 Search:
  
 
Be’chol Lashon Newsletter: April 2010
Be'chol Lashon advocates for a global understanding of the Jewish people that reflects contemporary identity.
Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, the leader of the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, will be raising awareness about his community and global Jewry during a speaking tour in May and June. This is an wonderful opportunity for your community to learn more about him, the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda, and about global Jewry in general. Click here to book Rabbi Sizomu.
You've read his blog, you've watched his hilarious and provocative videos. Shais Rison is a fifth generation African American Orthodox Jew. Be'chol Lashon National Outreach Director Lacey Schwartz caught up with the man known as MaNisthana and asked him about being an "anti-activist" and about the phenomenon of "Joc slapping."
In the twentieth century, the struggle to define and defend whiteness was often presented as an intra-racial struggle—white people against “the wrong kind of white people.” The race theorist Lothrop Stoddard warned against “racial impoverishment,” and enumerated the “alien stocks” that were taking over Rhode Island: “Poles, Polish and Russian Jews, South Italians, and French-Canadians.”
Across the nation, millions of people are being asked to record basic profile data for the 2010 United States census, including their race. For most, this is an easy task. Find the racial box that fits and check it. Done. But my race isn't a check-one-box kind of question.
It's been three months since the earthquake ravaged wide sections of Port-au-Prince. I've learned how to live through this recent tragedy by mourning—Judaism has shown me how to move from passive mourning to active mourning, knowing that there is an end.
Sixty years after Israel’s founding, its citizens still lack an official Isreali identity; instead of being recognized on their ID cards as Israelis, most are registered as “Jewish” or “Arab.” David Kaufman on the court case that could change that—and what it means for the country’s future.
The new documentary film “Off and Running” bills itself as “An American Coming of Age Story,” which it is. It also happens to be an adoptee’s coming-of-age story, a black coming-of-age story, a Jewish coming-of-age story, an interracial family’s coming-of-age story.
Our decision to adopt transracially was a gradual one. While we were both open to any ethnicity, Steven was more fearful about handling the challenges involved. Steven used to say to me, “Will our Black child want to bring his Black friends home to meet his two White Jewish daddies?”
Through a locked door in the coal-darkened boiler room of No. 1 Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Kaifeng, there’s a well lined with Ming Dynasty bricks. The heritage it represents brings a trickle of travelers to see one of the more unusual aspects of this country: China, too, had its Jews.
The Jewish population of Brasilia is comprised mostly of families who have moved for professional reasons and still commute to their hometowns. Though they are only part-timers in Brasilia, they play a key role in sustaining Jewish life in the capital of Latin America’s largest country.
Walter Mosley doesn’t write about bubbes. “I write about Black male heroes,” he said. “There’s really nobody in America writing about Black male heroes.” Fair enough. But that doesn’t exclude the possibility of a profoundly Jewish dimension in his work.
Yasmin Levy likens herself to a butterfly fluttering among flowers, pollinating them. The flowers are countries and people; the pollen, her songs in Ladino. "I disseminate these songs because they are the only thing that will survive from this language," she said.
Artie Shaw denied that his longtime theme song, "Nightmare," had anything Jewish about it. But years ago, I found out that the penetrating theme was based on a nigun, a melody sung by Jewish cantors.
Sheba Film Festival 2010 NYC Premiere! Through rare archival materials and testimonies, the extraordinary story of Yona Bogale, the leader of Ethiopian Jewry, is brought to light. Through his stories we see the complexity of the Ethiopian absorption into Israel. Click here to buy your tickets today!
Join us for a presentation by Joel Sanchez and a screening of The Last Marranos: The Crypto Jews of Portugal, which examines the lives of Portuguese Jews who were forced to practice their faith in secret for 500 years. RSVP required to Judy Levitan or call 212-399-2685 ext 219. Joint program of JBFCS and Be'chol Lashon.
