By Laura Beatrix Newmark, Director LABA New York “…like the strength of a blessing, as we go Quietly on with what we shall be doing, and sing Thanks for being enabled, again, to begin this instant.” -from At the New Year by John Hollander, And so it goes, after 15 months of pivoting our LABA
By, 2021 LABA Fellow Annie Berman Our current Zeitgeist is filled with dreams of renewal, reawakening, return – a return to a better world. Is that even possible? Are human beings capable of creating a world anew, or can we only work towards reforming, healing. Are there limits to human imagination? I write this as
by Ronit Muszkatblit In The Absence of a Proper Mourning is an outdoor audio visual installation that will be shown at The Jewish Museum of Maryland by LABA artist Tal Beery. This piece is a part of Dwelling in The Time of Plagues, a Jewish creative response to real-world plagues of our time, generously supported
by 2021 LABA Fellow Doron Perk When I started to work on a dance piece to honor the memory of my grandfather, Prof. Kalman Perk, I knew I would use Mendelssohn. He loved classical music, mostly opera. He knew all the names of composers and singers. Mezzo, a channel for mainly operas and ballet, would
by Ronit Muszkatblit, Director of Arts and Culture, Artistic Director of LABA Dwelling in a Time of Plagues is a Jewish Artist collaboration that spans six cities: NYC, Baltimore, Toronto, Boston, Charlotte and Detroit, funded by CANVAS a Jewish Funders Network. Seven Jewish artists have created original pieces that represent a current plague of our
by 2021 LABA Fellow Dvir Cahana The theme for this year’s Laba art fellowship is “Chosenness”. And so, in writing this blog, one question keeps coming up in my mind. What makes this week chosen from all other weeks? This weekend is a very exciting weekend in the Jewish calendar. Not because I am going
by, Mindy Pfeffer LABA fellow 2021 As a Sesame Street song says – one of these things is not like the other… Katherine Switzer became the first woman to run the Boston Marathon as anofficially registered competitor – in 1967. She had to register with her initialsinstead of her first name because women were not
by Rebecca S’manga Frank, 2021 LABA Fellow Thank you Gil Scott Heron (not me) for the reminder that whatever the revolution is, it does not happen in a virtual world from home. That means that revolutionary change would appear to be hamstrung by the Covid-19 pandemic, but not necessarily so. There are at least two
By, Laura Beatrix Newmark, Director of LABA NY Welcome to a new year of LABA. A new year of ancient questions and modern realities. A new year of investigating the core tenet of much of Judaism, to ask questions, and that very elusive concept of choice and chosenness. This is a year like no other,
By Laura Beatrix Newmark, Director of LABA NY Hillel said many things in his lifetime but a particular few lines has gotten more air time in recent years than many other Rabbinic scholars. “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I’m only for myself, who am I? If not now,