BEVERLY HILLS TEMPLE OF THE ARTS AT THE SABAN THEATRE,
RABBI DAVID BARON ANNOUNCES HIGH HOLY DAYS SERVICES
AND SPECIAL GUESTS FOR KOL NIDRE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2014 (5775)
AND FOR YOM KIPPUR SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2014 (5775)
Yom Kippur Guests To Include:
DAN GORDON
Direct for the front lines of the Gaza Wars, an Israeli Defense Force Reserve Officer.
Hollywood Screenwriter of the films The Hurricane, Wyatt Earp, Passenger 57, The Assignment and Murder in The First. His plays include stage adaptations of Rain Man, Terms of Endearment and the Broadway Outer Circle Critics Awards nominated, Irena’s Vow. Raised in Southern California and Kibbutz Ginnegar, in the Valley of Jezreel in Israel, Gordon has served in six wars. He presently serves as a Captain in the Military Spokesperson Unit, and is involved with the current conflict in Hamas making headlines in the media around the world.
SALLY ENFIELD RABINOWITZ
Student Filmmaker who made a video documentary about her maternal great-grandparents, Hans and Alice Ehrenfeld, owners of a chain of gift stores in and around Frankfurt, Germany where Leica cameras were sold. Her great-grandparents escaped via the Leitz Freedom Train from Nazi Germany to America in the late 1930s with the help of Ernst Leitz, founder of Leitz Cameras. At the age of 17, the now 20-year-old Rabinowitz traveled to Germany to preserve her family’s history and journey from persecution to freedom with the YouTube video, “One Family’s Story: Surviving The Holocaust”
NONIE DARWISH
Egyptian-Arab-American Human Rights Activist and Critic of Islam, Founder of www.ArabsForIsrael.com and Co-Founder of www.FromerMuslimsUnited.com. Feminist and Author of three books, Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror; Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law and The Devil We Don’t Know: The Dark Side of Revolutions in the Middle East. Daughter of an Egyptian Army Colonel Mustafa Hafez, who headed the Egyptian military intelligence in Gaza and led the ‘Fedayeen’ operations against Israel under the leadership of President Nasser of Egypt. Hafez was killed by the Israeli Defense Force in 1956.
ANTHONY (MORDECHAI-TZVI) RUSSELL
Gay African-American Opera Singer Specializing in the Performance of Yiddish Music who has worked in the field of opera for the past 15 years, culminating with a debut at the San Francisco Opera Company. The singer, a bass, devotes himself to the repertoire of Sidor Belarsky, one of the twentieth century’s prolific performers of chazzanut, Chassidic nigunim and Yiddish song in concert venues around the world. His partner of seven years is Rabbi Michel Rothbaum.
Yom Kippur Participants and Speakers Will Include:
GOLDA BERKMAN
14-year-old singer from the Hollywood High School of the Arts
JORDAN BENNETT
Cantor, Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre
(Lead in Les Misérables on Broadway)
SHARON FARBER
Emmy Award-Nominated Composer and Music Director,
Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre
CORKY HALE
World Renowned Jazz Harpist
LEONARD MALTIN
Renowned American Film Critic and Historian
ILYSIA J. PIERCE
Cantor, Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre
(Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, First National Tour)
CHLOE TUCKER
Star of the North American Tour of the Broadway Musical, Mamma Mia!
Rabbi David Baron announced today Yom Kippur High Holy Day Services will be held at the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre, the largest arts synagogue in the United States; 8440 Wilshire Boulevard; Beverly Hills, CA 90211 on the Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) on Friday, October 3, 2014 (5775) at 8:00 p.m. and on Saturday, October 4, 2014 (5775) starting at 10:00 a.m. including a Yizkor Memorial Service (memorial service for the departed) starting at 12 Noon.
Rabbi David Baron said, “My guests for this year’s Yom Kippur services will include: Sally Enfield Rabinowitz,who at 17 years of age traveled to Germany to research and record her family’s personal history in the widely viewed YouTube video,‘One Family’s Story: Surviving The Holocaust;’ Anthony (Mordechai-Tzvi) Russell, a gay, African-American opera singer who converted to Judaism and is now specializing in the performance of Yiddish music; Nonie Darwish, an Egyptian-Arab-American Human Rights Activist and Founder of www.ArabsForIsrael.com; and Hollywood screenwriter Dan Gordon, who has served in six wars and currently returned from the conflict in Gaza. All of my guests have incredible personal stories of acts of humane kindness, courageous deeds and of hope and determination in the face of oppression which are inspirational messages we all need to hear.”
