Friday, May 31, 2013

Loco-Motion

Celebrating Carole King: Did you catch Carole King on PBS? Mr & Mrs Abq Jew did, mostly because of the fortuitous rain delay in the Yankees-Mets Subway Series game.

And - we were able to do said catching from our luxurious hotel in beautiful, suburban West Orange, New Jersey, the next town over from our former home, Livingston.

West Orange is known for any number of things, but mostly for the fact that it's not East Orange, it's not North Orange (there is no North Orange), and it's not South Orange. South Orange has a train station.

West Orange is the home of Congregation AABJ&D (Ahawas Achim B'nai Jacob and David), The Alphabet Shul. And WO is known for one more thing, which we'll get to.

“Carole King: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize In Performance at the White House” is a PBS music special in the East Room of the White House. President and Mrs. Obama will host the concert event on May 22 in honor of singer-songwriter Carole King’s receipt of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. 
The evening will include performances by King, as well as by Gloria Estefan, Billy Joel, Jesse McCartney, Emeli Sandé, James Taylor and Trisha Yearwood. President Obama will present the Gershwin Prize to King during the event.  The sixty-minute television special is part of the Emmy Award-nominated PBS “In Performance at the White House” series.
The program will premiere Tuesday, May 28 at 8 p.m. ET on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings).
If you are among the too-young-to-remember, Wikipedia (of course) tells us about who Carole King is and what she's done for music: 
Carole King (born February 9, 1942) is an American songwriter and singer-songwriter.

Born Carol Joan Klein in February 1942 to a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York, her mother a teacher, and her father a fire-fighter. 
She grew up in Brooklyn; learning the piano when four years old, and in 1950, when eight, appearing on The Horn and Hardart Children's Hour, with a school friend, performing "If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked a Cake". 
While at James Madison High School in the 1950s, Carol Klein changed her name to Carole King, formed a band called the Co-Sines, and made demo records with her friend Paul Simon for $25 a time. 
Her first official recording was the promotional single "The Right Girl" released by ABC-Paramount in 1958, which she wrote and sung to an arrangement by Don Costa. She attended Queens College, where she met Gerry Goffin, who was to become her song-writing partner. 
When she was 17, they married in a Jewish ceremony on Long Island in August 1959, after King had become pregnant with her first daughter, Louise. They left college and took daytime jobs, Goffin working as an assistant chemist, and King as a secretary, while writing songs together in the evening at an office belonging to Don Kirshner's Aldon Music at 1650 Broadway opposite the Brill Building. 
Neil Sedaka, who had dated King when he was still at high school, had a hit in 1959 with "Oh! Carol"; Goffin took the tune, and wrote the playful response "Oh! Neil", which King recorded and released as a single the same year; the b-side contained the Goffin-King song "A Very Special Boy". 
The single was not a success; however, after writing "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", which topped the American charts in 1960 in a recording by the Shirelles - becoming the first No.1 hit by a black girl group, Goffin and King gave up the daytime jobs in order to concentrate on writing. "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" has gone on to become a standard, recorded by numerous artists. 
During the sixties, with King writing the music and Goffin the lyrics, they wrote a string of classic songs for a variety of artists, such as "Take Good Care of My Baby" for Bobby Vee; "Up on the Roof" for the Drifters; "Chains", which was covered by the Beatles; "The Loco-Motion" for their baby-sitter Little Eva; "It Might As Well Rain Until September", which King recorded herself - her first (and only Sixties) hit; "I'm into Something Good" for Herman's Hermits; "Pleasant Valley Sunday" for the Monkees (inspired by their move to suburban West Orange, New Jersey); and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" for Aretha Franklin.
You can watch the entire PBS program here. But if you just want a taste - here are Carole King and James Taylor, performing "The Loco-Motion", one of Carole's most spiritual, introspective songs.



Shabbat Shalom, Albuquerque!
Good Shabbos, New Mexico!

Thursday, May 30, 2013

A Second Taste of Judaism

Are You Curious?  As organized world religions go, Abq Jew has always thought that Judaism is Number One, for a trinity of good reasons.

First of all - it's not that organized. Second - it's mostly (although not entirely) logical. And third -  it doesn't focus on belief and the afterlife; Judaism is more concerned with doing good deeds in this life.

And the food is great, especially if you pass over the (relatively few) fast days and go for the (much more numerous) feast days.

If you or someone you know is not currently Jewish, Abq Jew strongly encourages you to learn more about what living a Jewish life means. How can you do that? Well ....


Back in October, Congregation Albert brought an innovative new series of "classes" to Albuquerque - A Taste of Judaism ... Are You Curious?TM - designed for people who have limited or no Jewish background but are interested in learning about Judaism.

