BRIEFLY IN RELIGION

Chabad fundraiser ‘Children’s Dreams’

Chabad Jewish Center will hold its annual fundraiser at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 23, at the Aliso Creek Terrace Ballroom at Aliso Creek Inn.

Highlights of the event, called Children’s Dreams, include a silent auction, with many items, from a two-night stay at the Montage Resort, to jewelry, children’s games, sports tickets and works of art by local artists as well as Chagall fine reproductions.

The evening will include a moving film clip depicting the work of Chabad over the past decade, song and dance presentation by the students of the Chabad Hebrew School, and a “Hora” dance.

Chabad Jewish Center is home to the Torah Tots Preschool and Chabad Hebrew School, and provides an array of services to the community including shabbat and holiday services, adult education classes including kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, basic Judaism, Bible study, and prayerbook Hebrew.

Tickets and information: (949) 499-0770. Chabad is located at 30804 S. Coast Highway, across from the Montage Resort and Spa.

Purim festivities planned at Chabad

Chabad Jewish Center will celebrate Purim with a special event, “Purim In Israel” beginning at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 14.

The event features Israeli food and live music, with singer Shlomo Rabinowitz. The cost is $15 for adults, $10 for children. Reservations are necessary.

Purim is Judaism’s most dramatic, fun-filled holiday, when celebrants can dress up like a king or queen.

The main event of Purim is reading the Megillah, the Scroll of Esther. Set in Persia 2,300 years ago, the Megillah recounts how a seemingly unrelated series of events spun together to save the Jewish people from annihilation.

There are four Mitzvot (Commandments) specific to the holiday of Purim: