Saturday, April 3 @7:30 PM

Mimuna is a North African post-Passover traditional celebration. Ours will be centered around a concert by Jewish and Arab musicians in the Moroccan musical tradition called GNAWA. It will feature Grammy-nominated santir player Samir Langus, who learned Gnawa from the old masters of Morocco. Gnawa music is the ritual religious music of Morocco's Black communities, originally descended from slaves, often called "the Moroccan Blues."

Sunday, April 11 @11:00 AM

The Struggle to Recognize Goodness in an Age of Evil: In honor of Yom Hashoah, we will consider the inherent challenges of recognizing goodness by hearing about a unique, theatrical commemorative event that takes place every year in the Polish town of Zbaszyn. New Shul member Susan Berger, whose mother was a refugee in Zbaszyn in 1938, will be joined by Polish journalist and activist Kostek Gebert and Rabbi Jim Ponet. New Shul co-founder Emmy award-winning writer/actress Ellen Gould will perform and singer Judi Williams will perform.

Saturday, April 17 @10:00 AM

In honor of Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, we will host a Shabbat conversation with Israel Prize winner, long-time peace activist, and the author of Freedom and Despair: Notes from the South Hebron Hills, Professor David Shulman. David has spent the last 20 years going into the West Bank every week from his Jerusalem home to support Palestinian villages that are under threat, with Ta'ayush; Jewish-Arab Partnership for Peace. He is an internationally sought-after speaker, as well as a regular writer on Israel/Palestine for the New York Review of Books, and is uniquely suited to shed light on the reality on the ground in the West Bank. This will be a powerful gathering that will bring together New York activist Gili Getz, who will moderate the discussion, with the musical talents of Piano virtuoso Gabriel Zucker and singer Judi Williams.

Friday, April 23 @8:00 PM

Dance, the most evanescent of art forms, is the focus of this evening, as we welcome dance artists Sarah Chien and Davalois Fearon. Sarah is an improviser and will perform a live improvisation for us on zoom. Her work centers on issues of identity and building dialogue. Dava will bring us excerpts from her work For C.J., dedicated to her nephew C.J., who was the victim of a fatal asthma attack, the result of medical and environmental racial disparities. The evening will also feature Grammy Award-winning trumpeter/composer and co-founder of the Klezmatics, Frank London. Moderated by New Shul member Maia Wechsler.

Friday, April 30 @8:00 PM

Join us for a deep dive into the most basic, grounding, yet fleeting human necessity: food. We will begin the night with a round-table discussion about the relationships among food and our bodies, our creativity, our communities, and our cultural ancestry. This conversation will feature Kerry Brodie (Executive Director of Emma’s Torch), Deborah Fishman (food artist and founder of FED Social), and Willa Sheikh (General Manager of the Greene Hill Food Co-op).  Next, we invite you to dig in with hands and hearts as we enter a mindful space with artist and fermentation revivalist & (/’amper,sand/), who will lead us through the ritual of making sauerkraut, immersing us in the process on a microbial, cultural, and spiritual level. Once we’ve filled our own cups, we will wrap up our evening with a directive to fill the cups of our neighbors through a special community-driven initiative. Co-curated by New Shul Members Talia Feldberg, Haley Gewandter, and Aviya Hernstadt. And featuring live music by Yonatan Gutfeld.

Friday, May 7 @8:00 PM

Join us as we look at how visual art is used as political prayer in a small village in the south of India, a coastal village in Morocco, a Brooklyn neighbourhood and in Greenwich Village. Rabbi Misha will present reflections on how faith, art, and politics reflect one another in visual imagery, and then engage in a conversation with three artists: Voodo Fé, Suzanne Tick, and Cody Umans. The evening will also feature Grammy Award-winning trumpeter/composer and co-founder of the Klezmatics, Frank London, and tabla player Tripp Dudley.

Sunday, May 16 @6:00 PM

The concluding event of the festival will be an outdoor, in-person* celebration at the far end of Pier 45 in the West Side Highway Park, featuring Kumah Festival special guest, dancer, and choreographer Davalois Fearon in live performance with her collaborator, saxophonist, and composer Mike McGinnis. The event will also include the creation of a collaborative work of art, led by artist Suzanne Tick.
 

A reminder to bring your strips of fabric for Suzanne's magical loom!  Six to eight inches in length, about two inches wide --  any fabric and any color.  On Sunday, we will weave these into a community-wide artistic collaboration and celebration.

*We very much look forward to greeting you, in person! However, If you are unable to make it to the pier, please contact info@newshul.org and we will make sure you receive the Zoom link so that you can attend the event virtually.