Baron continued, “Our services will feature the luminous talents of 14-year-old singer Golda Berkman from the Hollywood High School of the Arts; our temple’s cantors Ilysia J. Pierce and Jordan Bennett; our music director Sharon Farber; world renowned Jazz HarpistCorky Hale; celebrated television personalities Mary Hart and Leonard Maltin and singer Chloe Tucker, star of the National Tour of the Broadway musical,Mamma Mia!”
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar; it is a day of prayer and fasting for Jewish people around the world. The Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) on Friday, October 3rd, and Yom Kippur on Saturday, October 4th represent the end of a 10-day period of repentance.
The Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre is now celebrating its 22nd Anniversary. The temple was founded and incorporated on November 5, 1992. Members of the media will be invited to interview the Rabbi’s special guests from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., prior to the beginning of the service on the Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) on Friday, October 3, 2014 (5775) and on Yom Kippur on Saturday, October 4, 2014(5775) during the day.
The creative services will feature Broadway performers, Ilysia J. Pierce and Jordan Bennett, both of whom serve as cantors, along with the temple’s choir comprised of singers from the Los Angeles Opera and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by the temple’s Music Director and Emmy Award-nominated Composer, Sharon Farber.
High Holy Day Services will be conducted in the Winnick Auditorium on the ornate Harold Kapelovitz bimah, given as a gift from Mrs. Lee Kapelovitz, in memory of her late husband. The bimah design was envisioned by Rabbi David Baron, with the assistance of his wife Adrienne Baron and Bruce Ryan. The goal was to create a dramatic living Jewish message of faith and peoplehood. Through the Rabbi’s efforts the temple secured the exclusive rights to recreate the magnificent tapestry of the legendary artist, Marc Chagall, entitled “The Journey of the People.” The original evocative work of art depicting the history of the Jewish people from Moses to King David hangs in Knesset in Jerusalem. The art deco elements of the temple’s proscenium were incorporated into the design of the pillars, Holy Ark and pulpits. Six backlit panels present 18 (chai) word concepts of Jewish faith and belief taken from the Torah.
The High Holy Day Services will include:
- The sounding of the Shofar on the first of the High Holy Days, the Eve of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year 5775 on Wednesday, September 24th at 8:00 p.m., believed to be the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman.
Rabbi David Baron said, “My guests for this year’s Yom Kippur services will include: Sally Enfield Rabinowitz,who at 17 years of age traveled to Germany to research and record her family’s personal history in the widely viewed YouTube video,‘One Family’s Story: Surviving The Holocaust;’ Anthony (Mordechai-Tzvi) Russell, a gay, African-American opera singer who converted to Judaism and is now specializing in the performance of Yiddish music; Nonie Darwish, an Egyptian-Arab-American Human Rights Activist and Founder of www.ArabsForIsrael.com; and Hollywood screenwriter Dan Gordon, who has served in six wars and currently returned from the conflict in Gaza. All of my guests have incredible personal stories of acts of humane kindness, courageous deeds and of hope and determination in the face of oppression which are inspirational messages we all need to hear.”
Baron continued, “Our services will feature the luminous talents of 14-year-old singer Golda Berkman from the Hollywood High School of the Arts; our temple’s cantors Ilysia J. Pierce and Jordan Bennett; our music director Sharon Farber; world renowned Jazz HarpistCorky Hale; celebrated television personalities Mary Hart and Leonard Maltin and singer Chloe Tucker, star of the National Tour of the Broadway musical,Mamma Mia!”
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is the holiest day of the year on the Jewish calendar; it is a day of prayer and fasting for Jewish people around the world. The Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) on Friday, October 3rd, and Yom Kippur on Saturday, October 4th represent the end of a 10-day period of repentance.
The Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre is now celebrating its 22nd Anniversary. The temple was founded and incorporated on November 5, 1992. Members of the media will be invited to interview the Rabbi’s special guests from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m., prior to the beginning of the service on the Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) on Friday, October 3, 2014 (5775) and on Yom Kippur on Saturday, October 4, 2014(5775) during the day.
The creative services will feature Broadway performers, Ilysia J. Pierce and Jordan Bennett, both of whom serve as cantors, along with the temple’s choir comprised of singers from the Los Angeles Opera and the Los Angeles Master Chorale, led by the temple’s Music Director and Emmy Award-nominated Composer, Sharon Farber.
High Holy Day Services will be conducted in the Winnick Auditorium on the ornate Harold Kapelovitz bimah, given as a gift from Mrs. Lee Kapelovitz, in memory of her late husband. The bimah design was envisioned by Rabbi David Baron, with the assistance of his wife Adrienne Baron and Bruce Ryan. The goal was to create a dramatic living Jewish message of faith and peoplehood. Through the Rabbi’s efforts the temple secured the exclusive rights to recreate the magnificent tapestry of the legendary artist, Marc Chagall, entitled “The Journey of the People.” The original evocative work of art depicting the history of the Jewish people from Moses to King David hangs in Knesset in Jerusalem. The art deco elements of the temple’s proscenium were incorporated into the design of the pillars, Holy Ark and pulpits. Six backlit panels present 18 (chai) word concepts of Jewish faith and belief taken from the Torah.
The High Holy Day Services will include:
- The sounding of the Shofar on the first of the High Holy Days, the Eve of Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish New Year 5775 on Wednesday, September 24th at 8:00 p.m., believed to be the creation of Adam and Eve, the first man and woman.
- On Kol Nidre (the Eve of Yom Kippur),on Friday, October 3rd, Special Guests,Sally Enfield Rabinowitz will speak, and singer Anthony (Mordechai-Tzvi) Russellwill perform. The service begins at 8:00 p.m.
- On Yom Kippur, Saturday, October 4th, services will begin at 10:00 a.m. A Yizkor Memorial Service (memorial service for the departed) will begin at 12 Noon, followed by the Introduction of Rabbi’s Special Guests, Nonie Darwish, Dan Gordon andAnthony (Mordechai-Tzvi) Russell,followed by the West Coast Pre-Screening “Sneak Preview” of new documentary film. The film screening will be followed by A Panel Discussion from 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. The Closing Mincha/Neilah/Havdalah Service will begin at 5:45 p.m.
Tickets for the services begin at a tax-deductible donation of $350. Young Adult seating for ages 20 to 35 are available for a donation of $150. Children’s services, led by Karen Abrams, will also be held on the morning of Rosh Hashanah on Thursday, September 25th at 10:00 a.m. and on the morning of Yom Kippur on Thursday, October 3rd at 10:00 a.m. For more information, please call Kasey Carter at323-658-9100 or log on towww.templeofthearts.org. Street parking restrictions have been lifted for the areas adjacent to the Saban Theatre.
The mission of the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre is to promote religion through music, drama, arts and dance. Many of the artists in these various creative fields participate in the temple’s services. To learn more about Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre, please visit the website, www.templeofthearts.org. Network with us atwww.facebook.com/templeofthe arts and on Twitter @templeofthearts
The Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre also broadcasts its Yom Kippur service for the homebound on DIRECTV, Comcast, Time Warner and other cable channels through JLTV (Jewish Life Television). JLTV can be viewed locally in Los Angles on Time Warner Channel 177. For more information, please visit the website,www.jltv.tv.
