Coming up

Community Day School will hold an online auction at biddingforgood.com/communityday starting Nov. 15. Auction highlights include Lady Gaga and Steelers tickets, a private beach house vacation in the Bahamas, weekend getaways, gift certificates, autographed Penguin and Steeler jerseys and more. The items will continue to be updated. Revenue will be used to help CDS eighth-graders take their trip to Israel.

The Friends of the Squirrel Hill Library are holding their annual holiday shopping book sale Thursday, Nov. 18, through Saturday Nov. 20, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Thousands of like-new books, special books, coffee-table books, autographed books, for all ages and in all subjects are for sale. The FOL Boutique will again offer new hand-crafted knitted items, jewelry and more during the sale. After the kickoff event, the books will remain out for sale through the end of the year. Proceeds benefit the Squirrel Hill library.

Heidi Good, who grew up at Temple Shalom, Wheeling, W.Va., will return to the congregation Tuesday, Nov. 16, 7 p.m., to make a photographic presentation about her stay in the West African nation of Mali. Good, a documentary photographer and development communications specialist with the United Nations, has been in Mali for the past year working with UNICEF projects that support child survival, maternal health, access to safe drinking water, girls’ education and malnutrition. Mali is a country of 13.7 million people, 90 percent of whom are Muslim; Good is one of a handful of Jews residing there. The country is best known for the fabled city of Timbuktu and its history as a trading center. It is a democratically stable country, yet one of the poorest in the world. Refreshments will be served at the program.

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The Tikkun Olam Center of Temple Sinai is presenting its next program in the J Street Pittsburgh Current Events Series on Middle East Peace. This discussion series is an attempt to examine and better understand the difficult issues involved in the quest for peace by providing a forum for open and respectful dialogue. The topic Tuesday, Nov.16, is “Palestinian Recognition of Israel as a Jewish State: Critical Issue, Bargaining The discussion will take place in the Temple Sinai library, 5505 Forbes Ave. in Squirrel Hill from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Readings for this discussion can be found at jstreet.org/pittsburgh. All views are welcome to this facilitated discussion.

Squirrel Hill AARP Chapter 3354 will hold their business meeting Wednesday, Nov. 17, at 1 p.m. at New Light Synagogue, 1700 Beechwood Blvd. at Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill. Following the business meeting, David Dinkin will speak on Israel and current events. Contact Frieda D. Safyan at (412) 521-2804 for more information.

Chabad of the South Hills will hold its pre-Chanuka seniors luncheon Wednesday, Nov. 17, at noon. Participants will create Chanuka cards. Contact Batya at (412) 344-2424 for reservations or information.

Gilda’s Club and the Pittsburgh affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network will observe pancreatic cancer awareness month in November. A lecture/discussion on the genetics of pancreatic cancer will be held at Gilda’s Club, Wednesday, Nov. 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. at 2816 Smallman St. Sheila Solomon, genetics counselor, and Dr. Randall Brand, professor of medicine, will talk about the genetics, risk factors, testing, counseling and research advances for pancreatic cancer. A light dinner will be served at 6 p.m.; the lecture starts at 6:30 p.m. Call Gilda’s Club at (412) 338-1919 for reservations.

The Many Faces of Breast Cancer, a national program educating and celebrating breast cancer survivors, will be hosted in Pittsburgh by Allegheny General Hospital in partnership with the American Cancer Society, Gilda’s Club Western Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The program is sponsored by AstraZeneca. As part of the program, a panel will be held Wednesday, Nov. 17, 6:30 p.m., at Allegheny General Hospital Magovern Auditorium, South Tower, 320 East North Ave., Central North Side. A panel of medical experts will address a range of issues including treatment options, psychosocial support, nutrition and diet, recurrence and the latest breast cancer research. To register, call (877) 291-0358 or e-mail manyfacespittsburgh@zenogroupevents.com.

Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal will be a scholar in residence at Beth El Congregation of the South Hills Friday evening, Nov. 19, and Saturday morning, Nov. 20. Friday’s lecture, “A Stone’ s Throw Away,” is a personal account of attempted Jewish-Arab dialogue, in the years of the first intifada, when the Segals’ home in Israel. Saturday’s lecture is “The State of Judaism in the Jewish State: The Role of Religion in a Jewish Democratic State.” Segal is the founder of the Gateways Festival of Jewish Learning and Culture. He is currently creating “A New Psalm,” an Internet research and learning project of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies. Segal is immediate past president of Melitz, the Centers for Jewish and Zionist Education, and is a past president of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies — the academic and educational center of Masorti Judaism in Israel. He served as a pulpit rabbi in Congregation Kol Emeth, Palo Alto, Calif., for four years. Contact Beth El Congregation of the South Hills at (412) 561-1168 for more information and reservations.

The inaugural Children’s Tumor Foundation Arts and Crafts Fair/Marketplace will take place Sunday, Dec. 12, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Summerset at Frick Park Clubhouse in Squirrel Hill. The fair is in honor of 6-month-old Jonah Snyder who was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis when he was just 6 weeks old. The event will include 10 vendors, a silent auction and bake sale. Vendors will donate a portion of proceeds – some as much 50 percent – to the Children’s Tumor Foundation. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the silent auction will go to the Foundation. Neurofibromatosis is a progressive disorder that causes tumor to grow on nerves throughout the body. NF can lead to deafness, blindness, learning disabilities, bone deformities, disfigurement and cancer. NF affects one in every 3,000 children born, more than cystic fibrosis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and Huntington’s disease combined. Research at the Children’s Tumor Foundation is funding is shedding new light on cancer, brain tumors, learning disabilities and bone abnormalities that will benefit the broader community, in addition to those with NF. Contact Jaime Snyder at Jaimelauren817@hotmail.com or visit ctf.org for more information.

(Angela Leibowicz can be reached at angelal@thejewishchronicle.net.)