METROPOLITAN NEW YORK
Sukkot
Sukkot Scavengers: Children of all ages are invited to a Sukkot celebration. Activities include a scavenger hunt in search of the four species of Sukkot — the species of plants that are blessed during the holiday in the form of a lulav and etrog — making pomegranate print sukkah decorations, creating a model sukkah, planting a lulav tree, basket weaving and performances by magician Jeff Moche and juggler Will Shaw. Brooklyn Children’s Museum, 145 Brooklyn Ave.; Oct. 14-Oct. 16, 1 p.m.-5 p.m. daily, Jeff Moche Oct. 14 and Oct. 16, 2 p.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4 pm.-4:30 p.m., Will Shaw Oct. 15, 2 p.m.-2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.-4:30 p.m.; $4, free members. (718-735-4400 or www.brooklynkids.org)
Lectures and Discussions
Ugandan Judaism: Kehillat Chaverim, a new transdenominational synagogue, presents Emily Weinstein showing a slide presentation about the efforts to build a strong Jewish community among Uganda’s Abayudaya. Weinstein, a photographer and occupational therapist, spent several months working as a volunteer with the Abayudaya community, which embraced Judaism in 1919. Community Unitarian Church, 468 Rosedale Road, White Plains; Oct. 21, 8 p.m., free. (914-779-4847)
Diplomacy From the Edge: Dennis Ross, former coordinator of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority under President Clinton, speaks on the topic of “The Middle East: A View from the Brink,” followed by a question-and-answer session. St. Bartholomew’s Church, 109 E. 50th St.; Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m.; free. (212-378-0222 or www.stbarts.org)
Music
Moroccan Melodies: Morocco-born Israeli cantor Emil Zrihan, a master of Judeo-Andalusian and Arab vocal repertoires, performs North African sacred and secular songs — both Sephardic and Arabic — and Andalusian mawal, an improvisational form performed by Arabs throughout North Africa and the Levant, in “From Rabat to Ashkelon–Judeo-Andalusian & Arab Traditions.” Singing in Arabic and Hebrew, he is accompanied by the oud, violin, accordion and percussion. Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway; Oct. 15, 8 p.m.; $26 members, $30 nonmembers. (212-864-5400 or www.symophonyspace.org)
Music and Remembrance: The Interfaith Committee of Remembrance presents its annual concert for the Holocaust with Richard Nanes’s “Rhapsody Pathetique for Violin & Orchestra” performed by the Brooklyn Philharmonic and violin soloist Zina Schiff and conducted by Arkady Leytush. At the concert, the committee is honoring Daniel Libeskind, winner of the architectural design for remaking Ground Zero, and Lorraine Beitler, a leader in developing programs that promote understanding and respect among diverse groups. The concert features the Trinity Church Choir, directed by Owen Burdick, and special guest Metropolitan Opera tenor Fransisco Casanova. Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Amsterdam Avenue and W. 112th St.; free, donations accepted. (212-629-6060 or www.holocaust-concerts.org)
Rock the Sukkah: The Westchester/Riverdale Region of the Orthodox Union’s National Conference of Synagogue Youth presents a concert by the Blue Fringe Band, preceded by a sukkah party. The band is composed of four Yeshiva University students who mix original material with popular Jewish and secular songs: Dov Rosenblatt on vocals and guitar, Hayyim Danzig on bass, Avi Hoffman on lead guitar and Danny Zwillenberg on drums. Hebrew Institute of White Plains, 20 Greenridge Road, Oct. 15, Sukkot party 5:30 p.m., concert 7:30 p.m.; $15 members, $18 nonmembers. (212-613-8339 or [email protected])
Performance
‘Golems of Gotham’: Writer Thane Rosenbaum reads from his recent novel, “Golems of Gotham” (Perennial), accompanied by the shadow puppets of Beth Zasloff and the haunting music of klezmer violinist Alicia Svigals. The evening also features a staged scene from Sholom Asch’s “Der Toiter Mentsh” (“The Dead Man”), a play set in a decaying synagogue, produced by the theater group Todo Con Nada and directed by Aaron Beall and Caraid O’Brien. Yiddish theater scholar Nahma Sandrow provides a brief overview of how the golem, the legendary avenging monster of the Prague ghetto, has influenced Yiddish literature and piqued the imagination of writers and artists for centuries. Eldridge Street Project, 12 Eldridge St.; Oct. 15, 6 p.m.; $12, $8 students and seniors. (212-219-0888 or www.eldridgestreet.org)
‘Windows and Mirrors’: A Traveling Jewish Theatre, in collaboration with Word for Word, presents “Windows and Mirrors,” a performance of four short stories by Jewish writers: “Wants” and “Conversations With My Father” by Grace Paley, “Spring Rain” by Bernard Malamud and “Finkelstein’s Fingers” by Maxim Biller. A Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida St., San Francisco; opening night Oct. 12, 8 p.m., performances through Nov. 2, Thu.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; $18.50-$20.50. (415-285-8080 or www.atjt.com)
FLORIDA
