Past Events › Facebook Live

Shmoozing with Avi featuring Phillip Namanworth, the Boogie Woogie Mystic

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Shmoozing with Avi, our interview program, will feature Phillip Namanworth whose music career has been highlighted by his funky signature vocals, bluesy piano playing and his world class band, Always Somethin', backing him up. Phillip has intertwined 25 years of studies and teaching of Jewish mysticism and Chassidus as a long time Talmud of R. Simon Jacobson student, imbuing the wisdom of the sages with the rockin' rhythm and blues of the soul, bringing the material and the spiritual worlds together in a fusion of spirit and song. Phillip began his music career singing with an a capella doo wop [...]

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Who is Queen Mamata? Playing Purim in South India

A discussion with Bob Skloot will take place Friday, 2/26 at 2 p.m. Robert Skloot, professor emeritus of theatre and drama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is pictured on Oct. 17, 2013. (Photo by Bryce Richter / UW-Madison) Robert Skloot is professor emeritus of Theatre and Drama at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he worked as a teacher, stage director and administrator. He has served as a Fulbright lecturer in Israel, Austria, Chile and the Netherlands. Bob is the author and editor of many books and essays about the theatre of the Holocaust and genocide. His play, If the [...]

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Singing Sensation Aelita in Concert with “Songs from the Heart”

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Aelita, is a world-renowned recording star. Called by the international press "chanteuse extraordinaire," "masterful artist," and "skillful entertainer,” she began singing at the age of five and began her professional stage life at 15! Aelita is an international singing star and recording artist with 8 albums who has graced stages around the world singing in 16 languages. Aelita is recognized among the “100 golden voices of History” by EuroNews. Born in Riga, Latvia, she remains true to her roots and takes us on a family journey spanning three continents, intertwining timeless Yiddish songs, American pop “a la Yiddish” and Broadway [...]

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Isaac Bashevis Singer’s Classic Gimpel Tam (Gimpel the Fool) starring Dori Engel in association with Israel’s beloved Nephesh Theatre

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Engel stars in Gimpel Tam (Gimpel the Fool), performed for The Nephesh Theatre of Israel. The production is based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, adapted and directed by Howard Rypp. The Nephesh Theatre, founded in 1978 by Howard Rypp as artistic director and Gabriel Emanuel, has staged more than 100 productions in Hebrew and English. The productions reflect a plurality of beliefs, depicting different communities within Israeli society that must develop a common language and achieve mutual respect. The event can be viewed on Facebook, YouTube and the YI Love Jewish website: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YiddishkaytInitiative Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Sn79YK2gnyrZiNJgWPuWw Website: https://yilovejewish.org/ [...]

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REBROADCAST of the World Premiere Broadcast of Aaron Kula’s Klezmer Company Jazz Orchestra’s Borscht to Broadway, The Legacy of Second Ave

Starring: Avi Hoffman, Laura Turnbull, Lindsey Corey and Oscar Cheda Arrangements by Aaron Kula and Chaim Rubinov Maestro Aaron Kula, leading the Klezmer Company Jazz Orchestra (KCJO) and world renowned entertainer Avi Hoffman will perform a concert that takes the audience on a musical journey from the origins of the Yiddish Theater on Second Avenue to the masterful treasures of Broadway. They will be joined by a full Orchestra and some of the most beloved south Florida singers as they highlight the most famous songs ever written, utilizing the Klezmer, Swing and Jazz band arrangements of the 1940, 50’s and beyond. [...]

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Eat in Good Health- Purim Treats

Join us for another video presentation in alliance with The Forward Jewish newspaper, featuring Yiddish Cooking, entitled “Eat in Good Health – Ess Gezunterheit,” featuring Yiddish Cooking, titled “Eat in Good Health,” featuring recipes for “Hamentashen" and more! --- Catch the event here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YiddishkaytInitiative Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Sn79YK2gnyrZiNJgWPuWw Website: https://yilovejewish.org/

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PurimShpiel Concert with the Chorney-Ghergus Duo

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Efim Chorny and Susan Ghergus headline the Chorny-Ghergus Duo, one of the most renowned groups in Yiddish music in Europe and beyond. They are laureates of the prestigious Moscow International Solomon Mikhoels' Art Festival (1st Prize). They have been teaching faculty in many festivals of Yiddish music. Chorny & Ghergus created the background music for a production of "God of Vengeance" (by S. Asch), that was performed during the International Festival "A. Goldfaden" (France-Romania-Lithuania-Hungary). They've also participated in "Yiddish Vocalists," "Musical Culture of the Jewish People of Eastern Europe" (Austin University, USA) and the animated film project "Lullabies of the [...]

