Looking for Israeli dancing? A piece of Judaica? A falafel, perhaps? You can find all that and more on May 2, 2010 when the West Steps of the state’s Capitol are transformed into an Israeli shuk during the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region’s Jewish Heritage Festival. Coinciding with Lag B’Omer and in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, this annual event kicks off with an Israel Unity Walk and the release of dozens of doves, the universal symbol of peace. “As American Jews we get the best of both worlds,” said Festival Project Manager Caren Zorman. “We get to openly celebrate and embrace our Judaism, while also participating in a public celebration of Israel’s independence

  According to Jewish tradition, the highest form of tzedakah, or charity, is to donate to a community fund, or kupah. Whether your donation is in the form of community service hours, survival materials or a monetary donation, it all helps to strengthen and build our community at large.   The Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, and their overseas beneficiaries, work with a broad set of national and international institutes that span the world to provide relief, rescue, and reconstruction. The federation system is dedicated to inspiring community members to secure the financial and human resources necessary to achieve the mission of caring for those in need, without discrimination

  The stretch of an NBA player’s reach goes far beyond their measurable wing span. From the internet to television, player’s lives are dissected and analyzed twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Savvy players create charitable foundations, Facebook fan pages and blogs to market themselves and keep the fans “close”. While the Sacramento Kings Omri Casspi is not your “average” American-born basketball player, it is clear that Omri’s impact goes far and beyond what any might have originally expected. This past December marked the launch of www.casspi18.com, an interactive website that connects fans directly to Number 18, giving them the chance to write him questions, follow in-depth Om

Sacramento Kings forward Omri Casspi scored a career-high 20 points Wednesday, grabbed eight rebounds and notched two assists. Thursday, he noshed and schmoozed with about 200 people at a Hanukkah party at Memorial Auditorium put on by the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region. Casspi sat in the lobby for nearly an hour signing autographs, talking to fans and posing for photos. He also spoke of how he celebrates the Jewish holiday in Israel. "I usually (celebrate it with) a small group of family, we get everybody to come together, light the candles, sing songs and pray together," he said. "Usually we do that all week (and) on the last night, we go to my grandparents' house, invite a

Join the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region for the 2009 Community-wide Chanukah Celebration! All are invited to see the one-of-a-kind performance by acclaimed supernatural entertainer Lior Suchard (click here to see exclusive video). The entire community is invited to see the show and stay for autographs and pictures with Israeli NBA superstar Omri Casspi (click here for an exclusive video invite from Omri). In addition, three generations of community leadership will be honored as we "pass the torch" from leader to leader, and hear words from Sacramento Vice Mayor Hammond. This event will be one you will want to be sure not to miss! For event details visit www.jewishsac.org and f

Judaism has always left its constituency with an interesting morale dilemma. While we grow up proud of our heritage, appreciative of our traditions, there is always some sort of inhibition when it comes to public displays of our culture and religion.   Growing up in a Hebrew speaking home, I remember vividly how I would be “embarrassed” when my mother would yell across the grocery store in Hebrew, not because I was being yelled at, growing up with an Israeli mother I became used to this type of public “affection,” but everybody would turn and look with a perplexed look on their face thinking “What language is she speaking in?” I grew up having to explain over and over to my friends why

   From the distinct smell of cooking Latkas (potato pancakes), the sound of the spinning dreidal against the hard wood floor, to the timeless visual of the burning of the Menorah candles, Chanukah provides us sensual imaginary that is forever emblazoned in our minds and memory.    Derived from the Hebrew verb "חנך", the literal translation of “Hanukkah” means “to dedicate,” celebrating the Jews regained control of Jerusalem and the rededication of the Temple.    This year, as we commemorate the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE, we must also remember our local commitment, our dedication to our local community.   

The Jewish Federation is celebrating their move to Midtown Sacramento by throwing a big party for a cause! The Big Nosh is a gourmet food and pub crawl benefiting 5 local charities where participants will get a chance to eat and drink their way across the grid sampling appetizers and cocktails at 30 restaurants and coffee shops. Tickets are $36/person and Crawl Captains may register at www.thebignosh.com and earn their ticket for free by recruiting 10 or more people to their team. Teams will start at different locations at the same time in a "round robin" format and experience Midtown as it's meant to be experienced: walking! Calling all Crawl Captains...register now at www.thebignosh.com

Congregation B'nai Israel - High Holy Days Julie Steinberg, cantorial soloist, shares a laugh with Bernard Marks and Michael Hersher as they warm up for the service held during the Shabbat open house at Congregation B'nai Israel Friday evening. As Sacramento's oldest Jewish congregation and its largest Reform synagogue, B'nai israel honors the traditions of its heritage while creating a Jewish experience that is relevant to today's society. Friday's open house began the bringing in of the new year, Selichot, which will be observed on Saturday, Sept. 12. The evening's service of prayer and song helps prepare worshippers for the Yomim Noraim - the Days of Awe. It will begin at 7:15pn wit

Spring is almost over and so begins the onslaught of fun, fabulous things to do during the summer months in Sacramento! It's not quite time to break out the bikinis and flip-flops, but I have spotted some sleeveless tops and open-toed shoes lately...my all-time favorite season in Sacramento is almost here! This week, and particularly this week-end, is already jam-packed with music, festivals and outdoor events with the promise of the heat soon to come. I hope you haven't made plans already... Tuesday 4.28 Music: Rev Theory-- $12 at the door Where: Marilyn’s on K When: Doors- 6:30pm, Show- 7:15pm Why: You may get an idea for their music-style by the bands they’ve opened for: the likes of

Sacramento's premier venue for film festivals did it again, as more than a thousand people showed up at The Crest Theatre to attend the two-day Jewish Film Festival. The 12th annual Spring festival held unique, humorous and powerful films from around the world that focus on the Jewish experience. This year's festival, Saturday Feb. 7 and Sunday Feb. 8, was once again run by festival cofounders Margi Park-Landau, volunteer coordinator and Sid Heberger, Crest Theater manager. The Sacramento Friends of the Jewish Film Festival, a 60-member group, supported the festival, helped to "bring things that we might not be able to have just on ticket sales alone," Heberger said. Saturday night at 7

As a film festival director myself, I’m always intrigued to talk to other directors about their festivals and their process. For every film that makes the cut, there are a mountain of discarded others that may never see the light of day (or the light of projection) and hundreds of unseen administrative tasks associated with presenting the program. I recently asked Sid Heberger, General Manager of the Crest Theatre and Co-Director of the Sacramento Jewish Film Festival about their upcoming event: Q: This is the 12th Annual Festival: How did the Festival get its start? A: Margi Park, the co-founder of the Festival, contacted me about starting a festival because she was tired of schlepping