Marking the closing of Black History Month, LABA alumnus Kendell Pinkney condemns the habitual pigeonholing of him as Jew of color, and calls for a thoughtful conversation around how Jewishness intersects with various forms of otherness. When the email landed in my inbox, I groaned aloud. “Would you be interested to write a short
Israeli-American playwright Zohar Tirosh-Polk is a current LABA fellow. For this year’s Purim celebration, she reminds us how the heroine of the Megillah can inspire us to heal a broken world. Carnival Lately I’ve been feeling kind of quiet and stuck. Whether it’s Israel preparing to send African refugees back to war zones, the Israeli prime
Counting the days until the first 2018 LABAlive on March 22nd, Ruby Namdar, celebrated author of the The Ruined House and former LABA teacher, muses over art inspired by ancient Jewish texts. During my ten years tenure as LABA faculty, I had the privilege of teaching some of the most amazing texts ever written to
LABA alum Gordon Haber considers Black History Month and the dangers of making America great again In these days when we are exhorted to make America great again — in other words, to return to some vaguely articulated epoch of former glory — it’s probably a good idea to consider what a return to
LABA Second Stage Presents Hadar Ahuvia’s “Everything you have is yours?” LABA Second Stage provides LABA alumni the opportunity to develop the ideas that came up in their residencies. Hadar Ahuvia first developed her piece, “Everything you have is yours?” as a LABA fellow. In the piece, performers mirror the dance steps of archival footage
Writer and story consultant Amy Handelsman is a current LABA fellow. Here are Amy’s thoughts on some timely ancient texts we’ve been studying on this year’s theme, WAR + PEACE. Twice a month as a LABA fellow, I am privileged to take part in a study session at the 14th Street Y, where Lead Teacher Liel Leibovitz
Each year, LABA Second Stage provides LABA alumni the opportunity to further develop the ideas that came up in their residencies. Keren Moscovitch’s fascinating installation One More Way: Revolt! can be seen at the Theater at the 14th Street Y. Thursday, February 1, 7-10 PM Friday, February 2, 4-8 PM Saturday, February 3, 5-8 PM Sunday,
LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture is a program of the 14th Street Y that uses classic Jewish texts to inspire the creation of art. Every year we celebrate our new fellows with DRUNK, an evening of wine and performance inspired by Jewish texts. This year the teachers were the redoubtable Ruby Namdar, author of The
This week for the LABA Journal, Jacob Siegel, writer and combat veteran, reflects on the books that inspired him. No matter how much time has passed it happens inevitably that I feel a tap on the shoulder and something pulls me back towards war. Books offer no escape from that pull. It doesn’t matter that
There are a lot of different ways of thinking about Hanukkah, but we tend to forget that the holiday is very much about intra-Jewish conflict. The Festival of Lights, as you know, commemorates the restoration of the Temple in 164 BCE. After kicking out the Seleucids — whom we might call today “culturally Greek Syrians”