About Town: Week of November 22

Friday, Nov. 23

 

JEW NOW A PRIEST

Father Peter Sabbath speaks about his journey from Jew to Catholic priest, at the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors, 10 a.m. Joyce, 342-1234, ext. 7318.

 

Saturday, Nov. 24

 

GILLER NOMINEE

Nancy Richler, whose novel The Imposter Bride was short-listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, is the guest on Jewish Digest, Radio Centre-Ville 102.3FM at 8:30 a.m.

 

ISRAELI CINEMA

A year-round Israeli film series at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts’ CinemaSpace gets underway with the 2006 hit Turn Left at the End of the World by Avi Nesher, at 8:30 p.m. The series is presented in collaboration with the Consulate General of Israel and Ha’bait Ha’Israeli. Concordia University sociology professor Meir Amor leads a post-screening discussion on this movie about the immigrant communities in southern Israel in the 1960s. Tickets, 739-7944.

 

Sunday, Nov. 25

 

NEW SEGAL PLAY

The play Red by John Logan makes its Montreal premiere at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts , starring Randy Hughson and Jesse Aaron Dwyer. Directed by Martha Henry, this six-time Tony Award-winning drama is about American abstract-expressionist painter Mark Rothko at the peak of his fame in the 1950s, when he  was commissioned to create murals for the new Seagram Building in Manhattan. Red  continues until Dec. 16. Tickets, 739-7944.

McGill University professor Paul Yachnin and Anne Grace of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts provide background at Sunday-@-the-Segal at 11 a.m. before the opening.

 

BETH TIKVAH BAZAAR

Congregation Beth Tikvah holds a bazaar of clothing, furniture, housewares and more from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. It continues Dec. 2 and 9. 683-5610.

 

RABBI STEINSALTZ

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz of  Jerusalem, a renowned scholar, is “In Conversation” at Chabad of Westmount at 7 p.m. Reservations, www.chabadwestmount. com.

 

Monday, Nov. 26

 

SEX ADDICTION

An eight-week support group for partners of sex addicts, led by a therapist, begins from 10 a.m. to noon at Chabad Lifeline, a non-sectarian centre for anyone affected by addictions, located at 4615 Côte Ste. Catherine Rd. Registration, Jennifer Kotry, 738-7700.

 

Tuesday, Nov. 27

 

QUIT SMOKING

An eight-session smoking cessation program starts at the Jewish General Hospital’s Cancer Prevention Centre. Day or evening, English or French, options available. 340-8222, ext. 3870.

 

BELGIAN ANTISEMITISM

Joel Kotek, a political science professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, speaks on “Pragmatic Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism as Civic Religion: The Troubled Case of Belgium” at McGill University, Leacock 738, at 5:30 p.m. This is part of the series “Antisemitism in Comparative Perspective,” organized by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. Registration, [email protected].

Wednesday, Nov. 28

 

BOOK DISCUSSION

Claire Stern leads a discussion of the novel Freud’s Sister by Goce Smilevski at the Creative Social Centre at The Chevra synagogue at 1 p.m. The centre also offers courses in mah-jong with Bryna Frankel, jewelry making with Carole Stern, and a choir led by Brian Brice. Registration, 488-0907.

 

NIFTY AT FIFTY

The FAB (Fifty and Beyond) Group of Act to End Violence Against Women hosts forensic psychologist Jack Hirschberg at its meeting at the Côte St. Luc Aquatic and Community Centre at 1:30 p.m. His topic is “Madness and Mayhem.” Reservations, 487-2330.

 

Thursday, Nov. 29

 

DON’T WORRY

A work on “Anxiety and Change” for parents is offered by Agence Ometz at the Federation CJA West Island, 96 Roger Pilon St., Dollard des Ormeaux at 7:30 p.m. School achievement, social media overload and divorce are some of the issues to be dealt with. [email protected].

 

AGING GRACEFULLY

Rabbi Sherril Gilbert and Henny Feldman lead a day-long workshop for those in their middle years and older on “The Journey From Aging to Sage-ing,” in Morin Heights. Registration, sherril_g@hotmail. com.

 

…Et Cetera…

 

KRISTALLNACHT FILM

A new documentary film on Kristallnacht featuring the eyewitness accounts of four Montreal Holocaust survivors has been launched by the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre. They are Charlotte Lintzel, Ursula Feist, Leo Dortort and Willie Glaser who were children or teens when the Nazi-orchestrated pogrom took place on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938. Feist, 91, as well as survivors Ted Bolgar and Margrit Stenge spoke with students at John Paul I Junior High School in St. Leonard about their experiences on the eve of Kristallnacht and Remembrance Day. They were joined by veterans of the Canadian Forces and current peacekeepers.

 

AZRIELI IN CONCERT

Opera singer and cantor Sharon Azrieli Perez presents a solo recital at the historic Rialto Theatre on Dec. 5. The program “Va Pensiero: Let Me Fly on Wings of Gold” includes arias from La Juive, Carmen, Nabucco and other operas that touch on the Jewish experience, as well as classics by Weill, Copland and the Sephardi and Israeli repertoire. The concert will conclude with an audience sing-a-long of Verdi’s Va Pensiero, which many regard as Italy’s unofficial anthem. Soprano Azrieli Perez, who will be accompanied by American pianist Thomas Tirino, will present the same concert at the Kaufmann Concert Hall in New York on Dec. 27. She will be making her debut in the title role of Carmen with the Brooklyn Opera in 2013.

 

JGH’S STERN AT CLUB

A full video of Jewish General Hospital executive director Hartley Stern’s address before the Canadian Club on Oct. 29 is available online at jgh.ca. With health care costs ballooning, Stern said Quebec must make critical decisions with regard to the structure of the system. “The tradition model of care  – ‘silo’ hospitals’ responsible only for themselves – is no longer viable,” Stern said.

 

FROM SINGAPORE

Simcha Abergel, who runs a Jewish day school in Singapore, returned to Montreal to speak at a gala dinner benefiting her alma mater, Chabad’s Chaya Mushka Seminary, on Nov. 7. Abergel and her French-born husband Rabbi Mordechai Abergel, have been leaders of 1,000-member Singapore Jewish community since the mid-1990s.