Celebrating Purim’s Lighter Side

Purim, the biggest “fun day” on the Jewish calendar, begins at sunset next Saturday and will be celebrated at many synagogues March 23 in noise-making, clowning outdoor carnivals.

The large Stephen S. Wise Temple atop Sepulveda Pass has booked professional comics for its fund-raising Purim dinner next Saturday. Actors Jon Lovitz and David Spade, former regulars on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” will perform. The winner of one silent auction prize will be able to “hang out” with another ex-SNL comic, Adam Sandler. (818) 788-4778.

The holiday recalls Queen Esther’s rescue of Persian Jews from destruction by the Prime Minister Haman. The story in the biblical Book of Esther often inspires holiday lampooning of the villains and cheering for the Jewish queen.

The holiday is tailor-made for the Society for Humanistic Judaism and the liberal Workmen’s Circle, who will join together for a costume party March 23 at 1525 S. Robertson Blvd. A spokesman noted that Esther is the only biblical book lacking a “theistic component--its story highlights human courage and ingenuity in the face of a terrible evil.” (310) 552-2007.

But the approach of Purim also has prompted some serious takes on the holiday.

An all-day women’s conference today at Temple Beth Hillel in North Hollywood, subtitled “Reclaiming Esther’s Story for Our Own Time,” features a Shabbat service led by Rabbi Janet Marder, regional director of Reform congregations, and luncheon speaker Marlene Adler Marks, managing editor of the Jewish Journal.

Rabbi Asher Brander of Westwood Kehilla will talk at the Yeshiva of Los Angeles campus at 9760 W. Pico Blvd. at 10:45 a.m. Sunday on “Evil Unveiled: A View of Purim and the World.”

Taking another tack, a seminar Tuesday night at the University of Judaism will ask, “Is Purim a Dangerous Holiday?” The informal seminar for business and professional people, ages 22-39, will examine “whether Purim advocates revenge against non-Jews for Jewish persecution,” a spokesman said. The 8 p.m. seminar will be led by Rabbi Daniel Gordis, dean of the university’s Ziegler School of Rabbinics, and Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller, director of UCLA Hillel. $7 admission. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 248.

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QUOTE

Joseph Tkach Jr., pastor general of the Worldwide Church of God, a Pasadena-based church body that has undergone doctrinal changes and schisms in recent years, spoke last week to the National Assn. of Evangelicals convention in Orlando, Fla. The association passed along this quote:

“Before, we knew a lot about Jesus. But now we know Jesus. Although our magazine was called Plain Truth for 50 years, now we are really telling the truth. . . . We once thought everyone else was wrong. Now, we are a people who see we are wrong. . . . It’s like going to bed as an only child and waking up to a house full of brothers and sisters.”

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EASTER DRAMAS

The 14th annual “Glory of Easter” musical drama opened Friday night at the Crystal Cathedral. The production, featuring live animals, including a 350-pound Bengal tiger, and special effects, will continue at the Garden Grove church through March 29 with shows at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. most nights. Tickets generally range from $20 to $30. (714) 54-GLORY.

* The annual “Passion Play” at Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch, which drew 7,500 people for its seven performances a year ago, will put on nine performances this year, starting at 8 p.m. Thursday. The musical reenactment of Jesus’ last week on Earth, as told by the New Testament Gospels, runs through March 29 and uses nearly 200 performers and crew members, including a live orchestra. Tickets are $10 and $8. (818) 831-9333.

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ST. PATRICK’S DAY

Storytelling, song, prayer and poetry will be featured at 7 p.m. today in “An Evening of Irish Spirituality” at the Catholic-run Center for Spiritual Development, 480 S. Batavia St., Orange. $15 at the door. (714) 44-3175.

* Deirdre Mary Rogers will sing and perform on piano and guitar in a concert of Celtic music at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, 5011 White Oak Ave., Encino. Admission is free.

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DATES

Azusa Pacific University’s long-running outreach to Mexico--expected to attract 5,000 North American high school and college students on their spring vacations--will kick off this year’s program with a campus chapel session at 8 a.m. next Saturday. Participants will then cross the border and set up a tent camp for a week in what university officials call a combination missionary, social service and leadership-training expedition. About 300 adult volunteers and a medical team also take part. (818) 969-343.

* Huston Smith, a widely respected author-lecturer on world religions, will talk about “Science and Religion: Are They Converging?” at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles. A workshop with Smith from 2 to 4 p.m. costs $15. (213) 663-2167.

* An “adoption option fair” will be held next Saturday by Agape International Center of Truth, a multicultural Religious Science church, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 3211 Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica. Free. (310) 358-5144.

* An international seminar on classical and medieval forms of yoga philosophy and practice will be held today at Loyola Marymount University’s McIntosh Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Speakers at the free event include Bhagwan Singh of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Ian Whicher of England’s Cambridge University, Christopher Key Chapple of Loyola Marymount and David Gordon White of UC Santa Barbara. (310) 338-2846.

* English organist Christopher Herrick, who spent 10 years at Westminster Abbey, will perform in concert at 4 p.m. Sunday at First Congregational Church, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles. $11 donation. (213) 385-1341, Ext. 203

* The Rev. Miles McPherson, a defensive back for the San Diego Chargers from 1982 to 1985, will lead an evangelistic rally at 7 p.m. Friday at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. Music groups performing include the Katinas and Gospel Gangstaz. (619) 271-0234.

* Bishop Roy I. Sano, who oversees the United Methodist Church in Southern California, will speak Sunday at a 5:30 p.m. offbeat, alternative worship service at Wetwood United Methodist Church, 10497 Wilshire Blvd. (310) 474-511.

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FINALLY

Reputed relics linked to as many as 350 saints will provide an unusual exhibit accompanying day and evening “Saints Alive!” retreats led by Father Pat Brennan on Wednesday at Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center in Sierra Madre.

Brennan, director of the center, said he will be talking about “holiness today” and some of the lives of persons canonized as saints by the Roman Catholic Church. (818) 355-7188.

For the 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. retreats, Brennan said, Catholic layman Tom Serafin of Temple City will have on exhibit much of his collection of bone fragments, hair or clothing from saints, or other objects said to have been touched by saints in church history.

Seen in a Catholic cultural context, Brennan said, a focus on relics amounts to “reverencing of that person” and the determined faith represented by the saint.

Notices may be mailed to Southern California File, c/o John Dart, L.A. Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, CA 91311, or faxed to Religion desk (818) 772-3385. Items should arrive about three weeks before the event, except for spot news, and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time.