Media to Check Out
The King’s Dream
March 30, 2022
The King’s Dream is a play written by Michael Schuster, Gayle Goodman’s husband. This play is about Elias Abraham Rosenberg, the man who gave a Torah to King Kalakaua. He likens Rosenberg’s journey to that of Joseph. This play was performed at Mark’s Garage in downtown Honolulu on April 3rd. Sandy Armstrong saw The King’s Dream and wrote a short review, as a note to Gayle Goodman and Michael Schuster:
I felt like I was there, right there with Elias Abraham Rosenberg. Everything in your production comes together in a unified experience, from the biblical narrative of Joseph right through to Rosenberg. The flow from characters to puppetry, to pictures and photographs fills your senses with a true understanding of how closely our Jewish story melds right into the unique and heavenly friendship of Rosenberg and King Kalakaua. I was overwhelmed by the sense of purpose and commitment to both Hawaiian and Jewish traditions. The connections are so strong and vital to the Jewish community and to the Hawaiian community that everyone should see this show.
Pandemics Weren’t Born Yesterday (History is Here to Help)
November 1, 2021
A TV show featuring Sof’s Robert Littman!
Archeology, especially in Egypt, has revealed pandemics thousands of years ago. What does archeology tell us about them, and how sure can we be? What is the state of the science that can reveal this to us? How do we learn these things from the digs? Is there more we can learn, and what steps will be necessary to discover other secrets about disease in classical times? Learn more here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUJYswynlpM
Jewish Women’s Archive Encyclopedia
July 2, 2021
The Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA) is pleased to announce the launch of a new edition of the Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. The launch also kicks off a year of celebrating the 25th anniversary of JWA’s founding.
Shul After Zoom
A parody of Hamilton – You’ll Be Back, about coming back to shul after Zoom.
Hometown to the World
From Avi Soifer
The opera Hometown to the World focuses on the aftermath of a 2008 raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on a Kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa. Postville gave itself the moniker, Hometown to the World, because of the diverse population it attracted for working in the plant. The raid itself was the focus of a documentary titled “abUSed” and it’s quite fascinating, and sad.
https://www.amdoc.org/watch/abused-postville-raid/
The opera begins after the raid and focuses on three individuals who represent different populations in the town: Linda Larsen, a Lutheran of Scandinavian descent, Linda Morales, an immigrant from Guatemala whose family was deported in the raid but remains in Postville because she gave birth while in Iowa, and Abraham Fleischman, a young Chasidic Jew who was just disowned by his family after revealing he’s homosexual. Although the impetus for the opera is an act of violence, the story is about how these three lives intersect and find some hope and healing amidst despair.
Here’s some additional information on the opera: https://www.hawaiiopera.org/news-events/hawaii-opera-theatre-presents-the-digital-world-premiere-of-laura-kaminsky-and-kimberly-reeds-hometown-to-the-world/
It will be released for streaming on Friday, May 21 on our digital platform: https://hotdigital.vhx.tv/products/hometown-to-the-world-a-digital-world-premiere
From Lorna Holmes
Menschwarmers – they talk about Jews in sports. Just for the name, it’s worth it.
From Jay Friedheim and Bea Haymer
April 2, 2021
A Pirate Passover https://youtu.be/VQON0ipv6iI
It’s #Passover on the high seas, mates! We couldn’t help but dive right in to the sea shanty craze — especially once we realized how well they work as horas — Come drop anchor and celebrate freedom with us and a hearty round of 19th century sailing songs! (We’re so contemporary.) #ChagSameach!
New York Cantors
January 13, 2021
Via Lorna Holmes
“Ose Shalom” with Azi Schwartz – Three young cantors, all rising stars in the world’s Jewish music scene, are brought together in Amsterdam’s revered 17th-century Portuguese Synagogue for a concert of Jewish sacred and secular music arranged for orchestra and choir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOfWkJrO7s&feature=youtu.be
