Outdoor Festival to Offer ‘A Tapestry of Jewish Life’

In what is billed as the largest outdoor Jewish gathering west of Chicago, music, art and dancing will be featured Sunday at the Jewish Federation/Valley Alliance’s biennial festival at Cal State Northridge.

The event, whose theme is “A Tapestry of Jewish Life,” will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Special ceremonies will be held at 2 p.m. to honor international relief organizations and individuals, including host families of refugees, connected with Kosovo aid efforts.

Performers will include Jewish soul singer Neshama Carlebach, the Keshet Chaim Rainbow of Life dance ensemble, Yiddish chanteuse Tanja Solnik and flamenco guitarist Adam Del Monte. There will also be a reggae performance and live rock music, Israeli dancing, arts and crafts and 200 booths.

The event will be held on the campus’ Sierra Quad. Parking is available at Nordhoff Street and Darby Avenue for $7. Admission is free.

EVENTS

Two State Department officials will speak in Los Angeles this week. Ambassador Dennis B. Ross, the department’s special Middle East coordinator, will talk Monday at 8 p.m. at Temple Isaiah, 10345 W. Pico Blvd. Free.

Also Robert Seiple, department ambassador at large for international religious freedom, will speak Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Islamic Center of Southern California, 434 S. Vermont Ave. He will be joined by Laila Al-Marayati, White House appointee to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. Registration. (213) 383-3443.

* “How Humor Heals,” a half-day workshop, will be presented next Saturday at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles by the Rev. Douglas Adams. Adams is professor of Christianity and the arts at the Pacific School of Religion in San Francisco and is the author of six books on faith and humor. The church is at 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. Registration and continental breakfast begin at 8:30 a.m. Program begins at 9 a.m. Reservations $5. (213) 385-1341.

* Sculptor William Catling and scholar Joel Hunt will host a one-day workshop, “The Artist and the Spiritual Life,” today at 10 a.m. at First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, 540 S. Commonwealth Ave. $10 to cover lunch and materials. (213) 385-1341.

* The Jesus Seminar will present a two-day conference Friday and next Saturday at the Sepulveda Unitarian Universalist Society, 9550 Haskell Ave., North Hills. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, featuring Daryl Schmidt speaking on “The Quest for the Historical Jesus.” On Saturday, beginning at 9:30 a.m., Schmidt and Roy Hoover will discuss “Who Jesus Was and Wasn’t.” The afternoon session is titled “The Historical Jesus for the 21st Century: A New Beginning.” Schmidt is professor of religion at Texas Christian University, and Hoover is a retired professor of biblical literature and religion at Whitman College in Washington state. $50 for all sessions, $40 for an additional family member. Individual sessions from $10 to $25. (818) 894-9251.

* Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), chairwoman of the lower house’s Judiciary Committee and first openly gay member of the Legislature, will speak Friday at 8 p.m. at Congregation Beth Chayim Chadashim, 6000 W. Pico Blvd. (323) 931-7023.

* Pastor Raul Ries will lead the “Somebody Loves You Crusade” today and Sunday at Stampede Stadium, 280 S. E St., San Bernardino. Reis, senior pastor at Calvary Chapel Golden Springs in Diamond Bar, is expecting 18,000 young people and adults. In the aftermath of recent school shootings, he will focus on the problems and pressures on youths today, and God’s love and care for them. The crusade begins each night at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Free.

* Niki de Saint Phalle’s Noah’s Ark sculptures will be on display at the Skirball Cultural Center from June 14 through November. The center is at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Museum admission is $8 general, $6 seniors. Children under 12 and Skirball members free. (310) 440-4500.

MUSIC

Aconcert of Christian music featuring a variety of bands and performers will be held today from noon to 8 p.m. at the bandstand at Recreation Park in Long Beach, off 7th Street between Park Avenue and Federation Drive. Called “Common Ground ‘99,” the concert will feature Malachi, Raw Confession, Grafted, Twist of Faith, Sunday Shoes, Rachel, Big Dog Small Fence, Sub-Mission, Steve & Cynthia, Off the Record, and Church on the Edge Praise Band. Listeners are invited to bring picnic meals. Free.

* The final performance of “The Apple Tree,” a whimsical musical version of the Adam and Eve story based on Mark Twain’s diaries, will be tonight at 7 at the Canoga Park High School, 6850 Topanga Canyon Blvd. $4. (818) 340-3221.

* The woodwind ensemble Echo Mountain Wind will perform at 12:10 p.m. on Wednesday at Pasadena Presbyterian Church, 585 E. Colorado Blvd. The program is part of the church’s Music at Noon concert series and will feature Ruth Kasckow, flute; Paula Koerner, oboe; Mandy Fey, clarinet; Steve Thiroux, bassoon; and John Smart, French horn. (626) 793-2191. Free.

* The choir and band of Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood, directed by Christoph Bull, will perform tonight at 7:30 at 6657 Sunset Blvd. (323) 462-6311. $5.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles presents nearly live, up-to-the-day pictures of progress on the new downtown Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on its Web site: https://www.la-archdiocese.org/

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