News

With live music, specialty foods, games and mitzvah projects, the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston (the J) presents a fun-filled and educational afternoon at its 3rd Annual Jewish CultureFest, held this year on Sunday, April 5 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Evelyn’s Park at 4400 Bellaire Boulevard.

The Adult Visual Arts program at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston (the J) will host a reception on Sunday, March 15 at 2:00 PM. The exhibit will feature the artwork of the J’s adult drawing, painting and ceramic students in addition to works by the Medallion Assisted Living Residence and Seven Acres Jewish Senior Care Services. The reception will take place in the lobby of the Deutser Art Gallery where guests can meet the artists and instructors who will be available to answer questions about the upcoming session of visual art classes.

Join Rice University’s Debra Dickinson for a lecture and video presentation on Sunday, March 15 at 4:00 PM in the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center’s (the J) Kaplan Theatre. The Golden Age of Hollywood was the era of extraordinary tap dancing. Suave Fred Astaire, athletic Gene Kelly and rapid-fire Ann Miller were among the pantheon of stars that made tap an audience favorite. This lecture will explore the work and lives of these famous stars, complete with videos of their exciting performances. To set the mood for the afternoon, the J’s The Golden Girls + One tap group will perform a number as a special treat.

From gripping dramas to fascinating documentaries to a Sesame Street episode about Passover, the 16^th Houston Jewish Film Festival (HJFF), will entertain film buffs of all ages. The Evelyn Rubenstein JCC of Houston (the J) brings the annual festival showcasing Jewish and Israeli culture to the Houston community this spring from March 21 to April 1, 2020.

The Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston (the J) continues Celebrating 40 Years of Dance at the J with An Evening of Dance with Ido Tadmor and Open Dance Project Saturday, March 7 at 8:00 PM. A fresh and original innovative showcase of exhilarating works will be performed when Ido Tadmor, choreographer/dancer, and Annie Arnoult’s Open Dance Project, a Houston-based contemporary dance theater company, share the stage in a public concert in the Kaplan Theatre. A highlight of the evening will be a piece commissioned by Dance at the J for Tadmor to set on Open Dance Project.

It’s 1982 in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland, where everything about life is uncertain. Political upheaval and violence color almost every aspect of daily life, and Catholics and Protestants are virtually at war with one another. It is against this background that Zippy, the only Jewish student in her school, is about to become a Bat Mitzvah. What could go wrong?  While her friends accept her for herself, they have their own conflicts to deal with and are clueless about Judaism and Jews. Zippy just wants to fit in, so it’s no surprise that she challenges her parents and Bat Mitzvah tutor about even becoming a Bat Mitzvah, adding further tension to the mix. Will she go through with it? Will her friends remain close with each other? With Zippy? These are just some of the questions explored in the play, Belfast Kind, winner of the Jewish Plays Project’s 2015 Jewish Playwriting Contest. Now the play is receiving a staged reading at the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center’s (the J’s) Theatre at the J on Tuesday, March 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Do you know a few good athletes? Evelyn Rubenstein JCC of Houston is seeking nominations for the Ronnie Arrow Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2019. The Ronnie Arrow mission honors Jewish men and women with roots in the Greater Houston area who exhibit Jewish values and have reached a high level of athletic achievement.