The Activists Studio

Zeek Unconferences: What’s Next for the Jewish Social Justice Movement?

Poetry and Prose Readings by Russian Authors
from
Zeek, a Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture

Get Lit 2008

American Jews and Comics

Western Massachusetts Music and Arts Festival

Tisha b'Av Exchange 5768 - A Day of Dialogue and Study

BlintzKrieg

Jewish Identity and Ensemble Theatre-Making

This Jewish Arts Institute retreat focuses on Jewish identity as it is lived within story. Using found and generated texts, participants will explore the theatrical vocabulary of ensemble storytelling. Movement and vocal improvisation will support the work. Sense of play, poetry of the body and spontaneity all are important elements in ensemble theater-making. Text will be a point of departure, and then we’ll move beyond intellectual interpretation to discover what meaning may lie beneath it and how the dynamics of the group can bring forward the unexpected. Great theater is meaningful and is made up of surprises! The workshop will be a working environment where meaning and surprises can flourish. The exploration will be challenging, fun and rooted in the community that we will build throughout the week.

The institute is designed for all Jewish artists — teaching professionals and novice practitioners alike. The institute will include Music, Theater, Visual Arts and Creative writing. It will offer a methodology, a coherent integrative philosophy by which to approach the arts as a key to unlock Jewish learning in a relevant, passionate, intellectually stimulating and emotionally fulfilling way.

reJEWvination Retreat

Spend 3 days in an Exclusive Tusovka at Club Getaway with 100 Jews in their 20s and 30s. Expereicne the richness of Jewish and Israeli culture. Explore the outdoors: hiking, mountain biking, climbing wall and a zip line. Enjoy the sounds of a hot New York band in a cool atmosphere.

Email alina [at] jchb.org or call 718 943 6334 for an application.

The Amazing Frozen String Quartet CD Release

Zeek is co-sponsoring the release party of The Amazing Frozen String Quartet's debut CD release. The band will be performing alongside Winnipeg's The Ukuladies, and Jake Shulman-Ment's Klezmer Kakophony. This event is co-sponsored by Zeek, who will be providing poets and some spoken word performances to the festivities.

"Soviet Jewry" in 2008

Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture has devoted a special print issue to the persevering Russian Jewish Diaspora. The Spring '08 issue presents work engaged with identity, history, language, and culture, and features contributors from around the world. It is a journal of record on contemporary Russian Jewish artistic production. To celebrate this new issue, we are proud to present a series of events, presented with the support of UJA-Federation of Greater New York and the Young Adults Task Force of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston:

1. Salon & Performance

Join Zeek for a performance by the bard and poet Vadim Pevzner and a presentation by visual artists Alina and Jeff Bliumis as part of Off the Wall: Artists at Work. Free with museum admission. Museum admission also includes entry to Levi Okunov's fashion show on March 27.

2. Zeek: Russified Downtown Release Party

An evening of celebration and readings, featuring Zeek contributors Val Vinokur, Matvei Yankelevich, Margarita Shalina, David Stromberg, and more. Co-presented by the 14th Street Y. Free admission and free Zeeks available. Supported by the UJA-Federation of Greater New York. First 30 guests also receive a free shot of vodka.Na zdorovye!

3. Zeek: Russified Boston Release Event and Reading

Join us for an evening of readings and performances by the next generation of Russian-Jewish writers, including Val Vinokur, Matvei Yankelevitch, Margarita Shalina, David Stromberg, and more. Cosponsored by Center Makor. $5 suggested donation, $10 includes magazine

4. Russian Writers Found in Translation

Zeek hosts bilingual writers in the US presenting their original works translated from the Russian into English, including readings by Polina Barskova, Irina Mashinski, and Pavel Lembersky.

