Marie-Christine Katz in the IWA Biennial

New Shul member Marie-Christine Katz's project, "Walking, Mapping, Singing, Dreaming (Nightmare)" consisting of photographs and videos has been selected for the International Women Artists Biennial taking place in Incheon, Korea. The show is curated by Thalia Vrachopoulos.

The Biennial takes place from August 1st to August 31st 2009.

For more details on the Biennial please visit the IWA Biennial page.

To see more of Marie-Christine's work please visit her site.

Put this show on the top of your list should you be visiting Korea this summer!

New Photos on Flickr!

We just posted some new and old photos on The New Shul Flickr account.
Check them out!

Parshat Va'etchanan

By Member and Teen Intern Samantha Jacob

Last week, I wrote about the Torah portion Devarim in response to an animated video depicting this story. This week, a new narrarator explained the portion Parshat Va'etchanan, which is focused on the journey of the Israelites across the Jordan to the Promised Land. Parshat Va'etchanan features Moses being told by G-d that he will not be able to cross the river with the rest of the Israelites. Although Moses begs G-d to allow him to make the journey, he is forbidden to go and is sentenced to exile and death. The book of Numbers claims that Moses was not allowed to cross the Jordan because he hit a rock twice to draw water instead of listening to G-d's command to talk to the rock. However, the book of Deuteronomy says that Moses is punished by G-d because of the people telling Moses to send spies to the Promised Land before they would continue their journey. After listening to this, I wondered, which book is correct? Which action made G-d lead Moses to this fate? If the story about Moses not speaking to the rock to receive water but rather striking it is true, then if we go against any of G-d's teachings, will we always be reprimanded?

While listening to the narrarator speak as the animated depictions of Parshat Va'etchanan were displayed on the screen, one part of the video really stood out for me. The woman speaking stated that the tragic event of Moses dying before he was able to see his dreams come true represents how many leaders and visionaries pass away before they see there actions become widespread. Instead, she says, their successors are the ones to see the leaders and prophets dreams becoming reality. Once I heard the narrarator say this, many leaders' names went through my mind, two of them being Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, both of whom were assassinated before they were able to see the results of their actions. In the present day, we can see these peoples' dreams coming true. For example, as Martin Luther King Jr said in his "I have a dream" speech, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." This dream has become reality due to President Barack Obama being elected as the first African American president in the history of the United States of America. In addition, when I watched this part of the video, I thought of another person who didn't live long enough to see his dreams come true, Michael Jackson. Although he was a very controversial figure and many people viewed him in negative ways, he was a pioneer in the music industry and now after his recent death, the new generation is discovering his music and legacy. In many interviews, he stated that all he wanted was to be loved by everyone and although not everyone does, many people are now remembering him for his successes and not the controversial aspects of his life.

Finally, I want to comment on the addition of music in this video. In the beginning and end of the video, a man named Yuri sings and about the journey and chants the Sh'ma. The music added another dimension to the video as well as emotion to the story. I always chant the Sh'ma at Shabbat Services and sometimes before I go to sleep, but I never really think about each word that I am saying. The next time that you say the Sh'ma, try to think about what it really means to you: "Listen, Israel: G-d is our G-d; there's one G-d."

The World Premiere of Asphalt Orchestra

Come see the Asphalt Orchestra created by Bang on a Can this summer as part of Lincoln Center Out of Doors (August 5th-23rd) !

What is the Asphalt Orchestra?

"An iconoclastic 12-piece marching band conceived by Bang on a Can premieres ambitious processional music from every corner of the music world, works that coax funk from the funereal and would make a halftime show sparkle with sophistication. Choreographer Susan Marshall weds parade spectacle to new pieces by Tyondai Braxton (of Battles), Goran Bregovic, and Stew and Heidi Rodewald, and arrangements of songs by Björk, Meshuggah, Mingus, Nancarrow, and Zappa."

Where: Lincoln Center, outside various locations depending on date

When: Wednesday August 5th through Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 7 pm

Free - no tickets required

Bang on a Can was created by New Shul Member David Lang along with Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe.

NYC Opening of "Gotta Dance"

By Member Adam Zucker


"The NETSational Seniors rock the roof off the Meadowlands arena with their cool dance moves."

PHOTO: Gotta Dance & NBA Entertainment

GOTTA DANCE, a feature documentary I edited for my friend Dori Berinstein, is opening this Friday, July 31st at the Beekman Theater (66th and 2nd). The film premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival, and won a number of awards at ensuing festivals. It’s the second time I’ve collaborated with Dori (Richard Hankin and I co-edited her SHOW BUSINESS a few years ago) .

The film tells the story of an open call held by the New Jersey Nets basketball team for a new senior dance squad. The non-professionals who were selected (ages 59-83) are told they’ll be learning and then performing hip hop dance routines on the court during games. The film tells the story of their season as in-game performers.

Yes, the film, I must admit, is a feel good story. I don’t tend to do “feel good,” or funny, or heartwarming, but in this case I’m guilty of all the above. It is also, I must say, pretty enjoyable. Don’t know how long it will be at the Beekman, so if interested, check it out.

