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The Latest Achievements, Honors, and Recognition January 2010
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Dear Friends,
It is with great pride that I inform you of the latest achievements and recognition garnered by the Academy and those affiliated with it. May we all get much nachas from these accomplishments and may the Academy and all of those associated with it continue to go from strength to strength.
Best regards,
Jacob Zighelboim, MD
Chairman, Board of Directors
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 On December 11th, Rabbi Bennett Blum, MD '07 appeared as the on-camera expert for the ABCNews show 20/20's segment on elder abuse. An internationally acclaimed physician specializing in both forensic and geriatric psychiatry, Rabbi and Dr. Blum is an expert on the evaluation of undue influence and associated manipulation tactics and has consulted on hundreds of legal cases throughout the United States and internationally.
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 Second year Rabbinical student, Bill Kaplan, the Executive Director of the Shalom Institute: Camp and Conference Center, was elected President of the Jewish Communal Professionals of Southern California.
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 Rabbi Miriam Hamrell, '03 was invited to present a session and discuss her interfaith work at the 2009 Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne, Australia. Held from December 3rd to the 9th, the event attracted 12,000 participants from 200 different faith traditions around the world. Rabbi Hamrell is the spiritual leader of Ahavat Torah Congregation.
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 The music of AJR, CA Professor of Liturgical Studies, Dr. Michael Isaacson will be honored on Erev Shabbat, January 22nd at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino. The synagogue choir and soloists, under the baton of music director Noreen Green, will highlight Dr. Isaacson's most well known sacred music settings. All are cordially invited. On December 10, Dr. Isaacson enjoyed a New York, Lincoln Center premiere of his string quartet and clarinet piece "The Shul in My Right Mind" when it debuted at the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA). MOBIA presented the work in conjunction with Toby Kahn's synagogue art exhibit now showing there. |
 First year Cantorial student, Marsha Attie, has been selected to teach the "Vocal Performance" Workshop at the 2010 Maccabi Artsfest in Northern California next summer. Sponsored by the JCC Association of North America, the Maccabi Artsfest is an annual summer arts experience for Jewish teens held in selected communities throughout North America.
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 Rabbi Yocheved Mintz, '04, gave the invocation at the Mayors' Prayer Breakfast, an annual interfaith event initiated by HELP of Southern Nevada and the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada. Over 800 people attended and Rabbi Mintz was quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. As the Vice President of the Board of Rabbis of Southern Nevada, Rabbi Mintz also delivered the benediction at the Jewish Federation's Annual Meeting.
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 Stephen Macht, a second year student in the Rabbinical School, has taken a leave of absence from the Academy to star in a new play opposite Sharon Gless. The play, "A Round-Heeled Woman," will run January 5-February 7, 2010 at Theater Artaud in San Francisco. The opening is January 16th.
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 AJR, CA Professor of Ritual and Human Development, Rabbi Ann Brener's article, "Embrace the Dark, Then Light a Candle," appeared in the December 8th issue of the Los Angeles Jewish Journal. Rabbi Brener also authored the chapter, "Configuring Grief in Spiritual Terms," in the recently published book Seeking and Soaring: Jewish Approaches to Spiritual Direction edited by Rabbi Goldie Milgrom.
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 Rabbi Julie Kozlow, '07 has been invited to serve on the Atlanta (GA) Rabbinical Association. Rabbi Kozlow is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel in Greenville, SC.
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 On December 6th, Jonathan Friedmann, a fourth year Cantorial student, gave a presentation at an event organized by LimmudLA, a grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting Jews of all ages, affiliations, and orientations in Southern California through volunteerism and cross-communal learning. His topic was "The Maoz Tzur Melody: Sacred or Sinful? Exploring the Chanukkah theme and what it says about the development and character of Jewish sacred music." A prolific writer, Jonathan's most recent article, "A Song of Sorrow and Praise: The Possible Role of Music in Jeremiah 20:7-13" was recently published in the religious studies journal, Axis Mundi (2008/2009).
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Academy for Jewish Religion|CA
Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA
574 Hilgard Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
phone: 310-824-1586 email: office@ajrca.org
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