by LABA Rabbinic Fellow Kendell Pinkney Several years ago, I was fortunate to travel to Stockholm with a group of young American and European Jewish lay leaders and entrepreneurs to take part in a Jewish life program. The program was described as a week-long intensive where we would discuss “big Jewish ideas,” study with renowned
JEWISH ARTISTS & MUSEUMS LAUNCH GROUNDBREAKING DWELLING IN A TIME OF PLAGUES. Coinciding with the Jewish holidays of Sukkot and Passover, outdoor artinstallations — in Portland, Ore., LA, Tucson and New York — respond to contemporary crises. At a time when artists, along with countless others, are facingunprecedented challenges as a result of the global
Former LABA Fellow Alex Weiser writes about Zionist leader Theodor Herzl’s legacy–and about using this legacy as the basis for a new opera. Early one evening last Spring, I entered a classroom on the 4th floor at the 14th Street Y to find a big table in the center filled with all sorts of my
Dear Friends, Welcome to a new year of LABA. A new year of ancient questions. A new year of investigating the laughter and the angst of HUMOR. From birth to death, pain complicates life–and humor, like a good analgesic, makes it palatable. I look forward to introducing our 2019-2020 LABA fellows: Charlie Buckholtz, Charles Gershman, Jared Hoffman, Mark Katz, Anna
Current LABA fellow Ari Brand reflects on LABAlive, when he performed excerpts from SCENES FROM CHILDHOOD, a play based on his discovery that his father, the renowned pianist Natan Brand, lived much of his life as a gay man. Natan Brand died of AIDS in 1990. It was a warmer than usual night in the beginning
Composer Alex Weiser, a current LABA fellow, is also director of Public Programs at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York City. His new album, and all the days were purple will be released on April 12 by Cantaloupe Music. Weiser set Yiddish and English poems to music to create an absorbing and
Yonatan Gutfeld is a current LABA fellow composing a song cycle based on the poems of Ori Bernstein. Misha Shulman is a LABA fellow, playwright and educator studying to be a rabbi. LABA Journal editor Gordon Haber met with Gutfeld and Shulman in a Brooklyn bar to discuss life, death, and vodka. (Gutfeld will perform
Created by Gili Getz Actor and Photographer Gili Getz presents a deeply personal one-man performance that explores the difficulty with the Israel conversation in the American Jewish community. While visiting Israel during the last Gaza war in 2014, Gili experienced difficulty talking about the path Israel is on with his father for the first time
LABA fellow Yochai Greenfeld will be performing at LABAlive, Saturday, 2/2, 7.30pm at the Theater at the 14th Street Y. (Buy your ticket now!) Below, Greenfeld writes about his life as a performer and creating his Jewish mother character, Abbi Gezunt. About Me I was born and raised in Jerusalem. All through high school, I
LABA is a cultural incubator, helping our fellows develop new art inspired by Jewish texts. LABA Second Stage provides an opportunity for artists to further develop their work. In 2018, three LABA alumni brought their projects back to the 14th Street Y. Keren Moscovitch’s One More Way: Revolt! Multi-disciplinary artist Keren Moscovitch’s fascinating installation One More