Holocaust Victims to Be Remembered

Holocaust Remembrance Day has been taking on growing importance at synagogues in recent years, but it is hardly an exclusively Jewish observance.

The actual day of Yom Hashoah, as it is called in Hebrew, is Thursday. But special services and programs will be held at various times next week to remember the millions killed in the Nazi-era Holocaust.

Sixteen churches and two synagogues in the Burbank area will participate in the city’s 11th annual Days of Remembrance with a Tuesday service at 7:45 p.m. at Burbank First Presbyterian Church. Middle and high school students will read their winning essays on racism and intolerance, and candles will be lighted by third-generation children and their grandparents who survived the Holocaust.

“These days . . . remind Americans that nations are capable of evil when bigotry, hatred and indifference dominate national policy as was the case in Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler,” said Sylvia Sutton of the sponsoring Burbank Human Relations Council. (818) 842-3935.

A Holocaust memorial service and program--”Preventing the Next Holocaust”--to be held Wednesday at St. Monica Catholic Church’s Trepp Center, 725 California Ave., was organized by the Westside Interfaith Council and the National Conference (of Christians and Jews). Radio journalist Kitty Felde will speak at the 7 p.m. event. (310) 453-3361.

At Temple Israel in Hollywood, actress Efrat Lavie will perform a one-woman play, “She Hasn’t Been Here,” as part of the synagogue’s Yom Hashoah service, starting at 7:30 p.m. (213) 876-8330.

Federal Immigration Judge Bruce J. Einhorn, a founding member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Tolerance in West Los Angeles, will lecture at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Conejo Jewish Academy, 30345 Canwood St., Agoura Hills. (818) 991-0991.

Countless synagogues will recall the tragedy and its lessons in Friday night services, including a joint memorial at 8 p.m. in Shomrei Torah Synagogue, 7353 Valley Circle Blvd., West Hills, with another Conservative congregation, Temple Aliyah. (818) 346-0811.

The Danish resistance to Nazi Germany will be praised Friday at Encino’s Valley Beth Shalom during a 6 p.m. dinner with Danish Consul General Martin Kofod and at a service at 8:15 p.m. In October 1943, Danish citizens spirited away virtually the entire Jewish population of Denmark--an estimated 7,000 men, women and children--into neutral Sweden and out from under the noses of Nazi occupiers, according to Rabbi Harold Schulweis.

October was the height of the herring fishing season and boats usually sailed at night, so the Germans did not suspect that the multiple trips were unusual, said a spokesman for the event. (818) 788-6000.

The Holocaust’s implications for Christian theology continue to be discussed. On April 27 at the University of San Diego campus, “Christians and the Holocaust” will be the topic of a lecture by Kathleen Dugan, who has taught religious studies at the Catholic university for more than 20 years. $10. (619) 260-4784.

STATISTICS

After years of decline, U.S. enrollment in Catholic schools has risen, for the sixth consecutive year, to a total of 2,648,859 students. The net increase enrolled during the 1997-98 school year is 3,400, and the total has risen since 1992-93 by 81,000, according to an announcement this week at the National Catholic Education Assn.’s convention in Los Angeles.

Other figures: Minority student enrollment is 24.4% of the total. Full-time faculty of more than 150,000 are 92% laity and 8% nuns or clergy. Of 8,223 Catholic schools, 6,897 are for elementary grades.

BOOKS

Rachel Adler, who teaches modern Jewish thought and holds the first joint appointment at USC and nearby Hebrew Union College, will be honored Sunday in Beverly Hills on the publication of her book, “Engendering Judaism: A New Theology and Ethics” (Jewish Publication Society). “Dr. Adler is one of the mothers of the Jewish feminist movement,” said Rabbi Laura Geller of Temple Emanuel, where a reception in her honor will start at 3 p.m. (213) 749-3424.

