Calendar
Award-winning musicians Daryl Davis and Seth Kibel present a special evening of story and song celebrating the Jewish songwriters and producers behind the scenes of the first decade of rock ‘n roll.
While none of the marquee names of the first decade of rock and roll were Jewish, many of the key figures behind the scenes were. Songwriters like Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Doc Pomus, Carole King. Producers like Leonard and Phil Chess, Jerry Wexler, and Phil Spector. And legendary DJs and promoters like Alan Freed.
Daryl and Seth will bring their stories to life through the music of Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Elvis Presley, and more.
Dir. Eran Riklis | 113 min
Narrative | Belgium, Israel, Netherlands, Portugal | 2019
English and Hebrew with English subtitles
Directed by Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis (Lemon Tree, The Syrian Bride) and based on true events, this engrossing spy thriller stars Sir Ben Kingsley as Adereth, an aging Mossad agent.
While Adereth is on a secret service operation across Holland and Belgium, he finds himself trailed by a young agent (Itay Tiran, Hostages) as well as the enigmatic Angela (Monica Bellucci).
Haunted by his past, he is forced to question the web of lies he’s spun over his lifetime, and realizes the hunter may become the hunted in a world of mirrors and deceit.
In this six-week series, we will examine each of the five books of the Torah – and the holiday of Purim – with an eye toward literary structure, broad themes, and historical context. The course will draw upon the daily reflections of contributors to 929 English, a project dedicated to creating a global Jewish conversation anchored in Tanakh and dedicated to issues that unite and divide us.
Price
1 class: $10 for members, $12 for non-members
January 30: Shemot/Exodus | Click here to register for the January 30 class only.
Taught by Shira Hecht-Koller, Director of Education for 929 English. Shira is an educator, attorney and writer. She teaches Bible and Talmud to a wide variety of audiences, and writes and speaks on education, creative living, and family life. She received her J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and is a graduate of the Bruriah Scholars Program in Advanced Talmud Studies at Midreshet Lindenbaum.
February 13: Vayikra/Leviticus | Click here to register for the February 13 class only.
Taught by Rabbi Adam Mintz, Director of 929 English. Rabbi Mintz is the rabbi of Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim, a Modern Orthodox community he founded on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. In addition, Rabbi Mintz is a member of the Talmud faculty at Yeshivat Maharat and has taught as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at City College, New York for the past six years. Rabbi Mintz received his rabbinical ordination at Yeshiva University and obtained his PhD in Jewish History at New York University.
February 27: Special class on Purim and the Book of Esther | Click here to register for the February 27 class only.
Taught by Dr. Erica Brown. Erica is an associate professor at George Washington University and the director of its Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership. She is the author of twelve books on spirituality, the Hebrew Bible, and leadership; her forthcoming commentary is The Book of Esther: Power, Fate, and Fragility in Exile (Koren/OU). Erica has degrees from Yeshiva University, University of London, Harvard University, and Baltimore Hebrew University. She has previously worked at The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston, and the Jewish Center of New York.
March 12: Bamidbar/Numbers | Click here to register for the March 12 class only.
March 26: Devarim/Deuteronomy | Click here to register for the March 26 class only.
Taught by Rabbi Adam Mintz.
Questions
Looking for more information on this series? Please contact the Edlavitch DCJCC at 202-518-9400.
DC Central Kitchen develops and operates social ventures targeting the cycle of hunger and poverty. Each of our ventures create opportunities for meaningful careers, expand access to healthy food, and test innovative solutions to systemic failures.
Join us to volunteer on site at the DC Central Kitchen. Tasks include chopping vegetables, sorting fresh produce, mixing salads, portioning meals, preparing and cooking food.
To work in the kitchen volunteers must wear long pants, closed-toed shoes – non-slip soles recommended, shirts with sleeves (short sleeves are okay, tank tops are not), and a hat or other head covering. Hairnets are provided if you don’t bring a hat. Midriff shirts are not allowed. Aprons and gloves will be provided.