Devarim 1:1-3:22

By Member and Teen Intern Samantha Jacob

When I watched this video for the first time, I had never read anything about the Torah portion Devarim. Then I decided to watch it several more times to comprehend the essential meaning of this week's parsha. As the narrarator described the fourty year journey of the Israelites from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, the edge of Canaan, he mentioned that the new generation has "no memory" of the many historic events of the Israelites. As a person of the new generation, I immediately connected to these statements. He said that the new generation can only recall that the Israelites wandered through the desert on their journey to the Promised Land. That is correct that we cannot remember events such as "recieving the Torah at Sinai" but that is the sole reason why we study the Torah today. Yes, we don't know how the Israelites truly felt as they fought in battles against Sihon, the King of the Amorites but studying this history is the true path to finding answers for our questions about the journey to Canaan.

As the video continued, the narrarator also mentioned the word "history" many times, but at one point, a quote appeared on the computer screen: "Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it." This statement is often repeated in today's society, but history is still, thousands of years later in our Jewish history, repeating itself. Current events such as the long lasting Iraq War and the genocide in Darfur are prime examples of historical events like the Holocaust repeating themselves. Even though history is still being "forgotten" and repeated in different forms, the new generation can make a change. Although we cannot write our own history, we can make attempts to prevent history from repeating itself. As the narrarator said, "History is not something that happens to us. History is what we do with what happens to us."

Shalom Village

We just received an email from our dear friends at Village Restaurant. Sadly, they are shutting their doors this Saturday evening. Owner, member, friend Stephen Lyle (pictured above in the chef jacket) explained that his lease was up and that the landlord was able to find a new tenant to pay double the rent. The Village was a place where we could always find a friendly welcome and a satisfying meal.

This neighborhood restaurant was a place our community celebrated life together. Many of our students had their Bat or Bar Mitzvah luncheons at this local joint, and we held our last Golden Schmaltz event there. Thank you for all the great memories and for being one of our second homes! We wish you lots of luck in your new adventures.

Sunset Shabbat on the Beach - where to stay

In a month from today, catch the Shabbat wave in the Hamptons!

Where: Meet us at Atlantic Beach (at the end of Atlantic Avenue in Amagansett, which is past the town of East Hampton on Route 27).

When: Friday, August 21 at 7:30pm (Raindate - Friday, August 28)

Need a place to stay? Here are four recommendations from the locals:

Ocean Dunes: Efficiencies on the beach, 631-267-8121

Sea Breeze Inn: B&B right on Atlantic, 631-267-3692

Gansett Green Manor: Little cottages right in town - short walk to beach, 631-267-3133

The Reform Club: Fancy chic little cottages - just opened, 631-267-8500

See you on the beach or on August 10 for a nosh at Cowgirl and klezmer music at Charles Street Synagogue.

A Night of Art in Chelsea: Filling Empty Space

By member Bill Rood

Do we let a recession define us by what is lost or do we define ourselves by what we create during the recession? For "No Longer Empty," a project curated by Manon Slome and New Shul member Asher Remy-Toledo, the answer is both -- with a strong bias towards what can be created. "The numerous vacated spaces in New York City," according to the No Longer Empty website, "provide an opportunity for artists to revitalize these spaces with thoughtful, sustainable art installations." As Asher explained to The New Shul members and visitors during our night of art in Chelsea, a vacant fishing supply store provided both the space for the exhibition and also inspiration for the art within. Much of the art took on nautical themes or metaphors which made it defined by what was lost; however, what was more overwhelming in the space was what was created in what otherwise would have been emptiness.

The curators of No Longer Empty, Asher and Manon Slome, stepped us through the exhibition explaining how the artwork interweaved themes of the recession with the location. One part was titled "Ship of Fools" and another work contained numerous self help books that had been retitled with the name of investment banks. However some of the work concentrated more on location and contained books that looked like fishing manuals, but were actually about reeling in celebrities who had frequented the Chelsea Hotel.

After the exhibition, Asher led us to his home for cocktails and to see his art collection, which he assembled along with his life partner Mark Routh. Asher and Mark's home nimbly dances between serving as home and gallery. Asher told us about the work on what seemed like gallery walls and yet when we broke into conversation we were in a home that was most generously opened to us.


But we should not feel that we need to be as ambitious in using art to transform the landscape as No Longer Empty has. There is the larger exterior landscape of the city and its abandoned storefronts and apartments, but there is also an inner landscape as Rabbi Dan Ain pointed out when he spoke to us at Asher and Mark's home. To explain, Rabbi Ain quoted from an excerpt by Nikolai Berdyae:

"The presence of genius in man has to do with his inner creativeness and not with the external realization of it.... A man's genius may, however, be out of keeping with his powers of realization. The presence of genius and originality together with a great talent for realizing the products of creative activity makes a man a genius in the usual sense of the term. But there may be something of genius in a man's love for a woman, in a mother's love for her child, in a person's concern for other people's welfare, in inner intuitions which find no outer expression, in the pursuit of righteousness and the suffering of trying to discover the meaning of life."