* The publishing of a facsimile edition (966 photographed pages) of the Leningrad Codex, the oldest complete manuscript of the Hebrew Bible, was celebrated Friday at UC San Diego, where general editor David Noel Freedman teaches in the Judaic studies program. Also attending the reception were publication editor James A. Sanders of Claremont’s Ancient Biblical Manuscript Center and photographers Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman of Los Angeles. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. is selling the book for $255.

DATES

The Rev. Philip Wogaman, pastor of the Washington, D.C., church where First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton is a member and the newly installed president of the Interfaith Alliance, will speak on religious tolerance at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at First United Methodist Church of Glendale, 134 N. Kenwood St., Glendale. Responses will come from Rabbi Susan Laemmle, dean of religious life at USC, and Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. (213) 761-8940.

* In a preview concert before appearing next month at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the CME Community Choir, directed by Michael A. Pyles, will perform at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Torrance First Presbyterian Church, 1900 Crenshaw Blvd. The gospel choir--with singers drawn from more than the core group of Christian Methodist Episcopal singers--has performed with groups such as Earth, Wind & Fire and artists such as the late James Cleveland. (213) 290-3813.

* The Rev. Cecil “Chip” Murray, senior pastor of Los Angeles’ First African Methodist Episcopal Church, will talk about the effects of welfare reform in South-Central Los Angeles on Friday night in an ecumenical forum at Pacific Unitarian Church, 5621 Montemalaga Drive, Rancho Palos Verdes. The 7 p.m. program is also sponsored by the South Coast Ecumenical Council. (310) 541-6986.

* Religious pollster George Barna of Oxnard will address Assemblies of God leaders Tuesday at a luncheon and a 2 p.m. seminar during the denomination’s annual Southern California District Council meeting. The sessions, at San Diego First Assembly of God Church, will start Monday afternoon and end Thursday morning. (714) 252-8400.

* Singer Michael W. Smith will be among contemporary Christian musicians appearing Friday at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia. The Hallelujah Jubilee, from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m., costs $18.50 in advance through the park or through International Youth Ministries (818) 848-4496.

FINALLY

He is both a Jesuit priest and a roshi, or Zen Buddhist master.

Father Robert J. Kennedy, who is dean of theology at St. Peter’s College in New Jersey, will lead the Zen Center of Los Angeles’ annual Christian Buddhist retreat next week.

“Exploring the richness and integrity of the Catholic and Zen traditions,” Kennedy leads the retreat in Zen style, including meditation, private interviews, talks on the two belief systems and a Catholic Mass, said a Zen Center spokeswoman.

The four-day retreat, starting Thursday, costs $150, which includes modest sleeping accommodations and meals. $50 a day. Reservations (213) 387-2351.

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Notices may be mailed for consideration 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, or e-mailed to john.dart@latimes.com Items should arrive 2-3 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.

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ORTHODOX EASTER

Eastern Orthodox Christians will celebrate the Resurrection in traditional midnight services with candlelight processions tonight in the Southland and around the world.

Easter was observed Sunday by churches in the Catholic and Protestant tradition. In 2001 the calculations of Christendom’s eastern and western churches will coincide, allowing a common date for Easter that year.

A sampling of services follows for the holiday that Eastern Orthodoxy calls Pascha, the Greek word for Passover--alluding to Christ’s passing from death to life.

* Bishop Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America Diocese of the West will preside over the Divine Liturgy at Holy Virgin Mary Cathedral, 650 Micheltorena St., Los Angeles, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in February. (213) 666-4977.

* Bishop Jovan, who heads the Western Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church, will celebrate with parishioners at St. Steven’s Cathedral, 1621 W. Garvey Ave., Alhambra. (626) 284-9100.

* At St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles, Father John Bakas will lead services at 11 p.m, followed by the midnight liturgy. “We expect about 1,500 people sitting outside and inside the cathedral” at 1324 S. Normandie Ave., Bakas said. (213) 737-2424.