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Cooking of the Diaspora - Your Passport to International
Flavors
Chef Janice Stein returns to celebrate the diversity within
the Jewish community. Wherever there are Jews, (there are
Jews everywhere), food is a big part of family gatherings,
Jewish holidays and simchas of every kind. Even if you have
taken Janice's classes before, this series of classes will
challenge and delight you. (As always, these classes will
fill very quickly).
Each class is designed to meet your culinary needs regardless
of your level of skill. These are hands-on workshops. In each
class we will prepare and consume at least 3 dishes. Kosher
style (no milk with meat).
1st session
From the Wailing Wall to the Great Wall - Jewish Cooking in
China
Fried rice, spring rolls, sweet and sour chicken. Sounds like
Sunday night takeout? Think again! A feast suitable for Shabbat
in Shanghai or a bris in Beijing.
2nd session
Middle East Adventures
A caravan through Greece, Israel, Jordan and beyond. Janice
will take the mystery out of tabouli, falafel, hummus and
more, plus the best baklava you have ever eaten; you can bet
your camel on it!
3rd session
Rachel meets the Raj - A Bombay Excursion
Think of Jewish communities around the world. Although India
may not jump to mind, it will after this class! Split pea
dal with rice, homemade carrot apricot chutney and Parsi style
fried fish that is delicate and delicious. Best of all ...
this class is pareve!
4th session
Roman Holiday - Molto Bene!
From the land where every dish is a work of art, Janice offers
some basics with a modern twist. Fast, easy and fresh. We
start with a marvelous marinara and then prepare the perfect
pizza. Plus a few surprises!
Israeli and Palestinian Dialogue Through Storytelling
Two peoples inhabit the same land but have developed vastly
divergent literary styles. We will spend three evenings exploring
short stories, poetry and non-fiction of Israeli and Palestinian
writers. Themes will include family, relationship to the land,
and the use of allegory.
Celluloid Promised Land: Jews in American Film
The myth of Hollywood has always been tied to the story of
American Jews. This class will provide an opportunity to see
how Jews have actually fared in Hollywood, on-screen and behind
the scenes. The six films we will see in this first look at
Jews in American film represent examples from all eras of
American filmmaking. The course includes some films you may
not have seen before, and others that may be old favorites,
but all six are ripe for discussion and debate. We will look
at an early silent film, Romance of a Jewess (1908) to see
how the pre-Hollywood establishment viewed the new Jewish
immigrants, and then look at the film that catapulted Warner
Bros. into movie history, The Jazz Singer (1927), by introducing
talking to the feature film through an explicitly Jewish storyline.
After the assimilationist fantasies of The Jazz Singer, we
will look at the rise of Jewish icon in a film in which she
plays a Jewish icon: Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl (1968).
From a funny girl, we'll move to a funny man, and look at
the Holocaust comedy that preceded Life is Beautiful, Mel
Brooks' The Producers (1968). We will end with two contemporary
films. First, we will discuss a Hollywood treatment of an
ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, A Price Above Rubies (1998),
a contemporary attempt at Jewish exoticism to compare with
Romance of a Jewess. Then, we will end with artist Eleanor
Antin's faux-Yiddish film, The Man Without a World (1991),
and ask ourselves what it means for a contemporary American
filmmaker to emulate the past to comment on the present.
Tikkun Olam, Repairing the Soul, Repairing the World:
Making Connections through Collage
For those who are caring for others, for those in need of
healing, and for those seeking creative, hands-on Jewish learning.
The first in a series of three workshops, we will journey
together through Jewish time, exploring traditional and contemporary
texts to develop stories (midrash) for our own lives. Meeting
during three seasons, we will investigate the concrete and
metaphoric in the cycles and rituals of the Jewish year, and
have the opportunity to form a caring community.
Our format will include illustrated lectures and discussion,
supporting the primary focus on nonverbal creative process.
We will use the playful and serious medium of collage to make
visible the thoughts, feelings, and understandings that we
may have no words for. Collage-making reveals unexpected connections.
It can be a healing tool to integrate our inner and outer
journeys.
This process is accessible to all, regardless of your background
in Judaism or art. Non-identified artists are especially invited!
Basic supplies will be provided; you are encouraged, however
to bring any materials or collections you may have (cut or
torn paper, magazine images, found objects, photos, fabrics).
You can incorporate your own images and mementos in the work
by making photos or color photocopies of family pictures or
Judaic treasures.
Jews 'n' Jazz
George Gershwin, Al Jolson, Fanny Brice, Irving Berlin, Sophie
Tucker, Benny Goodman, Dinah Shore--only a few of the 20th
century's jazz giants who were of Jewish background. Jazz
took root in Afro-American folk, gospel and blues in the South,
but quickly spread up the Mississippi to northern cities,
where turn-of-the-century Jewish immigrants caught the fever.
