Community Seder Planned
Congregation B’Nai Emet, Simi Valley and Moorpark’s only synagogue, will conduct its second annual community Seder at 6 p.m. today at Dakota’s Restaurant, 2525 Stow St., Simi Valley.
Rabbi Michele Paskow will lead the traditional reading of the Haggadah, and a kosher-style meal will be served.
Reservations are necessary. For information, call 583-5244 or 522-6370.
Women in Bible Topic of Series
“Beyond the Matriarchs: What We Are Learning From Women in the Bible” is the subject of a four-part adult education series given by Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller at Temple Beth Torah in Ventura beginning Tuesday.
“Meet new women in the Bible, including Tamar, Dina, Hannah, Judith and other wise women,” Hochberg-Miller said. The free series will be held on four consecutive Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Temple Beth Torah is at 7620 Foothill Road. For information, call 647-4181.
Stand-Up Comic to Be Featured
“Comedy and Coming Home” will feature Jewish stand-up comic Richard Morris at Chabad Community Center in Ventura on Wednesday.
Morris, a onetime writer and occasional guest on NBC’s “Late Night With David Letterman,” tells of returning to becoming an observant Jew.
The show begins at 7 p.m. at the community center, 1259 Callens Road, Suite A. For information or to make reservations at $10 per person, call 658-7441.
Unity Video to Be Broadcast
The Bahais of Ventura County announce the broadcast of a new video titled “The Power of Race Unity” on local cable channels 67 (Odyssey), 8 (Americast), 6 (Avenue and Century) and 19 (Jones Intercable and Comcast) through Thursday. All channels have scheduled multiple showings.
“Bahais have decades of experience working on a grass-roots level to put into effect one of their central beliefs: the elimination of all forms of prejudice,” said John Bruton of the Simi Valley Bahai community.
New Sacred Service Featured
The Musart Singers will perform at Temple Etz Chaim in Thousand Oaks on Friday. Under the direction of Judith Berman, the singers will present a new sacred service for the Sabbath liturgy. The music will include Chassidic melodies as well as cantorial masterpieces adapted and arranged for women’s voices. The women of the temple will conduct the service.
“This is an appropriate occasion for women to conduct the service since the Torah reading relates how women in the days of Moses, under Miriam’s leadership, played musical instruments and sang words of praise to God,” sisterhood president Barbara Ungar said.
Ungar, Adrienne Brodsky and Beatrice Schumer will assist Berman with the music.
The service will begin at 8:15 p.m. All are welcome. The temple is at 1080 Janss Road. For information, call the temple office at 497-6891.
Anniversary of Historic Church
A special celebration of musical, spiritual and community events will commemorate the 100-year anniversary of historic Bardsdale United Methodist Church on Friday and April 18 and 19.
The church, surrounded by orchards, is the only remaining community building in Bardsdale.
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the church was dedicated April 15, 1898, after being built by its congregation on land donated by Thomas Bard. Described as “carpenter Gothic architecture,” its brownstone material was hauled from nearby Sespe Creek.
On Friday, a musical vesper service of centennial celebration will begin in the church at 7:30 p.m. On April 18, an 8 a.m. communion service will be offered, followed by docent tours from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. That night, a 7 p.m. ice cream social and family fellowship are scheduled.
At 10 a.m. April 19, Bishop Roy Sano will lead the centennial rededication worship service. The public is welcome to the free barbecue luncheon that follows and to all other events.
The church is at 1498 Bardsdale Ave., Fillmore. For information, call 524-2070.
Seminars on Relationships Offered
A seminar series titled “Building Strong Relationships” will begin April 19 at Oxnard’s First Presbyterian Church. It will begin at 9 a.m. and run for three Sunday mornings preceding the 10 a.m. worship service.
Tom Prinz, marriage, family and child counselor, will conduct the series.
Child care will be provided. For reservations, call the church office at 983-0204. First Presbyterian is at 850 Ivywood Drive.
Church Plans Fireside Discussion
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints invites the public to an open house and fireside discussion at 7 p.m. April 19 in Ventura. The one-hour family oriented program will be presented in Spanish and English.
A display, video and handouts will be included.
The church is at 3501 Loma Vista Road. For information, call 659-1758.
Ceremony to Recall Holocaust
Jewish Families of Camarillo will hold a Yom Hashoa or Day of Holocaust ceremony April 19 at the JFC-Temple Ner Ami.
Remarks by Ventura County Supervisor Kathy Long, Camarillo Mayor Charlotte Craven and Ventura County schools Supt. Charles Weis are planned.
The afternoon’s focus will be to mourn the several million people who perished under the Nazis and reflect on lessons learned. Joining JFC-Temple Ner Ami in sponsoring the 3:30 p.m. event will be several Jewish organizations, including B’nai B’rith.
JFC-Temple Ner Ami, a 150-family Reform congregation, will hold the observance at 4098 Calle Tesoro, Suite D. For information, call the temple at 388-3824.
Jewish Adult Education Expands
Representing the joint efforts of four area synagogues and three Jewish organizations, a Jewish adult education program will be offered by the new Conejo Valley Consortium for Adult Jewish Education and the Bel-Air-based University of Judaism. Classes will begin April 19 at local synagogues.
“This is a response to the significant growth of the Jewish population in the Conejo Valley,” said Michael Lotker, consortium administrator at its Thousand Oaks headquarters.
The program’s spring semester will offer a series of Sunday night lectures and extensive weeknight courses.
The consortium is made up of Temples Adat Elohim, Beth Haverim, Etz Chaim and Congregation Or Ami, along with Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School-West Campus, the Conejo Valley JCC for Early Childhood and Family Education, and the Jewish Federation / Valley Alliance.
Lotker said the program significantly expands the University of Judaism’s role in bringing adult education classes to the Conejo Valley.
Four Sunday lectures and four six-session weeknight courses on aspects of Judaism will be offered in April and May. Costs are $10 per lecture or $66 per course, plus a registration fee.
For information, call Lotker at 241-0485. The consortium is at 1379 Calle Crisantemo.
Israel’s 50th Anniversary Observed
“Israel at 50” is the theme of a countywide observance sponsored by the Ventura County United Jewish Appeal / Federation throughout April, May and June. UJA / Federation provides funds for local and overseas programs that support Jewish life.
On April 20, the Camarillo section of the National Council of Jewish Women will meet at 12:30 p.m. at the Marquie Banquet Center at 340 Mobil Ave. Camarillo section Vice President Muriel Helfenbein will speak.
A Sabbath service is set for Congregation Am HaYam at the Oxnard Monday Club, 1401 W. Gonzales Road, at 8 p.m. May 1.
For information on these events, call Marvin Rosenthal, executive director of Ventura County UJA / Federation, at 647-7800.
CLU Sunday to Be Celebrated
Cal Lutheran University’s annual CLU Sunday will be celebrated April 26. The 775 churches that make up the congregations of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, CLU’s constituency in the Southwest, will recognize the alliance between CLU and the churches.
CLU Sunday encourages churches to focus on Christian higher education and acquaint young people with Lutheran institutions and CLU, said the Rev. Reg Schultz-Akerson of the university.
Faculty members, alumni, administrators, students and regents will attend Lutheran churches throughout the Southwest and update congregations on developments at the university.
Schultz-Akerson said 1997-98 was a banner year for CLU, which placed in the top tier of Western regional colleges and universities in U. S. News and World Report’s guide on America’s best colleges. And it was included in the Templeton Foundation’s “Honor Roll for Character Building Colleges,” he said.
For information on CLU Sunday, call the church relations office at 493-3152.