About Town: Week of May 2

Thursday, May 2

 

FILM PREMIERE

Orchestra of Exiles, a documentary about Bronislaw Huberman, founder of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra (forerunner of the Israel Philharmonic) will be screened at Congregation Shaar Hashomayim at 8 p.m. Its director, Academy Award-nominated Josh Aronson, will be on hand for this Montreal premiere. 514-937-9474.

 

Friday, May 3

 

BETH ZION SHABBATON

A “Jew in the City” family Shabbaton begins tonight at Beth Zion Congregation with teacher/writer Allison Josephs. Continues Saturday at 9:45 p.m. for women only. [email protected].

 

Saturday, May 4

 

FIGHTING CANCER

Cancer Fight Club.com presents “Knockout!” an evening of amateur boxing, dinner, dancing and live auction at Espace Réunion in support of Jewish General Hospital’s Hope & Cope psychosocial services for young adults with cancer. Former middleweight champion Otis Grant will be on hand, with food donated by leading restaurants. Cancerfightclub.com is an online community for cancer patients. Tickets, [email protected].

 

Sunday, May 5

 

FAMILY TREE

The Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal will hold a Family Tree Workshop, 10 a.m. to noon at the Jewish Public Library. Beginners can get help with family history questions. www.jgs-montreal.org.

HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL

Congregation Beth Ora hosts its annual Holocaust Memorial Breakfast, 9-11 a.m. Guest speaker is Atara Laor, great-niece of a survivor hidden by a Righteous Gentile. Reservations, 514-748-6559.

 

ALL ABOUT PRAGUE

World traveller Harvey Levinson talks about “The City of Prague and its Jewish Quarter,” at a luncheon of the Congregation Shaar Hashomayim Leisure Institute. Reservations, 514-937-9471, ext. 139.

 

ISRAEL TODAY

Beth Zion Congregation, in conjunction with Canadian Institute for Jewish Research, holds a breakfast and panel discussion on Israel today, with professors Julien Bauer, David Bensoussan, Csaba Nikolenyi and Harold Waller, with Ira Robinson moderating, 9:30 a.m. Reservations, 514-489-8411, ext. 24.

 

Monday, May 6

 

BOOK DISCUSSION

Girls in grades 5 and up and their mothers are invited to a group discussion of the book Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine at 7 p.m. led by librarian Penny Fransblow. Registration, 514-345-2627, ext. 3012.

 

THE ISRAELI NARRATIVE

Yael Feldman, the Abraham Katsh Professor of Hebrew Culture at New York University, lectures on “Wrestling With ‘Isaac’: Biblical Narrative and Israeli National Sacrifice” at the Gelber Conference Centre at 7 p.m. Sponsored by Concordia University’s Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies. azrieli-institute.concordia.ca.

 

Tuesday, May 7

 

AUXILIARY OPEN HOUSE

To celebrate its 80th anniversary, the Mount Sinai Hospital Auxiliary holds an open house, 2-8 p.m. Refreshments served and gift shop discounts. 514-369-2222, ext. 1337.

 

MENDY CAHAN BACK

Israeli singer Mendy Cahan will give a concert of jazz standards in Yiddish, Hebrew, English and French at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts, 8 p.m., in conjunction with the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre’s I Love Yiddish series. He’ll be accompanied by pianist Nina Shapilsky. Cahan, one of the younger generation of Yiddishists, was a hit at the International Yiddish Theatre Festival. Tickets, 514-739-7944.

 

BIBLE CLASSES

Rabbi Sidney Shoham  leads a Bible class at Beth Zion Congregation entitled “Judaic Outlook of Contemporary Issues” at 10 a.m., continuing May 21 and 28. 514-489-8411, ext. 24.

 

ISRAELI SECURITY

Yossi Alpher, a former senior official with the Mossad, gives a talk on “Tough Questions, Hard Answers: The Changing Face of Israeli Security,” at the Gelber Conference Centre, 7:30 p.m., sponsored by the Canadian Friends of Peace Now. [email protected].

 

Wednesday, May 8

 

TANGO A LA RUSSE

The film Tango, A Story With Jews, is shown at the SegalCentre CinemaSpace at 7 p.m. as part of the Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors’ Talkumentaries series, animated by Damien Nisenson, an Argentine-born musician and actor. Tickets, Stefani Novick, 514-342-1234, ext. 7201.

 

ANOTHER FILM

The German/Israeli movie Closed Season about an unusual ménage à trois between a German couple and the Jewish man they hide during World War II, will be screened at the Jewish Public Library, 7:30 p.m. In German with English subtitles, and introduced by Trudis Goldsmith-Reber. Tickets, 514-345-6416.

 

BOOK REVIEW

Claire Holden Rothman reviews the Governor General’s Award-winning novel The Sisters Brothers, by Patrick deWitt, at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom at 7:30 p.m.

 

WALLENBERG ACADEMY

An information meeting for the English Montreal School Board’s proposed new high school in Côte St. Luc, Wallenberg Academy, at the city’s Aquatic and Community Centre, 5790 Parkhaven Ave., at 7:30 p.m. A tour of the school across the street follows. www.wallenbergacademy.com.

 

Friday, May 9

PLAY READING

Aviva Ravel’s comedy My Rumanian Cousin is presented by the Performance Playreading Ensemble at the Eleanor London Côte St. Luc Public Library, 7 p.m. Actors are Nat Rabinowitz, Mayer Mill, Bena Singer and Victoria Barkoff. 514-485-6900.

 

…Et Cetera…

Chabad of Westmount has found a new home: Westmount Square Tower 4, Suite 110. This is a larger location than the one at 4444 Ste. Catherine St., which had been its home for 14 years. The new centre opens in July. Until then programming is in Suite 150…

A new adaptation of Faust is on stage at the Segal Centre’s Studio until May 5. Written by Joseph Shragge and director Alison Darcy, the cast includes her father Maurice Podbrey…

The classic musical Fiddler on the Roof will be staged by the Côte St. Luc Dramatic Society, May 23-June 7, with a cast of more than 60 local performers of all ages, at the Giovanni Palatucci Facility. Among the performers will be Mayor Anthony Housefather, playing the lawyer and the priest. Tickets, [email protected].