Friday, Aug. 17
SOULFUL SHABBAT
The B’nai Or Montreal Community Shul holds a Soulful Shabbat at the YM-YWHA’s Kellert Hall at 7:30 p.m. Expect a joyous, egalitarian and participatory service led by Jewish Renewal Rabbi Sherril Gilbert. [email protected].
BOTANICAL GARDENS
The Montreal Botanical Gardens are the subject of Sandra Frisby at the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors at 10 a.m. Joyce,342-1234, ext. 7318.
Saturday, Aug. 18
MYSTERY NOVELIST
Howard Shrier, a former Montrealer, talks about his latest mystery novel, Boston Cream, set in Jewish Boston, on the Jewish Digest, Radio Centre-Ville 102.3FM at 8:30 a.m.
Sunday, Aug. 19
ROSH CHODESH
A women’s Rosh Chodesh service for the Hebrew month of Elul takes places in the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue downstairs chapel at 9:30 a.m. Children welcome. Dvar Torah and shofar blowing follow. Shelley, 489-9094.
Monday, Aug. 20
RESEARCHING ROOTS
Research resources in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada are discussed by Alan Greenberg at a Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal meeting at the Jewish Public Library at 7:30 p.m. www.jgs-montreal.org.
FALL COURSES
Prime Time, the West Island division of the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors, opens registration for fall programs for those over 50 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. at 96 Roger Pilon St. Ellen, 624-5005, ext. 230. Registration is already underway at the main centre, Monday through Thursday, from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. www.cummingscentre.com.
Tuesday, Aug. 21
JEWS AND ADDICTION
Therapist Gerald Sidel speaks on “Denial in the Jewish Community about Alcohol and Drug Abuse” at a Beth Ora Seniors meeting at 1:30 p.m. 342-1234, ext. 7318.
Wednesday, Aug. 22
MATURE SINGLES
Jewish singles over 45 are invited to “Meet Your Match”while getting a dance lesson at Congregation Chevra Kadisha from 7:30-8:30 p.m. Discount for men who bring another man. Registration, [email protected].
BOOK LAUNCH
The book Lunch With Charlotte by Leon Bergeris will be launched at the Creative Social Centre at Congregation Chevra Kadisha at a 12:30 p.m. lunch. Reservations (by Aug. 16), 488-0907.
…Et Cetera…
SENIOR CAMPERS
A vacation for seniors at Camp B’nai Brith Aug. 27-Sept. 2 is being offered by the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors. Price includes bus transportation, kosher meals and organized activities. Reservations, Claude, 342-1234, ext. 7325.
TRIP TO CROWN HEIGHTS
Chabad of Westmount is organizing a trip to Crown Heights in Brooklyn, N.Y., Sept. 21-23 during the High Holidays. Shabbat will be spent with local families. The highlight will be a visit to the burial site of the the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson. Yossi, 937-4772.
LES BALLETS JAZZ
Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (BJM) showed excerpts of its upcoming production by American-Israeli choreographer Barak Marshall at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, in collaboration with the Israeli consulate. Harry is a new creation by Marshall that will be a highlight of BJM’s 40th anniversary season. Los Angeles-born Marshall, an innovative dance maker as well as singer, was the first house choreographer for the famed Batsheva Dance Company…
The consulate supported the performance of The Young Professionals, the musical duo of Ivri Lider and Yonathan Goldshtein at the closing party of the 20th edition of Divers/Cité, a celebration of gay culture, held Aug. 5 at the Old Port.
Israeli-born Haim Steinbach is among the 20 artists whose work is include in the exhibition Zoo on at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal until Sept. 3.
JEWISH MUSIC FEST
Israel’s acclaimed Yemen Blues headlines the third edition of the Montreal Jewish Music Festival Aug. 26-30. The group, which will perform the final day at the Rialto Theatre, fuses traditional Yemenite melodies with blues, jazz and funk. It was a hit at last year’s Les Francofolies in Montreal. Other international and local acts will include the Russian klezmer-punk group Opa! with “cabaret noire Yiddish bad boy” Daniel Kahn, based in Berlin, at the Sala Rossa Aug. 26; Christian Dawid’s Klezmer Contra Dance will take place at the Sala Rossa Aug. 27, while the Argentinian duo of pianist Cesar Lerner and clarinetist Marcelo Moguilevsky will perform Aug. 28.
Others in the lineup include Sephardi indie-pop group Deleon from Brooklyn Aug. 28 and Montreal’s own Jump Babylon, which will launch its debut CD Soldier Woman, and Magillah which plays traditional klezmer. Get more details at www.montrealjewishmusicfest.com. Artistic director Jason Rosenblatt said: “We’ve got traditional klezmer, of course, but we’re pushing the envelope by programming groups that perform Jewish music combined with punk music and indie rock.”
THOUSAND ISLANDS
The Chomedey Chapter of Act to End Violence Against Women is offering a trip by coach Sept. 5-6 to Gananoque, Ont., that includes a 2-1/2-hour cruise through Thousand Islands, the play The Clockmaker, and one breakfast. Reservations, Lily, 450-688-0026.
CAMPUS BEAT
McGill University student Alexandra Markus has been selected for the 2012-2013 team of 10 reporter-interns for the Israel Campus Beat, an Israel advocacy website run by the Israel on Campus Coalition. The Beat describes itself as “the premiere student-written publication” that covers Israel-related campus events. It’s affiliated with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
ICRF PICKS BROCK
Lawyer and leukemia survivor William Brock has accepted an invitation to be honoured at the 36th annual Israel Cancer Research Fund gala, set for next April. Brock recently published the book Portraits of Hope, which through photos and stories, shares the experiences of other cancer survivors and their loved ones.
ISRAEL STUDIES
Concordia University political science department chair Csaba Nikolenyi recently participated in the Schusterman Summer Institute of Israel Studies at Brandeis University. Nikolenyi, co-director of the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies founded at Concordia last year, was one of 24 academics from around the world awarded a fellowship to attend.