It’s September, which means all the kids are back in school, and Jewish communities are kicking off the fall season with festivals galore across the US–books, music, and pickles are all well-represented. So attend a festival near you and get in some good ol’ fashioned festivaling before the season of renewal and repentance is upon us yet again.
(Washington, DC) Starting Sunday September 10th (hey, that’s today!)-September 20th–Hyman and Freda Bernstein Jewish Literary Festival
The Nora Ephron event was last week and sold out early, but lots of other lectures and readings are still available. An open mic, Madeleine Albright, and Harry Shearer (hawking his new novel at the closing night event)! The website is mysteriously inaccessible, but click the link above (to upcoming.org) for details.
(NYC) Sunday, September 10-Sunday September 17th: Oyhoo Festival 2006, featuring the Krum Conference
This conference is an opportunity for Jewish students, leaders and professionals to learn more about current musical and artistic developments within the Jewish community. This setting will expose participants to the next wave of Jewish culture and allow them to engage in didactic discussions with today’s leading cultural visionaries. We are certain that this provocative and educational conference will become an annual meeting where ideas can be exchanged and shaped.–from the Oyhoo website
The Jewish music festival features performances by FOJ (Friend of Jewlicious) Michelle Citrin, the Jewish Music Awards, and the Jewzapalooza free concerts day in Riverside Park starting at noon on Sunday the 17th.
(NYC) Sunday September 17th: 6th Annual NYC International Pickle Day Festival
The heart of New York’s old pickle district will beat again at the Sixth Annual New York City International Pickle Day Festival (Pickle Day) to be held Sunday, September 17, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Orchard Street Street in the Lower East Side. Co-sponsored by the NY Food Museum, the Lower East Side Business Improvement District (LES BID), the free multi-cultural event pays tribute to pickling traditions and the people who enjoy them with music, activities, and of course — free pickle samples. This year, expansion and development was sponsored by a major grant from Whole Foods Market, New York City.
Sunday, September 17th–Rally to Save Darfur, 2-5pm in Central Park’s East Meadow
If the abovementioned festivals seem too self-indulgent for you, or if you’d like to mix it up with a little social justice, check out the rally and musical event happening in Central Park on behalf of raising awareness about the situation in Darfur. For more information, see Save Darfur.org.
I want to a savedarfur.org event in my area (Palo Alto, CA) and was once again reminded of the anti-Israel mindset of so-called “human rights” activists. The Save Darfur Coalition itself is supported by many Jewish organizations and was founded by Jewish groups so I have no qualms supporting it. However, I found it hard to be touched by the event’s message after I spoke with the guest speaker, an American freelance journalist who traveled to the area and reported on it. In our discussion, I asked him what his thoughts were about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and he told me that he supports the “Palestinians’ right to resist the occupation.” In the course of our conversation, he told me that it was acceptable for Palestinians to target Israeli soldiers as they are “in a war” and when I mentioned that suicide bombers kill civilians on buses he said “sometimes,” dismissing their deaths as simply collateral damage (As someone who lived in Israel for 5 years and took the bus to elementary school every day, I could tell you that the vast majority of bus riders are civilians, not soldiers). I guess only certain humans’ rights are valued… He also told me that when an Iraqi goes into a crowded market and blows himself up, we should blame the US. Whether or not one agrees with the Iraq war, clearing one entirely of responsibility for one’s own actions is ridiculous. No amount of US respect for human rights could stop that person from murdering others. But if the US had no respect for human rights and he did… would he still murder others?
So please do support efforts to fight for human rights in Darfur but, whichever side you fall on when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian, Iraqi or any other conflict, value the human rights of all people.
A Lily Among Thorns! We’re http://www.oy-bay.org ! No .com! :-p
it’s Monday… give me my coffee…
by the by, the website’s HERE. it’s working now, i promise. also, come to Harry Shearer and maybe you can bother him about the Simpson’s!
The people who are causing the Darfur problem are the same exact people who are at war with Israel.
You can’t be sorry about Darfur, and also, not be for Israel.
BTW there will be a massive pro-Israel demonstration on Wednesday, September 20th at 12:00 Noon in New York in Manhattan at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, at First Avenue at 47th Street. Really massive. Go, and it will mean something. Every body counts. Feel good, for once.