By Staten Island Advance

April 09, 2010, 6:14AM

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The 6 million lost in the Holocaust will be remembered during Yom Hashoah services at 7 p.m. today in Congregation Ahavath Israel.

Services will be run by Rabbi Dr. Abe Unger, with congregant Benjamin Wayne, a Holocaust survivor. Services are open to the community.

The synagogue is located at 7630 Amboy Rd. in Tottenville. Consultwww.congregationahavathisrael.com or call 718-356-8740.

MUSICAL MEMORIAL 
Temple Israel Reform Temple will hold Shabbat services led by cantor Rebecca Joy Fletcher today at 8 p.m.

Torah study begins at 10 a.m. tomorrow, followed by Shabbat services at 11 a.m.

Yom Hashoah commemoration is at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow, with the Staten Island Philharmonic Winds playing musical selections interwoven with the voices of the Temple Israel choir. A memorial service begins at 8:30 p.m. and includes remembering the lost town of Nachod, the home of the synagogue's Holocaust Scroll.

The Brotherhood of Temple Israel is extending the Yom Hashoah Yellow Candle project, sponsored by the Men of Reform Judaism. Candles are for sale for $18. Leave a message at the synagogue for David Meltzer, brotherhood president.

In honor of Mitzvah Day on April 18, bring non-perishable food items and travel-size toiletries for donation to Project Hospitality. Shariann Ganz will be re-starting "Back to Basis." Donations of new socks and undergarments are requested.

Temple Israel Reform Congregation of Staten Island is located at 315 Forest Ave. in Randall Manor. Call 718-727-2231. 

BIRTH OF ISRAEL 
The Panorama Series for Jewish Living is presenting "The Holocaust and the Birth of the State of Israel?" lecture by Rabbi Judah Kogen, spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, at the Joan and Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

Rabbi Kogen, who has led Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in West Brighton since 2007, has a strong background in developing high-level educational programs for both adults and youth, and in helping Conservative Jews understand what it really means to be a Conservative Jew. The title of the lecture has a question mark at the end because although there is a common belief that the Holocaust led directly to the founding of Israel, in fact there is a much longer history involved.

The Panorama Series for Jewish Living helps promote knowledge and understanding of the richness of the Jewish experience. Admission is free.

For more information about this lecture or any other program in the Jewish Life and Learning Department, contact Yaffa Schonbach, director, at 718-475-5228 or [email protected].

The Bernikow JCC is located at 1466 Manor Rd. in Sea View.

FILM SERIES 
New Dorp Moravian Church will host a screening of "Sophie Scholl" on April 18 at 7 p.m.

It's the final film in the series jointly sponsored by Congregation B'nai Jeshurun.

"Sophie Scholl" is a true story about one of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroines. Along with other college students, Sophie helped mount an underground resistance movement in Munich.

Admission is free. There will be a free-will offering. Following the film, coffee and cake will be served.

The church is located at 2205 Richmond Rd. Call 718-351-0090. 

FREEDOM DINNER 
Congregation B'nai Jeshurun will host an Israeli Independence Day Celebration on April 16 with a dinner and music.

Dinner begins at 6:15 p.m. and will cost $10. Those interested must pay in advance. Services and Israeli songs led by Cantor Mordechai Edry begin at 7:15 p.m., followed by oneg and dessert.

Mitzvah Day is April 18 at 11 a.m., when the congregation will work on sprucing up the Iris Sweig Memorial Garden or clean plots at Baron Hirsch Cemetery. Also, donations of food will be collected for the COJO Pantry.

The synagogue is located at 275 Martling Ave. in West Brighton. Call 718-981-5550. 

HOLOCAUST COURSE 
Staten Island will host a premiere six-week course about the Holocaust, "Beyond Never Again," beginning April 28 at the Joan & Alan Bernikow Jewish Community Center.

Timed to coincide with Yom Hashoah -- Holocaust Remembrance Day -- and taught by Rabbi Shmuli Bendet, the course will examine universal themes that the Holocaust forces us to confront, such as the nature of good and evil, and how empathy and conscience may be nurtured. Created by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI), the world's largest network of adult education, the course is formulated as a series of facilitated discussions that will enable participants to articulate their personal responses to the Holocaust, and provides relevant angles on some of life's most difficult questions pertaining to faith and suffering.

JLI is now based in about 300 cities nationwide, as well as Australia, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Holland, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Venezuela. Every course offered by JLI is offered concurrently in all worldwide affiliate locations, creating a global learning community.

The cost is $100 per person and $180 per couple. Scholarships are available. For more information or to register, call 718-370-8953 or e-mail [email protected] or consult www.myjli.com. Registration is required by April 23.

The Bernikow JCC is located at 1466 Manor Rd. in Sea View. 

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