HOW SMART ARE YOU? The Grey Area hosted a Trivia Night with a fabulous Jewish twist!! Teams came sporting uniforms and amazing team spirit. Competition was high as they competed to answer Jewish trivia that ranged from pop culture to rabbinic interpretations.

Check out video and coverage of Rags to Righteousness, a showcase of conscience-raising alternatives presented in partnership with Progressive Jewish Alliance.

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The Grey Area hosted a one-of-a-kind look at Los Angeles! We combed the city for the most outrageous, most hilarious, most Jewish and most memorable spots in LA. Was Canter's ever kosher? What restaurant serves Rabbi Brous's favorite French Onion soup? Teams grabbed their cameras and teammates and headed out into the Jewishness of LA.

Remember when you made off with a bottle of sweet Manischevitz at the neighbor's bar mitzvah and thought it was the epitome of sophisticated drinking? Well now that you're no longer a teenager and your pallet has grown more refined (and we've all seen Sideways at least once) it's finally time to explore the vast world of kosher wine. IKAR's Grey Area had a Kosher Wine Tasting, and learned about this delicious untapped market..

The Israeli Film Festival was in town, and who better to check it out with than all of the fabulous Grey Area folks? We had an enlightening evening at the movies and gathered to watch Aviva My Love, an award winning film about pursuing one's dreams.

The Grey Area had a night with Vanessa Hidary a.k.a The Hebrew Mamita! Her unique voice explores personal stories of Identity struggles, Inter-faith relationships, Her beloved New York City, Black/ Jewish/Latino relations, Jilted love and go figure, her adventures on J-date!

IKAR joined forces with PJA, JDub Records, & Reboot for the 10th annual Vodka Latka: A FESTIVAL OF RIGHTS PARTY. We celebrated the holiday with a night of revelry featuring folk-punk rockers Golem, a social justice menorah-lighting ceremony: featuring Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and our own Rabbi Brous and Daniel Sokatch, as well as a spectacularly entertaining reading of the Hanukkah tale.

The Grey Area and the whole IKAR community joined for a screening of the groundbreaking film, Trembling Before G-d. The film explores the relationship between Judaism and homosexuality through personal accounts of individuals within the Orthodox community, and the struggles and joy that they encounter. The screening was followed by discussion with the filmmaker, Sandi Simcha DuBowski, and a special sneak peek at his new film, Trembling on the Road. For more information on the film and the filmmaker, visit www.tremblingbeforeg-d.com.

HOW SMART ARE YOU? The Grey Area hosted a Trivia Night with a fabulous Jewish twist!! Teams came sporting uniforms and amazing team spirit. Competition was high as they competed to answer Jewish trivia that ranged from pop culture to rabbinic interpretations.

On Thursday, September 28, the Grey Area participated in a major, city-wide effort to support Angelinos who work long hours for poverty wages. This effort, which is being linked to the Civil Rights Movement, is expected to be the largest expression of civil disobedience in our city's history. The Grey Area joined forces with young, Jewish social activists to learn about economic justice and Jewish foundations of civil disobedience. In the time of self reflection (between Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur) we took this opportunity to examine the Soul of our City, and our personal responsibility to pursue peace and justice.

Do you ever question your Jewish Identity and wonder if you're the only person struggling with maintaining strong Jewish roots within a secular society? The Grey Area met at the Skirball Cultural Center and toured The Jewish Identity Project. This exhibition, organized by The Jewish Museum, presented ten commissioned photography, video, and multimedia projects by thirteen emerging and mid-career artists. Organized into three thematic sections - "Who is a Jew?," "What is Community?," "Where is Home?" - the exhibition revealed the complex and often surprising ways in which Americans of diverse heritages grapple with the ever-evolving nature of modern Jewish identity.

Due to our ever growing concern for the state of Israel, the Grey Area and IKAR's Limudim (religious school) joined forces on Thursday evening July 27th. The community met on the beach next to the Santa Monica Pier to picnic and learn about the situation while making art and cards for the children in the bomb shelters.

The Grey Area worked to help L.A.'s homeless.
During May and June the Grey Area is partnered with the Midnight Mission to create hygiene kits for Mission clients. The collected bring hand towels, combs, nail clippers, toothpaste, mouthwash, toothbrushes, tampons, bandaids or deodorant to assemble hygiene kits. In May, they joined with PJA to learn more about the poverty in LA and in June they toured Midnight Mission facility and distributed hygiene kits.

IKAR's Grey Area hosted a screening of the hilariously funny West Bank Story (http://www.westbankstory.com), at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. West Bank Story is a musical comedy about an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian fast food cashier - an unlikely couple who fall in love amidst the animosity of their families' dueling falafel stands in the West Bank. The screening was followed by a Q & A with the Writer/ Director Ari Sandel.

Karaoke Sing Down and Darfur Action Speak Out.
Sing those oh so familiar songs for a night of no-holds barred Karaoke, while joining the "Million Voices for Darfur" campaign. We took over LA's famous Backstage Cafe, where greats like Sting and Dr. Dre have made their voices heard.

The Grey Area checked out the Masters of American Comics Exhibit at Moca featuring predominantly Jewish artists such as Jack Kirby (X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, Fantastic Four), Art Spiegelman (Maus, In the Shadow of No Towers) and Will Eisner (The Spirit, A Contract With God). Then everyone met afterward for drinks in the backroom at one of Downtown's revamped funky lounges - Bar 107 - for a discussion on comic books and superheros and how they grew out of the Jewish psyche.