Congregation Beth Israel of Ocala invites the community to a lecture on Jewish Chinese Culture by Alice Bolocan of the Kaifeng Jewish Heritage Project on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 11a.m. at On Top of the World, Candler Hills Community Center, 8143 SW 90th Terrace Rd., Ocala.

Bolocan is a cum laude graduate of Stanford University’s East Asian Studies and Sociology programs, and holds a master’s degree and was a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology and archaeology at Columbia University, where she also received a Certificate from its East Asian Institute. Bolocan was awarded scholarships and fellowships by Stanford University, Columbia University and the Ford Foundation. A Columbia University post-graduate Fellowship enabled her to do field work on the Overseas Chinese in Peru.

Bolocan’s dual backgrounds in academia and in the commerce world via her training and professional experiences in anthropology/archaeology, East Asian Studies, commercial real estate development, tourism development and investment banking will serve her well in designing, structuring, staffing and financing the Kaifeng Jewish Heritage Project whose ultimate goal is the creation of a better understanding of the interaction of the Jewish and Chinese Heritages and how the Jewish Community in Kaifeng lived harmoniously with its neighbors of different faiths for a thousand years.

A Chinese lunch catered by the Yummy House of Ocala will be served following the lecture. Cost for the luncheon and the presentation is $12. Please make your reservation by Nov. 1, to Lois at 352-291-1308 or Janis 352-861-6732. For further information, please contact Judi at 352-237-8277.

This program is funded by a grant from the Jewish Council of North Central Florida.

Congregation Beth Israel of Ocala is a Jewish Community in association with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College.