Happening

SEE

Women in traditional Sephardic costume in brilliant color and intricate decorative patterns are portrayed in “A Magnificence of Dress: Watercolor paintings by Anita Kushner,” at Yeshiva University Museum, 500 West 185th Street, New York, NY 10033.

The Child Behind the Eyes is a monodrama by Israeli author Nava Semel, portraying the mother of a child with Down’s Syndrome. Originally produced by the Haifa Municipal Theater, this one-woman performance, starring actress Amy Brentano, accompanied by a post-performance discussion with the playwright, is currently touring the US. To schedule a performance contact Sesil Lissberger, Jewish Community Centers Association Lecture Bureau, (212) 532-4949.

The Summer of Aviya, starring Gila Almagor in a solo performance based on her semi-autobiographical book, will be on tour in the Midwest as part of the Mid East/West Fest. The play dramatizes the difficult summer experienced by a ten-year- old girl and her mentally ill Holocaust survivor mother during a brief season when they live together (See LILITH Spring; 1991) For information on a performance near you, write for a brochure to William Behrer, The America -Israel Friendship League, 134 East 39th Street, New York, NY 10016, or call him at (212) 213-8630, or call Sylvia Kaufman at (616) 722-6681.

CONNECT

Join in a celebration of Jewish women’s diversity. Participate in a day of workshops, study, happenings and ceremony at the second annual Timbrels of Miriam Conference to be held on International Woman’s Day, March 8 at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. Contact: Professor Miriyam Glazer, (213) 476-9777, X246.

Can we talk? Native English speakers are needed to practice phone conversation skills with English- proficient Soviet Jewish emigres, by calling and conversing three times weekly for a minimum of three months. Call: Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, (212)582-9100, extension 232.

Rosh Chodesh /New Moon Celebrations for Jewish women are held at New York’s gay and lesbian synagogue: Congregation Beth Simchat Torah, 57 Bethune St., NY, NY 10014, (212) 929-9498.

For your next trip to Israel, plan to encounter some of the many artists and cultural institutions described in The Directory of Arts & Culture in Israel, Written especially for those planning group educational tours, the 112-page compendium lists arts festivals, museums, dance, literary, musical, theatrical, and cinematic events and personalities. $12.00 from American Friends of Melitz, 730 Broadway, New York, NY 10003.

LEARN

Develop women’s leadership in the Jewish student world. Participate in the first such international program involving networking, educational program ideas and a summer seminar in Israel. Contact: The Women’s Project at WUJS, P.O. Box 7914,.Jerusalem 91077 Israel.

From astrology to the Zohar, Mount Eden Shabbat Retreats offer opportunities to study with masters of esoteric Jewish studies using modalities of dance, music, lecture, art, ritual, humor, meditation and prayer. Epicurean vegetarian food is served in country-inn style accommodations for up to 14 people. Restringing Dynamics, 688 Route 202 South, Flemington, NJ 108822.

Feminist Jewish Women’s Voices: Diversity and Community features Mindy Shapiro, Susan Talve, Francie Saposnik, Melanie Kaye/ Kantrowitz, Irena Klepfisz, Ellen Cannon, Evelyn Torton Beck, and Sauci Bosner on audio tape (#4) at a plenary session of the National Women’s Study Association. Prepaid, $8.00 in the USA, $12.00 outside the USA. NWSA, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742-1325.

CREATE AND SHARE

To promote Jewish art and culture and become a resource and support system for new and established artists, we now have a new organization for Jewish artists. Among its long term goals; an institute for young artists, a summer concert; and a newsletter. Jewish Artists Co-op, 13226 Otsego St, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423.

Have you created an Orthodox Bat Mitzvah or Havdalah Service? Please contact Lenore K. Stamm, 391 Links Drive East, Oceanside, NY 11572.

Feminist International Radio Endeavor (FIRE) has recently begun broadcasting, in a magazine format, one hour daily, from a short-wave radio station located in Costa Rica. They ask requesting women to send tapes, 25 or 50 minutes maximum, which demonstrate a woman’s perspective on any issue from sexuality to agriculture, from politics to medicine, education to demilitarization. Write for producers’ guidelines to: WINGS, P.O. Box 5307, Kansas City, MO 64131.

BODY/POLITIC

“The natural history of HIV/AIDS in women can best be summarized by the phrase ‘late detection, early death’… Now that the pervasiveness and reality of HIV/AIDS among women is beginning to be explored, we are faced with an economic crisis that dictates the need to establish priorities.” Be informed by a work in progress. Searching for Women: A Literature Review on Women, HIV and AIDS in the United States, second edition. May 1991, 118 pages, $10.50 from The Multicultural AIDS Coalition, 566 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA 02118.

