A protest is born

August 23, 2010 - 8:09 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Music, Politics, Pop Culture, Religion 

A Star is Born finalist Ohad Shraga'i gets ready for the Jerusalem showdown.

When does a pop culture song contest become turn into a religious altercation? When it takes place in Israel apparently.

It’s going to happen when the final telecast of the popular singing competition A Star is Born (based on the American Idol format) takes place on September 4th on a Saturday night from Sultan’s Pool outside the Old City walls in Jerusalem.

The decision to hold the finale in Jerusalem only and hour and a half after Shabbat ends has raised the ire of the religious establishment in the country’s capital who insist that the preparations for the show will require Shabbat violations.

They also are upset that the heavy traffic expected will block the road for those planning to get to the Western Wall for the first night of selichot (penitential prayers said before the High Holy Days).

According to the Jewish Chronicle in London, the coup of staging the show in Jerusalem for the first time was due to the efforts of Mayor Nir Barkat, over the stauch opposition of some of his coalition partners.

“Quiet talks with the mayor did not result in anything,” said United Torah Judaism city councillor Shlomo Rozenshtein. “We are moving from quiet activity to open demonstrations of pain and protest at the desecration of Shabbat.”

Yossef Rosenfeld, the chairman of the Committee for the Holiness of Shabbat, promised that there would be big demonstrations backed by all the main leaders of the Charedi community. “Seeing such a serious desecration of Shabbat we will not remain quiet, but take to the streets.”

Both the producers of the show – Keshet – and representatives from City Hall are reassuring the protesters that all the preparations for the show will be completed on Friday, before Shabbat begins. And since the show won’t begin until 90 minutes after Shabbat ends, there’s nothing to worry about, right?

It seems like, though, with all the hoopla surrounding it, it’s unclear what the real show will be – the crowning of the new singing champion of Israel, or the protests leading up to it.

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Gaza: a rock and roll reponse

June 1, 2010 - 5:27 PM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Life, Music, Politics 

With the international community condemning Israel once again, this time for the tragic events following the boarding of the Free Gaza flotilla and near lynching of Israeli troops, my wife Jody and I found an ironically appropriate response: we went to a concert.

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Not just any concert, but the 25th anniversary of one of the most popular rock acts ever in Israel – Mashina – in an over-the-top performance at Jerusalem’s Sultan’s Pool.

Now, I don’t in any way mean to diminish the gravity of what happened in the sea off the Gaza coast. And our attendance at the show was not really linked to the morning’s events – we’d bought our tickets beforehand. But the juxtaposition of repeated condemnation with the continuation of “normal life” has been something Israelis have been doing for years.

I remember in 2006, as the Second Lebanon War was raging and the world was accusing Israel of war crimes, going with Jody (and a couple thousand other Israelis, mind you) to the annual Wine Festival at the Israel Museum. And all during the Second Intifada, when we were portrayed as both victim and oppressor, we didn’t stop patronizing cafes or shopping at the mall.

So cheering on Mashina might, in some ways, be seen as an act of pure patriotism – an odd but effective means towards demonstrating that there is much more to Israel than the one-sided depiction of conflict that makes headlines.

As for the concert itself, the band pulled out all the stops. The stage included 7 screens, laser pyrotechnics, two sets of fireworks and a catwalk into the audience that allowed the band to get more intimate with those paying the $75 for orchestra seats. Band members were all wirelessly mic’d so that even the guitarist and sax players could stroll about the crowd.

Mashina played mostly hits from their 13 albums plus a few lesser-known tracks from the latest release. For me, it was a concert for which I’d been literally waiting 24 years – in 1986, I camped out on the hill facing the same Sultan’s Pool with Jody, fellow Israelity writer David Brinn and his wife Shelley, listening to the sound reverberate and bounce off the Old City walls but never seeing the band itself.

Mashina’s closing number was Ein Makom Acher – “No Other Place.” While the lyrics are oblique – is lead singer Yuval Banai singing about love or maybe the shortness of our time on earth? – I’d like to imagine he was also speaking about Israel – that we have “no other place” and that it’s incumbent on us to make good on the great experiment of creating a flourishing Jewish homeland – with competent politics and inspired music – and to put both sides forward to an increasingly hostile world.

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Going to the county fair

August 13, 2008 - 8:52 AM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Life 

Fair One of the most highly anticipated summer cultural events in Jerusalem is the annual International Arts and Crafts Fair taking place until August 23.

Held in a spectacular setting, just outside the Old City walls in the Arts and Crafts Center and the Merrill Hassenfeld Amphitheater in the Sultan’s Pool,  the fair – known as Khutsot Hayotser in Hebrew - features 150 Israeli artists and artisans, and an international art pavilion with representatives from 30 countries.

Last night, we walked away with a couple beautiful belated baby presents,  hand-made outfits from the Peruvian stall – hey, we can buy Israeli stuff any time.  Many patrons flocked to the Georgian booth to express solidarity over the Russian onslaught of their country. And  the Palestinian crafts area was also well attended, as well as booths with artists from Jordan and Morocco.

The weather was great, even requiring windbreakers for the kids, the atmosphere relaxed and civilized, and it was one of those nights when it hits you over the head that this is indeed a special city.

And the music, did I mention the music?   Stages  were set up throughout the sprawling grounds with different combos performing everything from  Polish ethnic folk songs to South American rhumbas.  At Café  Tav, a structure built right in the middle of the crafts,  designed to give the feel of an old time café, complete with period-dressed actors sitting at tables on scaffolding, and a limber acrobat poised upside down on a pole, patrons could enjoy a beer or a coffee and listen to old-time Hebrew songs performed live. It felt like walking into the cover art of the  The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan.

Even more, included in the entrance fee each night is a full blown concert by one of Israel’s top mainstream pop artists, including Mosh Ben Ari, Aviv Gegen and Barry Sakharof. Last night, it was Sakharof’s sometimes collaborator and star in his own right Rami Fortis, who offered a typically rocking, fun show.

A rich Belgian fudge waffle was the perfect way to close the night, and waddle back home.

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Movie picks

July 6, 2008 - 8:49 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture 

It’s Jerusalem Film Festival season and as usual, I’m somewhat obsessed with figuring out which movies I want to see, with whom and when. I know I’m not alone in this JFF excitement, given that I see other people around town, carrying their Film Festival guides, whether from the paper or purchased, pages thumbed and earmarked.
This year is the 25th anniversary of the international film festival, which was created by the Jerusalem Cinematheque and screens dozens of Israeli and foreign films from around the world at several theaters in town, from July 10 through 19, including Moonlight Cinema, the free, night-time movies shown at the city’s old train station.

Taking in some flicks at the festival is always a great way to celebrate summer, starting with the opening night film that is shown on a giant screen in Sultan’s Pool, a valley shadowed by walls of the Old City. It’s a dramatic scene, even when the fare is family-friendly, such as this year’s choice, Pixar’s Wall-E.

Yet the rest of the festival is a rich smorgasbord of options, from the typical foreign fare of France, Italy Spain and England, to Asian titles, Scandinavian screenings and a wide choice of more select American films, as well as local films on a variety of subjects, from Arab-Jewish relations to more standard cultural fare about Israeli life.

Each year, I relish the opportunity to see films that wouldn’t necessarily reach these parts, whether it’s something I’ve read about, or a movie that piques my interest, but wouldn’t necessarily be my usual choice for a flick. It’s also a chance to be out in the city with other Jerusalemites as well as visitors, appreciating a city that doesn’t always get kudos for its cultural offerings.

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