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Rabbi Joseph Potasnik Gets Jan Karski Humanitarian Award

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By Masha Leon published in The Forward –  September 20, 2014

Welcoming the overflow crowd at the Jan Karski Humanitarian Award 2014 ceremony at the Polish Consulate honoring Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis, and Polish rescuer Irena Sendler, was consul general Ewa Junczyk-Ziomecka who thanked members of the Polish-Jewish Dialogue Committee — Polish American Congress, the N.Y. Downstate Division and the Polish-Jewish Dialogue Committee —  for their dedication to their noble mission.”

Addressing an assemblage that included a sizeable number of Polish-Jewish survivors, cantor Joseph Malovany and the Forward’s publisher Samuel Norich, the consul thanked The Committee — whose members are predominantly Catholic priests and rabbis — “for their dedication to their noble mission” and amplified that “the Jan Karski Humanitarian Award ceremony is a perfect example of fruitful cooperation between Polish diaspora organizations on the one hand and American-Jewish organizations on the other.” She noted that “Pope John Paul II, who visited a synagogue in Rome and prayed at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, considered anti-Semitism a sin and called the Jews…’Christians’ brothers-in faith,’ During his papacy he encouraged a very difficult Polish-Jewish dialogue” believing that “this dialogue was necessary to overcome stereotypes and prejudices.”

Polish Children’s Choir, Consul General Ziomecka and Rabbi Potasnik // Photo by Masha Leon
Polish Children’s Choir, Consul General Ziomecka and Rabbi Potasnik // Photo by Masha Leon

Read More »Rabbi Joseph Potasnik Gets Jan Karski Humanitarian Award

Artist Sara Erenthal's portrait of an ultra-orthodox Jewish mother

Artist’s Brooklyn show describes ultra-orthodox Jewish childhood 

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Sara Erenthal grew up in a Neturei Karta community in Borough Park but split with her family after her parents returned to Israel. Her latest works draw on the life she left behind.

Sara Erenthal grew up in a Neturei Karta community in Borough Park SHE HAS moved on, but she has not forgotten.

Sara Erenthal, who split from her ultra-Orthodox Jewish family as a teen, draws on the painful life she left behind in a series of intimate artworks on display in a Prospect Heights gallery.

“This is nice way to tell my story in a very minimal way,” the 33-year-old artist said.

Erenthal was born in Israel and spent much of her childhood in a small Neturei Karta community in Borough Park.

Her family returned to Israel when she was a teen, but she ran away to escape an arranged marriage, she said.

Erenthal had never really believed in the community’s strict teachings, which called for unwavering modesty for women and an end to the state of Israel.

“It’s not really about being good people,” Erenthal said. “It’s more about being afraid of God.”

Now estranged from her father, Erenthal reimagines her childhood in her show at the SoapBox Gallery on Dean St.

Read More »Artist’s Brooklyn show describes ultra-orthodox Jewish childhood 

Barbra Streisand talks feminism with release of her newest album

Brooklyn native Barbra Streisand talks feminism with release of her newest album

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By Mesfin Fekadu, Associated Press – published in The Brooklyn Eagle – Sept. 17

This image shows Barbra Streisand during the of filming of "Funny Girl". Book publisher Taschen announced Sept. 3, 2014, that "Barbra: Streisand's Early Years in Hollywood, 1968-1976" will be published in December and will include more than 240 images, many of them never published before
This image shows Barbra Streisand during the of filming of “Funny Girl”. AP Photo/Steve Schapiro via Taschen

Brooklyn native Barbra Streisand’s new album of duets only includes male singers, but it wasn’t a conscious effort to exclude females.

“Everyone we asked was … busy,” Streisand said. The performer almost scored one major diva: Beyonce.

“She had her people try to do a track of one of the songs from my movie, ‘A Star is Born,’ and it just, we didn’t have the time to finish it, to get it right,” she said. “We had to release the album. Maybe someday we’ll do a duet because she’s so great.”

“Partners,” released Tuesday, features Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, John Mayer, John Legend and Babyface, who produced the album.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Streisand talked about music, directing, women’s right and politics.

AP: Would you do an album full of female duets next?

Streisand: (Pauses) Possibly. I loved singing with Celine (Dion) and Donna Summer.

AP: What was the energy like in the studio for you and your guests?

Read More »Brooklyn native Barbra Streisand talks feminism with release of her newest album
Neil Diamond Goes Back Home to Brooklyn

Neil Diamond Goes Back Home to Brooklyn

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‘Jewish Elvis’ Returns for Surprise Gig at Erasmus Hall

By Hody Nemes Published September 29, 2014, Jewish Daily Forward

Tough Ticket: Fans wait outside Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn for a chance to see a rare show by singer Neil Diamond.
Tough Ticket: Fans wait outside Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn for a chance to see a rare show by singer Neil Diamond.

Who says you can’t go home again? Singer Neil Diamond returned to Brooklyn Monday for a surprise performance at the high school he attended in the 1950s.

Hundreds of fans lined up outside Erasmus Hall High School in the Flatbush section hoping to snag free tickets to hear a rare intimate performance by the entertainer sometimes called “the Jewish Elvis.”

“My buddy [said], ‘Can you cut out of work? We’re going on an adventure,’” said Henry Zervas, a 26-year-old Jersey City native hoping to see his first Diamond concert.

Other fans travelled from further afield. Jackie Beck, who sported a homemade “Diamond Girl” t-shirt, drove with her husband from western Pennsylvania.

