MY URBAN KVETCH

TribeFest Begins: Schmoozing & Food Complaints Expected

I'm sure that the food at TribeFest will be perfectly fine. But that won't stop us from complaining about it. For instance, when the Jews left Egypt - a place where they were enslaved - some of them wanted to go back because the food in Egypt was better. Also, let us not forget the great Hadassah Chopped Liver Incident of 1998. Those of you who were there remember what I'm talking about.

But all of this is preamble for the fact that as I type this, Jews ages 25-45 are converging on (if not already weekending in) Las Vegas, schmoozing, networking, dancing and getting their Jewve back. (That's a new word, people. Jew+groove. Combonyms are fun.)

Tomorrow the content begins, with sessions on various subjects, big musical performances, and the undisputed headlining component of the program, my session on "Passion to Paycheck," undoubtedly will be mobbed by folks wanting to crack the complicated, challenging world of Jewish communal service. So if you're going out in Vegas Monday night (the last night of the conference), prepare to hear this a lot: "OK, I'll go out, but I have to get up early Tuesday for 'Passion to Paycheck' at 9:45am."

I'll be there, representing all the organizations I usually represent at such conferences, and hoping to have some time to socialize with some friends old and new visiting from locations like Denver, San Francisco, New York, DC, Boston and Ann Arbor, MI.

I'm not sure how much time I'll have for blogging, but in the interim, you can get your fix from Twitter: follow the #tribefest tag, or check out my Tweets at @EstherK. If you're interested in how my first time in Vegas went, check out this vintage video from the Israelity Tour in 2008. 

And remember the adage: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, as long as you don't bring 1200 members of the tribe with you. 

 

The Big Question for Jewish Innovation

[cross-post from ROI Community] 

 When it comes to Jewish innovation, what's your big question?

 Last week, I presented on Jewish innovation at the Milken Community High School in Los Angeles, California. The school prides itself on its pluralism, as well as its "moral, spiritual, and intellectual way of life which, in the context of community, refines the human being (tikkun atzmi) and repairs the world (tikkun olam), and the students are diverse in terms of their denominational affiliations and interests. The class was doing projects on the subject of American Judaism today, and I was given free reign to either do a discussion or to discuss my work and do a Q&A with the students.

I did a little bit of both - we started by talking about Jewish innovation and what it might mean, and then moved on to my "introduction to Jewish innovation through YouTube." With limited time, I couldn't talk about all 400+ innovators in the ROI network, and focused on a few of the Jewish innovators who regularly visit the L.A. area: beginning with the second 2008 ROI video, we went on to focus on Marcus Freed's Bible-based plays and Bibliyoga; followed by Sarah Lefton's G-dcast; then Y-Love's "State of the Nation" song, which is based on the National Jewish Population Survey; the robust rap scene in Israel featuring the Israelity Tour which toured California in 2007 with a bunch of ROI alumni as organizers. Then we moved on to how ROIers William Levin and Michelle Citrin decided to work together, yielding the Rosh Hashanah Girl, 20 Things to Do with Matzah, Let My Parents Go, I Went to Israel - I Liked It, and Light the Candle videos. You can see the YouTube playlist here.

Then we opened it up to questions, of which there were only a few.

Birthright Israel Monologues (directed by Vanessa Hidary): Ticket Giveaway!

In the Birthright Israel NEXT show, Monologues, Taglit-Birthright Israel alumni bring their experiences to the stage in a collection of monologues, spoken word and hip-hop performances that explore personal Jewish identity inspired by their 10-day trip in Israel.

Produced by 2008 ROIer Lauren Eisenberg of Birthright Israel NEXT and directed by superstar of spoken word Vanessa Hidary, a.k.a. The Hebrew Mamita (HBO's Def Poetry Jam), Monologues is an evening of solo performances exploring Jewish identity through the stories of 15 Taglit-Birthright Israel alumni in spoken word, monologues and rap. Watch the video for a glimpse of the show and scroll down for your chance to win tickets:

And as Kvetch readers, you've got two ways to see the show, which is in its fourth run in New York, at the Triad Theatre at 158 W 72nd St. between Broadway and Columbus on the 2nd floor.

