Jewish Arts Month

GEEZER GALLERY celebrates JAM!

2012-02-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

JAM in Transition

2012-02-06T08:28:00.000-08:00

We are in a transition!

JAM is moving away from the concept of "month", since we were never able to contain ourselves within a single month anyway!

We'll still call ourselves JAM...but now it will represent

JEWISH ARTS MOMENTS!

We'll continue to focus on local artists in a variety of formats and venues....but you can look forward to the events being spread out through the entire year. We will happily promote arts events that are sponsored by various agencies in town and try to fill the gaps where we can!

Amazing Theater! January 30th!!!!!

2012-01-27T12:56:00.000-08:00

Have Arab Coffee with a Jew in the New York City of the Middle East. It’s 1928 and Baghdad is one quarter Jewish.

CAFÉ BAGHDAD

A production of the Jewish Theatre Collaborative, cosponsored by the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies, the Middle East Studies Center at PSU, Lewis and Clark College Student Activities, Congregation Ahavath Achim, and the Sephardic Cultural Center of Oregon.

Monday, January 30 at Food for Thought Café

Smith Memorial Student Union, Portland State University

1825 SW Broadway (basement level)

7:00 pm / $10 dollars

For information and tickets for performances visit: http://www.jewishtheatrecollaborative.org/performance-cafe_baghdad.html

THANK YOU OREGON ARTS COMMISSION

2012-01-15T14:55:00.000-08:00

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

We just finished writing our evaluation for the Arts Builds Community Grant we received in 2011. Jewish Arts Month wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of this granting organization.

Our planners worked hard to document each and every event held. We took copious notes and learned a lot. We made a few mistakes but we had numerous successes.

Stay tuned. We will soon post what is scheduled for JAM 2012~

We chose not to apply for another OAC grant this year. RACC is supporting our Playwriting for Seniors program (Acting Our Age!)

We hope the community will now contribute financially to support our JAM endeavors. In fact, we are seriously contemplating a name change.

It will still be JAM....but we are thinking that Jewish Arts Moments might be a more accurate idea. Spring will become a season of Jewish Arts Moments...more than can possibly be contained within a month!

Care to donate? Send a check written to the Mttleman Jewish Community Center with JAM written on the memo line c/o

6651 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland 97201

See y’all soon!

Monday @ Neveh Shalom - Portland Oregon

2012-01-11T23:22:00.000-08:00

Klezmer will rock the house Monday evening...8861 SW Peaceful Lane, Portland OR 97221
call 503.246.8831 for more information!

ACTING OUT AGE- ENCORE PERFORMANCE!

2011-12-25T00:25:00.000-08:00

JAM 2012 is in the works! Although we have plans to premiere a musical event in February (stay tuned!),
JAM '12 is pleased to announce an encore presentation of ACTING OUR AGE!

January 29th, 2pm at the Rose Schnitzer Manor in Zidell Hall!

The Portland Chapter of National Council of Jewish Women are sponsoring this performance as part of their annual meeting. We are thrilled that they have chosen to use Roe Schnitzer Manor for the venue. This will allow all the residents access!

The production will again be directed by Matt Zrebski. The actors will be announced shortly!

We'll post photos of the writers and more info about the plays soon.

Tomorrow I will post an update about plans for Acting Our Age 2012~!!!!!!

Celebration of Art 2011....OCTOBER 30TH

2011-10-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

Acting Our Age- HUGE SUCCESS!

2011-08-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

There is something very powerful about hearing your words come to life. On August 14th, 2011 the auditorium of the Southeast Community Music Center filled with friends, family and community to hear the plays written by 7 residents of Rose Schnitzer Manor. The writers were amazed by how their short one-act plays came to life on stage.

Illness prevented two residents from attending but a recording of the plays will help them hear the performances.

Applause was mighty following each reading and our resolve is to do it again!

We want to SHOUT OUT our gratitude to our sponsors....The Oregon Arts Commission, The NEA, Cedar Sinai Park, The Mittleman Jewish Community Center, and The Northwest Council of Jewish Women (Oregon Chapter)and Portland Center Stage.....and of course ....

MATT ZREBSKI, playwright, director and teacher for all his efforts! All the writers delighted in working with him and look forward to future opportunities to do it again!

THANK YOU to our actors: Gavin Hoffman, Paige Jones, and Debbie Lamedman!

Eddy Shuldman teaches the writing class at Rose Schnitzer Manor and coordinates Jewish Arts Month. Todah Rabbah (thanks) Eddy!

And we can't close this blog article without acknowledging our playwrights.....We Love You and hope to see you continue writing plays and stories and poems. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us.

Play 1: Birthday Surprises by Martha Pomeranz

Play 2: Injustices by Francine Stone

Play 3: Food For Thought by Michael Mogell

Play 4: Our Golden Years by Barbara Dubin

Play 5: Forecast: 17 Hours by Ruth Henning

Play 6: Tango by Charlotte Wiener

Play 7: Mrs. Who? By Evelyn Hirsch

2011-08-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

The OLDER BUT WISER Writers of Rose Schnitzer Manor have completed their one-act plays!

We are proud to announce the premiere of these plays on August 14th (SUNDAY), The curtain goes up at 4pm. Doors open at 3:45. The plays should conclude by 5:30pm

These plays will be directed by well known local playwright and director, Matthew Zrebski and will feature local professional actors who will read each play.

Admission is free, however we are asking for a donation of $10 to help pay the bills!

A portion of this event is sponsored by the Oregon Arts Commission and a portion by the Portland chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women.The Mittleman Jewish Community Center has also been a generous supporter of all JAM events.

The Southeast Music Center

3350 Southeast Francis Street
Portland, OR 97202-3066

Surprised to see a JAM event in August? The writers began their work this spring, but illness and other commitments disrupted our plans....so who says we can't JAM a little in the summer?

Join us please!

CD Release party

2011-05-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

How Cool Is This?

Klezmocracy is one of the finest Klezmer bands you'll hear. They bend the boundaries and the results are stunning.

CHECK THEM OUT!

Klezmocracy at Alberta Rose Theatre on June 11 for their CD release of "Reach". Minors welcome w/ adult. For more information please go to albertarosetheatre.com or call 502-746-4131 for ticket information.

JAM 2011 is OVER.....but STAY TUNED!

2011-04-27T21:58:00.000-07:00

TWO wonderful projects are still underway.

The Older but Wiser writers at Rose Schnitzer Manor are in the revision stages of their original 1-act plays.
We are searching for a venue and some actors......! YES, these plays will be read by professional actors in a public setting. The plays are fabulous, even in their infancy. You will want to see these plays!

The kids photo group has been actively putting together their photos. Once we have a venue, we'll host a display of their creative efforts.....

please stay tuned!

HAPPY PASSOVER!

2011-04-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

We've taken a break because it's Passover.....that's the way the matzah crumbles!

KIDS & FAMILIES>>>>JAM EVENTS!

2011-04-12T21:30:00.002-07:00

A Journey Through GenerationsArt Exhibit by Portland Jewish Academy 5th grade students

Date: April 12 - May 5, 2011
Location:  Oregon Jewish Museum
                  1953 NW Kearney St.
                  Portland, OR 97209
                  503.226.3600
www.portlandjewishacademy.org
Family Tree Workshopwith Lisa Kagan
Date: Sunday May 1, 2011
Time: 1:30 - 3:30 pmLocation:  Oregon Jewish Museum
                  1953 NW Kearney St.
                  Portland, OR 97209
                  503.226.3600

Project price: $18
A perfect project for parents, grandparents and children to do together.
www.lisakagandesigns.com/

KIDS & FAMILIES>>>>JAM EVENTS!

2011-04-12T21:30:00.000-07:00

JAM @ Neveh Shalom

2011-04-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

".Gateways."
ORA Art Exhibit Opens
Date:  April 8, 2011
Location:  Congregation Neveh Shalom
               2900 SW Peaceful Land
               Portland, OR 97239
               503.246.8831

New offerings from all working members of ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists
on exhibit in glass display cases outside the Main Sanctuary. The theme of Gateways will explore both phyical and metaphorical passages.
The exhibit will open on Friday, April 8th, with an introduction in conjunction with
Erev Shabbat services that evening. The Second Shabbat of EVERY MONTH will be known as ORA SHABBAT!Prayers including the theme of our shows or art will be included. During the kiddush following the service you can learn a little more about the art work from Laura Joy Fendel, fabric artist.

The exhibit will remain on display from April 8 through the end of May.
Admission is free, during all open hours of the Synagogue.