Volunteers must be at least 12 years old to participate, no exceptions please. Registration required.
If you aren’t feeling well and have any flu or cold-like symptoms we request that you volunteer a different time for the safety of those we serve.
If you have any questions please email Josh at jsherman@edcjcc.org.
A Hidden Corner
By Peretz Hirschbein, translated by David S. Lifson, directed by Brendon Fox
February 3, 2020
Noah, the son of the miller, and Tzirl, the daughter of the gravedigger, are in love. But when a newly constructed mill drives a wedge between their families, their future together looks grim. In this Romeo and Juliet tale set in a shtetl, can young love overcome dueling families, an arranged marriage, physical violence and even ghostly spirits?
Playwright Bio: Peretz Hirschbein (1880-1948) was a Yiddish-language playwright, novelist, journalist, travel writer, and theater director. Born in Poland, he lived for a while in Odessa where he established a short-lived Yiddish theater company and traveled extensively, eventually settling in Los Angeles. Although Hirschbein wrote A Farvorfen Vinkel in 1912, Maurice Schwartz’s 1918 staging of the play at his Irving Place Theater in New York was the beginning of Yiddish art theater in America and helped to usher in the second golden age of Yiddish theater. Hirschbein’s 38 Yiddish dramas were also performed in Russian, Hebrew, English, German, Spanish, and French by theater troupes all over the world. He died from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) on August 16, 1948 in Los Angeles.
Translator Bio: David S. Lifson (c. 1909 – 1996) was a businessman, teacher, author and playwright. His doctoral thesis was published as a book in 1965 with the title ”Yiddish Theater in America.” His other books included ”Wandering Star,” a compilation of stories and plays by Sholom Aleichem; “Epic and Folk Plays of the Yiddish Theatre,” which included his translation of Farvorfen Vinkel; and ”Headless Victory,” a mystery.
Why this play?
Literary critic Jacob Glatshteyn called Farvorfen Vinkel one of “the four greatest plays in the Yiddish repertoire.” Indeed, the play does highlight all of the most striking characteristics of Hirschbein’s mature work. By 1912, when this play was written, Hirschbein had abandoned symbolism and returned to his rural roots, dramatizing the lives and loves of rural Jews. The understated quality of this play elevated it to the plane of serious theater, helping to lay the groundwork for the Yiddish art theater movement in America.
A fiesty young woman, caught in a love triangle between the highbred son of her employer and a poor but adoring klezmer player, must decide whether to stoop for love or money. And why is stooping the only choice anyway? Set in a shtetl of romanticized memory, this heart-breaking comedy is based on the Yiddish play The Singer of His Sorrows by Osip Dymov.
For pay-what-you-choose tickets, please visit the Theater J website. Please contact the box office with any questions at 202.777.3210.
It’s almost time for our favorite Hallmark holiday! Come celebrate with us at the biggest 20s and 30s Jewish speed dating event in the DC area, the 10th Lox Meets Bagel!
Join NOVA Tribe, EntryPointDC and nearly 100 Jewish young professionals, for 20’s and 30’s speed dating with a twist. You will be individually matched for mini one-on-one dates and mingle with everyone in the room during our Chance At Romance Search.
Register with a friend of the opposite sex and get an extra drink ticket.
Tickets: https://lox-meets-bagel-2020.eventbrite.com
This event always sells out in advance!! Make sure to reserve your space as we only have a certain number of male and female spots in order to keep numbers even.
In this four-week series, we will study and discuss select Jewish ethics and writings as they pertain to the contemporary and complex issues we face as a nation today. Topics will include immigration, gun control and the right to bear arms, the opioid crisis, and abortion. No previous knowledge necessary. Open to individuals of all backgrounds and affiliations.
Taught by Rabbi Hyim Shafner of Kesher Israel: The Georgetown Synagogue.
Price
1 class: $10 for members, $12 for non-members
Class Dates:
February 6: The Opioid Crisis | Click here to register for this class only.