So it does not matter whether we reclaim abandoned tracks and turn them into a park (as the shul learned about last week), occupy vacated offices or storefronts with art exhibitions, pursue righteousness in the waistlands caused by suffering, fill some of the space in ours and other's hearts with love, or merely put into the emptiness our own voice asking what life is all about. In any one of these ways we can begin to fill that empty space, that empty space left from what is lost in these difficult times, it can be filled with a little bit of genius, a little bit of ourselves.

Klezmer Music at Charles Street Synagogue, Nosh at Cowgirl

Don't miss this new addition to our Summer Shul line up!

Join us Monday, August 10 for a night of music, eating, drinking, and fun! Meet us before the show at 7:30pm for a nosh and a drink with Rabbi Dan in the back lounge at Cowgirl (519 Hudson St at 10th) and then walk over to Charles St Synagogue to hear the Andy Statman Trio, an impressionistic original Chassidic klezmer bluegrass improvisational group.

Chai Line Shabbat

By member Bill Rood

We stood in the High Line park above the busy street preparing for Kabbalat Shabbat. The New Shul members, guests, and passers by mingled, set up their pot-luck dishes (five benches full of food) with additional catering provided by CuisinEtc Catering and Special Events, and then fell silent as a single voice began to sing from within. Our voices slowly joined in with Ellen Gould, Musical Director and Co-Founder, who led us as we began welcoming in Shabbat.

Rabbi Dan Ain then spoke of the things that make life worth living, "Groucho Marx ... the second movement of the Jupiter Symphony ... Louie Armstrong's recording of "Potatohead Blues" ... Swedish movies ... "Sentimental Education" by Flaubert ... Marlon Brando ... Frank Sinatra ... those incredible apples and pears by Cezanne ... the crabs at Sam Wo's ... Tracy's face ..." But it was not our Rabbi's list, it was Woody Allen's from Manhattan. Rabbi Dan told us of the "still small voice" of God in the Torah, a striking example of how the wondrous and amazing is not always bright and crashing. What examples of small voices that make life worth living, Rabbi Dan asked us, are in our lives? And we answered:

The sound of the water -- when you go to the Hudson River (as when kayaking) you enter a separate world were you can hear the voice of the river, no longer drowned out by the busy city beside it.

The High Line itself -- being above the city yet in a city park, being within the community yet being outside amongst everyone -- maybe not always a still voice, maybe not always a small voice, but a similar voice all the same.

The way light changes throughout the seasons -- watching the way light patterns change on your apartment walls as the seasons pass and the sun and moon move around the sky.

Then we became our own still small voice as Ellen led us in a slow meditative Shema. The wind was in our hair and the city spun by, but we all for a moment were a single voice.

Rabbi Ain then read a poem by Thoreau about being "in the forest as a child" ... "to have one moment in your dawn" which Ellen followed with a beautiful niggun that transformed into the song of "New York, New York" but with the words of Adon Olam. It was as unexpected as Shabbat on abandoned rail tracks above the street and just as beautiful, making it clear why the Rabbis said that Shabbat at its best represents the world to come.

Here we stand on a park above the city street
A park born of the activist spirit
A spirit that wanted to save something special for everyone
A spirit we recognize throughout Jewish history

Tikkun tracks, healed tracks, that were almost forgotten
And straight down these tracks we see her,
Lady liberty standing in the harbor
Pointing the way north up the trail
Reminding us of how many fought so we could all be free
So we could all be free to worship openly in our country

Where we stand on the tracks of a city of industry
Tracks now retired, now well taken care of
We are not on one side of the track or other
But tonight we stand together on this track

Chefs Lisa Teiger and Andrew Alexander-Crossan provided the most amazing food
in the most creative display. Delicious! Thanks Chefs.

To read more about the event, check out our fabulous guest caterer Lisa Teiger's blog: cuisinEtc - a culinary journey.

Making Progress out of Excess

This past February, at our teen-led Social Action Kabbalat Shabbat, The New Shul teens partnered with Goods for Good to collect materials for their Teacher Supply Closet - a program which brings excess school goods (pens, paper, markers, etc...) to under-resourced schools in Malawi.

Melissa Kushner, Executive Director of Goods For Good, spoke at our service and collected the materials to bring with her to Malawi.

She has reported back!

"Your donation has greatly improved classroom conditions for both students and teachers. The joy and happiness as we attended the distributions across Malawi this past March was truly overwhelming."

According to Mr. Banda, Head Teacher at St. Mathias, "We used to miss school days to search for discarded cardboard cartons in the market or in the trash so we could make wall posters. Now we don't have to do that anymore. We use the blank paper to make posters to clarify abstract topics. We are better teachers and the students are learning more."

Melissa also notes that the "soccer balls will support four different youth clubs. All were jubilant to receive such beautiful soccer balls after years of playing with bundles of plastic bags."

Mazel Tov to The New Shul teens!

And to Mazel Tov to Melissa at Goods For Good for continuing to make progress out of excess!

We look forward to continuing to support this wonderful program.