MORE MUSIC

2011-04-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

Jewish Community Orchestra Spring Concert
Conducted by John Carter
The Jewish Community Orchestra provides enjoyable music for the Jewish and greater community of Portland. Join us to celebrate Jewish Arts month.

Beethoven Symphony No. 3
Bloch Baal Shem Suite
with Yvonne Hsueh, violin

Date: Sunday - April 10, 2011 Time: 3:00 PM Location: At the MJCC
Cost: Tickets available at the door. $10 adults, $8 seniors, $5 students. Children under 6 free.

Children's Theater!!!!!

2011-04-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

".In Portland."PJA Children's theater performance

Date: Wednesday April 6, 2011
Time: 7 pm
Location: Mittleman Jewish Community Center
              6651 SW Capitol Hwy
              Portland, Oregon
              503.244.0111
Admission is free.Enjoy a children's theater performance by Portland Jewish Academy 3rd graders.
Original play written and directed by Miriam Feder about the history of Portland.

April 5 Call for artists~!

2011-04-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

ORA Call for Artists:
Information meeting for all prospective members

Date:  Tuesday April 5, 2011
Time: 7:15 pm
Location:  Congregation Neveh Shalom (in Zidell Chapel)
               2900 SW Peaceful Land
               Portland, OR 97239
               503.246.8831
Admission is free, and all are welcome. Come find out more about ORA's organization, and options for membership.
ORA:Northwest Jewish Artists is introducing a new membership structure, so that all adult Jewish Artists may join.
New membership year begins June 1st, so come to this meeting and have your questions answered.
Can't make it? Write us at oraartists@gmail.com...include your phone number and out membership secretary will contact you!

APRIL JAM EVENTS

2011-04-03T21:25:00.000-07:00

I'll be posting events as they come up, week by week. To get a sense of what is happening for the month please go to our calendar link above and click in! At the bottom of the calendar is there are complete descriptions of all the events!

Portland Jewish Film Festival19th Annual celebration of Jewish films
http://www.nwfilm.org/screenings/34/341/

Dates: April 3 - 17, 2011

Location: Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium,
              Portland Art Museum
              1219 SW Park Ave.
              Portland, Oregon

The Festival celebrates the diversity of Jewish history, culture, and identity through the medium of cinema. The films, in their abundance, touch on tragedy, embrace humor, and recount the emotional and tangible gains and losses of a people. Highlights of this year’s Festival include: LA RAFLE (THE ROUND UP) that examines the infamous “Vel’ d’Hiv’ ” round up told through the story of one family; THE MATCHMAKER a warm comedy/drama coming-of-age story set in Haifa in 1968, and BREATH MADE VISIBLE that profiles San Francisco dance pioneer Anna Halprin.

TICKETS AND PASSES:
Tickets are $9 general admission; $8 students, seniors, Portland Art Museum members.
Tickets and Festival passes can be purchased online at www.nwfilm.org.

KLEZMOCRACY will ROCK THE HOUSE!!!!!!

2011-03-31T21:56:00.000-07:00

This is one of the hottest Klezmer bands I have ever experienced!

SUNDAY, APRIL 3RD you can catch them in a very unique concert.

3pm...The band will rev up their unique sound...You will start tapping your foot, then clap your
   hands and before you know it you will find yourself on the dance floor!

4pm...Guest artists and audience members are invited to bring their instruments out and JAM with the band!!!!!!!

THE FIRST 50 TICKETS PURCHASED will be rewarded with priority seating. Call the MJCC @ 503.244.0111 and get your name on the list. Tickets are selling fast!

BRING AN INSTRUMENT and/or YOUR DANCING SHOES!
   BRING ON THE KLEZMER!

A portion of the cd sales proceeds will be donated to a Japan relief fund!

Klezmocracy at MJCC

Jack Falk and Ed Kraus jam with Klezmocracy

PIX PAGE

2011-03-30T23:46:00.000-07:00

CHECK OUT PIX FROM JAM EVENTS....
look to the right of this post and you will see JAM 2011 PIX
CLICK ON it......!

Shelley Jordon @ OJM!- WOW!

2011-03-30T22:39:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to get a larger version!

OPEN MIC POETRY NIGHT

2011-03-29T23:26:00.000-07:00

I can't think of a better venue for this event.
Come on down to Hair of the Dog....home of remarkable beer and fantastic food.
Bring your poetry and sign up to read or just come to listen.
We're asking for a modest $3 cover charge.

This should be awesome!
See you there! Wednesday March 30, 6-8pm
61 SE Yamhill Street
Portland, OR 97214
(503) 232-6585
Tram: Oak/SW 1st Ave MAX Station

JEWISH THEATER COLLABORATIVE- TUESDAY!!!!!

2011-03-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Well-Being: The Life of Lillian Wald
Jewish Theatre Collaborative
Date: Tuesday March 29, 2011
Time: 7 - 8:30 pm

Location: Mittleman Jewish Community Center
              6651 SW Capitol Hwy
              Portland, Oregon
              503.244.0111

Tickets: $12 Adults
             $ 8 Seniors/Students
Premier performance of a two-person play based on the biography of Lillian Wald, a Jewish social reformer in the realm of urban poverty and pioneer of Public Health. Wald used her ingenuity and social creativity to find solutions to profound social malaises at the turn of the 20th century.
Presented by Jewish Theatre Collaborative, as part of Women's Heritage Month.

MONDAY NIGHT 3/28

2011-03-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

Family Dynamics with Ruth NemzoffBrandeis Resident Scholar

Date: Monday, March 28, 2011

Time: 7 - 9 pm

Location: Mittleman Jewish Community Center
              6651 SW Capitol Hwy
              Portland, Oregon
              503.244.0111 Author Ruth Nemzoff is a resident scholar at Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center.
She will be speaking about her recent book,
Don't Bite Your Tongue: How to Foster Rewarding Relationships with Your Adult Children.

Admission is free.

ESTHER BLUEBERGER AT 1pm!!!!!!

2011-03-25T18:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I misposted.....

Sunday at OJM the wonderfully funny yet poignant film will screen at 1pm. This is a wonderful educational opportunity for everyone middle school aged and up.

Gain insight about the middle school years, hear local middle schoolers talk about it afterwards!

The film is free.
We are asking for a $5 donation to cover custodial costs.

The Oregon Jewish Museum only seat 50 people....

see you there!

HEY, HEY, It's Esther Blueberger

2011-03-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

This is a wonderful film! A coming of age story perfect for middle and high schoolers as well as adults.

We're showing it at OJM Sunday March 27th at 2pm. The film is free! We are asking for a $5 donation to pay custodians to clean the auditorium.

This is an educational experience for all! Five middle schoolers have previewed the film and talked about their experiences with cliques, parents, bar & bat mitzvahs, friendships and more! They will lead a talk-back after the film. Their insights are amazing!

I think adults and kids will appreciate this opportunity to talk about growing up. It's a wonderful learning opportunity for everyone!

Come join us! You will be glad you did!

OpEn MiKe @ Hair of the Dog!!!! 3/30/11

2011-03-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

   Want to read your work ? You can reserve a spot in the line up....or just come listen !
   ALL AGES WELCOME!
   TO RESERVE A SPOT WRITE TO jampdx@gmail.com

The week of March 14th

2011-03-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

All Week Long: Art work in the lobby of the MJCC...Free admission during regular business hours!

Monday Night: Part of JAM and Part of The Portland Pride Reading Series: Visiting Mr. Green
Location: The Sanctuary @ Sandy Plaza
                 1785 NE Sandy Blvd.
   Portland, OR

One of the most produced plays in the world! 86 year old widower, Mr. Green is almost hit by a car driven by young corporate executive Ross Gardiner. Found guilty of reckless driving, Ross is ordered to spend the next six months making weekly visits to Mr Green. What starts off as a comedy about two people who resent being in the same room together develops into a gripping and poignant drama, as family secrets are revealed and old wounds are opened.

Starring Benjamin Farmer & George Fosgate.

http://www.pdxprideseries.com/

Shemaya Blauer
Touch Drawing Demonstration
Date: Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Time: 6 - 8 pm
Location: Mittleman Jewish Community Center
              6651 SW Capitol Hwy
              Portland, Oregon
              503.244.0111

Art Spark featuring ORA
Regional Arts & Crafts Council

Date:  Thursday, March 17, 2011
Time: 5 - 7 pm
NO HOST BAR~ MINGLE, MEET, SCHMOOZE, ESS A BISSEL!
RAFFLE FOR $100 GIFT CERTIFICATE, ART, MORE!!!!!!!!
Location:  Urban Farmer Restaurant
              (inside The Nines Hotel)
               525 SW Morrison St
               Portland, OR 97204
               503.222.4900

POWFEST is Underway

2011-03-10T22:49:00.000-08:00

Portland Oregon Women's FIlm Festival is happening NOW!!!!!!....through Sunday!