Did you miss that? Don't worry - Congregation Albert is once again offering

A Taste of Judaism ... Are You Curious?
Tuesday June 4 - 11 - 18 @ 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Congregation Albert (3800 Louisiana Blvd NE)
This class is FREE and open to all! 
Class is limited to 30 students who are not members of a synagogue.

Who would take this class? Many participants are unaffiliated Jews who don’t feel that they know much about their religion, the adult children of interfaith couples, non-Jews who are interested in learning more about Judaism, and partners in interfaith relationships.

All sorts of people take this class, including people who want to know more about their Jewish colleagues’ religion, and grandparents of children being raised Jewish who are not Jewish themselves. The list goes on and on.
A Taste of Judaism ... Are You Curious?TM was developed by the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and will be led (in Albuquerque) by Rabbi Harry Rosenfeld and Director of Lifelong Learning Tammy Kaiser. 

But the information presented in the classes is not specific to any single branch of Judaism.
Everyone is welcome. You don’t have to be Jewish to be curious. But you do have to register so we can save you a seat! 
 Enjoy three weekly classes on the modern Jewish take on spirituality, values, and community.
Our classes are dynamic and interactive; our teachers are accessible, fun, and can answer any and all of your questions.
You can learn more from the A Taste of Judaism FAQ.
========================================
 

A Taste of Judaism ... Are You Curious?TM
is just one of the many ways to learn about Judaism via
Congregation Albert Lifelong Learning!

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

AFME Presents: The Lion of Judah

A Film of Jewish Interest: The Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is proud to present:


The Lion of Judah
Shown With: Moses On The Mesa
World Premiere
Sunday June 9 ~ 2:00 pm
The Lobo Theatre

The Lion of Judah tells the story of Holocaust survivor Leo Zisman, who leads a group of young adults on a journey back to Poland and through humanity's darkest period.

Inspired by the strength of Leo, The Lion of Judah's powerful message encourages viewers - Jews and non-Jews - to remember the past and use it to change the world for the better.

Purchase tickets here at Hold My Ticket. View the trailer here.


Shown with the World Premiere of:


Moses on the Mesa is a short fiction film that focuses on a few episodes in the real-life tale of Solomon Bibo, a Jewish immigrant who left Germany in 1869 while still a teenager to seek out his fortune in America.

Through incredible twists of fate, he became governor of the indigenous tribe of Acoma, whose ancient pueblo (named “Sky City”) sits atop a beautiful and unassailable cliff in the middle of a New Mexico desert.

Solomon became known to the Indians as “Don Solomono” and married the granddaughter of the tribe’s former governor.

Purchase tickets here at Hold My Ticket. View the trailer here.


These are only two of the Films of Jewish Interest that the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is presenting this year. Click here to learn more.


And there's much more to the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience than just Films of Jewish Interest. Click here to learn more about AFME Films, Panels, and Special Events.


Can't make it to the Sunday showing of The Lion of Judah and Moses On The Mesa? The Albuquerque JCC will offer a private (and free) showing of The Lion of Judah (only) on Tuesday June 4 at 2:00 pm. Click here for details.

Friday, May 24, 2013

AFME Presents: The Invisible Men

A Film of Jewish Interest: The Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is proud to present:


The Invisible Men
Shown With: Everything is Alright
Friday June 7 ~ 6:45 pm
Guild Cinema

The Invisible Men tells the untold story of persecuted gay Palestinians who have run away from their families and are now hiding illegally in Tel Aviv.

Their stories are told through the film's heroes: Louie, 32 years old, a gay Palestinian who has been hiding in Tel Aviv for the past 8 years; Abdu, 24 years old, who was exposed as gay in Ramallah and then accused of espionage; Faris, 23 years old, who escaped to Tel Aviv from the West Bank after his family tried to kill him.

Their only chance for survival -- to seek asylum outside Israel and Palestine and leave their homelands forever behind.

Purchase tickets here at Hold My Ticket. View the trailer here.


Shown with:

A light-hearted short about social change.
Selected from films made in 48 Hours in three cities in Israel. 

These are only two of the Films of Jewish Interest that the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is presenting this year. Click here to learn more.


And there's much more to the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience than just Films of Jewish Interest. Click here to learn more about AFME Films, Panels, and Special Events.


Shabbat Shalom, Albuquerque!
Good Shabbos, New Mexico!

Thursday, May 23, 2013

AFME Presents: Uprising

An Additional Film of Jewish Interest: The Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is proud to present:


Uprising
Wednesday June 5 ~ 7:30 pm
Guild Cinema

Uprising tells the inside story of the Egyptian revolution from the perspective of its principal leaders and organizers.

Featuring major figures including four Nobel Peace Prize nominees, several Egyptian presidential candidates, the former foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, and former US Ambassadors and White House officials, along with never before seen footage, Uprising provides the authoritative behind-the scenes view of one of the most dramatic events of our generation.