More About Rabbi David Baron’s Yom Kippur Special Guests:
Sally Enfield Rabinowitz is a student filmmaker who made a video documentary about her maternal great-grandparents, Hans and Alice Ehrenfeld, owners of a chain of gift stores in and around Frankfurt, Germany where Leica cameras were sold. Her great-grandparents escaped via the Leitz Freedom Train from Nazi Germany to America in the late 1930s with the help of Ernst Leitz, founder of Leitz Cameras. At the age of 17, the now 20-year-old Rabinowitz traveled to Germany to preserve her family’s history and journey from persecution to freedom with the YouTube video, “One Family’s Story: Surviving The Holocaust.” Rabinowitz traveled to Germany and London to do her research with the help of Rabbi Frank Dabba Smith. She visited historical archives, cemeteries, the concentration camp, Buchenwald, and other places to uncover the historical details of her family saga. She compiled the information with old family photos to make a video commentary. Rabinowitz is currently a junior at Tulane University in New Orleans studying Communications and Studio Art. To learn more, please visit thehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBkAVnWi6FE
Anthony (Mordechai-Tzvi) Russellis a gay African-American opera singer specializing in the performance of Yiddish Music. He has worked in the field of opera for the past 15 years, culminating with a debut at the San Francisco Opera Company. The singer, a bass, devotes himself to the repertoire of Sidor Belarsky (1898-1975), one of the twentieth century’s prolific performers of chazzanut, Chassidic nigunim and Yiddish song. His partner of seven years is Rabbi Michel Rothbaum. Russell’s work in Yiddish music has brought him to the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan, Symphony Space, the Ideacity Conference in Toronto, KlezKanada, the Montreal and Berkeley Jewish Music Festivals and Asheknaz Festival, a week-long celebration of the Jewish arts in Toronto. At the Yom Kippur services Russell will perform the Yiddish song, “Gemore Nign” juxtaposed with the Negro Spiritual song “Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child.” To learn more, please visithttps://sites.google.com/site/anthonyrussellbass/
Nonie Darwish is an Egyptian-Arab-American Human Rights Activist and Critic of Islam. The Feminist is also the author of three books, Now They Call Me Infidel: Why I Renounced Jihad for America, Israel and the War on Terror; Cruel and Usual Punishment: The Terrifying Global Implications of Islamic Law and The Devil We Don’t Know: The Dark Side of Revolutions in the Middle East. Darwish is the daughter of an Egyptian Army Colonel Mustafa Hafez, who headed the Egyptian military intelligence in Gaza and led the ‘Fedayeen’ operations against Israel under the leadership of President Nasser of Egypt. Hafez was killed by the Israeli Defense Force in 1956. She foundedwww.ArabsForIsrael.com in 1994 to promote understanding, peace and a new paradigm for Arabs to view Israel. Darwish is a senior Fellow at the Center For Security Policy. In 2009, she co-foundedwww.FormerMuslimsUnited.org (FMU), which stands for freedom of religion and to protect the civil rights of people who were born in Islam and wish to leave their religion. Darwish is a Middle East expert and covers topics related to human rights and women’s rights under Islamic law, the Arab Israeli conflict, terrorism and radical Islam and its agenda. She has a degree in Sociology/Anthropology. She has been published in the “Guardian” and “The Wall Street Journal” and has appeared on CNN, FOX, MSNBC, C-SPAN, BBC and Al Arabiya. She has spoken before the European Parliament, members of the British House of Lords, and at institutions of higher education like: Oxford, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Columbia, Georgetown, George Mason Law School, Cornell, New York University, Brown, Boston University, Virginia Tech, Tufts, Harvard Medical School, Purdue, UCLA, Hebrew University in Israel, American University, Wellesley and Carnegie Mellon, to name a few. She has been featured in the documentary film,Obsession.
Dan Gordon is a Hollywood Screenwriter of the films The Hurricane(Denzel Washington), Wyatt Earp (Kevin Costner), Passenger 57 (Wesley Snipes), The Assignment (Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, Ben Kingsley) and Murder in The First (Kevin Bacon). His plays include stage adaptations of Rain Man, Terms of Endearment and the Broadway Outer Circle Critics Awards nominated, Irena’s Vow(Tovah Feldshuh). He was raised in Southern California and in Kibbutz Ginnegar, in the Valley of Jezreel in Israel. Gordon has served in the Israeli Defense Force as a Reserve Officer since 1973, originally as a sniper and squad leader in an armored infantry unit. He presently serves as a Captain in the Military Spokesperson Unit. He has served in six wars, including: Yom Kippur War, Operation Defensive Shield, The Second Lebanon War, Operation Cast Lead, Operation Pillar of Defense and Operation Protective Edge. He is currently involved in the conflict in Hamas making headlines in the media around the world.