On Saturday afternoon two Jewish-themed documentaries will be featured:

"Return" and "Surviving" @ Hollywwod Theater

A panel discussion will follow this!

For more info go to: http://www.powfest.com/2011-festival-schedule.html

This is a remarkable festival and one not to be missed! JAM is most proud to be associated with this set of events.....see you there!

THE WEEK OF MARCH 7TH

2011-03-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

@ the MJCC: week 1 ART IN THE LOBBY. Free admission. See the fabulous work of Fabric artist -Laurie Fendel, Painter- Sharon Segal, and Paintographer- Ellen Shefi.

If you see something you like feel free to grab an artist's card and call them!
http://www.northwestjewishartists.org/
------------

Israeli Art ExhibitFrom Jerusalem's Safrai Gallery

Dates: March 10 - 13, 2011
Location: Congregation Beth Israel
                   1972 NW Flanders
                    Portland, OR 97219
Call for info: 503.222.1069

Over 600 works by Israeli artists from the Safrai Gallery in Jerusalem will be on display for four days. Check Beth Israel website for details.
http://www.bethisrael-pdx.org/brotherhood.htm
--------

Portland Women's Film FestivalDocumentary Showcase: ",Return."   and ".Surviving."

Date: Saturday, March 12, 2011
Time: 3 pm

Location: Hollywood Theater
4122 NE Sandy Blvd.
Portland, OR 97214

Admission: $7
http://www.powfest.com/powfest-festival-schedule.html

RETURN is a first person account adapted from Dr. Fred Sondermann’s memoirs of his trip back to Germany 30 years after the Holocaust. The film walks the viewer through the experience, contemplating victimization, the nature of blame, the appropriate issuance of forgiveness, and the determination to move forward unburdened by ghosts of the past. (32 minutes)

SURVIVING is an intimate portrait of the relationship between the filmmaker and her adoptive mother a Holocaust survivor, as the filmmaker attempts to come to terms with the legacy that she has inherited. (43 minutes)

A Panel Discussion will follow these screenings!

The Arts Through Jewish Eyes- Wonderful!!!!

2011-03-04T12:25:00.000-08:00

Sara Harwin, artist and David Fuks , m.c.

SIMPLY wonderful! Last night's program was at times hilarious and other times serious and enlightening. We were treated to insights into the lives of talented souls who call themselves artists, musicians, writers, and propagandists!

Go to our Photos page to see snapshots of last night's panel.

And go to our calendar link above to see what's coming next!

Hint: MJCC Lobby......an art show goes up Sunday morning, March 6th and remains on display through Friday. Repeat again for the next several weeks...new artists and new displays each week!

The Arts Through Jewish Eyes- March 3rd @ MJCC!

2011-02-27T22:39:00.000-08:00

Join us for this wonderful panel discussion with David Fuks as our moderator!

Panelists will include:

Cantor Deborah Bletstein - a new arrival here in Portland, serving as Cantor at Neveh Shalom; background in opera, musical theater and jazz before becoming a cantor.

Ed Goldberg - popular on-air host for Portland's Classical Music station 89.9; he is a writer, music critic, and film critic.
Dr. Merritt Linn - a writer of fiction, about to complete a second novel
Joel Luxenberg - young talented musician; nationally known for his trumpet playing
Wendy Westerwelle - popular actress, singer, writer; known for her one-woman shows: Rose; Soph
Sara Harwin - well known artist known for her high quality artwork and Judaica

ADMISSION IS FREE ! donations appreciated.

MJCC 6651 SW Capitol Hwy Portland, OR 503.244.0794

This event is sponsored by the MJCC, The Oregon

Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts

CLICK ON THE LINK!

2011-02-24T13:56:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LMFuLRxUWo

Tonight! Ernest Bloch Lecture @ OJM

2011-02-23T12:46:00.000-08:00

The Life and Music of Ernest Bloch: Problems and Paradoxes, Lecture by Dr. Alexander Knapp, Music Research Associate, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Date: Thursday, February 24
Time: 7:30pm

Oregon Jewish Museum
1953 NW Kearney St

General Public:$8
Museum Members: $5

Seating is limited to 50 per lecture. Make your reservations early.
Select this link for secure online reservations

FIND US ON YOUTUBE!!!!!!

2011-02-17T13:07:00.000-08:00

Thank you Lauren Botney for creating this special piece!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LMFuLRxUWo

enjoy!

The Portland Women's Film Fest is back!

2011-02-16T00:03:00.000-08:00

POWfest has joined JAM again this year! Two films will screen Saturday afternoon March 12th at the Hollywood Theater. Both short documentaries, RETURN and SURVIVING are important films dealing with survivors of WWII.

In early March we'll post more info about these films and the panel discussions set to take place immediately after the films.

The festival runs March 9-13, 2011. You can get more info about their wonderful festival at:

http://www.powfest.com/2011-festival-schedule.html

OUR CALENDAR IS UP AND RUNNING!

2011-02-14T23:42:00.000-08:00

We've been a bit stymied by the technology required to post a calendar directly on the blog BUT the link to our calendar is in small red print at the top of the blog. Click it and find yourself transported to a detailed calendar. Keep checking the calendar because new events will be added periodically.

Can't find what you are looking for? Leave us a message here and we will post an answer quickly!

If you have trouble with the link then just cut and paste this address into your browser!

http://www.northwestjewishartists.org/JAMcalendar2011.html

thanks for visiting our site!!!!

PICTURE THIS!

2011-02-08T21:11:00.000-08:00

A group of 6-8th graders will work with photographers Jo Grishman and Katy Weaver to create photo essays- about their jewish identity and how it is reflected in their daily and family lives.

This is very exciting stuff! If you know kids then you know how creative they can be!

When they have finished their coursework there will be a one night gallery show. It should be pretty exciting. We don't have a gallery date set yet...so stay tuned. This will be on of several pop up JAM events.

David Biespiel reads @ Powells! Monday Feb 7 @ 7:30 pm

2011-02-06T16:59:00.000-08:00

WOW.....David will share some of his writing at Broadway Books as part of JAM in April. Meanwhile, he'll be appearing this week at Powells
3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd. (800) 878-7323
Here's the announcement from Powells:
Every Writer Has a Thousand Faces

David Biespiel's Every Writer Has a Thousand Faces (Kelson) cracks open the creative process, inviting readers to take a fresh look at the mysterious pathways of the imagination. Beginning and experienced writers alike — as well as artists, musicians, dancers, and anyone else on a creative path — will benefit from this surprising and fresh perspective.

JAM: FEBRUARY

2011-02-03T17:48:00.000-08:00

Jewish Arts Month should only be a month right?
WRONG!!!!
it should be as long as it takes to cover all the amazing opportunities a little shtetl like Portland can offer.
Okay...so we didn't plan to include February....but give a look at this wonderful set of events. How could we not adopt them?! CHECK OUT THE EVENTS LISTED BELOW! We will soon post a link to a graphics calendar for those of you who want to check out the events in a more visual format.

FEBRUARY 2011

2/3-2/20 Charlotte Salomon: Life? Or Theatre? @ Disjecta

http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/141007

2/6 Ernest Bloch- Framing a Vision of the World, OJM 2pm

rsvp at www.ojm.org or call 503-226-3600

2/8 "The Impossible Spy", Sephardic Winter Film Series

Congregation Ahavath Achim 3225 SW Barbur Blvd. Call for details call David at 503-892-6634.

February 8, 2011, 7:00 PM “THE IMPOSSIBLE SPY”

This riveting film tells the incredible but true story of Elie Cohen, an Egyptian born Jew and top Israeli intelligence recruit whose obsession with his mission as a double agent drove him to his death. This is the story of the most famous Israeli spy of all time.

