Lehrhaus Founding Director Fred Rosenbaum’s new book, Cosmopolitans: A Social and Cultural History of the Bay Area (UC Press, 2009), is featured as the cover story in the January 29 issue of j. The Jewish News Weekly. Click here to read the full story: From Gold Rush to gay rights: new book chronicles history of Jewish life in Bay Area

This internationally recognized concert pianist and authority on Yiddish music will perform with Sephardic singer Daniella Rabbani. Mlotek’s Yiddish-Klezmer music hit Broadway with Those Were the Days, the first bilingual musical honored with a Drama Desk Award and nominated for two Tony Awards. He conceived the All Star Klezmer Extravaganza at Lincoln Center. It was televised by PBS for Great Performances and released on CD and video as In the Fiddler’s House with Itzhak Perlman. Mlotek’s Yiddish choral work can be heard on Mandy Patinkin’s CD, Mameloshen.

Sunday, February 7
7:00 PM
$25 Members, $30 Non-members, $20 students & seniors

Contact: Katie Chapin, Administrative Assistant
Phone: (650) 223-8622
Email: kchapin@paloaltojcc.org

For more information, visit the Oshman Family JCC website here.

This concert is being underwritten in memory of Naomi Leah Solomon by the Solomon family.

In the fall of 2008, Rick Saal joined a small group of photographers on a journey to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. With some basic language skills, an eye prepared for the unexpected and a friendly and open approach, Saal captured people in their multi-faceted daily lives.

Exhibit Opening: Sunday, February 7
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Location: Oshman Family JCC, Palo Alto, Room E104
Fee: Free

Contact: Sally B. Oken, Cultural Arts Director
Phone: 650-223-8613
E-mail: soken@paloaltojcc.org

The exhibit will be open from February 7 – Feb 25.

For more information, visit the Oshman Family JCC website here.

The Yuval Ron Ensemble, with Dervish Aziz, from the Mevlavi Sufi Order.

7:00pm: Special reception and talk with Yuval Ron about his life’s work with music as a bridge between Muslims and Jews plus delicious refreshments and schmoozing, hosted by the Madrasa-Midrash Course sponsors.

JCC of the East Bay
1414 Walnut Street, Berkeley

Ticket prices and purchase at www.jewishmusicfestival.org.

To sign up with PJA for discounted group tickets, contact Alexander Sharone at Asharone@pjalliance.org.

Join us for a spectacular panel taking place in three locations in the Bay Area. The panel features three speakers who are surviving representatives of the Sephardi, Russian, and Holocaust–refugee Jewish communities that lived in China in the first half of the 20th century. These events are related to the “Jews of Modern China” photography exhibit, which will be held at the Presidio Officers’ Club Exhibition Hall, 50 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco, from February 24 – May 16, 2010.

Sunday February 7, 3-5 pm
Oshman Family JCC
3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto

Sunday, March 21, 4-6 pm
Congregation Netivot Shalom
1316 University Avenue, Berkeley

Thursday, April 29, 7-9 pm
Presidio Officers’ Club Exhibition Hall
50 Moraga Avenue, Presidio of San Francisco

Leah Jacob Garrick was born in Shanghai, the fourth generation of her family to live there. She lived through the war years under Japanese occupation and came to the United States in 1947. She served twice in the IDF, Israel Defense Forces, as a volunteer. Leah resides in San Francisco and has spoken the world over – from California to New York, London, Australia, Israel and Shanghai.

Rabbi Ted Alexander, Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation B’nai Emunah, has been a beloved teacher and spiritual leader in Northern California for over 50 years. Rabbi Ted is the descendant of a long line of distinguished German Jewish rabbis. In 1939, he escaped Berlin, arriving in Shanghai. Rabbi Ted was ordained in Shanghai in 1946.

Inna Mink was born in Harbin, China. At age two, her parents moved to Shanghai. She lived in Shanghai through the war and came to the States in January l949. Inna appears in the film Exit Shanghai, directed by Ulrike Ottinger.

Linda Frank chairs the “Jews in Modern China” exhibit wearing the hat of board member of the American Jewish Committee San Francisco Office, the lead sponsor of the exhibit. Linda has recently completed her first novel, which is previewed on her Web site: www.lindafrankbooks.com.

This program is part of the Shanghai Celebration. For more information on this year-long San Francisco Bay Area-wide collaboration and its associated exhibitions, films, performances, lectures, and other events, please visit www.shanghaicelebration.com. The cornerstone of the Celebration is the Asian Art Museum’s presentation of Shanghai, a major exhibition examining the visual culture of one of China’s most cosmopolitan cities, scheduled for February 12 – September 5, 2010.

Organizer: China International Culture Exchange Center
Lead Sponsor: American Jewish Committee San Francisco Office
Partners: Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Asia Society of Northern California, Consulate of the Peoples Republic of China in San Francisco, Consulate General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest-San Francisco, Judah L. Magnes Museum, Presidio Trust, and Sino-Judaic Institute
Media Partner: jweekly.com

Museum Preview events are made possible through the generous support of the Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation.