“The 2024 Kumah Festival: War and Peace focuses on four moments in history when a people wrenched by political violence sought transcendence through recognition of the Other’s shared humanity.“
-Rabbi Misha Shulman
EVENTS
EAST OF THE RIVER
Friday, May 10 at 7:00pm
Gotham Depot Moto (51 Box St, Brooklyn, NY)
In the Sixteenth century, a community of Jews violently displaced from Spain and Portugal found a warm home and a new musical style among their new neighbors under Muslim rule in the Ottoman Empire. East of the River Ensemble, led by New Shul Ritual Leader Daphna Mor with Nina Stern, will present us with the beautiful music of the Sephardic Jews of North Africa and the Ottoman lands.
The concert will take place at Gotham Moto Depot, featuring a menu of global Jewish cuisine designed and prepared by chef Sami Katz, and where Director of Operations Itamar Dotan Katz will display his recent photographs from Israel-Palestine of people and places affected by the current war.
New Shul Members: Free
Non-members: $36
REMEMBRANCE AND RENEWAL
Sunday, May 12
1:00pm Congregation Beth Elohim (274 Garfield Place, Brooklyn)
1:30pm On Zoom
4:00pm Union Square, Manhattan
This year, the world’s largest annual peace gathering on Israeli Memorial Day falls on May 12. For years The New Shul has been one of the many sponsors of the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Ceremony, an event that draws an audience of hundreds of thousands from around the world. The ceremony is produced by the Bereaved Parents Circle and Combatants for Peace, two of the most important Israeli-Palestinian partnerships in existence.
You can watch the festival at home on Zoom, or you can see it on a large screen at a viewing party hosted by Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope. There Rabbi Misha will join other rabbis, along with famed Israeli singer and peace activist Noa (Achinoam Nini), to frame the event with words and music.
After the ceremony we invite you to join Israelis for Peace at their protest in Union Square, where they make their call for the release of the hostages and a ceasefire.
Free to everyone
HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES
Thursday, May 16 at 7:00pm - performance, followed by talkback
New York Theatre Workshop (79 E 4th St, New York, NY)
In 2007 a mysterious photo album documenting Nazi soldiers enjoying their time off from Auschwitz arrived at the desk of a U.S. Holocaust Museum archivist. The ensuing revelations ignited debate and added dimension to the museum’s mission of Never Again. Based on real events, this latest work by the acclaimed Tectonic Theater Project tells the story of the photos, what they reveal about the perpetrators of the Holocaust, and what they say about universal human truths.
Private talkback to follow with HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES co-author, Amanda Gronich.
The performance will run approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
Ticket price: $80 (special price, non Kumah Festival tickets are $114). *Deadline to purchase tickets: Sunday, April 28th.
LAG B’OMER, LABA and KABBALAH
Saturday, May 18 at 7:30pm
14th Street Y Theatre (344 East 14th Street, New York)
In the Second century, during a time of terrible oppression and great anxiety, a group of mystics from the Galilee retreated to the forest to realign the spiritual world and to bring healing to humanity. The Kabbalists of the tenth century in Spain reimagined this event through painting different aspects of the face of God through the language of poetry. Our culminating event will create its own version through the flowering poetic minds of contemporary Kabbalah teachers, along with this year’s fellows at LABA. LABA, the Laboratory for Jewish Culture, is an NYC-based fellowship program where an eclectic mix of culture-makers delve into Jewish texts in an effort to recreate these stories and spark new art, and to push the boundaries of what Jewish texts can teach.
New Shul Members: free, if a New Shul member, email itamar@newshul.org to get a promo code for this event.
Non-members: $36
