Prized crystal

Crystals are made up of patterns of ordered material that is periodic — meaning, the patterns do not repeat indefinitely. That’s Chemistry 101. But what the description omits is Technion professor Dan Shechtman’s discovery of quasicrystals, which are not periodic. Impressive, right? That’s why it earned the Israeli scientist the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2011. Hear him talk about his findings in San Francisco.

6:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 at Parc 55 Wyndham San Francisco, 55 Cyril Magnin St., S.F. $65. Advance tickets required from www.ats.org/sfdinner

friday/1

Nehirim retreat. Weekend for LGBTQ Jews and allies. Through March 3. At Walker Creek Ranch, Petaluma. $120-$575. www.nehirim.org/west.

saturday/2

Scholar-in-residence Rabbi Darby Leigh. One of the first deaf rabbis ordained by a major American rabbinical school discusses “Faith and Community for Persons with Disabilities.” At Addison-Penzak JCC, 14855 Oka Road, Los Gatos. 7 p.m. $5-$7. www.siliconvalleyjcc.org.

sunday/3

Genealogy clinic. With San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society. At Jewish Community Library, 1835 Ellis St., S.F. 12 p.m. Free. www.jewishlearningworks.org.

“Meet the Doulas Night.” Question-and-answer session for expectant parents about pregnancy, breastfeeding and childbirth with Imeinu, a Jewish birth collective. At Manzanita Wellness Clinic, 2818 San Pablo Ave., Berkeley. 6 p.m. Free. RSVP to [email protected]. http://imeinu.wordpress.com.

Philosophers’ Café. Discussion of ethical issues hosted by Tri-Valley Cultural Jews. At Café Rumi, 4799 Heyer Ave., Castro Valley. 10:45 a.m. $5 suggested donation. www.trivalleyculturaljews.wordpress.com.

“The Future of Jewish Storytelling.” Monologue by Josh Kornbluth at 4 p.m. and writer Gary Shteyngart in conversation with j. columnist and Contemporary Jewish Museum writer-in-residence Dan Schifrin at 8 p.m. Also March 4 talk on “Experiences in Jewish Storytelling” at 11 a.m., “Writing the Bible for Film and Television” at 4 p.m. and “An Evening of ‘Storahtelling’ ” with writer and performer Amichai Lau-Lavie at 8 p.m. All at Stanford University, Palo Alto. Free. www.stanford.edu/dept/jewishstudies.

wednesday/6

“Dialoguing Across Differences.” Palestinian Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, whose three daughters were killed during Israeli rocket fire in Gaza in 2009, discusses the power of understanding and action. At Osher Marin JCC, 200 N. San Pedro Road, San Rafael. 7 p.m. Free. www.marinjcc.org.

friday/8

“Jews on Trial.” Fred Rosenbaum, who founded Lehrhaus Judaica and has written about Jews in the Bay Area and the Holocaust, discusses trials including that of Dreyfus and the Rosenbergs. Also March 9 Rosenbaum discusses the trials of Mendel Beilis and Leo Frank. At Congregation Shir Hadash, 20 Cherry Blossom Lane, Los Gatos. 1:30 p.m. Free. www.shirhadash.org.

sunday/10

“Gay Days.” Documentary on the history of the Israeli LGBT community followed by discussion with Irit Zviely-Efrat of the Israeli LGBT education group Hoshen and Avner Dafni, executive director of Israel Gay Youth. At Congregation Sha’ar Zahav, 290 Dolores St., S.F. 6 p.m. Free. http://awiderbridge.org.

“When Uppity Women Challenge the Rabbinical System.” Talk by Rachel Biale, scholar and author. At Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave., Albany. 4 p.m. Free. www.kolhadsh.org.

“Hebrews at War.” Talk by Jonathan Roth of San Jose State State’s history department on the military history of ancient Jews. At Congregation Beth David, 19700 Prospect Road, Saratoga. 7:30 p.m. Small donation. www.beth-david.org.

tuesday/12

“Fighting Genocide and Mass Atrocities.” Talk by Mina Rush, director of outreach at Jewish World Watch. At Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park. 4 p.m. Free. www.sonoma.edu/holocaust.

“Open Sources.” Interdenominational night of Jewish learning. At Jewish LearningWorks, 639-14th Ave., S.F. 7 p.m. Free. www.jewishlearningworks.org.

thursday/14

Rabbi Michael Lerner. Discusses “A Love-Oriented Emancipatory Judaism as the Path to Healing the Planet.” At Urban Adamah, 1050 Parker St. Berkeley. 7 p.m. Free. www.urbanadamah.org.