1) We are giving away one pair of tickets for Tuesday, March 31, and another pair for Wednesday, April 1: to enter, please submit your full name, e-mail, preferred date, and why you want the tickets to myurbankvetch at gmail.com. Winner will be chosen at random from qualifying entries and notified via email on Sunday, March 29.

2) MyUrbanKvetch is proud to provide a special discount for our readers - only $5 - so bring a group! For special $5 tickets for Kvetch readers here.

 

For tickets, schedule, video and more info, check out the Birthright Israel website or here on Facebook.

Monologues
The Triad Theatre
158 W. 72nd St., 2nd Fl.
Between Columbus and B'way

March 31
April 1, 29, 30

Doors Open at 7:30 PM, show begins at 8pm

 

Special $5 tickets for Kvetch readers here
$10 in advance
$15 at the door (if available)

A Year Ago: When I Was on an Israeli Hip-Hop Tour

Two years ago, if you had asked me, "hey Esther, do you think you'll ever be on a tour bus with Israeli bands traveling the West Coast and putting on shows," I would have hurt myself laughing. "Yeah," I would have said, "because I'm the 14-year-old Cameron Crowe-styled kid in 'Almost Famous'."

Hard to believe that it was a year ago, but it was - Taglit-Birthright Israel's Israelity Tour shipped off from Newark to Seattle, starting a West Coast tour for the architects of Israeli hip-hop, the TACT Family featuring Subliminal, and Jerusalem's emerging hip-hop/funk fusion known as Coolooloosh.

At the back of the plane, I sat with Lindsay, Sydney, emerging star-in-her-own-right Michelle and Kobi (that's Subliminal, in case you didn't know), catching flashes of the other Israelis and Americans in our party as they wandered the cabin, with dreadlocks, or shaved heads, baseball hats, baggy jeans, and all the tattooed, instrument-toting trappings of a musical act - at various points, ranging from clueless to immature, from silently sleeping to boisterously mucking around. And we wondered if these people would gel, and create an amazing show. Were these really amazing performers? What would the takeaway be for Birthrighters and various others at the shows? Would anyone come to the shows?

The performances were awesome, and people came, and shouted, and sang along, and danced. From the packed, but amazingly enthusiastic crowd at the smaller house in Seattle, to the beautiful light and sense of history on stage at the House of Blues in San Diego (and of course, at the other shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Vegas), we were "with the band." Or rather "with the bands," as both Coolooloosh and the TACT Family brought different energies and passions to the bus, and to the tour. We were treated to the onstage and offstage comedic stylings (and other stylings) of show host Mo Mandel. We got to know the eccentricities and politics of touring, and discovered some amazing musical artistry. It's one of those experiences that all of us "civilians" look back on with awe and pride, and some days, wonder if it really happened.

Luckily, there's video documentation that it happened, and that it was awesome. (See below for Seattle and Vegas, and click here for footage and interviews from San Francisco...)

Michelle Citrin and Shabot Strike Again: "I Went to Israel (and Liked It)"

Only 75 other people have seen this so far. And I found it by accident. (It was only added to YouTube five hours ago.) Well, I'm officially launching it. So there. That'll teach my friends Michelle and Will to try to keep this kind of thing secret from me. (I mean, don't they know who I am???) Please send my royalties for image use via PayPal, kids.

Elements of Sound: This is Coolooloosh

Coolooloosh, the Jerusalem-based band that joined us on the Israelity Tour last February, is preparing for the November release of their new album, "Elements of Sound." I had the pleasure of running into three out of five of the band members (Rebel Sun, on the streets of Jerusalem; Arik, with his family in the shuk one Friday afternoon; and Ori, for drinks in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem) over the course of the summer in Israel. Here's a behind-the-scenes video that introduces you to the members of the band, against the background of their music.

As Rebel Sun might say, "This is for your mind and soul."

Tel Aviv Intermezzo

Welcome to Tel Aviv!

