September 16, 2021 – Temple of The Arts of Beverly Hills – Yom Kippur Services

I went to these services in 2019 and was so happy with my experience; it was a really lovely service. The stage is just amazing; far better than being in an actual temple. For me Yom Kippur is the only one real day being Jewish that I get to go to Temple and pray. This year happened to be extremely bittersweet seeing that my beautiful Mom, Lois Jackson Cohen went off to heaven on May 5, 2021. So many of my friends knew my Mom, she was attached to me at the hip and vice versa. She went many times to the Temple of The Arts when it was at Beverly Hills High School. So on this day participating in their Yizkor Service was a must. I cried the whole hour, but the music and singing really made the service complete. I am totally obsessed with Cantor Jordan Bennett who sang the Yiddish Folk Song, “Mameleh” written by Mitchell Parish, Alex Alstone and Al Goodhart, with Yiddish by Miriam Kresyn.  Jordan Bennett who sang the song “Bring Him Home” from “Les Misérables” with music by Claude-Michel Schönberg and French lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel and English lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and James Fenton.  His voice hits so many octaves and ranges, it’s just breathtaking, a fine actor and singer from a musical theater background. Cantor Ilysia J. Pierce sang the song “Dance With My Father” written by Luther Vandross and Richard Marx, and then Rabbi Baron shared with us a very special poem. For me all was very heartfelt and healing!

About Temple of The Arts of Beverly Hills and Yom Kippur:

For Yom Kippur – The Holiest Day Of The Jewish Year, a time for fasting and forgiveness.  High Holy Day services were held on the Eve of Yom Kippur (Kol Nidre) on Wednesday, September 15, 2021 (5782) starting at 8:00 p.m., and on Thursday, September 16, 2021 (5782) starting at 10:00 a.m., including a Yizkor Memorial Service

High Holy Day Services were conducted in the Winnick Family

Auditorium on the ornate Harold Kapelovitz bimah, which included

tapestry recreation of legendary artist, Marc Chagall,

entitled “The Journey of the People.”  The Beverly Hills Temple of the

Arts at the Saban Theatre is now celebrating the close of its 29th

Anniversary.  The temple was founded and

incorporated on November 5, 1992.  The mission of the Beverly Hills

Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre is to promote religion

through music, drama, arts, film and dance. 

RABBI DAVID BARON, Founder of the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts, the largest arts and entertainment synagogue in the United States which owns the Saban Theatre.  Rabbi Baron said, “My guests have incredible stories of perseverance and resilience.  Each of their stories exemplifies the strength of the human spirit, which can serve as examples to enlighten all of us.  At this season of repentance and introspection, it is of vital importance to bring awareness globally.  We can learn important life lessons from these inspirational and motivational messages.”

Masih Alinejad said, “I am honored Rabbi David Baron of the Beverly

Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre invited me to

participate in his High Holy Day services for Yom Kippur, the most

sacred day of the year for Jewish people around the world.  I am

grateful for the opportunity the Rabbi is giving me to discuss the

importance of human rights, Iranian rights and women’s rights. 

Mona Golabek said, “I am deeply honored to perform on the sacred

day of Yom Kippur as part of the services from the Temple of the

Arts.  This great synagogue celebrates the power of the arts and

inspires us to triumph over our greatest challenges.  A personal thank

you to Rabbi Baron for his gracious invitation, affording me the

opportunity to share a personal story of resilience and humanity

through music.”

More About Rabbi David Baron’s Guests:

Mona Golabek is the daughter of Lisa Jura, a child piano prodigy born in Vienna, Austria, who came to England as a refugee in 1938 as part of the Kindertransport (Children’s Transport) rescue operation.  Her father, Michel Golabek, was a French resistance fighter, who received the Croix de Guerre.  Mona Golabek’s grandparents died at Auschwitz.

Mona Golabek, deeply inspired by her mother, Lisa Jura’s story, remembers her mother telling her the precious last words her grandmother, Malka, said to her at the Kindertransport train station, before they were separated:  “Lisa, hold on to your music.  It will be your friend and I will be with you always through the music.”  Mona Golabek herself studied the piano with her mother and is herself a Concert Pianist and Recording Artist who has performed with major conductors and orchestras worldwide.

In 1990 Mona Golabek was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of Best Chamber Music or Other Small Ensemble Performance for her album of music consisting of Anton Stepanovich Arensky’s Piano Trio #2 In D Minor and Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A Minor.  Mona Golabek has been the subject of several documentaries, including Concerto for Mona with conductor Zubin Mehta.

