Leader of Antarctica expedition to speak

Doron Erel, who led the first-ever joint Israeli-Palestinian expedition to Antarctica in January, will be speaking in the Bay Area next week.

Erel is also the only Israeli who has reached the top of Mt. Everest, and the highest peaks on each continent.

He will talk about the expedition, during which four Israelis and four Palestinians spent 40 days together and named “The Mountain of Israeli-Palestinian Friendship.”

Erel will speak 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 1, at the Berkeley Richmond Jewish Community Center, 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley, (510) 848-0237, ext. 112; at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 2, at the Bernard Osher Marin JCC, 200 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael (415) 444-8061; and 7 p.m. Thursday, June 3, at Any Mountain, 2598 Taylor St., San Francisco, (415) 345-8080. For more information visit www.embassyofisrael.org/sanfran/Events/ice or www.breaking-the-ice.de.

East Bay federation to discuss direction

Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay President Eileen Ruby and CEO Loren Basch will discuss the federation’s direction and partnerships at the upcoming 86th annual meeting. The program will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, June 2, at Temple Isaiah, 3800 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette.

For more information, call (510) 839-2900.

Greenberg named cantor emeritus

Henry Greenberg, who has served San Francisco’s Congregation Beth Israel-Judea for 28 years, is becoming cantor emeritus with a special Shabbat service at 7:30 p.m. Friday, June 11, at 625 Brotherhood Way.

The choral group will sing, and the new board of trustees and president will also be installed.

The octogenarian Greenberg, who is a San Francisco native, conducted services for the first time when he was 8, and became a cantor at the former Congregation Beth Israel at age 20.

“The biggest problem I have is I don’t have enough time to count my blessings,” he said, on the occasion of his 25th anniversary at Beth Israel-Judea. “Being here is a blessing.”

High-schoolers plan Mideast workshop

An upcoming workshop on Israeli-Palestinian relations is being organized by and for East Bay high school students.

Billed as an opportunity to learn about the Middle East conflict, the event features facilitated discussions, a short film and a panel of Israelis and Palestinians with differing perspectives.

Mollie Wolf, a senior at Berkeley High School and a student at Midrasha in Berkeley, is one of the organizers. Her goal for the event is to make the issue “more accessible to youth. We are still learning and forming our opinions.”

The workshop takes place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 13, at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, 1606 Bonita Ave. Admission is free and the event is open to all. For further information, contact Sasha Atkins-Loria at (510) 384-7279.