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‘KhapLop’: Children’s Stories in Yiddish – Dr. Seuss and More Featuring Avi Hoffman

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Stories by the iconic authors Rudyard Kipling and Dr. Seuss are given surprising new spins in Yiddish (with a Bisl English) translations by Avi’s Yiddishe Mameh, Columbia University Professor Miriam Hoffman read by her son, renowned actor Avi Hoffman. This multimedia presentation will include music and illustrations from the original publications. The Yiddish interpretations of these timeless classics will put a shmeykhel (smile) on the faces of children of all ages. The event can be viewed on Facebook, YouTube and the YI Love Jewish website: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YiddishkaytInitiative Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Sn79YK2gnyrZiNJgWPuWw Website: https://yilovejewish.org/ Click for more information

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The Megillah Cycle of Itzik Manger Featuring Mike Burstyn and a star studded cast in association with Congress for Jewish Culture (NY)

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The Megillah Cycle is a reading of the entire original Megillah of Itzik Manger, which was the inspiration for the 1960’s Broadway Musical sensation which starred a young Mike Burstyn and his parents, the Yiddish Theatre icons Pesach Burstein and Lilian Lux. This virtual celebration will be directed by, and will feature Mike Burstyn and an international celebrity studded cast including Daniel Kahn (Germany), Jamie Elman and Eli Battalion (Yidlife Crisis, Canada), and US Jewish Eleanor Reissa, Shane Baker, Yelena Shmuelenson, Allen Lewis Rickman, Suzanne Toren and Avi Hoffman as Evil Haman. Congress for Jewish Culture (CJC) is a home [...]

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Shmoozing with Avi featuring Neal Hoffman creator of “Mensch on a Bench”

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This week Shmoozing with Avi features Neal Hoffman, creator of Mensch on a Bench.  Born and raised in Marblehead, Massachusetts,  he stood out as a “model” student in his Hebrew school. With an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and MBA from University of Virginia, Neal landed his dream job making toys at Hasbro where he worked on GI Joe, Tonka, and Transformers. In 2011, Neal and his wife Erin moved to Cincinnati with their son, Jacob Maccabee Hoffman, and welcomed their second son, Alexander Goldwin Hoffman. Drawing from his creative background in toys, Neal was inspired when Jake [...]

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Shmoozing with Avi – Guest: Artist Shoshannah Brombacher

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Shoshannah Brombacher (Amsterdam, Holland 1959) holds a PhD in Jewish Studies, taught, researched and studied in Leyden, Amsterdam, Berlin and Jerusalem. She is an author, illustrator, visual artist , and maggidah (storyteller/spiritual guide). Her main interest is Chassidism, but includes the Golem of Prague, the Breslover Tikkun, Talmudic, Midrashic and Biblical stories,Biblical women, the weekly Torah-portion, the Twelve Tribes, Goethe’s Faust, poetry (Yiddish,Sephardic, several European languages), the Haggadah, the Hebrew Aleph-Beth, Spinoza, classical composers, cities, The Dybbuk, and politically inspired poetry/events (Nazim Hikmet Ran, Occupy-Wallstreet). Brombacher creates custom art (ketubot, verses of a name, tikkunim,home-blessings Psalms, bar/bat mitzvah, etc. Calligraphy, [...]

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Shmoozing with Avi – Guest: Shari Wallack, author of “From Hell to Challah”

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In from hell to challah, Shari Wallack shares her inspiring, funny, and uplifting story through despair, survival, and mental emancipation during the chaos of 2020. Her journey begins inside a mental hospital and continues on a trip to eighteen destinations throughout the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic. She details her innermost thoughts, hopes, and fears while illustrating how she went from crippling depression to joy over a three-month period.  Along with a multitude of colorful characters, Shari navigates an exciting and unusual voyage of self-discovery and healing. Among the useful lessons she learns along the way, she discovers that [...]

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