Lecture Program to Focus on Jewish Holiday
A lecture program on Shavuot, the two-day Jewish holiday featuring all-night study to commemorate the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, will be offered Sunday at Congregation Mogen David, 9717 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. Topics include “A Universal Code of Ethics,” “The Last Jewish King,” “Taking Back the Torah” and “Faith and Reason: Can’t We All Just Get Along?” The program, which begins at 11:30 p.m., is co-sponsored by Yeshiva of Los Angeles and Community Beit Midrash. (310) 229-0960.
CONFERENCES
An all-day conference on prison reform will present congregations with avenues for action next Saturday at All Saints Episcopal Church, 132 N. Euclid Ave., Pasadena. The conference, sponsored by Mobilization for the Human Family, will discuss such problems as overcrowding, severe sentences for nonviolent drug offenders and the paucity of rehabilitation programs. The registration fee of $35 includes lunch. (909) 625-8722 or e-mail jroebuck@cst.edu.
* Representatives of more than 400 faith-based organizations will gather Friday and next Saturday for a bilingual English-Spanish conference on economic and community development for Latino leaders. Lisa Trevino Cummins, associate director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, will deliver the keynote address. “Visiones Realizadas/Visions Realized” will explore how to use professional expertise, church outreach and volunteers to better tap into private and public resources for economic development. The conference will be held at the Radisson Wilshire Plaza, 3515 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles. Registration fee is $49. (562) 692-9383.
* The four-day 16th Annual Living Word Conference will feature a citywide concert, a women’s night and several speakers on the theme “The Challenge to Become a Winner,” beginning Wednesday. The conference, which will aim to strengthen people spiritually, is sponsored by the Love, Peace & Happiness Christian Fellowship. (562) 806-9890.
EVENTS
The San Fernando Valley Interfaith Council Food Pantry Network today will host a Potato Harvest Festival to bag and distribute eight tons of Idaho potatoes donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Volunteers are needed for the festival, which will be held at 11076 N. Norris St., Pacoima. (818) 897-6551.
* The Rev. Romey Del Rosario will speak on his missionary experiences in Malaysia at 6 p.m. Friday at Culver-Palms United Methodist Church, 4464 Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City. Food, music, crafts, games and fellowship will be offered. (310) 390-7717.
* The Rev. William Sinkford, candidate for the presidency of the Unitarian Universalist Assn., will speak at 11 a.m. Sunday at Throop Church, 300 S. Los Robles Ave., Pasadena. He will present his vision for the growing Unitarian Universalist movement. (626) 795-8625.
* James L. Kugel, director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University and professor of Bible at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, will deliver three lectures Monday at Young Israel of Century City, 9317 Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. Kugel’s first lecture on “The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Torah” will begin at 1:30 a.m. Monday. At 2:45 a.m., he will speak on “The Ten Commandments in Ancient Midrash” and at 7:30 p.m. he will address “What Really Happened at Mt. Sinai.” (310) 559-9442.
* Beth Chayim Chadashim will present Karla Goldman of the Jewish Women’s Archive in Massachusetts to speak on “Men, Women and Synagogues: Reframing American Judaism” during its Shavuot observance beginning Sunday at 6 p.m. The all-night study will be held at BCC, 6000 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles. (323) 931-7023.
PEOPLE
Rabbi Steven Carr Reuben will be installed Wednesday as the new president of the Board of Rabbis of Southern California. Reuben, who was first ordained in 1976, is the senior rabbi of Kehillat Israel Reconstructionist Congregation in Pacific Palisades. He is the recipient of numerous community awards, including the MICAH Award from the Jewish Federation for founding the largest full-service homeless shelter in Los Angeles.
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Notices may be mailed for consideration to Southern California File, c/o Religion Editor, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; faxed to Southern California File at (213) 237-2358; or e-mailed to religion@latimes.com. 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. Because of the volume of submissions, we cannot guarantee publication.
