Concerts throughout the Bay Area
A program of the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay
Thanks to our artists and audiences, the 24th Jewish Music Festival once again was a rousing success! Stay tuned for announcements about the upcoming 25th anniversary season.
Download the full color Poster/Brochure PDF:
Check out this AMAZING clip from Opening Night:
Opening Meeting: Love-the Alchemy of Reconciliation - Monday, June 29, 2009
Today the Festival begins in earnest. I first go to an Open Meeting titled: Love-the Alchemy of Reconciliation. Run by two psychologists, this workshop has been an integral part of the Festival for nine years. It provides a space for people to process their feelings about Jewish culture in Poland, an emotional topic, to say the least.
3rd Day in Krakow - Sunday, June 28, 2009
The day begins at 8 am with a two hour drive through the rolling hills of Galicia to the village of Lelow, where the tsadik that began the Lelover Hasidim is buried. Before the war Jews made up more than a third of the village. Out of eight hundred Jews, very few survived after they were all sent to Treblinka. What stands out about the non-descript farming community is how totally absent any Jewish presence was before Lelover Hasidim began to return on pilgrimage after the Communist era. Most Jewish homes had been around the marketplace, which was one of the first places the Nazis destroyed, along with the town church. What had been the Jewish cemetery is covered by a plain building that had been a store. The tombstones had long since been removed. The Hasidim, mostly living in Bnei Brak, Israel, and Borough Park, Brooklyn, have since bought the building. A few former Jewish residents recalled where the spot of the original tsadik’s grave must have been, and a very simple monument has been established in part of the acquired building. A very simple shitbl, little shul, has been made out of another building bought for the purpose across the street. No adornment, pure function; it’s claim to fame being that it includes one of three mikvehs in Poland for the Hasidim who visit, especially at the time of the tsadik’s yahrzeit in February. While our little group is milling about the street, a local resident waves from his bicycle, greeting us with a boisterous sholom aleichem.
2nd Day in Krakow - Saturday, June 27, 2009
I wake up and head back to the Tempel Synagogue for Shabbat morning services, about a five minute walk across Szeroka Square, where a week from today, the free outdoor finale will take place. As this is my fourth time here, my path spurs recollections. . As I cut across the empty lot smelling of freshly cut grass, beside the synagogue, I picture Josh Dolgin frantically trying to get his sampling machine to work, several years ago, as precious seconds ticked away. In the end, other Festival musicians filled in live for the machine, and saved the show.