television and radio, most especially on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.
For more information, contact CSP at www.occsp.net and by phone at (949) 682-4040.
Upheaval Film Premiere
June 7
5 PM
The Jewish Collaborative’s Let’s Get Reel series is pleased to partner with ABCinemaNOW for the online film release of Upheaval, which portrays the life and legacy of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Join the event live on Facebook on Monday, June 7, at 5 PM PDT.
Imprisoned by the Soviets, orphaned by the Holocaust, elected Prime Minister, crowned peacemaker by the Nobel Prize Committee and haunted by the Lebanon War, Menachem Begin was a pillar of the State of Israel and a tireless fighter for the Jewish people. He was, at the same time, a controversial leader. His life is a nuanced and complicated canvas that tells the story of key events in the history of modern Israel and its relationship to its Middle East neighbors.
With evocative imagery, rarely seen archival materials, and revealing interviews with those who knew him, Upheaval portrays the life and legacy of this brilliant, tough, complex, loving and proud man who never compromised when the survival of Israel and the Jewish people were at stake.
For more information, see https://www.jewishcollaborativeoc.org/getreel.
CSP Traveling Israeli Art Event
ZUMU, a story of art, hope and social change
June 15
10 AM
CSP presents ZUMU, a story of art, hope and social change in Israel, featuring Shirel Horovitz, live from Israel, on Tuesday June 15, at 10 AM. Dedicated to the rebuilding of trust in the City of Lod, Israel, ZUMU (a portmanteau combining the Hebrew words for “move” and “museum”) is a community based mobile museum, which moves throughout Israel showcasing changing exhibits that are created and curated together with the local communities.
Founded in 2017, one of five Sotheby’s commendations for 2018 and now in its fifth station in Lod, Zumu is a unique phenomenon combining art with social change and a deep love of Israeli society. In this session, Shirel will introduce us to the story behind this initiative, exploring the previous exhibitions and highlighting both the art and the social contexts in each of the cities. The session will continue with Milana Gitzin-Adiram, Founding Director and Chief Curator of Zumu, to hear her story. A woman inventing a museum and out to make a change in Israeli society, looking to get rid of the conventional divisions between the artists and audiences, art and communities and creativity and reality.
Through sculpting, drawing and sound, Shirel Horovitz’s installations and performances explore the relations between cities and communities. She earned her BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, her MA from the Interdisciplinary Art Program at Tel Aviv University, and has been studying and practicing Zen-Buddhist inquiry meditation since 2007. Her works have been exhibited in museums and galleries across Israel and the US. She is currently working on new works, among them, a sound installation to be exhibited in Ramat Gan Museum of Art in June 2021. Alongside her art practice Shirel leads tours, lectures and is an art consultant with a variety of organizations. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Shirel has adapted her live tours and lectures to engaging online experiences inviting people from around the world to explore the fascinating world of Israeli art. The website is shirelhorovitz.com.
Contact CSP at (949) 682-4040.
Asia
June 17
7 PM
The Merage JCC continues its film series with Asia. Single mother Asia immigrated to Israel from Russia with her daughter Vika. She works as a nurse at a hospital, while Vika hangs out at the skatepark with her friends. Just a teenager herself when she had her daughter, free-spirited Asia behaves more like a close sister than a parent. When rebellious teen Vika’s health deteriorates rapidly, Asia must step in and become the mother that Vika so desperately needs, and they learn to embrace and cherish their time together.
Starring Unorthodox and Shtisel actress Shira Haas, this film won 3 awards when it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, including Best International Actress for Haas and the Nora Ephron Prize for director Ruthy Pribar. After winning Best Picture at the 30th Ophir Awards (Israeli Academy Awards), it was automatically selected as Israel’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards
The cost is: JCC members: $8, public: $12. Register here: https://www.jccoc.org/events/2021/06/17/cultural-arts/asia-online-film-series/.