Miami Yidishkayt: The Dora Teitelboim Center for Yiddish Culture celebrates Miami’s Yiddish cultural legacy with “Klezfest Miami: Celebrating the Music of Eastern European Jewry from the Old World to Our World” from October 15 through October 18. Activities include a lecture on “Klezmer Music Through the Ages” by Hankus Netsky, founding member of the Klezmer Conservatory Band; a “Klezmer Kraziness” concert featuring Netsky’s band, and a “Celebration of South Florida Klezmer” concert featuring the Klezmer Company Kvintet, the Klezmiamians and Miami Yiddish vaudeville actress Charlotte Cooper. Hankus Netsky lecture, University of Miami, Miller Center, 5202 University Dr., Coral Gables; Oct. 15, 8 p.m.; $5. “Klezmer Kraziness” concert, Gusman Concert Hall, 1314 Miller Dr., Coral Gables; Oct. 16, 8 p.m.; $10-$20. South Florida celebration concert, University of Miami, Miller Center, 5202 University Dr., Coral Gables; Oct. 18, 8 p.m.; $10 members, $12 nonmembers. (305-284-4940 or www.yiddishculture.org)
ILLINOIS
A Genius’s Life: An exhibit on renowned scientist Albert Einstein that originated at the Museum of Natural History in New York chronicles the physicist’s life through photographs, personal possessions, letters, multimedia displays and original manuscripts. The show follows Einstein from his childhood in late-19th-century Germany to his work as a scientist, including his 1905 theory of relativity and his political and humanitarian activities. The Field Museum, 1400 South Lake Shore Dr., Chicago; Oct. 17-Jan. 4, daily 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; $15, $10 students and seniors, Mondays and Tuesdays $7, $5 students and seniors. (312-902-1500 or www.fieldmuseum.org)
Middle Eastern Mix: The Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies presents Pharaoh’s Daughter, led by vocalist-guitarist-oudist Basya Schecter, performing a fusion of Middle Eastern, Indian, North African and Mediterranean sounds layered over traditional Jewish texts in English, Hebrew, Yiddish and Ladino. The band features Kemal Arsan on percussion, Daphna Mor on recorder, Benoir on electric guitar and vocals and Tomer Tzur on drums. HotHouse, 31 E. Balbo St., Chicago; Oct. 19, 8:30 p.m.; $10 in advance and Spertus members, $12 at door. (312-322-1769, [email protected] or www.spertus.edu)
MASSACHUSETTS
Sukkot Celebration: The Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, Mayyim Hayyim: Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center and Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility sponsor a Sukkot celebration for women, with readings, songs, dance and refreshments. The sukkah will be adorned with artwork by six artists who were chosen as part of a competition. Women’s Studies Research Center, Epstein Building, Brandeis University campus, Waltham; Oct. 15, 5 p.m.-8 p.m.; free. (781-736-8114 or www.brandeis.edu/centers/wsrc)
NEW JERSEY
Getting Nostalgic: Jerry Teamkin performs in a one-man comedic performance of “Lox, Eggs and Onions,” a look back at Jewish life in the European shtetls and on Manhattan’s Lower East Side during the era of “Yiddish Broadway.” The Theatre at the Y, One Pike Dr., Wayne; Oct. 15, 2:30 p.m.; $3 YM-YWHA of North Jersey members, $5 nonmembers. (973-595-0100, ext. 233)
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Sobibór Retrospective: Selma Wijnberg-Engel, a survivor of the Sobibór concentration camp and the widow of Sobibór survivor and resistance leader Chaim Engel, discusses the uprising and escape of prisoners at the camp on October 14, 1943. Peter Black, a historian at the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, places the event within the larger context of the establishment and operation of the so-called Aktion Reinhard camps, which were intended to exterminate Polish Jewry. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Classroom A, Gonda Education Center, lower level; Oct. 21, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.; free, reservations recommended. (202-488-6162 or www.ushmm.org)
‘Carved Memories’: More than 70 images portraying the art of Jewish stonecutting are displayed in “Carved Memories: Heritage in Stone from the Russian Jewish Pale, Photographs by David Goberman,” taken from Goberman’s 2000 book of the same name. From the 1930s to the 1960s, Goberman, an artist and ethnographer, photographed gravestones in what was formerly the Pale of Settlement — the region in which Russia’s Jews were forced to live from the late 18th century until World War I. Many of the gravestones he photographed early on were destroyed by the Nazis, Soviets or age and decay. The gravestones provide insight into the communities and customs of the Pale. District of Columbia Jewish Community Center, Ann Loeb Bronfman Gallery; 1529 16th St. NW; opening reception Oct. 16, 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m., through Jan. 30, 2004, Sun.-Thu. 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; free. (202-518-9400 or www.dcjcc.org)
ON TOUR
Holiday Prep: The storytelling and performance group Storahtelling presents two performances of “From Breath to Breath: Preparing for Simchat Torah,” weaving traditional Hebrew chanting, English translation, dramatized Midrash, live music and audience interaction into a celebration of Torah. Based on the last eight verses of the Torah and the first verses of the creation story, the presentation celebrates the ritual aspects of Simchat Torah traditions, focusing on the circular aspects of Torah as an ongoing personal and collective journey. The first performance follows dinner in a sukkah, and the second features appearances by Rabbi Josh Simon and members of the Actors Temple Band. Jewish Educational Alliance, 5111 Abercorn St., Savannah, Georgia; Oct. 15, 5:30 p.m.; $10, $20 family. (912-355-8111). The Actors Temple, 339 W. 47th St., New York; Oct. 18, 8 p.m.; free. (212-245-8188 or www.storahtelling.org)
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