(96 Minutes, 1987, in color, UK, Directed by Jim Goddard, English)

Guest Speaker: Adi Hoter, Major in IDF

2/12 "Human Resources" Ptld Intl. Film Fest (PIFF): Israeli film- http://www.nwfilm.org/festivals/piff/

2/13 2pm? Community Orchestra Concert @ mjcc call

503.244.0111 for more info

2/20 Burus @ PIFF: http://www.nwfilm.org/festivals/piff/

2/20 Dave Frishberg concert 7:30-9:30 at the Winningstad

Portland Jazz Festival

http://pdxjazz.com/portland-jazz-festival/events

2/26 2pm Three Cohens and the AfroSemitic Experience

@ the Crystal Ballroom

http://pdxjazz.com/portland-jazz-festival/events

2/27 2pm Klezmer Brunch featuring Klezmocracy @CBI-Please contact Elana at Congregation Beth Israel at 503-222-1069 to purchase your tickets

Charlotte Salomon Returns to PDX

2011-02-01T21:26:00.000-08:00

This is must-see theater!

Charlotte Salomon's Life? or Theatre? opens Feb 3 at Disjecta Theater. A reception preceding the premiere will begin at 7 pm. Each performance will be followed by a "talk-back." OPB's Emily Harris will facilitate this first session.

http://www.jewishtheatrecollaborative.org/
is the site to go to to get ticket information!

JAM hasn't officially opened but we are proud to advertise this theatrical run and a fine theater company, Portland's own Jewish Theater Collaborative.

DISJECTA
8371 N Interstate 97217

Tickets:
Adults $20
Seniors $18
Students $15

KLEZMOCRACY SIGNS ON TO JAM!!!!!

2011-01-21T22:04:00.000-08:00

We are so pleased to welcome Klezmocracy to JAM. One of the finest Klezmer bands around, this group will rock the house!

Do you have a musical instrument you love to play? GOOD NEWS! Following the Klezmocracy Concert, there will be a jam session....yup....COME JAM AT JAM!!!!!!

More information will follow, but for now...mark your calendars : April 3rd at the MJCC 3pm.

It's time to rock the house!!!!!!

2011-01-20T13:45:00.001-08:00

OREGON JEWISH MUSEUM PRESENTS

2011-01-13T00:03:00.000-08:00

OK, it's not JAM season yet....but this is so important for everyone to see!

Oregon Jewish Museum once again has developed an astonishing exhibit about Ernest Bloch, composer and photographer...and more.

Many activities are coming: lectures and a concert!
go to http://www.ojm.org/
for more information!

Blessed Be Her Memory

2011-01-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Baruch Dayan Emet.
Debbie Friedman z"l , was legendary in her ability to create Jewish Music for our world. She had the unique ability to also spread her music around the world, as a healing salve to a people in need of physical and spiritual healing.

She struggled with personal illness for years and in the end the music that helped heal thousands of others failed to help her heal from pneumonia. She passed away yesterday, January 9th leaving us with a legacy of music and an important lesson: that music, and indeed all art can heal.

She wrote the song Mourning into Dancing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLsTk0YpE4A
play this in honor of her good works.

May her memory be a blessing to the world and may we be inspired to create healing art in an effort to support what she started .

It Is...and It Isn't

2011-01-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

While it isn't officially a part of Jewish Arts Month (JAM) here in Portland, the Portland Jazz Festival will be serving up some amazing music! And it comes in mid-February! JAM will launch our festival sometime in late February....but we're proud of this JAZZ Festival and encourage everyone to check it out!!!!!!

http://pdxjazz.com/portland-jazz-festival has the complete schedule...but this is the gist of the festival (below) .....

..........WOW!!!!!
--------------

BRIDGES AND BOUNDARIES:
JEWISH & AFRICAN AMERICANS PLAYING JAZZ TOGETHER

The 2011 Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by US Bank will be held Friday, February 18 through Sunday, February 27 at venues throughout Portland. The week-long festival will include jazz education and outreach along with a series of concerts all supporting the 2011 theme,Bridges and Boundaries: Jewish & African Americans Playing Jazz Together.

Among this year’s headliners areÂ the SFJAZZ Collective, in the world premiere of new repertoire paying homage to African American pop icon Stevie Wonder; NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston, performing solo piano in support of his new release, The Storyteller, and autobiography, African Rhythms: The Autobiography of Randy Weston; celebrated clarinetist Don Byron and his new project dedicated to the great Jewish entertainer, Mickey Katz – a reunion of the groundbreaking and virtuosic klezmer ensemble that recorded Byron’s eponymous Nonesuch album and spearheaded the klezmer revival in the 1990s; a special performance by The 3 Cohens, featuring siblings, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, saxophonist/clarinetist Anat Cohen, and pianist Yuval Cohen; famed African American violinist Regina Carter will return to Portland, presenting her newest project, Reverse Thread, which traces the musical history of African cultures, including tribes of Ugandan Jews; saxophonistJoshua Redman - son of African American saxophonist Dewey Redman and Jewish American dancer Renee Shedroff – leading his new project, James Farm, that includes both African American and Jewish American musicians; and the Portland Jazz Festival’s new Artistic & Community Ambassador, bassist Esperanza Spalding (who will lead her new Chamber Music Societyin an exclusive Portland area engagement).

Nussbaum

2010-12-16T15:29:00.000-08:00

FELIX NUSSBAUM 1904-1944

Once in a while it is worthy to focus on the art work of someone great.
The Jewish Museum in Paris currently features his work.

During JAM, Portland's Jewish Theater Collaborative will feature a production based on the life of Charlotte Salomon, a contemporary of Nussbaum. It will be interesting to compare HER work WITH NUSSBAUM'S! Be sure you get tickets to this wonderful production Feb 3-20, 2010
http://www.jewishtheatrecollaborative.org/

The ezine Jewish Daily features a lovely look at a wonderful artist, Felix Nussbaum, whose life and talent were cut short by Auschwitz.

Here is a quote from the article written by Eunice Lipton:

And what is so horribly painful considering Nussbaum’s life is that he was all there before the Holocaust, and everything he was and did was a sign of life. But after he was killed, these qualities were turned into the traits of a victim—signs of desperation and hopelessness, imminent loss, passivity. That is the interpretive injustice I referred to earlier. But he didn’t die, he wasn’t dead, until he was killed. It is his life that one experiences at the Jewish Museum in Paris and why the exhibit is not depressing.

Take a look at what else she has to say. It is a wonderful article. You'll want to fly to PARIS, just to see the exhibit!

http://www.jidaily.com/v6E/e

Jewish Community Orchestra Joins JAM!

2010-12-15T23:12:00.000-08:00

We are pleased to welcome the Jewish Community Orchestra to JAM. They bring one concert to our festival and are already thinking about what special programming they can provide for 2012!!!

April 10, 2011 3pm at the MJCC....we'll have more information about tickets and program as we approach the event.

WELCOME musicians! We are thrilled to have you on board!

Great News!....thank you OAC!!!

2010-12-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

We received fantastic news yesterday!

The Oregon Arts Commission has awarded Jewish Arts Month 2011 a stunning grant of $5,250.

Their trust and support mean so much to us. We still need to raise additional funds, but with this award, hopefully others will pitch in to help us on our way.

Won't you consider making a tax deductible donation to JAM?
It's as simple as writing a check to the MJCC (Mittleman Jewish Community Center) and write JAM in the memo line. (6651 SW Capitol Hwy, PDX 97219)

MJCC's development director took our ideas and put them into a cohesive and persuasive grant. Thank you Helen Gundlach! The MJCC is a partner in our efforts and is also our fiscal manager.

A matching gift to the Oregon Cultural Trust should yield additional tax benefits. We aren't tax advisors but if you look at the OCT website you can get more info about how it all works.

YAHOOOOOO!!!!!! we are on our way!

The Jewish Film Festival joins JAM!

2010-12-09T15:46:00.000-08:00

JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

The Portland Jewish Film Festival explores themes of spirituality and Jewish identity throughout all parts of the world, especially how American Jews perceive themselves in a larger social context. The films, in their abundance, touch on tragedy, embrace humor, and recount the emotional and tangible gains and losses of a people.

2011 dates: April 3-17, 2011 Stay tuned for a schedule.

The Calendar is Building!

2010-12-02T22:28:00.000-08:00

We're still in the process of shaping our calendar but the events are beginning to take shape.

Dates are still tentative for some of the events listed.....but we will have a full calendar accessible by the public, shortly!

••Thursday, March 3: THE ARTS THROUGH JEWISH EYES @ THE MJCC 7:30 PM
••Sundays thru Fridays in the month of March: A Rotating Art Exhibit in the lobby of the MJCC
   with demonstrations!
••Thursday, March 17 ORA Northwest Jewish Artists are featured at the RACC sponsored ART SPARK
   location TBA....music will also be provided by a local musician (TBA)!
•• SHELLEY JORDON, member of the pilot cohort of the JERUSALEM CULTURAL FELLOWSHIP
   will talk about her experience this summer in Israel and Berlin as well as discuss her newest works.
date/time/venue TBA.

