Benefit concert THIS THURSDAY, and Shavuot

Big thanks to everyone who came out for Lag B'oard Games! I think it's safe to say a good time was had by all. Particularly by those who won Trivial Pursuit. ;)

Those of you who have been to the Neshama minyan at Beth Am for Friday night services have probably heard my little YABA spiel: "We do cool stuff with cool people in their 20s and 30s." Well, we are also part of the greater Beth Am community, and the greater LA Jewish community. So this post is about some upcoming events that aren't YABA events per se, but they're still cool things with cool people, so you may be interested in attending.

Thursday 10 May 2007 - Voices of Healing
Joel Shickman, a rabbinical student at the Ziegler School at AJU (the American Jewish University, formerly the UJ - University of Judaism) has been diagnosed with AML, a form of leukemia. There is a concert at AJU this Thursday evening to raise money for his family, to cover medical costs and other necessities. The concert is at Gindi Hall from 7.30 to 9 p.m. Suggested donation is $18 per person at the door. More information is here.


Tuesday 22 May 2007 - Tikkun Leyl Shavuot
On Pesach (Passover), we are redeemed from slavery. For seven weeks, we journey through the desert, and on Shavuot, we receive revelation at Mount Sinai. There is a tradition that on erev Shavuot, in order to prepare ourselves spiritually for the revelation of Torah that awaits us in the morning, we stay up all night long to study. It's called a Tikkun Leyl Shavuot.

This year, Temple Beth Am is hosting a community Tikkun. We will partner with IKAR, Shtibl, Pico Egal, and the Ziegler School of the AJU for an evening of study. Our focus will be issues of war and peace from a Jewish perspective. There will be two plenary sessions to start, followed by several (simultaneous) small breakout groups. It should be a fascinating evening. More details are here. We'll start at 9.30 p.m. and continue all the way through to Shacharit (the morning service) at 5.30 a.m.