The Egyptians' success in forcing the downfall of a brutal dictatorship has changed the face of the Middle East and provided hope for millions of oppressed people across the world. Above all, it is a story of profound hope, of courage rewarded, of a people who beat back a police state and threw off the shackles of decades of degradation and oppression.

Purchase tickets here at Hold My Ticket. View the trailer here.


This is only one of the Films of Jewish Interest that the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is presenting this year. Click here to learn more.


And there's much more to the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience than just Films of Jewish Interest. Click here to learn more about AFME Films, Panels, and Special Events.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

AFME Presents: The K Effect

An Additional Film of Jewish Interest: The Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is proud to present:


The K Effect
Stalin's Editor
Thursday June 6 ~ 1:00 pm
Guild Cinema

The K Effect reveals the curious and amazing story of Maxim - actor, instigator of the revolution, forger, Hollywood producer and Stalin's film editor - through his amateur footage and personal home movies.

A road movie through the most significant events of the 20Th century: a century shaken by fascinating utopias, which spawned cheerful dreams and horrible nightmares.  A fiction movie made with fragments of reality. An historical documentary made by mingling fictional elements.

The odyssey of all those who dared dreaming and were swollen by their dreams.

Purchase tickets here at Hold My Ticket. View the trailer here.


This is only one of the Films of Jewish Interest that the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is presenting this year. Click here to learn more.


And there's much more to the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience than just Films of Jewish Interest. Click here to learn more about AFME Films, Panels, and Special Events.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

AFME Presents: Israeli Shorts

A Film of Jewish Interest: The Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is proud to present:


Israeli Shorts
Plus talk with John Mancini of the Lamb Foundation
Wednesday June 5 ~ 3:30 pm
The Lobo Theatre

The Burnt House (Excerpt)
In Jerusalem, the skeletal remains of a young Jewish girl killed during the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the majority of the Jewish people by the Roman Empire in 70 A.D., 2,000 years ago are found on an archaeological excavation.

Tozeret Bait (Dir. Lior Sagi) (Israel, 2013)
A mother from a kibbutz convinced that her son, who was arrested on suspicion of rape of a minor, is innocent and she is commits to clearing his name despite her husband's wishes.

Court (Dir. Dekel Nitzan)

Erez accompanies his son Uri, to the neighborhood basketball court, after some kids stole Uri's ball. The two will find themselves in a difficult situation, in which Erez will try to avoid trouble, while Uri hopes to see his father fight for him.

The Predator’s Return (Dir. Jerald Fine)

Abe, a former concentration camp survivor, is a resident of a nursing home. The newest resident of the facility is the same Nazi officer that murdered his entire family 60 years earlier.

Purchase tickets here at Hold My Ticket.

These are only some of the Films of Jewish Interest that the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is presenting this year. Click here to learn more.


And there's much more to the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience than just Films of Jewish Interest. Click here to learn more about AFME Films, Panels, and Special Events.

Monday, May 20, 2013

AFME Presents: Refuge

A Film of Jewish Interest: The Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is proud to present:


Refuge
Stories of the Self-Help Home
Wednesday June 5 ~ 1:00 pm
The Lobo Theatre

In the late 1930s, following the ferocious anti-Jewish violence of Kristallnacht, a determined group of young German Jews left behind everything that was dear and familiar and immigrated to Chicago.

Here, these refugees set out to create a supportive community for themselves and others fleeing Nazi persecution, eventually establishing the Selfhelp Home for the oldest among them.   

Refuge weaves together historical narrative, archival footage and deeply personal testimony to explore the lives of six Chicagoans against the context of the Nazi cataclysm and how a small group of them came together to care for their own.

Purchase tickets here at Hold My Ticket. View the trailer here.



This is only one of the Films of Jewish Interest that the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience is presenting this year. Click here to learn more.


And there's much more to the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience than just Films of Jewish Interest. Click here to learn more about AFME Films, Panels, and Special Events.

Friday, May 17, 2013

AFME Presents: Films of Jewish Interest

Here's The Lineup!  Abq Jew is thrilled to remind you (see Moses in Albuquerque!) that the Albuquerque Film & Media Experience (AFME) is bringing a number of Israeli and American films of Jewish interest to Abq in early June:

Refuge: Stories of the Self Help Home
Israeli Shorts and talk with John Mancini of the Lamb Foundation
The Invisible Men & Everything is Alright
The Lion of Judah & Moses On The Mesa
plus
Uprising (2012)
The K Effect: Stalin's Editor








Abq Jew may have mentioned the fact that the Film Editor for Moses On The Mesa (you can look it up on IMDb!) is his son, Dov Yellin the Film Editor.



