Advertisement

Mitzvah Day to Aid a Range of Charities

Share

More than 3,500 volunteers will plant trees, support food banks, paint umbrellas for needy children and perform nearly 100 other charitable projects in the fourth annual Mitzvah Day 98 next Sunday.

The projects, sponsored by 45 synagogues and organizations with the Jewish Federation / Valley Alliance, stem from the Jewish ethic of tikkun olam, or repairing our world.

The projects include an interfaith walkathon to benefit local food banks and overseas charities. Young volunteers at the Stephen S. Wise Temple in Bel-Air will create puppets and dolls for therapy play by children at the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Center. At Temple Solael in West Hills, children will receive sensitivity training on gerontology and Alzheimer’s disease in preparation for a visit with Alzheimer’s patients in Canoga Park.

Advertisement

Volunteer opportunities are available. (818) 464-3219.

EVENTS

Dignity / LA will celebrate El Dia de los Muertos, the Roman Catholic Feast of All Souls, with a bilingual Mass, fiesta foods and a traditional altar for the beloved dead festooned with candles, fruits, images of saints, paper garlands and flowers. The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at Dignity Center, 126 S. Avenue 64 in Highland Park. (323) 344-8084.

* A replica of the famous 13th century labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral, used for walking meditation, will be dedicated at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Holy Spirit Retreat Center, 4316 Lanai Road, Encino. The dedication will kick off a weekend retreat, “Pilgrimage of the Soul,” featuring presentations, ritual, discussion, silence and use of meditation as a metaphor for life’s journey. (818) 784-4515.

* The spirituality of relationships will be explored in a weekend retreat beginning Friday at the Mary and Joseph Retreat Center, 5300 Crest Road, Rancho Palos Verdes. Psychological and theological insights into what makes a successful relationship will be presented. (310) 377-4867.

* The Metropolitan Community Church in the Valley will offer a luncheon program on breast cancer at noon Sunday featuring updates on medical research, a panel discussion by survivors and on-site mammograms. The church is at 5730 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood. (818) 762-1133.

* Cardinal Roger M. Mahony will present Roman Catholic media awards to singer Rosemary Clooney, the film “Saving Private Ryan,” and the ABC television series “The Practice” in a ceremony Sunday. The awards are sponsored by Catholics in Media Associates and honor projects and people whose work reflects the “highest ethical standards of the Judeo-Christian tradition.” The ceremony will follow a 10 a.m. Mass and brunch at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. (213) 661-3720.

LECTURES

James Shannon, the first American Roman Catholic bishop to resign over an issue of conscience, will speak at 11 a.m. Thursday at Fuller Theological Seminary, 135 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena. Shannon will discuss his journey of faith in opposing his superiors over the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, which forbade Catholics from using artificial birth control. He will also sign copies of his new autobiography, “Reluctant Dissenter.” (818) 584-5367.

Advertisement

* Michael Blumenthal, president of the Berlin Jewish Museum and former U.S. treasury secretary, will speak about his new book, “The Invisible Wall: Germans and Jews,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. A German native, Blumenthal fled the Nazi regime for Shanghai in 1939, then immigrated to the United States. (310) 440-4578.

* British theologian and author Kenneth Leech will speak on spirituality and social activism at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at All Saints Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena. He will also celebrate the Eucharist and speak at a brown bag lunch at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at the Cathedral Center of St. Paul, 840 Echo Park Ave., Los Angeles. Leech is community theologian at St. Botolph’s Crypt Center in London, offering care to the homeless, hungry and unemployed. Contact All Saints at (626) 583-2734 and Cathedral Center at (213) 482-2040.

* Obadiah Harris will speak on the “Essence of the Bhagavad Gita,” the classic Sanskrit sacred poem about the conflict between the true self and ego. The lecture begins at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles. (213) 663-2167.

* Male spirituality will be explored in a lecture, “What’s a Man To Do?” at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Mary and Joseph Retreat Center, 5300 Crest Road, Rancho Palos Verdes. Father Jim Clarke will lead the presentation, prayer and ritual on how to be a man of God in an age of conflicting male stereotypes and expectations. (310) 377-4867.

* The Rev. Ann Hayman will speak on prostitution at 9:30 a.m. Sunday at St. Mark Presbyterian Church, 2100 Mar Vista Drive, Newport Beach. She will also lead an 11 a.m. adult class on “Bad Boys.” Hayman is director of the Mary Magdalene Project, founded by the West Hollywood Presbyterian Church, to provide alternatives for prostitutes. (949) 644-1341.

SERVICES

An interfaith service to launch a campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons will be held at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Islamic Center of Southern California, 434 S. Vermont Ave. The Islamic Center, All Saints Church and Union of American Hebrew Congregations are sponsoring the event. (213) 383-3443.

Advertisement

* A memorial service for persecution victims among Christian and Chinese minorities in Indonesia will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 7 at New Life Community Church, 18800 Norwalk Blvd. (562) 423-2220.

CONCERTS

Concerts commemorating All Saints Day and All Souls Day will be held Sunday at the following locations:

* Samuelson Chapel at California Lutheran University, 60 West Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks, 4 p.m. (805) 493-3151.

* St. Irenaeus Church, 5201 Evergreen Ave., Cypress, 2:30 p.m. (714) 826-0760.

* Lutheran Church of the Master, 10931 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles, 4 p.m. (310) 473-1055.

* St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 10354 Downey Ave., Downey, 5 p.m. (562) 862-3268.

Notices may be mailed for consideration to Southern California File, c/o Nona Yates, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or by fax to Nona Yates, Southern California File at (213) 237-4712. Items should arrive two to three weeks before the event and should include pertinent details about the people and organizations with address, phone number, date and time.

Advertisement