Day of Remembrance Honors Holocaust Victims

As thousands of refugees flee ethnic cleansing in Kosovo amid persistent and disturbing reports of war crimes, Americans on Sunday begin the annual remembrance of the genocide of 6 million Jews by Nazi Germany.

Although Yom Hashoah, the Day of Remembrance, when Jews honor the memory of Holocaust victims, is Tuesday, events are planned over the next two weeks.

* Eighteen Burbank temples and churches are co-sponsoring the city’s 12th annual Day of Remembrance program April 20, featuring Holocaust survivor Daisy Miller, director of foundation relations for Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. The interfaith program will include a memorial candle lighting by Holocaust survivors, and recitation of the Kaddish, the Jewish mourners’ prayer. The ceremony is at 7:45 p.m. at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church, 111 S. 6th St., Burbank. Free.

* The film “Intervals of Silence,” about being Jewish in Germany and the legacy of the Holocaust for contemporary Germans, will be shown at 7 p.m. Sunday by the Fine Arts Council of the University of Judaism, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel-Air. Discussion follows. $5. (310) 476-9777, Ext. 203.

* Congregation Mishkon Tephilo will host Yom Hashoah Holocaust memorial services at 7:30 p.m. Monday and 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, 206 Main St., Venice. Free.

* In a debate deliberately scheduled for Yom Hashoah, Jewish bioethicists will examine the question of when life ends, and specifically the issue of brain death, on Tuesday. The University of Judaism panel includes Noam Zohar, director of Bar-Ilan University’s Center for Research in Bioethics; Ronald Andiman, clinical professor of neurology at the USC School of Medicine; Leslie Rothenberg, attorney and staff ethicist at the UCLA Medical Center; and Rabbi Elliot Dorff, rector of the University of Judaism. 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel-Air. 3:30 to 6 p.m. $25. To register, call (310) 476-9777, Ext. 552.

ORTHODOX EASTER

Orthodox Christian Pascha, known among Western churches as Easter, will be celebrated Sunday by more than 250 million Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Two scholars with opposing views on whether Jesus rose physically from the dead will debate at the Church at Rocky Peak at 7 p.m. Sunday. John Marks Reynolds, professor of philosophy and Christian apologetics at Biola University, will argue that Jesus did rise from the dead. Opposing that view will be Daryl D. Schmidt, professor of religion at Texas Christian University and a member of the Jesus Seminar, a group of scholars that has challenged traditional Christian understanding of Jesus and the Gospels. $5, students $3. 22601 Santa Susana Pass Road, Chatsworth.

MUSIC

Hawaiian gospel singers Randy and Gay Hongo will perform from 5:30 to 9 tonight at Christ Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 4011 Clinton St. A dinner will precede the concert. Suggested donation is $10, $5 for children.

EVENTS

A conference on Yogavasistha will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at Loyola Marymount University, 7900 Loyola Blvd., Westchester. The Yogavasistha is a 12th century text widely read in India that combines Yogic, Vedantin, Buddhist and Kashmir Saivite thought through a collection of stories. Speakers include Arindam Chakrabarti of the University of Hawaii, Lina Gupta of Glendale College, Garth Bregman and Matthew MacKenzie of the University of Hawaii, Walter Slaje of Martin Luther University in Germany, Andrew Fort of Texas Christian University, Gary Tubb of Columbia University and Christopher Key Chapple of Loyola Marymount University. Call (310) 338-2846.

* Stephan Hoeller, a Gnostic scholar, will speak on the Jewish Kabbala from a Gnostic perspective at 11 a.m. Sunday at the Philosophical Research Society, 3910 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles. Suggested donation $5.

* The Alpha Course, a popular study in basic Christianity that began at Trinity Church in London, will be offered by Culver-Palms United Methodist Church at 6 p.m. Tuesday, 4464 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City.

* Culver-Palms United Methodist Church’s young adult and singles “Seekers” group is sponsoring “Jesus’ Java Joint” from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday. The mixer includes coffee, other drinks and dessert, music, games and videos and a discussion. 4464 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City. (310) 390-7717. Suggested donation $5.

* Sheila Briggs will lecture on “Xena and Friends: The Ethical Turn in Popular Culture” from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday in the fourth floor auditorium, 440 Shatto Place, Los Angeles, across the street from Immaculate Heart College Center. Briggs is associate professor of religion at USC and an instructor at the center. Tickets $10.

* Rabbi Yeshava Steinberger, chief rabbi of the Ramat District of Jerusalem, will deliver four addresses at Yeshiva of Los Angeles as part of its Israel Independence Day observances. Steinberger will speak at 8:15 p.m. Friday, 10:45 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. April 17, and 9:30 a.m. April 18. All lectures will be at Yeshiva’s Beit Midrash, 9760 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. Free. For Friday dinner reservations ($18 adults, $7 children under 12), call (310) 772-2487.

* “Mary, Mary,” a comedy by Jean Kerr, will be performed at the Upper Room Theater of Lake Avenue Church, 393 N. Lake Ave., Pasadena, at 8 p.m. today, Friday, April 17, 23, 24, 30 and May 1. Admission $7, students $5. (626) 449-3735.

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