Our course will follow the development of America's Jewish
Jazz artists through the Dixieland, ragtime, swing, be-bop,
modern, and post-modern periods. Hear rare recordings of these
innovators and see footage from early talking pictures of
their Hollywood appearances. We'll highlight the careers of
several Jewish jazz greats, and also delve into a bit of basic
jazz theory. No musical training required; just come and enjoy.
The Magic of Chagall: An Introduction to the SF MOMA
Exhibit
Join us as we delve into the life, themes, and psyche of Marc
Chagall, one of the twentieth century's most important artists,
who is being honored with a major retrospective at the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art. His work is unique in blending
Jewish folklore with experimental artistic techniques, and
is as famous for his stained glass windows at Hadassah Hospital
in Jerusalem as for his paintings in the world's mort important
museums.
In just two hours, you'll gain the background you need to
more fully understand and appreciate Chagall's art in this
important exhibit.
Song of the Grasses: Creating Jewish Nature Writing
Is Jewish nature writing a contradiction in terms? Is our
literary tradition, steeped in study-house Talmudics, inspired
by the close quarters of urban density, antithetical to odes
to the great outdoors? Is our poetic language more suited
to describe the urban? According to a character in a story
by Grace Paley, "My people only knew two [names for wildflowers]...
Rich or poor, they only had two flowers' names." Is the
figure of the Jewish writer "spectacle[d], with autumn
in [his] soul," as described by Isaac Babel? Or, conversely,
are we so stuck in poetical clich_s about "the land of
milk and honey" that we cannot speak of our own particular
landscapes?
In this creative writing workshop we will question these
assumptions by finding a Jewish way to write about nature
today. We will aim for writing, which is also tikkun olam,
creating and enacting a partnership with the land we live
in, and specifically our own region. Some primary texts will
be the Talmudic story-cycle of Choni the rain maker, Song
of Songs (the intermingling of human, botanical, and divine
love), Zohar Parashat Veyetzeh, Rabbi Nachman of Bretslav
(in comparison to Basho), Isaac Babel's "Awakenings"
(in comparison to Walt Whitman's "On Walking") and
Chaim Nachman Bialik (in comparison to Gary Snyder, as two
models of connecting to the land from which one has been alienated).
Each class will begin with a short writing exercise as well
as text study. We will try to take advantage of the afternoon
light and be outside as much as possible. In addition, one
of the six class sessions will be a hike and picnic in Tilden,
co-led by Rena Shachar of COEJL, the Coalition on the Environment
and Jewish Life.
From Tenement to Theater: Jews and American Dance
The Jewish contribution to American theater and movies is
well known. Now for the first time, we will look at Jews and
the American Dance. From earliest times, Jews have honored
dance as a celebration of their culture. Such 20th century
women dance pioneers as Helen Tamiris, Anna Sokolow, Sophie
Maslow, and of course, Jerome Robbins brought their unique
talent and commitment to America's concert stages and musical-theater.
They, and many others, have founded companies and brought
dance training to schools and stages in the U.S., throughout
the world and especially to Israel.
In this course, we will look at the rich historical background
of Jewish dance, concert dance, ballet, modern dance, and
folk dance. We will assess the contributions of choreographers,
performers, producers and scholars who helped make dance a
vital contemporary art. We will follow the social and aesthetic
concerns of these dancers as they shaped "the dance revolution,"
and try to define what is Jewish in their work. Videotapes
and guest appearances will highlight the six sessions
The Poetry of Yehuda Amichai
Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai was one of the greatest writers
of the twentieth century. This course focuses on the multi-layered
eloquence of his work, examining its expressive power, its
depth of Jewish learning, and its political incisiveness about
Israel and the world today.
Justice Illuminated: The Art of Arthur Szyk
Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) has been considered the greatest illuminator
in the past 400 years working in the technique of the sixteenth-century
miniaturist painters. A Polish Jew, Szyk (pronounced "shick")
began his artistic career with illuminations of religious
works, particularly of Jewish significance. Upon emigrating
to America in 1940, however, Szyk became the leading political
artist in the United States during WWII, fighting Hitler and
the Axis powers through his activist and propaganda art. Eleanor
Roosevelt referred to Szyk as a "one-man army" against
fascism and the American press called him a "citizen-soldier
of the free world." Wielding paintbrush and palette,
Szyk fought for human dignity and freedom.
This three-session slide-oriented course invites you to encounter
Arthur Szyk's artistic vision of a world of beauty and horror,
of hope and despair, of freedom and terror -- a world of times
past yet a world not very different than our own. Some of
the themes addressed in the course include Szyk's attitude
toward America, his involvement with the creation of the State
of Israel, and his determined efforts as a "solder in
art" to combat tyranny, intolerance, and social injustice.
And today, amid the current landscape of political turmoil
and ideological conflict, the messages of his artwork resonates
powerfully. This course will address the symbolic currency
of Szyk's activism, his vision, and the art through which
he communicated both.
This course is being offered in conjunction with an exhibition
of Szyk's art taking place at the Reutlinger Center (home
of Lehrhaus Judaica and Berkeley Hillel) throughout the fall
semester.
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