Jewish organizations are invited to submit their upcoming events to the our What’s Happening section. Events are placed on the Ledger website on Tuesday afternoons. Deadline for submission of calendar items is the previous Tuesday. Send items to: judiej@ jewishledger.com.

THURSDAY, JUNE 24

Lunch & Learn: Torah from the Years of Wrath
Henry Abramson, PhD, will discuss the Warsaw Ghetto writings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalmish Shapira (the Aish Kodesh). Lunch & Learn is a weekly Zoom program hosted by UJA/JCC of Greenwich, every Thursday, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.. Register at ujajcc.org. For information: (203) 552-1818.

THURSDAY, JUNE 24 THRU SUNDAY, JUNE 27

27th Annual Jewish FilmFest of Eastern CT
“Crescendo” (from Germany, with English subtitles, 2020, 106 minutes) will screen June 24 – 27 at 7:30 p.m. The film tells the story of a renowned conductor who assembles an orchestra of Israeli and Palestinian youth, only to be drawn into a tempest of distrust and discord. For personal reasons, maestro Eduardo Sporck agrees to arrange a symbolic concert for a Middle East peace summit in Italy. But as auditions begin in Tel Aviv, conflict between the factions flares up, and it takes all the conductor’s skills to get his musicians in harmony. Cast includes Israeli and Palestinian non-actors who lend authenticity to this powerful drama, loosely inspired by Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. Guest speaker: Screenwriter Stephen Glantz, Sunday, June 27, 7:30 pm. Movie link will be available to view from Thursday at 12:01 a.m. through Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Admission is FREE (donations welcome). Registration is required. For more information or to register, visit JFEC.com.

THURSDAY, JUNE 24

Inaugural Holocaust Survivor Day
Cafe Europa, a social group for Holocaust survivors, will hold it’s first in-person get-together since the pandemic on June 24, 12 – 1:30 p.m., featuring a kosher barbecue lunch followed by musical entertainment celebrating the first Holocaust Survivor Day. Sponsored by Voices of Hope and the Mandell jCC, survivors and their families are invited to attend the event, which will be held under a tent in the Mandell JCC President’s Courtyard. For reservations and information: sholtzberg@mandelljcc.org, (860) 231-6311. FREE for survivors and their spouses and aides. $10/for other family members.

SATURDAY, JUNE 26

Benny Carter Tribute Jazz Concert
This summer, the JCC in Sherman brings back its annual Benny Carter Tribute Jazz Concert featuring the TJ Thompson Trio, playing the soul, jazz and Blues of Nola, Memphis and more, will be held outdoors on June 26, 7-9 p.m. (rain date: Sunday June 27, 7 p.m.) Bring your mask and a chair! Tickets must be purchased online prior to the concert; they will not be available at the door. Limited seating available. Tickets: $20 Members | $25 Non-Members. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit jccinsherman.org, email info@jccinsherman.org, or call (860) 355-8050.

Shir Ami Beach Havdallah
Congregation Shir Ami’s next Havdallah service will be held on the beach at Tod’s Point (and on Zoom) on June 26 at 7 p.m. To attend in person and be allowed onto the beach without a pass, registeration is required. Ronny and Ira Kaplan will provide the symbols of havdallah (wine, spices and braided candles) in memory of their friend Jan Weingrad Smith. Bring your own chairs or towels, and food/drinks – no sharing of food. Fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks but should have them available for group singing or for using in the rest rooms. Those not vaccinated must wear masks and maintain a social distance. For more information, visit shirami.info@gmail.com.

THURSDAY, JUNE 29

The Importance of telling family stories
For more than two decades, along with his Emory Colleague Robyn Fivush, Prof. Marshall Duke has been studying the positive impact on children (and adults) of knowing their family stories – the good parts and the not-so-good parts. This FREE virtual talk will describe their research and bring participants up-to-date on the relationship between knowledge of family stories and psychological resilience. To be held June 29 at 7 p.m. and hosted by United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien. To register, visit ujf.org/story. www.ujf.org/ story. For more information, contact Sharon Franklin at sharon@tujf.org.

Jewish Historian Hasia Diner to discuss the Jewish migration to America
Jewish historian Hasia Diner, the Paul And Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History at New York University and a two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award, will talk about her book, “Roads Taken: The Great Jewish Migration to the New World” as guest speaker at the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford Annual Meeting, to be held June 29 at 7:30 p.m. on Zoom. Diner is known for her work on immigration and ethnicity, American Jewry and the Holocaust, her biographies of Julius Rosenwald and Hank Greenberg, and more. Co-sponsored by the UConn Center for Judaic Studies and the Maurice Greenberg Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Hartford. To register, visit jhsgh.org.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30

Dignity Grows drive thru packing party & virtual book talk 
Help pack Dignity Grows totes on June 30, 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. to be held in the parking lot of Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, 333 Bloomfield Ave. in West Hartford. Hosted by the Zachs Family Foundation and Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, the event will include treats and surprises. River Bend Bookshop will be on site to sell signed copies of Anita Diament’s new book, Period. End of Sentence. RSVP to bclaflin@jewishhartford.org by June 25 and indicate preferred entrance time: 5:30, 6, 6:30 or 7 p.m./ $20/suggested donation (provides 2 Dignity Grows totes. To donate, siti jewishhartford.org/dignity-grows-donations.

Anita Diament and Melissa Berton, founder of The Pad Project and the producer of the Academy Award winning documentary “Period,” will speak in conversation with Dignity Grows founder and chairwoman Jessica Zachs at “Virtually Limitless: Our Shared Shelf,” a monthly book and author series hosted by National Women’s Philanthropy, to be held online following the packing party at 8 p.m. Dignity Grows is a non-profit providing hygiene products to those in need, created in partnership with the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford. Participation is FREE. Zoom link provided upon registration. To register: feds.org/NWPsharedshelf.

MONDAY, JULY 12

A Conversation with Sarah Wildman
Journalist Sarah Wildman, author of “Paper Love: Searching for the Girl My Grandfather Left Behind,” will discuss her book July 12, 7 p.m. on Zoom, hosted by Voices of Hope. Wildman is co-creator, producer, and host of Foreign Policy’s First Person podcast and is currently an op-ed page editor at the New York Times. She is currently in the process of turning “Paper Love” into a film. To register, visit voices-of-hope-inc.networkforgood.com. 

THURSDAY, JULY 15

Author Tal Ben-Shahar talks about being happy (no matter what)
Harvard Prof. Tal Ben-Shahar, a trailblazing positive psychologist and serial entrepreneur, will discuss his New York Times bestselling book “Happier No Matter What: Cultivating Hope, Resilience, and Purpose in Hard Times.” A free event hosted by UJA-JCC Greenwich. Link provided upon registration. To register and for more information, visit info@ujajcc.org.