Join a bikur cholim society. Bikur cholim groups visit and give compassionate care to the sick, frail and elderly. The third edition of The Directory of Bilcur Cholim Resources ($5.00) lists contact persons for hikur cholim societies associated with synagogues throughout the New York Metropolitan region, as well as other parts of North America. A collection of poems, prayers and inspirational thoughts. Twice Chai: A Jewish Road to Recovery by Marcia Glaubman Hain ($12.50) is also available from the Coordinating Council on Bikur Cholim, 130 East 59th Street, #306, New York, NY 10022.

Know how they vote. For a free copy of the voting record of elected officials on an array of foreign and domestic policy issues: Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, 2027 Mass. Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20036.

The Israel Union For Environment Defense, UED is a new non-profit public interest law group which offers free legal representation to Israeli citizens and grass roots environmental groups to combat pollution problems of public significance. They are also working to develop a cadre of environmental professionals. For more information: American Friends of the Israel Union for Environmental Defense, 5000 West Esplanade Street, #203, Metairie, LA 70006.

Strengthening Democracy is a comprehensive guide to Israel’s social change movement, and lists many projects, such as this Russian-language brochure published in Israel by SHILO Pregnancy Advisory Service addressing Soviet immigrants’ lack of knowledge about contraception. $7.50 U.S., $8.50 Canadian. New Israel Fund, P.O.Box 91588, Washington DC 20090-1588.

REMEMBER

Are you a survivor of the Holocaust? Do you have family or friends who survived that period or who perished? The Simon Weisenthal Center would appreciate your submission of pre-Holocaust photographs and the completion of a questionnaire for its Beit-Hashoah-Museum of Tolerance Photo Archives dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust. Materials sent cannot be returned. For questionnaires and information contact Adaire Klein, Coordinator of Library Archives, 9760 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035.

Fill out a page of testimony. Before the information is lost forever, please join Yad Vashem: The Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, in its attempt to commemorate and record the names and biographical details of Jews who perished in the Holocaust. To date, nearly 3,000,000 names have been recorded, with many new names being submitted by recent Soviet olim. Forms are available in several languages, to be completed and mailed back for safekeeping. Please ask relatives, friends and neighbors to join in this monumental task. Contact: Yad Vashem, POB 3477, Jerusalem, 91034 Israel.

Learn the fate of family and friends v/ho were victims of the Nazis. Following the post-glasnost receipt of 400,000 names of people who died or were interned in Auschwitz and other concentration camps, a new resource has been established by the American Red Cross in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross, other national Red Cross Societies, and the Magen David Adorn in Israel. Those wishing to inquire are advised that the search for information can still take a long time. You may contact your local chapter of the American Red Cross or call The Holocaust and War Victims Tracing and Information Center Hotline, 1-800- 848-9277.

Archives uniting Jewish historical societies in Tuscon, Phoenix, San Diego, Albuquerque and El Paso contain documents, photos and oral histories portraying Jewish life in the Southwest, including the lives of descendants of Jews and conversos who fled from the Spanish Inquisition. (See Winter 1991 cover story, “The Secret Lives of New Mexico’s Indian Catholic Jews.”) Much of the print material has been transferred to computer disks for easy research access. Contact: Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives, University of Arizona. 1052 N. Highland Ave., Tucson, AZ 85721

Get a copy of the captain’s passenger log from the boat your immigrant ancestors arrived on. Supply the port of arrival (New York, in the case of Ellis Island), an accurate spelling of the immigrant’s name, approximate age and year of arrival. Learn the circumstances of the voyage to America, including port and date of einbarkation, name of the boat, length of the voyage, and date of arrival, last place of residence in the old country, intended place of residence in America, including name and address of any relative or friend with whom the immigrant planned to live, marital status, age, occupation, literacy level and physical condition. Upon completion of a successful search-which depends on the accuracy and completeness of the information in your request-there is a $5.00 fee for record-copying and handling costs-payable to the National Archives in Washington, DC. To request a search, call between 1 and 4 PM, Wednesday to Friday, International Institute of New Jersey, 201-653-3888.

GIVE TZEDAKA

Help child victims of sexual abuse by making a contribution to Gal -Ar, founded in 1989 by Esther Mor Horowitz, and the first organization established in Israel specifically to address this issue. Contributions may be sent to: Gal Ar, 11 Veidat Katovitz Street, Tel Aviv, 62301 Israel.

Letter from Natasha by Floreva G. Cohen, with illustrations by Hyman J. Campeas, tells the story of Operation Exodus to very young children and explains how they and their families can fill a tzedakah box to contribute to this historic rescue of Soviet Jews. Free, from Susan Rachlin, Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York, 426 West 58th Street, New York. NY 10019.