We kicked off our tour of Tel Aviv with a trip to the beach, of course. Then we glammed up for a Tel Avivi party in honor of the publication of Tel Aviv City Guide, which was written by friend and journalist Lisa Goldman. It took place at Beit Kastiel, which we can best describe as a beautiful, fancy, high-end furniture store in a bad neighborhood (Florentin/S. Tel Aviv). I also met SavtaDotty and Liza from SomethingSomething, and had a lovely reunion with Harry (The View From Here, Jerusalemite). I believe it was SavtaDotty (although might have been someone else) who told me that Florentin today is like SoHo used to be back when it was dirty and dangerous. (Not her exact words.) This basically means that property costs are soaring and there are very few available apartments. What's the book like, you ask? It seemed cool, but since Ketel Vodka was sponsoring the event (which had begun with champagne and many unkosher hors d'oeuvre), I can't say that I actually remembered to pick one up...(At any rate, Kol Hakavod to Lisa.) Then we went out with Ori from Coolooloosh, which was really nice, catching up on the band's progress since the Israelity Tour over a drink at Bugsy's.

Then we headed out with a friend to the Ben-Gurion Museum, two places which we visited yesterday. We kicked off our day with the Pulver breakfast at Aroma at the Namal (that's the port of Tel Aviv), where we begin our morning sipping our "hafuchim" and networking with web-savvy, creative individuals. I met many folks, including Brian Blum, whose blog (This Normal Life) I've been reading since the early days, my new Twitter pal IsraLuv, Nir Kouris and one of his young partners at EcampIsrael, and others (apologies for not linking to all). We wore our names and catchphrases (ex, Lindsay's "I refuse to Twitter") and then with stickers, "tagged" ourselves with keywords (mine included "Blogger 4 Hire," "pop culture," "Jewish life," and others). Very creative and a good icebreaker. (Unite that with drunken brainstorming, and we could really have something!)

Other highlights included driving around Tel Aviv while listening to great music, dining at a fabulous restaurant overlooking the sea and with great views of the city, and hanging out with a friend and his kids at a campfire and learning Hebrew from Israeli children. (Best way to learn Hebrew, I'm convinced.)

Today we took an early swim and headed into meetings for the rest of the day before returning to Jerusalem. Or, as the TA locals reacted, "You're going back where? Why?"

Israelity Tour: UCSD, Los Angeles and Las Vegas

If you missed it, here's your chance to see what happened when the Israelity Tour hit UC San Diego, Avalon in Los Angeles, and Tao at the Venetian in Las Vegas. Plus, special "So You Don't Think You Can Dance" moves in the crowd courtesy of the Urban Kvetch.

Old School Israeli Music Meets the New School: Givatron and Subliminal Collaborate

I'm so glad that the Israelity Tour, sponsored by Taglit-Birthright Israel, has given me the gift of re-appreciating Israeli music and turning me on to both Coolooloosh and the work of Subliminal and the TACT Family. While Coolooloosh stays East-Coast-side, gigging in New York twice over the first two weeks of March ((JCC next week as part of Israel Non-Stop, and March 15th at Joe's Pub, check them out), preparing for a May tour and recording a new album, Subliminal and the TACT Family have returned to Israel and continue to produce video clips that I can embed onto my blogs. (This post is inspired by TM's post at Jewlicious.)

The latest is Subliminal's collaborating with the legendary Israeli band Givatron, creating a new version of their song "Bat Shishim" (sixty years old) in commemoration of Israel's 60th birthday this spring. The song, written 26 years ago for Russian olim to Israel (original version here), now gets reborn as part folk, part hip-hop. Check out this clip from Channel 2 (in Hebrew) which brings you inside the studio for these magical moments:

• Subliminal teaches hip-hop hand signs to old folk singers!
• The gang orders pizza--someone doesn't want onions and someone else complains that in Afula, they give you a bottle of drink with every pizza; "so you can't taste the pizza!" someone quips.
• Givatron-niks try to pronounce "Subliminal"!
• "Do you know how many folk dances we have to change now?" asks one man. "No, no, the rhythm is the same, "another insists...
• And more!

Israelity Tour Concludes, New Webisodes Online

Oy. It's over. I can't believe it! But new webisodes from our trip are now available, so enjoy. Here's the newest one, which features Coolooloosh and Michelle Citrin. Others to come!