EXPLORING COLUMBUS: In an upcoming sermon, Rabbi...

EXPLORING COLUMBUS: In an upcoming sermon, Rabbi Eli J. Schochet of Congregation Beth Kodesh will explore the notion of whether Christopher Columbus was Jewish and if there is any relation to the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and the voyage of Columbus to the New World. The sermon is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday at the synagogue, 7401 Shoup Ave., West Hills. The Conservative congregation is sponsoring a tour to Spain, led by Schochet, in December.

INTERFAITH SERVICE: The fourth annual Interfaith Labor Day Service, “Celebrating the Dignity of Labor,” is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7 at the Congregational Church of Northridge, 9659 Balboa Blvd. David Sickler, director of the AFL-CIO Southwest Region, will be the guest speaker and the Rev. Sean Flanagan of St. Catherine of Siena in Reseda will give the benediction. The program, sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council, will also feature a community sing-along.

CROATIAN VISIT: Rabbi Bernard M. Cohen will speak Friday on his recent trip to Croatia. Cohen, who recently retired from Temple Solael in West Hills, met in June with Protestant, Islamic and other religious representatives in an effort to review religious freedom among Croatia’s estimated 2,000 Jews. Cohen is scheduled to address the Oneg Shabbat group from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Milliken West Valley Jewish Community Center, 22622 Vanowen St., West Hills.

RECEPTION: Valley Organized in Community Efforts (VOICE) will hold a reception Sept. 13 recognizing the group’s founding organizer Sister Carmel Somers, who was active from its 1988 inception until her retirement in June. The reception is planned from 2 to 6 p.m. in the Friendship Hall at the United Methodist Church, 1525 Glenoaks Blvd., San Fernando.