Tickets are $10 for general admission or $20 for VIP.

Features JWW Assistant Director Naama Haviv reciting a JWW variation on the Misha Berach prayer, written by Deanna Sussman, Harold M. Schulweis Rabbinic Intern.

Didn’t get to join us? You can see the highlights below. The event featured:

• An innovative and refreshing feast– from watermelon, mint and picnic cheese salad to lightly cooked daikon radishes with a albacore and fermented chili sauce– prepared by guest chefs Peggy Dark, founder and creative consultant for The Kitchen for Exploring Foods, restaurateur Celestino Drago of The Celestino Drago Restaurant Group, caterer and culinary instructor Debbie Schlesinger-Greenwood, Suzanne Tracht of Jar and Micah Wexler of Mezze and The Residency at UMAMIcatessen. Check out the event photos to get a visual taste of their work.

• A wonderful emcee in Brie Loskota, Member, JWW Board of Directors and Chair, SCP Advisory Committee, who gave a Solar Cooker Project update;

• A stirring D’var Torah from Rabbi Eli Herscher, Senior Rabbi, Stephen S. Wise Temple;

• A warm message from Shelby Layne, 2011 SCP Student Activist Honoree & Founder, S•B•L Jewelry (the spark behind all the Steinberg family’s initiatives), delivered with panache by Sidney & Zachary Steinberg, Founders, Not On Our Watch, following their sister’s example;

• Words of exceptional wisdom and inspiration from JWW Co-Founder Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis;

• The riveting “More Than Just a Purse” by Maya Steinberg, SCP 2013 Student Activist Honoree and Founder of Purses for Peace;

• A profoundly affecting performance of Janice Kamenir-Reznik’s “Holding It Close To The Mat” by Lisa Cirincione, Jewish Women’s Theatre;

• Resonating expressions of the power of action by Dr. Jackie Kimbrough, 2011 SCP Community Activist Honoree;

• An intimate look at her personal path of activism and leadership, and a rousing Community Call To Action by JWW board member and honoree Diane Kabat;

• A poignant closing message from Rabbi Ron Stern, Stephen S. Wise Temple;

• And a culinary silent auction.

Having fled the violence of the genocide in Darfur, more than 250,000 refugees have been living in the camps of eastern Chad for almost 10 years. The genocide in Darfur continues – and has spread to other regions of Sudan. It is still not safe for the refugees to return home.

The Solar Cooker Project has provided critical support to the refugees, offering an alternative fuel source to scarce firewood. Collecting that firewood requires long, often dangerous trips outside the bounds of the refugee camps.

We’re proud to announce that we’ve recently received a grant of $300,000 over three years from an anonymous foundation to help us expand the SCP even further.

This grant, and your continued support, will not only let us serve even more Darfuri women with this critical project, but also to undertake important research into different models and methods of solar cooking, to evaluate our current programs and to advocate for solar cooking as a key part of an integrated, sustainable cooking system for the women of the refugee camps.

In December 2012, JWW Board Members Janice Kamenir-Reznik and Diana Buckhantz had the opportunity to visit the SCP in the Farchana refugee camp. As you can imagine, it was an intense and eye-opening experience for them both.  Both women kept kept and published travel journals from their trip to Chad. You can read Janice’s here and Diana’s here.

Jewish World Watch sponsors an evening at the Jewish Film Festival, featuring documentary Beyond Right and Wrong and short film Road Angel.  Screenings will be followed by a Q&A with Lekha Singh, co-director of Beyond Right and Wrong, and Steve Lainer, producer, director and writer of Road Angel, moderated by JWW Co-Founder and President Janice Kamenir-Reznik.

You may purchase tickets here.

About the Poet, in her own words:

My name is Julia Wunsch and I am in the 11th grade. I live in Los Angeles, CA and I am currently the head of my Temple Youth Group’s team (HRTY, from Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village) for the upcoming LA JWW Walk. I am also Social Action President of HRTY’s Board.

ENOUGH

Mazal tov and many thanks to our amazing activists!