NEW THIS YEAR: Children's Programming
Student photography exhibit.....venue, dates and times tba
Children's film festival....stay tuned!

ALSO IN THE WORKS:
Folk Dancing, music concerts, theater, film........

Children's Programming for JAM!!!!!

2010-11-19T00:34:00.000-08:00

We are so pleased to have a committee of young teens developing programming for JAM this year!
Because they are minors, we don't want to print names or photos here.

What is impressive is their enthusiasm and desire to be involved in the community. They are doing "on the job" training...learning how to run meetings, brainstorm ideas, and the "art" of follow through!

They'll be writing their own posts HERE soon!

Stay tuned!

Oregon Arts Commission Grant Hearing

2010-11-09T23:13:00.000-08:00

We went to Salem this morning to listen to the Art Builds Communities Grant Hearings. JAM submitted a grant and we wanted to see/hear the process.

We listened to numerous grant proposals. Each has its merits and flaws. The committee was remarkable in their ability to remain focused and to treat each proposal with absolute integrity.

I learned so much about the process and even more about what constitutes a solid grant. I don't envy the committee their task to make decisions. Following each grant I had to stifle the urge to jump up and shout...."That is such a cool idea!....fund this!"

We heard positive statements about our grant and it was a lovely thing to hear, but the same was true for many, many grants we listened to. We will wait patiently, work on additional fund raising efforts and try to build a fund that will see JAM into the future. The official word should come sometime in December.

Grant writing is hard work! Kudos to Helen Gundlach for her efforts to bring JAM grant dollars.... and now it's time for our community to step up and support this annual festival. Grassroot financial support will assure the future of JAM. Please consider supporting JAM!

Tax deductible donations can be made to the Mittleman Jewish Community Center (MJCC). Please write JAM in the memo line. Matching gifts to the OREGON CULTURAL TRUST will yield a tax credit!
Questions? send inquiries to jampdx@gmail.com

THANK YOU!

WORDS!

2010-11-08T13:14:00.000-08:00

Annual Readings by Jewish Writers and Poets

Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 7:30 p.m.

At the Oregon Jewish Museum

Rosalyn and Solomon Menashe Auditorium

1953 NW Kearney Street, Portland

Suggested donation $5; free for OJM members.

Five prominent Jewish poets and writers will read from their personal collection for our annual poetry reading, established in 1999.

Alison Apotheker 's first book of poems, Slim Margin was released in 2008. Her poetry has been published in many literary magazines, including Alaska Quarterly Review, Mid-American Review, and Prairie Schooner. Her work has received the C. Hamilton Bailey fellowship from Oregon Literary Arts, twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, and was recently featured on the Garrison Keillor’s NPR radio show, "The Writer's Almanac." She teaches writing and literature at Portland Community College.

Gigi Rosenberg is an author and presentation coach. She writes about motherhood, Jewish Italy, and the writing life. Her essays and articles have been published by Seal Press, The Oregonian, Oregon Humanities Magazine, Parenting, and Writer’s Digest. Her book, The Artist’s Guide to Grant Writing, will be hot off the press from Random House in December 2010. As a presentation coach, Gigi draws on her background in theater and communications to teach artist entrepreneurs and business people how to make stellar public presentations.

Willa Schneberg, recipient of the Oregon Book Award in Poetry, is the originator and organizer of O.J.M.'s annual Oregon Jewish Writers' Reading, now in its 11th season. Her work was included in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror Anthology, was heard on the Writer’s Almanac, and can be seen on busses and Max trains in Portland. In October, she taught poetry workshops at “Write on the Sound” in Edmonds, WA, and at Wordstock. She has just returned from a “Bearing Witness" Retreat at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Floyd Skloot has published 17 books, most recently Selected Poems: 1970-2005, which won his second Pacific NW Booksellers Award in poetry, a memoir entitled The Wink of The Zenith: The Shaping of a Writer's Life, and a collection of new poems, The Snow's Music. Skloot is the recipient of three Pushcart Prizes, the PEN USA Literary Award, and two Oregon Book Awards, and his work has been reprinted in The Best American Essays, Best Spiritual Writing, Best Food Writing and Best American Science Writing. He lives in Portland.

Jack Turteltaub is a Portland native and licensed clinical psychologist who currently maintains a private practice in the city. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and his graduate degrees from Wayne State University. He has been published in a number of literary journals, most recently in Drash, Hazmat and Cloudbank. He belongs to two writing groups in Portland and loves, among other things, hiking, movies

ANDY STATMAN TRIO In Concert!

2010-11-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

Renowned klezmer clarinet and mandolin player, Andy Statman is coming to Portland! Purchase tickets in the Neveh Shalom office, or reserve will-call tickets by phone (with Visa/MC, minimum $25 charge, 3% credit-offset donation requested. Tickets $18 per person, $50 per family (parents and all children living at home age 21 and under).| View this dotCal Event here: http://dotcal.me/mk

Andy Statman Trio in Concert

Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 6:30pm

2900 SW Peaceful Lane, 97239

Wendy Westerwelle is a HOT MAMMA!

2010-10-28T12:36:00.000-07:00

December 2-26 @ COHO Theater

Call (503) 239-5919 for info/tickets

AVISHAI COHEN- comes to pdx!

2010-10-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

Although it isn't part of JEWISH ARTS MONTH , this blog will attempt to post highlights of the Jewish Arts in the Portland community.

HERE'S THE SCOOP:

PDX Jazz, the presenting organization of the Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by U.S. Bank, announces the October 23rd appearance by Avishai Cohen. The Israeli-born and Paris-based EMI-France recording artist is set to perform at the Winningstad Theater, an intimate 300 seat venue located within the Portland Center for the Performing Arts. This rare Portland area performance by the celebrated bassist will begin at 7:30 PM.

Cohen is a musician who has been called a jazz visionary of global proportions by DownBeat, and was declared one of the 100 Most Influential Bass Players of the 20th Century by Bass Player Magazine. Cohen is not only renowned around the world as an influential double bassist and profound composer, but also as a visionary bandleader that is following in the footsteps of Charles Mingus, Dave Holland, Jaco Pastorius, Ray Brown, Charlie Haden, Stanley Clarke, and even Sting.

*Note: Limited seating is available for this event.

Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.ticketmaster.com

or in person at the PCPA box office.

JAM 2011 Update

2010-09-29T23:28:00.000-07:00

Last year JAM became a reality thanks to the generosity of The Oregon Arts Commison, National Endowment for the Arts and some individual donors.

We had numerous sponsors who will be identified in the next blog posting. Special thanks needs to go to The Mittleman Jewish Community Center (MJCC) who not only took on fiscal management responsibility but also donated space and staff time to make this possible.

A new grant has been written to the OAC and we hope that they might be willing to offer us funding one more time. This financial assistance will allow to concentrate on fine tuning our festival while looking for other financial resources.

Last year we developed a template for hosting a Portland area Jewish arts festival. Our planning team reviewed, studied and evaluated everything we did. We learned so much and we're determined to make year two more exciting - a festival that will reach more broadly across age groups and spread across the broader community.

Above all, we will need to find ways to financially support JAM. We can't become dependent on grants for our future.

Do you want to be involved as a planner? Write to us! jampdx@gmail.com or to eddy shuldman at sparksofspirit@gmail.com.

Would you consider a tax deductible donation? Donations large and small are needed. Send your check to the MJCC but write in JAM donation on the memo line. Your contribution will be a statement of your support to building networks throughout our community through the arts.

Stay tuned for info re: JAM events. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

JAM returns ...spring 2011

2010-09-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

We're busily writing grants and dreaming our schedule.

Would you like to help? Post a note here or send an email to jampdx@gmail.com

We need dreamers and we need do-ers!

Israeli Aritst in PDX- Pamela Silver

2010-08-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

This lovely invitation appeared in the ORA artist email box...thought we would post it here!

I just wanted to invite you to the exhibition at the Littman gallery portland university where I will be exhibiting at the

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN ARTISTS’ EXHIBITION AND CONFERENCE - USA 2010: Her Presence in Colours IX
Littman Gallery
Exhibition: Littman Gallery PSU Smith Building, 1825 SW Broadway
Exhibition Dates: August 5-27
Conference: August 1-8
Exhibition Opening Reception: August 5, 5-7 p.m.

