T uesday, June 30, 2020. Issue 23.
Here's to Summer—now with cheese!
This week your virtual summer includes a cheese tasting, a classical piano concert, and great conversations to expand your mind. Enjoy!
Cultural Arts & Trips
DESTINATION
Marin County: A Virtual Cheese Tasting
Taste Marin's finest cheeses from the comfort of your living room and meet the cheesemakers.

Next up in our Terrific Tastings' events, we'll introduce you to a bit of the California Cheese Trail with fantastic, award-winning, Marin County cheesemakers. We'll taste their cheeses and learn about their family-owned businesses and impressive sustainability practices.
Cheese, Please!
Sunday, July 26 at 3:00pm via Zoom

Lay out the crackers, pour a glass of vino, and let us whisk you away for a fun, interesting, and delicious experience in this private, online event.
Special Guests
Bob Giacomini 
“The Big Cheese”
& Lynn Giacomini
Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co.
Dr. David Jablons
Tomales
Farmstead
Creamery
Vivien Straus
Straus Home Ranch and California Cheese Trail Founder
The online tasting experience includes
  • An introduction to the California Cheese Trail
  • A discussion of sustainable farming practices
  • Cheese tasting and guidance
  • Options for food/wine pairings
  • Recipes
  • A fun chat and Q&A with our special guests

The curated cheese collection includes
  • Four cheeses: Atika (6 oz), Cornelia (8 oz), Toma (6 oz), and White Cheddar (6 oz)
  • A jar of jam from The Wild Pear (8 oz)
  • A complimentary California Cheese Trail Map
The cost
$95 per cheese collection. Two or more people may share the cheese collection.

Cheese and jam will be shipped or dropped off in insulated packaging via USPS 2-Day Priority Mail.
Quantities are limited!
Cheese sales end on Sunday, July 12, or when the collection is sold out.
After ordering your cheese, you will be registered for the Zoom event. (If you don’t get a Zoom confirmation by Wednesday, July 15, please contact James at jsokol@marinjcc.org.)

Questions?
Email James at  jsokol@marinjcc.org.
Adult Learning & Living
VIRTUAL CONCERT
A Tour of American Masterpieces with Ian Scarfe
Wednesday, July 1
from 1:00 to 2:00pm
via Zoom

Enjoy classical pianist Ian Scarfe, who takes a short pause from performing the old German masters to bring us a program of 20th-century American masterpieces.

The Zoom program will feature a range of lyrical and expressive works:

  • Three Preludes by George Gershwin starts the program with a jazzy and upbeat homage to the piano preludes of Bach and Chopin.
  • Amy Beach, who enjoyed renown as both a pianist and composer, followed a more modern and impressionistic style. Her piece, The Hermit Thrush at Evening, conveys a peaceful forest scene joyfully interrupted by birdsong.
  • We close with compositions from the great African-American composers Florence Price and William Grant Still. Price's impressionistic Quiet Lake and her traditional Barcarolle, followed by Still's dreamy Mystic Pool.

Those who remember Scarfe's last program might see a pattern here: music of lakes and water. Barcarolles and boat songs. Yes, many of Scarfe's programs have prominently featured music inspired by nature and water.

After the concert, stay for some live Q&A to ask Ian about the music, the general repertoire, his training, and more!
With thanks to our donors, this concert is free!
I hope to see you there!
Jewish Engagement
Welcoming the Stranger
Our Torah is filled with inspirational guidance on repairing the world; on the importance of justice; on our obligation to start (though not necessarily finish) the work; on the particular insidiousness of slavery and how it impacts a people. We are commanded 36 times to welcome the stranger because we know what it feels like. Yet, for many of us, our privilege has blinded us to the experience of people of color.

