About Town: May 21

Friday, May 21


INDIAN ROOTS

Barbara Rosenblatt talks about “My Jewish Roots in South India,” Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors, 10 a.m. Joyce, 342-1234, ext. 7318.

Sunday, May 23


JEWISH COMPOSERS

Janie Respitz speaks on “Jewish Composers Through the Ages,” Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, part of the Sundays at the Shaar lunch series at noon. Reservations, 937-9471.

IRAQI JEWS
David Dangoor, a former Montrealer who’s now Sweden’s honorary consul general in New York, will be hosted by the Community of Babylonian Iraqi Jews of Montreal at a brunch at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, 11 a.m. He’s the great-grandson of the late Hakham Bashi Ezra Dangoor.

YOUTH CONCERT
The annual Sounds of Hope concert takes place at Oscar Peterson Concert Hall, 8 p.m., featuring talented young musicians, among them clarinetist Eric Abramovitz, first-prize winner in the Canadian Music Competition. Proceeds go to the Musicians of Tomorrow project in Midgal, Israel, which helps kids in the disadvantaged town learn musical instruments. Tickets, 485-2619.

Tuesday, May 25


LEVITT IN CONCERT

Singer Lou Levitt performs with piano accompaniment at a Beth Ora Seniors meeting, 1:30 p.m. 342-1234, ext. 7348.

BRAIN TRAINING
A workshop on how to stimulate your brain through computer games is being offered at the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors at noon. Registration, 342-1234, ext. 7348.

ELDERCARE INSTALLATION
Linda Drapkin and Farla Ettinger will be installed as co-presidents of the Jewish Eldercare Centre Auxiliary at its 24th annual luncheon meeting, 11:30 a.m. at the centre. Tickets, Faigie, 738-4500, ext. 8108.

BRIDES AND GROOMS
A four-part lecture series of the Jewish Institute for Brides and Grooms begins at Congregation Tifereth Beth David Jerusalem, 8 p.m. The topic is “Making Your Marriage Work.” 733-1298.

Wednesday, May 26

TORAH ON TV
Rabbi Ira Ebbin shows the communication of “Torah Values Through Television” with snippets of TV programs, Congregation Beth Zion, 7:45-8:45 p.m.

FRIENDSHIP CIRCLE OPENS
The grand opening of the Ernest Avrith Friendship Circle Centre for special-needs children and volunteers who befriend them will be held at the centre, 4585 Bourret Ave., 5:30 p.m. The gala fundraiser honours Norton Segal as “Friend of the Year” and Danielle Dichter as “Volunteer Extraordinaire,” along with the 350 other young volunteers. Tickets, 735-2255.

BESTSELLER AT JPL
U.S. novelist Anita Diamant, author of the bestsellers The Red Tent and Good Harbor, speaks about her latest book, Pitching My Tent, a collection of columns on life, the Jewish Public Library, 7:30 p.m. She’ll be introduced by Gazette  columnist Susan Schwartz. Reservations, 345-6416.

BERGMAN CLASSIC

The Ingmar Bergman classic Wild Strawberries (1957) will be screened at the Segal Centre’s CinemaSpace at 7 p.m., with guest speaker filmmaker Douglas Buck. Tickets, 739-7944.

…Et Cetera…

“Tools for Shuls” was launched at a “historic” meeting of the leadership of 17 synagogues convened by Federation CJA. The initiative aims to help the synagogues  “build capacity and add value to their role as vehicles for communal continuity,” by working with the federation and each other. Project chair David Cape said, “We are offering a platform for co-operation during this time of transformation”… The Next Generation Committee of the Jewish General Hospital Foundation, made up of young adults, Jewish and non-Jewish, will be launched May 29 with its first benefit event. “POP Open Your Mind” at Espace Reunion in Outremont at 8 p.m. Co-chaired by Avi Krispine and Giancarlo Salvo, the committee reflects the diversity of clientele the JGH serves. The evening has a “circus glam” theme and features contortionists and other eye-popping performers. Proceeds go to the Louise Granofsky Psychosocial Oncology Program, which support cancer patients at every stage of the disease. Ticket information, www.nextgen.jghfoundation.org… On June 2, United Talmud Torahs/Herzliah High School will hold its annual fundraiser, “Soirée Cabaret,” featuring dinner and  dancing to the music of the rock ‘n’ roll band The Dynamics and the jazzy, soulful sounds of Valérie Assouline, Congregation Beth Ora, 6:30 p.m. Tickets, 739-2291…

All 550 students at Solomon Schechter Academy hoofed it in the elementary school’s fifth annual  Israel Dance Festival. In elaborate costumes and sets, the children celebrated the Jewish state’s 62 years through  six themes, each having four distinct dance styles and music. They ranged from traditional horahs and chassidic  moves to jazzy hip hop to Jacksonian cool steps. The kids held back-to-back performances for more than 1,800 family members and guests.

The students rehearsed for three months under the show’s choreographer and producer, Chani Cohen, co-ordinator of the school’s bnot sherut program. Bnot sherut are Israeli female high school students who perform community service abroad in lieu of military duty. Cohen was assisted by this year’s bnot sherut Zvia Florsheim and Shani Rotem. “Getting 550 students dressed, organized and calm while waiting to get on stage was an effort, and the entire faculty helped with this great school-wide celebration,” said principal Shimshon Hamerman…

Contact information clarification:

The correct address of the website  of Congregation Chevra Kadisha for information on its June 1 benefit concert, featuring Gino Quilico, is www.ckbjbh.org… For tickets to the May 30 dinner in honour of Eiran Harris, organized by the Association of Canadian Jewish Studies, call Prof. Ira Robinson, 848-2424, ext. 2074.

McGill University MBA student Eytan Bensoussan, 27, is cycling up the U.S. East Coast to Montreal, a 2,500-kilometre journey, to raise funds for the Jewish General Hospital’s intensive care unit and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. He left Savannah, Ga., on May 4. You can make a donation and follow his blog at www.bikingtowardsthe49th.org. He hopes to be back in Montreal in time for his graduation next month… Concordia University unveiled a stained-glass artwork by Yehouda Chaki in the pedestrian tunnel linking its engineering and visual arts building with the John Molson School of Business. The piece, entitled The Four Seasons, will “infuse the high-traffic passage with light, colour and energy,” declared Concordia president Judith Woodsworth. It was a donation by Diane and Salvatore Guerrara. This is the second work by the Greek-born Chaki, who trained in Paris and Israel, acquired by the university. The first, The Express Train from Saloniki to Auschwitz, bought in 1969, hung on the mezzanine of the Hall building for nearly 20 years and is now in the collection of the university’s Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery… French-Jewish comedian Gad Elmaleh presents his one-man show Papa est en haut at the Bell Centre May 27 and 28. Elmaleh, 39, an international star on stage and film, was born in Morocco and lived in Montreal from the ages of 17 to 21, went to Ecole Maïmonide and Cégep St. Laurent, and still has Canadian citizenship…

The Mexican consulate general is presenting the works of Mexican-Jewish artist Anette Pier at Espacio Mexico, 2055 Peel St., until June 4. In Joseph: The Bull and the Rose, the biblical character is portrayed as a young bull, a revered figure in Mexican culture, and a rose, who must fight his jealous brothers.