Coming up

Coming up

PAJC Pittsburgh Area Jewish Committee(Pittsburgh Area Jewish Committee) is sponsoring the Christian – Jewish Dialogue on Thursday, June 3rd – 12:00 pm at the Church of the Redeemer (next to St. Edmund Academy), 5700 Forbes Avenue, Squirrel Hill. May’s theme is “G-d as free and open to the Public. Friends and colleagues are invited to the monthly discussion. The monthly conveners are Rabbi Jamie Gibson, Reverend Cynthia Bronson-Sweigert, Father Dan Valentine and Rabbi Michael Werbow. For more information, please visit www.pajc.net or contact the PAJC office at (412) 605-0816 or at pajc@pajc.net.

Pittsburgh Society of Artists will present “urban dreams” a group show, juried by Kathleen Zimbicki, June 4 through July 9 at Fein Art Gallery, 519 East Ohio St. Call (421) 321-6816 or visit Fein Art Gallery. An opening reception will be held Friday, June 4, 5 to 8 p.m.

The Zionist Organization of America-Pittsburgh Chapter will present Israeli academic and tour guide Yitzhak Sokoloff for a program on Monday, June 7, 7 p.m., at the ZOA office, 6507 Wilkins Ave., Squirrel Hill. A graduate of Columbia University, and a former student at the Jewish Theological Seminary and Bar Ilan University, Sokoloff has taught philosophy and political science at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He completed the Tour Guide program co-sponsored by the department of Eretz Yisrael Studies of Bar Ilan University and the Ministry of Tourism. Sokoloff is the founder of Keshet: The Center for Educational Tourism and organized ZOA’s Ministers Delegation to Israel, which recently sent a group of area clergy to Israel. Contact Stuart Pavilack at stuart.pavilack.pghzoa@gmail.com or at (412) 665-4630 for reservations.

Pittsburgh Area Jewish Committee will present its 2010 Community Impact Award to Arthur J. Rooney II, president of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tuesday, June 8, 6:30 p.m. at the East Club Lounge, Heinz Field. The PAJC Community Impact Award is presented annually to individuals who have distinguished themselves in the areas of human rights and human relations. In addition to his work as Steelers president and on behalf of the National Football League, Rooney devotes substantial time to community activities, United Way of Allegheny County board chair, and sits on the boards of the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Extra Mile Education Foundation. The 2010 Caplan-Lieber Human Relations Scholarship Award will be awarded to Amelia Hackimer, a senior at Shaler Area High School. Suzy Broadhurst, of Eat’n Park Hospitality Group will be the presenter. Contact the PAJC office at (412) 605-0816 or pajc@pajc.net for tickets.

Squirrel Hill Historical Society will present “Names of Pittsburgh, with emphasis on Squirrel Hill,” with author, Bob Regan, Tuesday, June 8, 7:30 p.m. at the Sixth Presbyterian Church, corner of Murray and Forbes avenues. Regan is a research professor at the University of Pittsburgh and consultant specializing in geographic information systems. Call (412) 417-3707 or visit squirrelhillhistory.org for more information.

Shoshana Hadassah’s annual meeting will be held Wednesday, June 9, 1 p.m. at Temple Sinai. Estelle Mann and Marilyn Honigsberg will be honored along with the outgoing board, chairpersons and all those who fulfilled their commitment this past. Sara Stock Mayo, Temple Sinai’s cantorial soloist, will sing a special musical presentation in honor of Mann and Honigsberg. Contact the Hadassah office at (412) 421-8919 to pay for reservations. All members, friends and guests are welcome.

Jews and non-Jews will join in a first-time interfaith blood drive on Sunday, June 13, 2 p.m., to support the Central Blood Bank of Pittsburgh. The drive, which will take place in the East Club Lounge of Heinz Field, will feature special guest speakers, live music, events and activities for children, a food drive sponsored by the Community Food Bank. “Central Blood Bank has never participated or hosted an event like this in the past,” Lisa Cassidy, a spokeswoman for the blood bank, said in response to a written question from The Chronicle. “All of our partners joining in this event have never participated or helped produce a similar event. Whereas many faiths may have united together for other causes, this is the first time in western Pennsylvania they united for this specific cause of donating blood.” Specifically, the Greater Pittsburgh Rabbinical Association, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh and Jewish Community Centers of Greater Pittsburgh, the Christian Associates of Southwest Pennsylvania as well as the area Hindus and Muslims are participating. Annually, more than 200,000 units of blood are demanded by area hospitals for local patients in their care and only 155,000 of those units are donated from local residents, according to the blood bank. As a result, said Steve Hecht, executive director of the Beth El Congregation of the South Hills, which took an active role in arranging the project, the blood bank purchases tens of thousands of pints of blood from outside the region. According to Hecht, when he asked Mark Giaquinto, chief financial officer of the Central Blood Bank “how he felt about me trying to put together an interfaith blood drive for the city. He responded, ‘How fast do you think you make it happen?”

(Angela Leibowicz can be reached at angelal@thejewishchronicle.net.)

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