Here are some recommendations:
SHORT VIDEO
Uncomfortable Conversations
with a Black Man
Hosted by Emmanuel Chinedum Acho, former NFL linebacker and now an analyst for Fox Sports 1. These episodes answer questions that many white people may have wanted to ask.
TEDx NASHVILLE
The Dangers of Whitewashing Black History
A powerful TEDx talk by David Ikard, Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt College.
FILM
Just Mercy
A 2019 release based on the memoir by civil rights attorney Bryan Stevenson. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, the film stars Michael B. Jordon, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larson and focuses on an appeal of an unjust murder conviction.
FILM
13th
A 2016 release in which filmmaker Ava DuVernay explores the history of racial inequality in the US and how our prisons are disproportionately filled with Black Americans.
VIRTUAL TOUR
High on my travel list: A civil rights tour of the American South. I'll go when we can travel again. Meanwhile, we can take virtual tours right here.
Jewish Peoplehood
PIVOT proudly brings you
provocative and enlightening discussions with
some of our favorite Jewish thought leaders.

Episode 2: Ilana Kaufman
Monday, July 6 at 7:00pm

20% of America’s six million Jews are African American, LatinX, Asian, Sephardic, Mizrahi, and mixed race. That’s 1.2 million Jews—and the number is growing.

Sadly, multicultural Jews often feel isolated. While anti-Semitism is a real threat, it isn’t something that most Jews encounter every day. Racism is inescapable. Jews of Color face both.

In this timely interview, Ilana Kaufman, Director of the Jews of Color Field Building Initiative, shares her personal experience growing up Black and Jewish and the racism she experiences in the Jewish community. She provides an overview of this moment and the work that must be done by individuals and organizations to address racism that adversely impacts everyone.
The first PIVOT program was with Michael Lezak, and his interview can be heard on the Osher Marin JCC YouTube channel and as a podcast .
Performing Arts
DISCOVER
Music that Moves Us
I would like to share with you the San Francisco Classical Voice , an online resource for engagement and connection through music journalism.

I particularly enjoyed a June Artist's Spotlight with Jon Batiste, the musical director of Stephen Colbert's late-night talk show.

In an interview, Batiste explains how he takes his music to the street in peaceful demonstrations with the community arts organization Sing For Hope .

Learn more about what inspires Batiste and how he uses his music to lift spirits, unite, energize, and transform.  
Steve Martin and the Philadelphia Orchestra

And now for some
 knee-slapping fun!
Thanks to Heidi Paul for sharing this video.
Early Childhood

Ideas for Outdoor Fun

It's time to get outdoors and stretch the imagination!

This article offers 18 fun and easy outdoor activities for you and the kiddos.
Entertainment
ENJOY
Fabulous Food and Films
Ratatouille , Jiro Dreams of Sushi , Julie and Julia …food and film have always costarred together. From the romance of spaghetti and meatballs in Lady and the Tramp to the decadent Timpano in Big Night , to the mouth-watering opening of Eat Drink Man Woman, to the carefully grilled cheese sandwich in Chef , we can enjoy good cinema and good food in one sitting.
Soul Food (1997) serves up delectable food, but it is also a comedy-drama with a terrific ensemble cast and intriguing story. When the beloved matriarch of a family passes, the Sunday dinners at her home stop, throwing them all into chaos. Vanessa Williams, Nia Long, and Michael Beach lead a stellar cast as they discover that old rivalries and shared memories may not be as important as they thought.
What’s Cooking? (2000) is a favorite of mine, as both a comedy and drama using Thanksgiving Day as a backdrop for ethnic cuisine, family confusion, and celebration. Four families in Los Angeles gather for the holiday, representing Latino, Jewish, Vietnamese/Asian, and African-American cultures. Each family sorts out secrets and memories, but the food plays a starring role at each table. You'll enjoy Lainie Kazan, Joan Chen, and Alfre Woodard. This is a not-to-miss good-time movie.
Discover another delectable Academy Award winner for Best Picture. With food as a metaphor for sexuality, Tom Jones (1963) is the brilliant adaptation of Henry Fielding’s 1749 novel. Albert Finney plays our hero, a high-spirited foundling in love with the squire’s daughter, Susannah York. Between his good deeds, sword fights, wench chasing, and mistaken identities, he finds time for dinner with a woman he has saved from ruffians. There is the game of seduction while they enjoy oysters, mutton legs, wine, and each other. Director Tony Richardson told me that filming this scene made the actors quite ill…but you will love it!
Health & Fitness
Active members are invited to swim.
Have a Happy & Healthy 4th of July!
Expect Issue 24 on Tuesday, July 7.