I am from Jerusalem Israel and would love to meet up.

Best wishes,

Pamela Silver

PLANS FOR JAM 2011- under way!

2010-07-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

Yup, we're planning!
We've begun writing grants, looking at options, dreaming up possibilities.

Do you have an idea?
post it here!

Want to get involved?
write to jampdx@gmail.com and let us know!

Jewish Arts Month....Portland Oregon.....spring 2011

A perfect match!

Shelley Jordon : Jerusalem welcomes Oregon artist!

2010-05-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Shelley was a featured artist in JAM 2010.....and now following a research trip to Berlin, Shelley will spend a month in Jerusalem. Check this out!!!!!!!
Elise BernhardtPresident and CEO
Foundation for Jewish Culture

and
Uri DromiDirector General
Mishkenot Sha’ananim

Invite you to meet the Pilot cohort of the
JERUSALEM CULTURAL FELLOWSHIP
Shelley Jordon, visual artist / Nicole Kraus, writer
Jonathan Safran Foer, writer / Josh Sirefman, urban planner
Reggie Wilson, choreographer

In the presence of Mayor Nir Barkatand Ruth Cheshin, President of the Jerusalem Foundation

Mishkenot Sha’ananim
Monday, June 14thReception at 6 pm
Opening of Shelley Jordon’s exhibition, “Flying / Falling”, at 6:30 pm
Introduction to Fellows at 7 pm

Rsvp to Ofira at Mishkenot ofira@mishkenot.org.il
02-629-2215, by Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Shelley Jordon

Shelley Jordon is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work explores the intersection between interior and exterior worlds and connections between past and present experiences. A recipient of a 2010 Oregon Arts Commission Individual Fellowship Award, a Fulbright-Hayes Group Travel Research Grant to Yemen and Tunisia, a 2010 OSU Center for the Humanities Fellowship Award, and an Oregon Artist’s Fellowship Award in Painting, her artwork has been exhibited in numerous venues nationally and internationally, including the Frye Museum in Seattle, Washington, the Oregon Biennial at the Portland Art Museum, the Northwest Biennial at the Tacoma Art Museum, and the Portland Biennial, at the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME. Her films have been screened at international film festivals in Hamburg, Germany, Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles, CA. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York and her MFA from Brooklyn College, also in New York. Jordon, a Professor of Art at Oregon State University, was a visiting artist at the American Academy in Rome last spring.

Nicole Krauss

American novelist and graduate of both Stanford and Oxford universities, Krauss had her first novel, Man Walks into a Room published in 2002. Her second novel, The History of Love became an international bestseller, and topped the lists in Israel as well. The book received France's Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger and Amazon's #1 Book of the Year and was shortlisted for the Orange, British Book Award, Médicis, and Femina prizes. Krauss's books have been translated into more than thirty languages and her writing has been published in newspapers and magazines, including: the New Yorker, Harper, Esquire, the New York Times and others.

Jonathan Safran Foer

American author Safran Foer graduated from Princeton University with a degree in philosophy. His senior thesis examined the life of his maternal grandfather, a Holocaust survivor. The thesis later became his novel Everything Is Illuminated (2002) for which he won the National Jewish Book Award and the Guardian First Book Award. In 2005, Liev Schreiber wrote and directed a film adaptation of the novel. In his second book, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2005), Safran Foer tells a story of a nine year old boy whose father dies tragically in the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center buildings. The book uses many nontraditional writing techniques known as visual writing. His use of these techniques earned him both praise and criticism. The book's movie rights were jointly purchased by Warner Brothers and Paramount. Safran Foer also wrote a libretto for the opera titled Seven Attempted Escapes from Silence, which premiered at the Berlin State Opera in 2005. In 2009, Safran Foer published Eating Animals. He works as an editor on different writing projects and leads writing workshops at Yale University and New York University.

Joshua J. Sirefman

Joshua Sirefman is an urban planner, president and founder of Sirefman Ventures, Inc.

Between 2007 and 2009 he served as Senior Vice President, US Development at Brookfield Properties and was responsible for all development activity across the United States for publicly traded commercial real estate company with approximately $20 billion in assets.

He was a senior member of Bloomberg Administration (2004-2006), working with Deputy Mayor to develop and advance economic development strategies to enhance the business climate, diversify NYC’s economy, and improve quality of life. In June 2006 agreed to Mayoral request to run the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

Between 2002 and 2004 he was Chief Operating Officer at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, responsible for overall policy and strategic direction, coordination of priority initiatives, external affairs and general organizational management.

Among the projects he was involved in: Coney Island, New York Harbor, Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn. He received his Master in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan.

Reggie Wilson

Reggie Wilson (Artistic Director and performer) founded his company, Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group, in 1989. Wilson draws from the movement languages of the blues, slave and spiritual cultures of Africans in the Americas and combines them with post-modern elements and his own personal movement style to create what he now calls "post-African/Neo-HooDoo Modern dances." His work has been presented nationally and internationally.

Wilson is a graduate of New York University, Tisch School of the Arts and has lectured, taught and conducted extended workshops and community projects throughout the US, Africa, Europe and the Caribbean. He is the recipient of the Minnesota Dance Alliance's McKnight National Fellow (2000-2001). Wilson is also a 2002 BESSIE New York Dance and Performance Award recipient for his work The Tie-tongued Goat and the Lightning Bug Who Tried to Put Her Foot Down and a 2002 John Simon Guggenheim Fellow. He has been an artist advisor for the National Dance Project and is a Board Member of Dance Theater Workshop. Most recently, in recognition of his creative contributions to the field, Wilson was named a 2009 United States Artists Prudential Fellow and is the recipient of the 2009 Herb Alpert Award in Dance.

His current work, The Good Dance – dakar/brooklyn had its World premiere at the Walker Art Center in November 2009 and NY premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in December 2009.

Historic Jewish Portland-May 23!

2010-05-13T23:03:00.000-07:00

A Walking Tour of Historic Jewish Portland

Sunday, May 23, 2010

10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

In the early 1900's, Eastern European and Sephardic Jews settled in South Portland.

It was a close and largely self-contained neighborhood. There were kosher butcher shops and bakeries, a Jewish orphanage and an old age home, social activism and immigrant benevolent societies. There were schools, a library with Yiddish books, and the Neighborhood House, a focal point with a Hebrew school, citizenship classes, and youth activities.

In 1958 Portland voted to create the South Auditorium Urban Renewal District and bulldozers demolished 54 blocks of the immigrant community.

Despite this, today there are intact reminders of the way life used to be. See historic buildings, hear first-hand memories and read period newspaper accounts as you walk through the old neighborhood.

Meet at Lair Hill Market, 2823 S.W. First Ave.; $8 per person ; for more information or to register, please reply to this message or email ojfas@comcast.net.

This event is a benefit for the Jewish Federation of Portland.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT JAM?

2010-05-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

We'd love to hear from you!

We're thinking about a poetry slam, a dance, big name concerts......

REALLY.....what would you like to see?

We're writing grants, dreaming dreams, and recruiting volunteers to help us make things happen.

Why not join us?

Portland's Jewish Theater Collaborative raises funds!

2010-05-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

The first show has sold out but a few tickets are left for the second show. Here's the info I lifted from their website. If you can't make the performance, consider cutting them a generous check!

OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISER

We Invite You To Travel Back In Time
To The Sultry Cabaret Of Pre-War Europe

with excerpts from

CITIES OF LIGHT

Starring
Cantor, Off-Broadway & International Chanteuse

Rebecca Joy Fletcher

IN PORTLAND FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY!

WEDNESDAY MAY 12, 2010
$36 per person
Reply to sacha@JewishTheatreCollaborative.org or call 503-512-9582
Hosted by the Oregon Jewish Museum
1953 NW Kearney, Portland view map

LIMITED to Two Intimate Performances
in OJM's art deco screening room

Please make your reservations to celebrate at either show:

EARLY SHOW	LATE SHOW
7:00pm Wine & Hors D'oeuvres 7:30pm Performance & Program 8:20pm Toast	8:00pm Wine & Hors D'oeuvres 8:20pm Toast 8:45pm Performance & Program

Thanks to Jewish Federation of Greater Portland for their seed support of JTC
and the Oregon Jewish Museum for generously hosting this event.

JAM 2010 IS OVER....Hello JAM 2011

2010-05-02T21:13:00.000-07:00

We have begun the evaluation process for JAM 2010 and welcome any and all commentary that will help us reflect on our events....as well as assist us in planning for next spring!

