Happening

Jews on Vinyl

Once-loved and sometimes-forgotten audio gems tell a vibrant tale of how Jewish culture became mainstream American culture. In an experiential exhibition visitors are transported to the days of turntables in recreated mid-20th century living rooms while listening to the sounds of an earlier era — (Barbara) “Streisand Superman,” comedian Patsy Abbott’s “Yiddish Songs Mama Never Taught Me,” “Shalom: The Barry Sisters,” and Shoshana Damari’s “Haifa in Hi-Fi.” Based on the 2008 book And You Shall Know Us by the Trail of Our Vinyl: The Jewish Past as Told by the Records We Have Loved and Lost by Roger Bennett and Josh Kun, who guest-curated this exhibition organized by the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, it’s at Yeshiva University Museum in NYC. yumuseum.org

Mameloshn — How Yiddish Made a Home in Melbourne

A new exhibit showcases the complexities, controversy, theatre, music and politics of this Australian Yiddish community, and the lasting contribution of a language and culture woven into what is now multicultural Melbourne. Curated by Anna Epstein, it documents the journey of Eastern European Jews who came here to recreate their lives. Through February 2012 at The Jewish Museum of Australia in Victoria. jewishmuseum.com.au

Pearls of Wisdom: End the Violence

Kim Abeles has drawn on her own history as a survivor of domestic violence to design a transformative art-making installation project, working with survivors and community members to recast memories of domestic pain into iridescent objects. Like pearls, these deeply personal works were formed in response to a harmful irritant. Accompanying the “pearls of wisdom” are the words, advice and images from hundreds of participants. Organized by A Window Between Worlds, a national nonprofit using art to end domestic violence. Admission free. September 13, 2011 – February 26, 2012. skirball.org/ exhibitions/pearls-of-wisdom

Between Two Worlds

This documentary asks who gets to decide what being Jewish is and isn’t, and who is entitled to speak for a polarized Jewish community. In a world where “young Jews choose new hybrid and reinvented Jewish identities despite the outcry of traditionalists,” the film explores in a passionate and personal way how the paths to inclusion in the Jewish community are narrowing. Filmmakers Deborah Kaufman, (founder and director for 13 years of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival) and Alan Snitow share their families’ poignant stories in this provocative film. btwthemovie.org

Gender, Dress and Religion

Clothing is often a means of self expression for women, a source of pleasure and anxiety, an indicator of repression or liberation, a canvas for religious and political control. It can set norms for fitting in and breaking out, signify conformity to national, religious and cultural expectations or defiance of them. These are some of the topics that will be explored at “What to Wear: Women, Clothing, Religion,” an all day conference at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC. It’s intended for women (and interested men), clergy of diverse religious traditions, academics and laypersons. There will be programming for teens, intergenerational presentations, and a free public lecture by Jenna Weissman Joselit, “In Good Taste: American Jews and the Pursuit of Acceptance,” in the evening. March 11, 2012. jtsa.org

What Jews Look Like

How can communities ensure the inclusion of individuals of varying ethnic, cultural, and racial backgrounds, gender, sexual orientation and degrees of religious observance? A conference to explore diversity will be keynoted by The Honorable Ruth Messinger. Rabbi Linda Henry Goodman of the Union Temple of Brooklyn and Lacey Schwartz, National Outreach Director of Be’chol Lashon, will respond. Nancy Kaufman, CEO of National Council of Jewish Women, Rabbi Heidi Hoover and Dr. Eva Fogelman will lead discussion groups. Offered by The Jewish Women’s Resource Center Steering Committee of the NCJW New York Section, Sunday, December 11, 2011, at NCJW New York Section. ncjw.org

Museum on the Seam

The not-yet-well-enough-known Jerusalem museum, a socio-political contemporary art museum founded in 2005, is situated in a building which, between 1948 and 1967, served as an Israeli army outpost on the border between Israel and Jordan; it stood alongside the Mandelbaum Gate that connected the divided city. The current exhibit, about Islam and the West, includes works by Israeli and international artists — and invites viewers to “walk between struggles for honor, faith, and prestige weighted down by suspicion, and to look closely at the maze of hostility that led two civilizations to an existential struggle for power and control of the world of tomorrow.” mots.org.il

Special Needs B’nai Mitzvah

On Eagles’ Wings offers innovative support for special needs children approaching their b’nai mitzvah to help them experience a joyous and memorable rite of passage. Created by Rabbi Margot Stein, this website offers resources for educators and parents, including an ask-the rabbi corner for help with writing divrei Torah, mp3s of key prayers, Hebrew language resources, and a place to connect with other families, and to be “cheered on. “ Booktobimah.com

A Jewish Library in Vilnius

Its motto is “The tent of Jewish life and culture is large enough to have something for everyone.” The first Jewish library in Lithuania since 1943 was recently established to celebrate culture created by Jews and opens November 2011. VilniusJewishLibrary.org

Out of Kippot

Women’s “caps and hats with a Jewish twist… portable and revolutionary” are each unique and handmade in a studio in Munich, Germany. In the best tradition of recycling, they are sewn from remnants of couture design. Hannes Hein came up with the idea for this “Fashion Against antiSemitism” project as one small way to do something about an increase in neo-Nazi advertising she noticed in Dresden over the last 15 years. Ten percent of proceeds are donated to the Friends of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews in Berlin. One kippah, the “hat ahead memory” shown here, has a CD which can store memories. ook-fashion.com

Isramerica

Sivan Hadari’s one-woman show “The Emancipation of the Sassy Jewish Woman” was recently filmed for a documentary about Israeli artists in New York. She runs the nonprofit Isramerica, comprised of emerging Israeli and Jewish -American actors, dancers, singers, comedians, playwrights, directors, filmmakers and visual artists who celebrate their Jewish roots through art and spread a positive image of Israel to audiences of Jews and non-Jews alike.

Many have been featured on Broadway and off, on Comedy Central, MTV and HBO, as well as in music and comedy venues all over New York. They produce a number of events throughout the year including holiday gatherings, film screenings, play festivals, private parties and performances. Isramerica.com