Jewish Life

For 16 years, our JStage program has introduced young people to the wonders of the performing arts. With top-notch productions, JStage ignites and fosters artistic expression and talent in our kids. Despite pandemic lockdowns and obtrusive safety protocols, they say, “the show must go on!” JStage has continued to be a safe haven and a place for kids to look forward to. We asked Nicole Rosenson, Cultural Arts Assistant Director, to share why JStage continues to be so popular here ...

Operation Guardian of the Walls Editor’s Note: Leah Garber, Vice President, Israel Engagement | Director, Center for Israel Engagement, in Jerusalem, has written this update about the current events in Israel and the various factors influencing these events. She will continue to offer her personal perspectives from her home in Israel as often as warranted, and, of course, we pray that the current violence will end soon. Since last evening, hundreds of rockets have been ...

The Merage JCC is excited to welcome people back into our theatre (safely and distanced), and there’s no better occasion to celebrate than Israel’s Independence Day! Please join us on Saturday, April 17 at 8pm for some laughs and “L’chaims” as we Roast and Toast Israel on her 73rd birthday. American-born Israeli comedian Benji Lovitt will join us from Tel Aviv, along with American comedians Talia Reese and Eitan Levine from New York. Benji draws on his experiences ...

First posted in 2017, we are bringing back some of our favorite articles from Mark Lazar, who originally launched our Center for Jewish Life. It is said in the Book of Kings that the great prophet Elijah looked for God within the mighty wind, the shattering earthquake, the raging flames only to find…”And after the fire---a still, small voice.” A still, small voice…a small voice that some of us hear sporadically and others like modern day prophets, use their ...

First posted in 2017, we are bringing back some of our favorite articles from Mark Lazar, who originally launched our Center for Jewish Life. The Forbidden Fruit Contrary to Renaissance Art and Freudian thought, the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden was not an apple or a banana, but a fig! What other leaf could hide the private parts of Adam and Eve? They were after all, made in the image of God …and presumably quite well endowed. The Bowl of Lentil Stew How much could a bowl ...

“Butterflies don’t live in here, in the ghetto.” The phrase is the last line of a poem, “The Butterfly,” penned in 1942 by Pavel Friedman, who was in the Terezin concentration camp and ghetto constructed by the Nazi Gestapo in the Czech Republic. More than 150,000 Jews were sent there. The Butterfly Project, founded by educator Jan Landau and artist Cheryl Rattner Price, was created to commemorate Yom Hashoah or Holocaust Remembrance Day. The Fainbarg and Chase ...

Like you and the entire world, for the past several months we’ve balanced COVID worries, economic downturns and social unrest with hope and with the desire to do something meaningful. Though our many JCC Cares volunteers have hunkered at home away from the Merage JCC and away from our numerous nonprofit partners, we have remained busy. We’ve been reaching out, and staying connected in a number of ways: collecting hundreds of masks, filling our food drive canisters with groceries, ...

Community and Leadership Heartbroken. I have been searching for other ways to describe what I was feeling throughout the events of this past Wednesday. How is it possible that such things were playing out in the United States Capitol and literally right before our eyes, before the eyes of the entire world? A breakdown in our society. Decency abandoned. Betrayed by our leaders. The events of January 6 did not emerge out of the blue but were rather the not entirely ...

During a non-pandemic year, December 25 evokes holiday thoughts of delicious celebrations, presents, and family. For many Jews, the joke is that we go to the movies and eat Chinese food. Not at the Merage JCC. Seven years ago, JCC Cares, a social action committee at the Merage JCC in Irvine, launched a December 25 Day of Service with a variety of volunteer projects for families and individuals. In our first year, 150 volunteers participated, cooking holiday brunches for shelters, delivering ...

For 28 successful years, the OC Jewish Arts Festival at the Merage Jewish Community Center (Merage JCC) has provided our community with a cultural extravaganza, featuring lauded lineups of authors, musicians, filmmakers, celebrities and influencers. Through the years, we have played host to superstar Matisyahu, famous DC satirists Capitol Steps, Tovah Feldshuh, Dennis Ross, Alan Dershowitz, George Mitchell, Rita Rudner and Ed Asner – just to name a few! From history to mystery, fact to ...