WE WILL CONTINUE TO POST ANNOUNCEMENTS OF ART EVENTS AS WE BECOME AWARE OF THEM...so stay tuned!

Thank you Oregon Arts Commission for your most generous grant!

Thank you Mittleman Jewish Community Center: Lisa Horrowitz, Helen Gundlach, Jordana Levenick, Beth Germain, Marissa Brown, Rosanne Levi, and the amazing custodial staff!

Thank you ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists!

Thank you Team Planners: Esther Liberman, Eddy Shuldman, Abby Myers, Sharyn Schneiderman, Cantor IdaRae Cahana, Priscilla Kostiner, Barbara Steinfeld , and Ed Kraus!!!!!!!

Images from the Older But Wiser Cafe

2010-04-25T22:36:00.000-07:00

Jewish Theater Collaborative closes out JAM

2010-04-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Hour with Sholem Aleichem

Date: Sunday, April 25, 2010
Time: 5 - 7 pmLocation:
Food for Thought Cafe
Smith Hall, Portland State University
1620 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97201

A storytelling and Klezmer rocking celebration of Sholem Aleichem’s yartzeit
Presented by Jewish Theatre Collaborative, and The Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies

Admission: Free

Write to the Heart

2010-04-21T22:44:00.000-07:00

Rose Schnitzer Manor Writers will demonstrate their skills in story telling Thursday May 22nd at the Older but Wiser Writers Cafe located in the heart of Rose Schnitzer Manor.

Cosponsored by Jewish Arts Month and Cedar Sinai Park in Portland, this will be a special evening.

Jazz pianist and KMHD radio DJ personality George Fendel will provide musical entertainment from 6:45 to 7pm (ish) and then our writers will take to the microphone and wow the audience with their poetry and stories.

Refreshments will be available!
Bring a hankie or 2...you will laugh until you cry, and you certainly be touched by their more sobering memories.

OLDER BUT WISER CAFE-Thursday 7pm

2010-04-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

Judge this book by its cover!
Five dutiful writers who are also residents of Rose Schnitzer Manor have just assembled their first anthology. The group assembled in October and have been meeting weekly to write personal narratives, poetry and more!

The Older But Wiser Writers Cafe will be staged in the Zidell meeting room at Rose Schnitzer. Beer, wine, and other refreshments will be available to their eager audience. Will you be there?

This is one of the last events happening under the Jam "umbrella" for 2010.

COME SUPPORT THESE YOUNG AT HEART WRITERS AND LEARN A LITTLE HISTORY ALONG WITH HEARING SOME GREAT STORIES! YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID!

LAST Week!...MUST SEE THEATER!

2010-04-16T12:14:00.001-07:00

PORTLAND JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL

2010-04-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

Dates: April 15 - 25, 2010

Location:
Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium,
Portland Art Museum
1219 SW Park Ave.
Portland, Oregon

The 18^th annual festival will feature 12 movies from 8 countries!

Watch your Jewish Review for a complete film information guide.

General admission tickets are priced at $8. There is a discount for students, seniors and Portland Art Museum members.
A festival pass for admission to all 12 films is available for $50 from the Institute for Judaic Studies ( www.judaicstudies.org ).
Pass holders are entitled to express entry. Festival director Merridawn Duckler encourages the purchase of festival passes as the best way to help IJS, which created the Portland Jewish Film Festival and presents it today with the Northwest Film Center.

Purchase passes by phone at 503-246-8831 or send a check to IJS, 2900 Peaceful Lane, Portland OR 97239.

Individual tickets may be purchased at the door or from the NWFC: 503-221-1156, or www.nwfilm.org

Schedule & synopses of films: www.nwfilm.org/screenings/25/261/

Put A PDX Spin on the CHOSEN- Wednesday !

2010-04-13T16:21:00.000-07:00

Join us for some great conversation about the play THE CHOSEN, see the wonderful video featuring familiar faces....and talk with us about growing up Jewish.

Tim DuRoche with Portland Center Stage will lead the conversation. The play is wonderful and you will just adore the video!

COME, TALK, LISTEN, LEARN.....

Date: Wednesday - April 14, 2010

Time: 7:00 PM

Location: Mittleman Jewish Community Center
6651 SW Capitol Hwy Portland, Oregon
503.244.0111

Explore themes in Chaim Potok’s The Chosen (adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner - now on stage at Portland Center Stage) through a discussion from a distinctly Portland perspective. Local figures will join the conversation about fathers and sons, coming of age, the power of silence, and the Portland atmosphere in the 1940s. Open to everyone.

Admission free, but registration required: Click here to register Sponsored by MJCC, Portland Center Stage. Call 503.244.0111
or go to: http://www.oregonjcc.org/page.cfm?p=1312 to register

WHAT'S NEXT?

2010-04-10T23:26:00.000-07:00

YUVAL RON Ensemble
Mystical Music of the Middle East- Concert for Unity

Date: Tuesday, April 13

Time: 7pm

LOCATION:
First Unitarian Church Sanctuary,
1211 SW Main
Portland, Oregon

Tickets: $15 at the door or online
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/90746

An inspirational celebration of Sacred Hebrew, Sufi, and Armenian devotional music, poetry, dance and story telling.
For more information write to info@yuvalronmusic.com or see www.yuvalronmusic.com

2010-04-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

Yom Hashoah Holocaust Rememberance Concert
Co-Sponsored by the MJCC and Oregon Board of Rabbis
The Jewish Community Orchestra presents a the following pieces:

"Dachau Song" - The musical story of a secret orchestra
Beethoven - Symphony No. 3, Eroica
Zipper - Dachau Lied
Williams - Selections from Schindler's List - Yvonne Shue, Violin
Various - The Terezin Colleciton

This concert is FREE and open to the entire community
Date: Sunday, April 11Time: 3:00 pmLocation: At the MJCC, 6651 SW Capitol Hwy, Portland

ROSE: Willamette Week Review!!!!

2010-04-07T17:24:00.000-07:00

Gnarled hands pushed firmly into her knees, Rose leans forward, hunching over the wooden bench that she will stay perched on throughout her monologue, the thick muscles in her jaw pulling and pushing her lips dramatically as she tells the sorrowful tale of living in Warsaw during the Holocaust and afterward as a refugee, with her husband being marched off by Nazis and young daughter shot before her eyes in between. Amid anguished recollections of her tortured past, Rose (Wendy Westerwelle) graces the audience with short bursts of comedic relief, chuckling as she pokes fun at her sense of style and incomplete memory (“Am I remembering the newsreel or that movie with Paul Newman?” she ponders, squinting her left eye, furrowing her brow and raising her index finger into the air). A surprisingly moving show, Rose, written by Martin Sherman and directed by Donald Horn, blends humor and dark narrative with a deftness that makes this two hour monologue fly by. NATALIE BAKER. The CoH
o Theatre, 2257 NW Raleigh St., tripro.org. 7:30 pm Thursdays, 8 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes April 25. $15-$28.

The Chosen: A PLAY

2010-04-06T15:39:00.000-07:00

JAM (Jewish Arts Month) is pleased to be associated with this play.

It opens tonight. You may have read the book by Chaim Potok...now see the play adapted from the novel by Aaron Posner. Portland Center Stage will also host artwork by local Jewish artists Shelley Jordon and Sarah Horowitz.

The Chosen
a play adapted by Aaron Posner from Chaim Potok’s novel

Dates: April 6 - May 2

Time : varies – check website for times & ticket prices

Location:
Portland Center Stage
Gerding Theater at the Armory
128 NW Eleventh Ave
Portland, Oregon 97209
503.445.3700

ROSE: The Reviews are in!

2010-04-04T10:21:00.000-07:00

WENDY WESTERWELLE DOES IT WELL!
This is must see theater!

How honored Jewish Arts month is to be associated with this production (and don't forget to see Renate Dollinger's beautiful art work on display in the lobby!)
Here is a quote from the Oregonian:

Rose is a complex character. She is Jewish but also an agnostic and somewhat of a mystic. Such contradictions don't bother her as she ponders the pain as well as the wonder of her life. She humorously compares God to a policeman -- never there when you need him and arresting you when you're innocent -- and yet there is almost a predetermined symmetry to her story. The vital artist she loved in Warsaw and with whom she enjoyed American Western films -- is this the aged, crusty, bitter concentration camp survivor with a glass eye she stumbles upon when traveling across the Arizona desert 50 years later? How is she to respond to the horrible truth that just as her daughter had been shot down by a young Nazi soldier, her young grandson shoots down an innocent Palestinian girl? How is one to deal with the horrors and heartbreaks of history?

