Cantor Alison Wissot of Temple Judea to Sing at Jewish Community Night

Jewish Community Night will be held during the second session of the Pacific-12 Conference men's basketball tournament Thursday night at Staples Center, coinciding with the Jewish holiday of Purim.

A Purim costume competition will be held at the arena's City View Terrace, kosher food will be available for purchase on the concourse and ``The Star-Spangled Banner'' will be sung by cantors Nathan Lam of Stephen S. Wise Temple in Bel-Air and Arianne Brown of Sinai Temple in Westwood and Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot of in Tarzana.

Discounted tickets for what is being dubbed as ``Mordechai Madness'' are available online at www.aegtickets.com/pac12jewish. Purim commemorates the Israelites' escape from Persian persecutors in the fourth century BC, as recounted in the Book of Esther.

California will face Stanford in the first game of the doubleheader, set to begin at 6 p.m., followed at 8:30 p.m. by a game between Oregon and Colorado or Utah. The Thursday night session has also been designated as Firefighter Appreciation Night and Breast Cancer Awareness Night. A sports and entertainment career fair will be held in connection with Friday's semifinal and a Christian-oriented Faith & Family Day at Saturday's championship game.

–City News Service