Read More »Neil Diamond Goes Back Home to Brooklyn

Finding Faith and Beauty in the Lives of Orthodox Jewish Women

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Originally published in Time by Olivier Laurent For four years, Italian photographer Federica Valabrega has photographed the everyday lives of Orthodox Jewish women around the world “For some people, if you’re religious, you’re ugly,” says Federica Valabrega, an Italian photographer who for the past four years has been documenting Jewish women across the world. Her fascination with these “Daughters of the King,” as she calls them, comes from her own… Read More »Finding Faith and Beauty in the Lives of Orthodox Jewish Women

Gita Gansburg, 86, Role Model, Mentor to Thousands of Young Jewish Women

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Originally published on Chabad.org/NEWS Mrs. Gita Gansburg, a longtime role model and mentor to thousands of young Jewish women returning to Jewish tradition, passed away in Brooklyn, N.Y. She was 86 years old. As “dorm mother” at Machon Chana-Women’s Institute for the Study of Judaism in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, Mrs. Gansburg served as a living example of Chabad-Lubavitch life as a wife, mother and friend—influencing generations of young women… Read More »Gita Gansburg, 86, Role Model, Mentor to Thousands of Young Jewish Women

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Brooklyn’s Lubavitch Community: A Culture Captured by the Ultimate Outsider

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Originally published on New York Times by Sara Trappler Spielman

The grand rabbi of the Lubavitch-Chabad Hasidim

One day during Hanukkah 26 years ago, the grand rabbi of the Lubavitch-Chabad Hasidim briefly turned away from the hundreds of men gathered before him in synagogue to cast his eye toward the women’s balcony. Then he extended an arm, offering someone there a roll of nickels. That recipient, in turn, was meant to fulfill the rabbi’s design by giving the coins to charity.

It was rare enough for Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson to direct his attention to the women’s section, which was kept separate in accordance with Orthodox practice. Rarer still was the rabbi’s target: a female photographer who was not Lubavitch, not Hasidic, not Jewish, not religious, not even American.
That photographer, Chie Nishio, stood in the lobby gallery of the Brooklyn Public Library one morning last week, regarding the picture she took of Rabbi Schneerson’s long-ago gesture. She is 84 now, a widow, living by preference without a cellphone or email account. Yet an extraordinary collection of her visual art is now receiving its belated recognition.Read More »Brooklyn’s Lubavitch Community: A Culture Captured by the Ultimate Outsider

Judith Clurman

Faith In Brooklyn for Nov. 26

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Originally published on Brooklyn Daily Eagle by Francesca Norsen Tate, Religion Editor

Judith Clurman.
“Testimony” by Stephen Schwartz
(Recording released BroadwayRecords.com
with
Essential Voices USA); rehearsal photographed: Tuesday, June 20, 2017; 11:45 AM at Manhattan School of Music; Room 707; NYC; Photograph: © 2017 Richard Termine
PHOTO CREDIT – Richard Termine

Prominent Conductor from Brooklyn Releases New Album on Jewish Song

Acclaimed choral conductor Judith Clurman has released a new compact disc, “Cherished Moments: Songs of the Jewish Spirit,” on Sono Luminus (DSL-92182). Clurman, whose Brooklyn roots have stayed with her, now lives here in the borough with her husband, Cantor Bruce Ruben.

“Cherished Moments” features Essential Voices USA, with Clurman conducting, along with soloists Ron Raines, Bruce Ruben and Michael Slattery.

This new CD combines the expertise born of Clurman’s 30 years as a prominent conductor with memories of her own childhood in synagogue and an intimate knowledge of this poignant repertoire to create a unique recording. The recording introduces exciting arrangements of traditional songs that represent the Jewish holidays and life cycle events — from the centerpiece “Songs of Freedom: A Celebration of Chanukah,” a cycle for chorus, soloists and orchestra that premiered at Carnegie Hall, to the 19th-century lyrical classicism of Louis Lewandowski and Emanuel Kirschner, to works by folk artist Debbie Friedman, cantor-composer Bruce Ruben and Canadian composer Ben Steinberg.

The recording also features important new works, among them a minimalist setting of “Set Me as a Seal” by Nico Muhly, Larry Hochman’s “Shomeir Yisrael” and Paul Schoenfield’s “Al Hanisim,” all written for Clurman. The recording features the singers of Essential Voices USA and renowned guest instrumentalists, including composers Hochman and Schoenfield accompanying their own works.

Clurman’s Essential Voices USA (EVUSA) is widely regarded as one of New York’s preeminent choral ensembles. It is composed of a highly talented roster of both seasoned professionals and auditioned volunteers. Within this group, Clurman has created a dynamic choral model in which the size of the ensemble is dictated by the unique needs of each project. EVUSA performs regularly on the Carnegie Hall subscription series with the New York Pops and at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music. For more information, visit www.essentialvoicesusa.com.

 

Read More »Faith In Brooklyn for Nov. 26
Chabad Gala Banquet

PHOTOS: 5,200 Rabbis and guests attend largest dinner in NYC

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Originally published on the Brooklyn Daily Eagle Rabbis are seen in this photo among their colleagues at a banquet at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in the Brooklyn borough of New York on November 23, 2014. They are among 5,200 rabbis and guests from over 80 countries in New York for the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries, an annual event aimed at reviving Jewish awareness and practice around the world.… Read More »PHOTOS: 5,200 Rabbis and guests attend largest dinner in NYC

Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler, a Brooklyn Boy and Chanuka

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Sandler was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1966,[2] the son of Judy, a nursery school teacher, and Stanley Sandler, an electrical engineer.[3] His family is Jewish, descending from immigrants from Russia on both sides.[4][5] When he was five, his family moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he attended Manchester Central High School. He found he was a natural comic, and nurtured his talent while at New York University by… Read More »Adam Sandler, a Brooklyn Boy and Chanuka