Mona Golabek’s mother is the subject of her acclaimed books, The Children of Willesden Lane, Lisa of Willesden Lane, and the illustrated book Hold on To Your Music.  They have been translated and published in French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Spanish and Polish with forthcoming Arabic and Hungarian publications.

In 2012, Mona Golabek made her debut at the Los Angeles Geffen Playhouse in The Pianist of Willesden Lane, adapted from the book.  The production, written and directed by Hershey Felder, starring Mona Golabek, has been celebrated by critics and audiences with sold out theatrical runs in New York and London.  Golabek has received Best Actress Nominations from the New York Drama Desk Awards and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle.

In 2003, Golabek formed the Hold On To Your Music Foundation.  To date, more than one million students and families have experienced the WILLESDEN READ – the educational mission, spearheaded by the nonprofit, that is devoted to spreading the inspirational message of her mother’s story.

Now, in a unique and groundbreaking partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation, she is bringing the educational mission and her mother’s story to students across the globe with the launch of THE WILLESDEN PROJECT.  To learn more, please visit http://www.holdontoyourmusic.org, https://www.facebook.com/HoldOnToYourMusic, https://twitter.com/Mona_Piano

https://www.instagram.com/holdontoyourmusic/

SPECIAL 20TH ANNIVERSARY 9/11 TRIBUTE

DR. HILLEL NEWMAN, Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles:  Discussed the failed state of Lebanon and Hezbollah missiles; The Abraham Accords, a series of treaties normalizing diplomatic relations between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco, facilitated by the U.S.; and the state of the COVID response in Israel.

Service Readers for High Holy Day Services Included:

MARY HART, Iconic Former American Television Personality for Entertainment Tonight  (9/15)

JIM MORET, Chief Correspondent for the syndicated television news magazine, Inside Edition (9/15)

DAPHNA E. ZIMAN, President, Co-Chairwoman and Chief Creative Officer, Cinémoi Television Network and New York Times Best-Selling Author, will read a new self-penned poem, “Humanity” (9/15)

BEVERLY TODD, Actress, “Lean on Me,” “Moving,” “Crash,” “The Bucket List” (9/16)

BERNARD HILLER, Renowned Acting Teacher (9/16)

Service Performers for High Holy Day Services Included:

CHLOE TUCKER, Actress and Singer, “Junk,” “Mamma Mia!” Tour (9/16)

SHARON FARBER, Four-Time Emmy Award-Nominated Film, Television and Concert Music Composer, ASCAP Board Member, Member of Executive Committee of the Music Branches of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences and the Television Academy, Vice President of the Alliance of Women Film Composers and Music Director for the Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre (9/15 and 9/16)

ILYSIA J. PIERCE, Cantor, Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre (Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” First National Tour) (9/15 and 9/16)

JORDAN BENNETT, Co-Cantor, Beverly Hills Temple of the Arts at the Saban Theatre (Lead in “Les Misérables” on Broadway) (9/15 and 9/16)

ADRIENNE BARON, Noted Vocalist (9/15 and 9/16)

EDEN KONTESZ, 10-year-old singer whose credits include:  “Transparent,” “The Simpsons” and “Don’t Look Deeper” (9/15 and 9/16)

Instrumentalists for Kol Nidre and Yom Kippur included:

MURRAY MIDDLEMAN, Clarinet, Flute and Saxophone, ALEXANDER KALMAN, Violin, DIMITRY OLEVSKY, Violin, GARIK TERZIAN, Cello and LIESL ERMAN, Harp (9/15 and 9/16)

JOE BUCHANAN:  Country music composer, singer and guitarist will perform his song, “Better Together” from his album, “Back From Babylon” (9/15).  On (9/16) performed some of his other original music.

MONA GOLABEK:  Grammy Award-nominated concert pianist and author talked about and performed excerpts from her critically acclaimed one-woman show, The Pianist of Willesden Lane.  (9/15 and 9/16.

Mona Golabek’s story and playing was otherworldly, she is the real deal! The day for me was filled with tears of sadness as well as tears of joy, everything you would want from your day of atonement.

The Saban Theater

8440 Wilshire Boulevard

Beverly Hills, CA  90211

https://www.facebook.com/TheSabanTheatre/

www.bhtota.org

* Note Some Content Was Taken off of their Press Release

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