Shabbat Shalom, Albuquerque!
Good Shabbos, New Mexico!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Preparing for Shavuot

Preparing to Repair:  Shavuot (שבועות‎), the Feast of Weeks, is a Jewish festival that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan. This year, Shavuot begins on the evening of Tuesday May 14. The festival days are Wednesday and Thursday, May 15-16.
Wikipedia describes Shavuot thusly:
Shavuot commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah to the entire nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai ....
The holiday is one of the Shalosh Regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals.

The word Shavuot means weeks, and the festival of Shavuot marks the completion of the seven-week counting period between Passover and Shavuot.

Shavuot is one of the lesser known Jewish holidays among secular Jews in the Jewish diaspora, while those in Israel are more aware of it.
One of the customs associated with Shavuot is the all-night study session - the Tikkun Leyl Shavuot. Lesli Koppelman Ross (in My Jewish Learning's discussion of Tikkum Leil Shavuot) explains:
Following the holiday meal, many people proceed to synagogue for Ma'ariv [the evening service], followed by an all-night (or into-the-night, as many last only until midnight) Torah study session based on the kabbalists' [mystics'] practice.
This specifically refers to the sixteenth century mystics of Safed, Israel, under the leadership of Isaac Luria. Many people recite Ma'ariv before the meal, go home to eat, and return to synagogue for the study session. All in all, Tikkun Leyl Shavuot is a relatively recent development.
We remain awake to show that, unlike the situation of our heavy-lidded ancestors at Sinai, there is no need to bring us to our senses; we are ready to receive Torah. The tikkun (which refers both to the study session and to the text used for it) was the only observance developed specifically for Shavuot ....


This Shavuot, the Albuquerque Jewish community is doubly blessed  (Tikkun Leyl Shavuot 2013).
  • First, with the community Tikkun at Congregation B'nai Israel (7:00 pm), with guest speaker Tammy Kaiser, Director of Lifelong Learning at Congregation Albert.
  • And second, with a special Tikkun at the home of Rabbi Chavah Carp (10:00 pm), led by Rabbi Carp and Rabbi R Karpov.

Here is how Rabbi Karpov describes the Tikkun text and the Tikkun proceedings:
A ‘Tikkun’, in the context of the writings of the Lurianic Kabbalists of Tzfat - the circle of Rabbi Isaac Luria of “L’cha Dodi” fame -  is a ceremonial text.
The sacred text Tikkun Leil Shavuoth, THE traditional text that the Kabbalists of Tz’fat sat up and studied all night on the first night of Shavuoth, so as to make a ‘tikkun’ in the sense of a ‘repair’ for what we had not completed on its archetype, the night when we were to have stayed up all night in anticipation of receiving Torah from Mount Sinai in the morning.
All Jewish souls ever born and ever to be born were there. And yet, even in anticipation of this momentous occasion, we were unable to remain awake that long.

To do a ‘tikkun’ – a repair – on our former faithless behavior, we sit up and study this text, a “Reader’s Digest” edition of core Jewish texts that implies, in both our subconscious and supraconscious minds, these texts in their totality, the entire night. This time, we can make it right.
The book’s structure is a sequence of selections, mostly juxtaposed snippets, from:
  • TaNaCh: Each Torah parsha; Prophets including Josha, Judges, and Habbakuk (my father’s favorite); and Writings (the entire Megillah of Ruth, and snippets from others);
  • Similarly juxtaposed selections from each tractate of Mishnah, and
  • Later Kabbalistic texts -- Zohar and Sefer Yetzirah (short version),
framed by a few Kabbalistic prayers and Kaddishes, with Abulafia sound-meditations embedded throughout.

The text of Tikkun Leil Shavuoth has been untranslated from the original Hebrew and Aramaic until now, when in 1991 Rabbi R Karpov, PhD, made - of an original 1812 Vilna edition mocked-up version spanning a number of thick loose-leaf notebooks containing the original text and the English translation, together with scholarly annotations in the ‘Torah’ section - a good resource for weekly Torah Study.
For example, the selections for Chayyei Sarah are the three verses at beginning and end, mentioning the life and death of Sarah our Matriarch; and the life and death of Ishmael.
At first blush this would appear incongruous, but American poet Gertrude Stein wrote, “the question of juxtaposition is very important,” and these six verses now become their own text, with the subtext of Sarah’s having first conceived Ishmael’s existence in thought, and her therefore owing him her life, despite her later behavior towards him.
This year, Albuququerque Rabbi Chavah Carp’s home, the selective introduction to this text rarely used in modern times -- despite the current resurgence of interest in both sitting up all night and studying for Shavuoth, and simultaneously of interest in Kabbalah – will draw from each of the text’s major sections.
This sacred study session around this text of authentic Lurianic Kabbalah, wants to make a comeback. So enjoy.