About Town: October 28

Thursday, Oct. 28


POETIC DIALOGUE

Montreal poets and friends Carolyn Marie Souaid and Endre Farkas will launch Blood is Blood, a book and 15-minute video about the Middle East conflict, at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, 7:30 p.m. The collaborative work offering their different perspectives evolved from e-mails and conversations between Souaid, who is of Lebanese ancestry, and Farkas, a child of Holocaust survivors, during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The screening is followed by a panel discussion including Father Anthony Gabriel of St. George Orthodox Church, Iranian-born visual artist Yassaman Ameri, Deena Roskies, co-president of the Montreal Dialogue Group; and Somalian-born poet Mohammed Siad Togane.

BRANDEAU DRAMA
A one-woman show based on the life of Esther Brandeau, the young French Jewish woman who is said to be the first Jew to come to New France by posing as a Christian man, opens at MAI (Montréal arts interculturels) at 8 p.m. and continues until Oct. 30. A combination of theatre, video and poetry, Ribcage: This Wide Passage was researched and written and is performed by Vancouver-based Heather Hermant. It is set to a live score by Jaron Freeman-Fox. Tickets, 982-1812.

Friday, Oct. 29


‘DR. LAZ’ SHABBATON

David Lazerson, who played drums with the Grateful Dead and went on to teach in inner-city schools, is the guest at a Shabbaton at Chabad on the Town (of Mount Royal) this weekend. Now a conflict-resolution expert and motivational speaker, “Dr. Laz” (he has a PhD) speaks at an Erev Shabbat dinner on his experience in teaching troubled kids, on Saturday at lunch on “Being Jewish in a Non-Jewish World,” and Sunday night he’ll give a concert as “The Original Rockin’ Reggae Rabbi.” Reservations, 342-1770.

Saturday, Oct. 30


Y SOCK HOP

Turn back the clock and come to a “swinging sock hop reunion” at the YM-YWHA Ben Weider JCC, 7:30 p.m. It’s the grand finale of the Y’s centennial celebrations. Sock hops were popular with young people at the Y decades ago. The evening includes golden-oldies and a chip wagon.

Sunday, Oct. 31


JEWISH AND GAY

David Brody speaks on “Growing Up Orthodox and Gay,” at a Shaare Zedek Men’s Club breakfast, 9:30 a.m. Brody is the author of the recent novel Mourning and Celebration, about a young Orthodox gay man in a 19th-century shtetl. 484-1122.

FALL FAIR
The Jewish General Hospital Auxiliary hold its Fall Fair today and tomorrow, Nov. 1, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. in the Pavilion A auditorium. Proceeds will help buy neurosurgery equipment.

Monday, Nov. 1


SECULAR YIDDISH CULTURE

Justin Cammy, who teaches Yiddish literature at Smith College in Massachusetts, lectures on “When Yiddish was Young: Avrom Sutzkever and the Legacy of Secular Yiddish Culture” 2 p.m., the Jewish Public Library. Scholar Ruth Wisse called Sutzkever, who died earlier this year, “the last great Yiddish poet.” Tickets, 345-6416.

SEMINARY GALA
Broadway  actor  and singer Jordan Bennett, who was cast in the title role of Cyrano, headlines the gala fundraiser for the Chaya Mushka Chabad Seminary at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim tonight, in his one-man show Better than Broadway.  He’s accompanied by pianist David Pinto. Bennett recently appeared in the world premiere of Real Men at Miami’s Coconut Grove Playhouse. Kirsten and Derek Stern are the honorees of the evening, which includes cocktails and a buffet dinner. Proceeds go to a scholarship program at the seminary, established in 1988 to provide post-secondary education to young Jewish women. Tickets, Rachel Varnai, 733-2221, ext. 236.

Tuesday, Nov. 2


IRAN AND EGYPT

Philip MacKinnon and Michel de Salaberry, former Canadian ambassadors to, respectively, Iran and Egypt, discuss these nations at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim. Rabbi Adam Scheier opens the program, 7:30 p.m. Tickets, 937-9471.

YOUR MONEY
Clifford Noonoo of TD Waterhouse discusses “Investments and the Stock Market,” 7:30 p.m. at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, sponsored by the sisterhood, 737-3695.

FOR CAREGIVERS
A free seminar for those caring for sufferers of Alzheimer’s or other dementias will be given by Jewish General Hospital nurses Judy Bianco and Brenda Pelton at the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors, 2 p.m. Register at 342-1234, ext. 7323.

Wednesday, Nov. 3


LEARN HEBREW

Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman starts a free eight-week crash course in Hebrew reading for beginners, 8 p.m., Beth Zion Congregation. Reservations, 489-8411, ext. 24.

PAIN RELIEF
Chiropractor Dr. Jason Guben speaks on relieving neck, back and other pain at a meeting of the Golda Meir Chapter of Canadian Hadassah-WIZO at the Chevra Mishnayis Synagogue in Chomedey, 1:30 p.m. Reserve with president Evie Applebee, 450-681-9342.

Thursday, Nov. 4


HONOUR THY MOTHER

The high-achieving twins Bernard and Harold Shapiro  honour their 102-year-old mother, Mary Kantor, at a Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University fundraiser, Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, 6:30 p.m. Bernard is principal emeritus of McGill University, and Harold is president emeritus of Princeton University. Proceeds will establish the Mary Kantor Neurodegenerative Research Laboratory at TAU. The brothers are the keynote speakers, and Barbara and Stanley Plotnick chair the evening. Tickets, 344-3417.

THINKING ABOUT MADOFF
“Did the Jewish Community Invent the ‘Bernie Madoffs?’” is the topic of the next Thinkers’ Forum at Congregation Beth-El, 7:30 p.m. A lively panel discussion is promised. 738-4766.

…Et Cetera…

Chabad’s Jewish Learning Institute this week launches “Medicine and Morals: Your Jewish Guide Through Life’s Tough Decisions.” a six-session course given by Rabbi Ronnie Fine, which tackles ethical dilemmas in health care. Visit www.JLImontreal.com… Free Hebrew for Juniors has a bat mitzvah club for girls that meets every three weeks and culminates in a bat mitzvah ceremony at a hotel. Register at www.freehebrew.com… Businesswoman and philanthropist Joelle Berdugo Adler receives an honorary doctorate from Concordia University Nov. 1. She’s the founder of the One by One Foundation, which helps children around the world, and the main benefactor with her family of the Hope & Cope Wellness Centre… Singer Nikki Yanofsky, 16, received the first Allan Slaight Award in Toronto recently. The $10,000 annual prize recognizes an outstanding young Canadian in the arts, sports, innovation or philanthropy… Architect David Reich launches his memoir You Could Lose an Eye: My First 80 Years in Montreal (Baraka Books), Nov. 7 at 445 Ste. Hélène St. in Old Montreal, from 2-4 p.m… Rabbi Tuvia Hoffman is the new spiritual leader of Beth Zion Congregation. He was most recently West Island director and a founder of Montreal Jewish Experience, an educational and outreach program.