Perhaps as Wendy Westerwelle's Rose does – -- with humor and awe.

for more info go to: http://www.oregonlive.com/performance/index.ssf/2010/04/theater_review_triangle_produc.html

Renate Dollinger- 86 and going strong!!!!!

2010-04-02T12:23:00.000-07:00

"When The Rabbi Danced"
by Renate Dollinger

Yes, I posted this earlier....but I want to remind you that this fabulous artist has 20 of her newest paintings on display at COHO theater during the run of ROSE.

Date: April 1 - 25, 2010

Location:CoHo Theatre
2257 NW Raleigh St.
Portland, Oregon 97210

Renate Dollinger paints mainly in oil, but has also done a considerable amount of work in watercolor, gouache and hand tinted etchings.
Renate escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport. Her bright and joyous paintings of shtetl life will intrigue you and capture your imagination.
Renate is a vibrant 86 and continues to paint. This exhibit accompanies "ROSE" and will feature her newest work.

ALL OF HER ART WORK IS AVAILABLE FOR SALE!

GREAT ART+ GREAT THEATER= GREAT TIMES!

ROSE Opens April 1

2010-03-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Wendy Westerwelle stars as ROSEtriangle productions! in conjunction with Roscoe Nelson is pleased to present ROSE by Martin Sherman, who also wrote our 1992 hit BENT. Rose is a survivor. Her remarkable life began in a tiny Russian village, took her to the Warsaw ghetto, aboard a ship called The Exodus, and finally to the boardwalks of Atlantic City, the Arizona Canyons and salsa flavored nights in Miami Beach. Rose is a vivid portrait of a feisty Jewish woman and a reminder of events that shaped the 20th century.

Ticket info: https://www.ticketturtle.com/html/triangle/index.html

Happy Passover!

2010-03-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Jewish Arts Month continues its 9 week adventure through much of April.
We are on break right now in anticipation of Passover.

Stay tuned......updates on Portland Center Stage's production of THE CHOSEN and ROSE at COHO Theater will come shortly.

Thanks for checking our site. Please visit often....we are counting on you!

A Must See Film! ....and a Fahrbrengen!

2010-03-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

The Portland WOMENS FILM FESTIVAL joins JAM with their presentation of:HEY HEY, IT'S ESTHER BLUEBERGER
The festival runs March 18-22. Details can be found at http://www.powfest.com/

HEY HEY, IT'S ESTHER BLUEBERGER is playing on Sunday, March 21st at 2:45 PM AT THE Hollywood Theater

....AND........Celebrating the memory of Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield z'l'

An evening of music, dance, art, film, poetry, storytelling and much more!
Light snacks and dinner available.

Sponsored by the Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield Legacy Trust and Congregation P'nai Or of Portland, to benefit theSouthwest Community Health Center and P'nai Or of Portland.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farbrengen
Date:   Sunday, March 21, 2010
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Havurah Shalom
                825 NW 18th Ave.
                Portland, Oregon

Admission: $6 at the door (children free)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farbrengen
Date:   Sunday, March 21, 2010
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Havurah Shalom
                825 NW 18th Ave.
                Portland, Oregon

Admission: $6 at the door (children free)

The family that plays together.....

2010-03-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

The Shapiro Olenick family has been playing music together....forever!!!!!!
If you don't believe me go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yllyy11C8KQ

We had a great time last night...and everyone in the audience was involved with singing, clapping and hand motions!

This Sunday you can enjoy more music at Havurah Shalom when P'nei Or celebrates a cd release and more local talent. See the previous post for details. You don't want to miss out!

Fahrbrengen: A celebration! March 21

2010-03-19T00:45:00.000-07:00

Celebrating the memory of Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield z'l'

An evening of music, dance, art, film, poetry, storytelling and much more!
Light snacks and dinner available.

Sponsored by the Rabbi Aryeh Hirschfield Legacy Trust and Congregation P'nai Or of Portland, to benefit the Southwest Community Health Center and P'nai Or of Portland.

Date:   Sunday, March 21, 2010
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Havurah Shalom
                825 NW 18th Ave.
                Portland, Oregon

Admission: $6 at the door (children free)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farbrengen

AMY,JEFF, LOUIE in concert TONIGHT!!!!!

2010-03-18T13:14:00.000-07:00

yippy! great jewish folk music right here in PDX.....come on down to the MJCC on capitol HWY...7pm Thursday 3/18...it's only $5 at the door.

Jewish Arts Month

GEEZER GALLERY celebrates JAM!

JAM in Transition

Amazing Theater! January 30th!!!!!

THANK YOU OREGON ARTS COMMISSION

Monday @ Neveh Shalom - Portland Oregon

ACTING OUT AGE- ENCORE PERFORMANCE!

Celebration of Art 2011....OCTOBER 30TH

Acting Our Age- HUGE SUCCESS!

CD Release party

JAM 2011 is OVER.....but STAY TUNED!

HAPPY PASSOVER!

KIDS & FAMILIES>>>>JAM EVENTS!

KIDS & FAMILIES>>>>JAM EVENTS!

JAM @ Neveh Shalom

MORE MUSIC

Jewish Community Orchestra Spring Concert Conducted by John CarterThe Jewish Community Orchestra provides enjoyable music for the Jewish and greater community of Portland. Join us to celebrate Jewish Arts month.

Children's Theater!!!!!

April 5 Call for artists~!

APRIL JAM EVENTS

KLEZMOCRACY will ROCK THE HOUSE!!!!!!

PIX PAGE

Shelley Jordon @ OJM!- WOW!

OPEN MIC POETRY NIGHT

JEWISH THEATER COLLABORATIVE- TUESDAY!!!!!

MONDAY NIGHT 3/28

ESTHER BLUEBERGER AT 1pm!!!!!!

HEY, HEY, It's Esther Blueberger

OpEn MiKe @ Hair of the Dog!!!! 3/30/11

The week of March 14th

POWFEST is Underway

THE WEEK OF MARCH 7TH

The Arts Through Jewish Eyes- Wonderful!!!!

The Arts Through Jewish Eyes- March 3rd @ MJCC!

CLICK ON THE LINK!

Tonight! Ernest Bloch Lecture @ OJM

FIND US ON YOUTUBE!!!!!!

The Portland Women's Film Fest is back!

OUR CALENDAR IS UP AND RUNNING!

PICTURE THIS!

David Biespiel reads @ Powells! Monday Feb 7 @ 7:30 pm

JAM: FEBRUARY

FEBRUARY 2011

Charlotte Salomon Returns to PDX

KLEZMOCRACY SIGNS ON TO JAM!!!!!

OREGON JEWISH MUSEUM PRESENTS

Blessed Be Her Memory

It Is...and It Isn't

Nussbaum

Jewish Community Orchestra Joins JAM!

Great News!....thank you OAC!!!

The Jewish Film Festival joins JAM!

The Calendar is Building!

Children's Programming for JAM!!!!!

Oregon Arts Commission Grant Hearing

WORDS!

ANDY STATMAN TRIO In Concert!

Wendy Westerwelle is a HOT MAMMA!

AVISHAI COHEN- comes to pdx!

JAM 2011 Update

JAM returns ...spring 2011

Israeli Aritst in PDX- Pamela Silver

PLANS FOR JAM 2011- under way!

Shelley Jordon : Jerusalem welcomes Oregon artist!

Historic Jewish Portland-May 23!

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE AT JAM?

Portland's Jewish Theater Collaborative raises funds!

OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY FUNDRAISER

We Invite You To Travel Back In TimeTo The Sultry Cabaret Of Pre-War Europe

CITIES OF LIGHT

Rebecca Joy Fletcher

IN PORTLAND FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY!

LIMITED to Two Intimate Performancesin OJM's art deco screening room

Please make your reservations to celebrate at either show:

JAM 2010 IS OVER....Hello JAM 2011

Images from the Older But Wiser Cafe

Jewish Theater Collaborative closes out JAM

Write to the Heart

OLDER BUT WISER CAFE-Thursday 7pm

LAST Week!...MUST SEE THEATER!

Jewish Community Orchestra Spring Concert
Conducted by John Carter
The Jewish Community Orchestra provides enjoyable music for the Jewish and greater community of Portland. Join us to celebrate Jewish Arts month.

We Invite You To Travel Back In Time
To The Sultry Cabaret Of Pre-War Europe

LIMITED to Two Intimate Performances
in OJM's art deco screening room