Do we have the right to do with our bodies what we wish? We will look at Jewish ideas of health, misleading advertising, and medical ethics in light of the current crisis of opioid addiction.
March 12: Abortion | Click here to register for this class only.
We will take a close look at what the Talmud says about abortion and fetal status to help answer questions, in a Jewish context, such as when does life begin? Does a fetus have a status in Jewish law and thought? Should government have jurisdiction over our person?
Rabbi Hyim Shafner is the rabbi of Kesher Israel: The Georgetown Synagogue, in Washington, DC. Previously, Rabbi Shafner served as senior Rabbi of Bais Abraham Congregation in St. Louis, Missouri, as the Rabbi of the Hillel at Washington University in St. Louis, and as the Rabbi of India for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He has Rabbinical Ordination, an MSW in social work and an MA in Jewish philosophy from Yeshiva University. He holds a certificate in Advanced Psychodynamic Psychotherapy from the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute. Rabbi Shafner is the author of the Everything Jewish Wedding Book (2008), a founding writer of Morethodoxy, and a periodic contributor to The Journal of Jewish Ideas and Ideals.
Looking for more information on this series? Please contact the Edlavitch DCJCC at 202-518-9400.
Dirs. Amikam Kovner and Assaf Snir
98 min | Narrative Israel | 2018
Hebrew with English Subtitles
Nominated – Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound & Best Music, Israeli Film Academy Awards 2018
Having been married for 15 years, Ella and Avner seem to their friends to be the perfect couple. Avner’s faith in his marriage, however, takes a hit when he accidentally finds out that Ella is having an affair.
Instead of confronting her, he starts recording her phone calls, repeatedly listening to them in an attempt to find clues, and possible reasons. The discoveries he makes about the woman he thought he knew and understood shatter his world, and his family. Superbly written, directed and acted, Echo is a suspenseful and stylish psychological thriller starring Yael Abecassis and Yoram Toledano (who both starred in the enormously popular Prisoners of War, the Israeli forerunner to Homeland).
-Note adapted from the UK Jewish Film Festival
Dirs. Amikam Kovner and Assaf Snir
98 min | Narrative Israel | 2018
Hebrew with English Subtitles
Nominated – Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound & Best Music, Israeli Film Academy Awards 2018
Having been married for 15 years, Ella and Avner seem to their friends to be the perfect couple. Avner’s faith in his marriage, however, takes a hit when he accidentally finds out that Ella is having an affair.
Instead of confronting her, he starts recording her phone calls, repeatedly listening to them in an attempt to find clues, and possible reasons. The discoveries he makes about the woman he thought he knew and understood shatter his world, and his family. Superbly written, directed and acted, Echo is a suspenseful and stylish psychological thriller starring Yael Abecassis and Yoram Toledano (who both starred in the enormously popular Prisoners of War, the Israeli forerunner to Homeland).
-Note adapted from the UK Jewish Film Festival
Dirs. Amikam Kovner and Assaf Snir
98 min | Narrative Israel | 2018
Hebrew with English Subtitles
Nominated – Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound & Best Music, Israeli Film Academy Awards 2018
Having been married for 15 years, Ella and Avner seem to their friends to be the perfect couple. Avner’s faith in his marriage, however, takes a hit when he accidentally finds out that Ella is having an affair.
Instead of confronting her, he starts recording her phone calls, repeatedly listening to them in an attempt to find clues, and possible reasons. The discoveries he makes about the woman he thought he knew and understood shatter his world, and his family. Superbly written, directed and acted, Echo is a suspenseful and stylish psychological thriller starring Yael Abecassis and Yoram Toledano (who both starred in the enormously popular Prisoners of War, the Israeli forerunner to Homeland).
-Note adapted from the UK Jewish Film Festival
The Edlavitch DCJCC embraces inclusion in all its programs and activities. We welcome and encourage the participation of all people, regardless of their background, sexual orientation, abilities, or religion, including interfaith couples and families.