After feasting on a delicious, globally influenced Shabbat dinner prepared by 92YTribeca's head chef Russell Moss, Lacey A. Schwartz, Be'chol Lashon's Director of Outreach for North America, will speak about her personal story, her work with Be'chol Lashon around issues of racial and ethnic diversity in the Jewish community and how Be'chol Lashon is working to grow a Global Jewish Community. Buy tickets here.
Forced to flee to the United States in 1979 at age eleven following the violent Iranian Revolution, Angella Nazarian’s memoir takes readers on an emotional journey from past to present, the exotic to the familiar, and from Iran’s political struggle to her own inner struggle in search of home, family, and sense of belonging. Buy tickets here.
Like the tiles in a mosaic, Jewish identity is multicolored and multicultural. Differing communities contribute their own experiences, practices, and perceptions, shifting and enriching Jewish life. With Rabbi Capers Funnye, Rabbi Manny Vińas, and Emily Soloff. Followed by a reception sponsored by Be'chol Lashon.
Be sure to stop by the Be'chol Lashon table! We will feature new, unique necklaces, hand crafted from recycled magazines by the women of the Abayudaya Jewish community in Uganda. Also featured are kippot from Kaifeng, China. Can't make it to the festival? Merchandise is now available online!
Groove, learn, examine, discuss, create at DAWN 2010, a late-night Cultural Arts Festival and Celebration of the Jewish holiday Shavuot. Featured program: Outside The Box, a video piece and conversation about dual identity, a new reality of America’s population conceived and created by Lacey Schwartz. Ms. Schwartz is a documentary fillmaker and the National Outreach Director, Be’ chol Lashon. Buy tickets here.
A unique community-wide celebration and night of Torah study, a spiritual journey bringing together Jews with varied perspectives and affiliations. Stay for an hour or until dawn. Leaders will be teaching from our diverse Jewish community. Co-sponsored by Be'chol Lashon.
Dr. Jamie Wilson will explore what it means to be both Black and Jewish. He is partnering with Be'chol Lashon to research African American Jews in the context of the global Jewish community. His upcoming book, Black and Jewish: African American Jewish Identities in the Early Twenty-First Century, will be a collection of autobiographical narratives that will give voice to those who stand at the intersection of African American and Jewish communities, documenting the history and traditions of Jews of African descent in the United States. Co-sponsored by Be'chol Lashon.
Colombia-born Rabbi Mejia was on his way to becoming a monk when he discovered his Jewish roots. Like many Jews during the Inquisition, his ancestors converted to Catholicism and were forced to practice Judaism in secrecy. Learn about Rabbi Mejia's efforts to help Jews reconnect to their heritage and discover how oral histories help provide continuity for the Jewish faith.
Presented in partnership with Be’chol Lashon. Buy tickets here.
Visit Be'chol Lashon's Kids Zone for interactive performances plus arts & crafts. Stay for the headliner, T-SLAM, pioneers of Israeli Rock 'n Roll!
Mixed Roots Literary and Film Festival presents Off and Running, a new documentary about an African American teen who was trans-racially adopted by lesbian moms. Opening the film is the teaser for, Outside the Box, a documentary which traces Be'chol Lashon Outreach Coordinator, Lacey Schwartz's upbringing in a white Jewish family, discovery at eighteen that her biological father is Black and personal exploration of her mixed-race identity; all the while exploring her connection to other Black Jews in America.
Camp Be'chol Lashon's mission is to offer a safe, nurturing, challenging residential Jewish camp experience for children of racially and ethnically diverse Jewish families and those who want to be part of a global Jewish community. Register | Apply for staff
Job Openening for 3rd Grade teacher We welcome your participation in the Be’chol Lashon Newsletter! Please send us information about events in your community or articles of interest that relate to Jewish diversity. E-mail Esther Fishman. Submissions are subject to editing for content, clarity and style. Special thanks to all the contributors who make the newsletter interesting and informative. |
