There will be two events this spring that are specially designed to let temple members who are not yet members of ChaiVillageLA experience the warmth and energy of our amazing community. The first is The Great ChaiVillageLA Shake-Out and the second is our 1st Anniversary Celebration.   

Come shake up your Sunday afternoon by joining fellow Village members (and friends!) for the Great ChaiVillageLA Shake-Out! We’re very excited to welcome the Community Emergency Response Team to teach us about how to be safe before, during, and after an earthquake. And, of course, this isn’t just about your safety, so bring your temple friends, so we can learn how to be safe together.  

We can’t wait to see you and people who would like to learn more about ChaiVillageLA for the Great ChaiVillageLA Shake-Out on Sunday, May 21 from 4:00 - 6:00 PM at the Temple Isaiah Social Hall! 

*** Note that the location has changed from originally being at Temple Emanuel.***

Click here to “like” us on Facebook, where we will be posting photos, articles, and events!

Devorah

 ●     UCLA Memory Training: 1st of 4-Week Series - Thursday, May 25, 2017, 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM.

 ●     Paul Simon: Words and Music at the Skirball - Thursday, May 25, 2017, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

 ●     Journaling: Getting Rid of Clutter and Reaching Your Goals: 1st of 3-Week Series - Thursday, June 1, 2017, 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM

 ●     First Annual Chicken Soup Cook-Off - Sunday, June 11, 2017, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM

 ●     ChaiVillageLA’s Anniversary Celebration - Sunday, June 25, 2017, 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Come learn how to prepare for; and what to do during and after, an earthquake. Our presenters will teach us how to minimize injuries and damages, how to handle potential dangers due to utilities, where to go after an earthquake, and how to choose a meet-up location with friends and family by planning specific strategies for children and the elderly

How close is your nearest ChaiVillageLA neighbor? Map it! Find out by pinning your location on the ChaiVillageLA neighbor map and you will always know how close your friends live! 

Presented by CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) member Valerie Fontain and Chin Thammasaengsri, CERT Battalion Coordinator. 

She was born and raised in a Hasidic family in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and is a descendent of Rabbi Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism. In that world Abby attended Yeshiva, and became a rabbi in 2011. She left the Hasidic world the following year, and came out as a trans-woman in 2015. Since then, Abby has been working to raise support and awareness for trans rights and those leaving Ultra-Orthodoxy. 

Her story has been covered in publications such as the New York Times, New York Post, WSJ, New York Magazine, Jewish Daily Forward, Daily Mail, The Daily Dot, Haaretz, and Refinery29. She also appeared on NBC, Fox News, CNN, Huffington Post Live, ShowTime, and more. In 2016 Abby was named by The Jewish Week as one of their "36 Under 36" emerging Jewish leaders. She is currently studying gender studies and political science at Columbia University. 

BYO Lunch -- dessert will be provided.   

Join your fellow Villagers at the Skirball Cultural Center for a visit to the museum to see the Paul Simon exhibit. The event will take place Thursday, May 25 at 12:00 PM. We shall gather in the lobby. A Skirball docent, Sue Pollack, will lead us through the exhibit. If enough people wish, we can meet for lunch after the tour (place to be selected later).  

Parking is free, but you are responsible for a tour fee of $9 and admission to the museum. (Dean Schenker has already prepaid for the tour, so please pay him back at the event)

Questions? Payment details? Call Dean Schenker at (310) 839-0622.

Journaling is a powerful tool that is SOOOOO easy to do. And you don’t have to be a writer to do it. All you must do is capture your thoughts in the moment. Learn what journaling is, how to do it, and the many benefits it reaps. This will be a 3-part series with time each week devoted to an element of journaling, time sharing your own process, and time doing your own journaling.  

Everyone is welcome. This is an excellent refresher for those that have started and stopped. Bring your favorite pen or pencil and paper, or laptop or iPad -- whatever works for you. The 3 dates are June 1st, 15th, and 29th. 

There will be an 8-person maximum enrollment in this class, so first come, first served!

We had a lively and interesting discussion about the Health Care Act and the recent vote taken by Congress to replace Obamacare. Some of the issues that we discussed were what the government should and should not provide in Health Care. We asked, "to what extent is the government responsible for providing care to every American?” We also discussed the high cost of end of life care and the huge burden that it places on the government. As always, Myrna had done her research and brought articles which she quoted from, as well as recommendations for important books to read like "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, and television shows like "13 Reasons Why.” I learn something new from every class I attend.

The first session in Roberta Gillerman's class, "Stories from My Life" was surprisingly interesting because of the approach that Roberta took. She gave us an exercise in which she asked us to write something that we remember from our childhood in the voice of a child. That way we were forced to relive the event from the perspective we had when we were children. I thought it was a fascinating lesson and I am looking forward to seeing how she develops different approaches over the other five lessons in the series.

We warmly welcome the following new Village members to our community:

Shirley Block
Esther Krisman
Howard and Marcie Zelikow