And coming this April to Boston:

Boston Jewish Voices: An Evening of New Words and Music

Join Zeek for a full night of performances, readings, and music by some of Boston's leading young writers and musicians. Our lineup is a who's who of the young literary scene in Jewish Boston: Jon Papernick, (Who By Fire, Who By Blood), Jay Michaelson (God in Your Body, Another Word for Sky), Peter Bebergal (The Faith Between Us), writers from the anthology Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice, plus musicians Floxy Blu, Rakia, and the Mark Lipman Band. Slam poetry, confessional prose, freestyling, edgy fiction, folk and funk -- this is the New Jewish Culture at its independent best. Presented with the support of the Young Adult Task Force of Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

Book Launch Party for Righteous Indignation: A Jewish Call for Justice

Zeek's fall issue is being released this month! Dedicated to music and featuring artists including Philip Glass, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sagol 59, Laurie Anderson, Basya Schechter, Kobi Oz, and including a FREE CD of the best new Jewish music with every magazine, the fall issue is Zeek's most ambitious ever. To celebrate, we're having a series of events in October, coinciding with the Oy!hoo Jewish music festival in New York.

The Oy!hoo Shmooze
October 22, 2007
UJA Federation of New York, 130 East 59th Street

Imagine a South By Southwest or Sundance Film Festival or APAP for the Jewish Cultural & Entertainment Industry. Well, here it is. New perspectives emerge as professionals and students from the Jewish culture, art and media worlds engage in dialogue about current musical and artistic developments within and outside the Jewish community. At 3pm on Monday, join Zeek's Associate Editor, Dan Friedman and the author of "Funny Antisemitism: Is it Good for the Jews?" in a conversation about parodic antisemitism as part of Oy!hoo's Shmooze conference.

Chana Rothman's We Can Rise Launch Party
Wednesday, October 24, 7pm
Mercury Lounge, 217 E. Houston Street

Zeek featured artist, Canadian-raised Brooklynite Chana Rothman, takes you on a roots-driven lyrical journey of spoken word, acoustic reggae, and freestyle rhymes. Incorporating both ancient and modern Hebrew into her message of empowerment and unity. Magazines will be given away and Zeek's Dan Friedman will be part of the action. Contact chanarothman.com or myspace.com/chanarothman for advance tickets and more info. $10.

The Party Continues...
Wednesday, October 24, 8pm
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery

After Chana's set, head over to the Bowery Poetry club for a night of poetry and music hosted by Zeek contributor and Mimaamakim impresario Jake Marmer. Featuring Jake's own Frantic Turtle and a night full of howlers, screamers, shouters, and freaks. Zeeks for sale and drinks are flowing.

Shemspeed Launch Party
Thursday, October 25, 8pm
Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard Street

Join Zeek and our frequent co-conspirator dj handler, for an all-star night launching Shemspeed, the largest and most diverse Jewish music site on the web, and Zeek's Fall 2007 Music Issue. With performances by: Y-Love*, Pharaoh's Daughter* Unplugged, King Django, Sway Machinery w/Brian Chase of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Smadar, Blue Fringe, Rav Shmuel, Rachael Sage, dj handler, Shem's Disciples, Kosha Dillz, Yuri Lane, DJ Balagan, Michelle Citrin, Chana Rothman*, Juez*, Jon Madof, Noir, D. Wolf from Felonious, Luminescent Orchestrii, Jay Michaelson*, Matthue Roth, Hebrew Mamita, Adam Shechter, Jake Marmer* and many more special guests. Two floors, $15. * indicates Zeek featured artist

Ravayah
Saturday, October 27, 8pm
Centerpoint Yoga Studios, 324 Lafayette St.

Ready for the biggest bash of them all? Join Zeek at Romemu's Ravayah, a full night of music, celebration, poetry, performance, and more. Celebrating both the release of Zeek's fall issue and the publication of Zeek chief editor Jay Michaelson's new book, Another Word for Sky: Poems. Featuring Jay's ecstatic poetry performance with drums and music, performances by Avi Fox Rosen and more, and a dance party into the wee hours. $10 with books, magazines, organic food, and CDs available for purchase.

Publishing Prophecy: Activist Journalists Then and Now

Wednesday, March 7th at 8pm
Bronfman Center for Jewish Life, 7 East 10th Street, New York, NY
Sponsored by PresenTense Magazine
Jonathan Mark of the Jewish Week, William Rapfogel formerly of Jewish People, Susan Weidman Schneider of Lilith Magazine, Daniel Treiman of New Voices and the Forward, and Leah Koenig of Zeek will discuss their activist journalism experiences and their penchant for publishing insightful prophetic voices. The event will be hosted by PresenTense Magazine and co-sponsored by the American Jewish Press Association, American Jewish Historical Society and NYU's Department of Journalism.

Jewish Seekers and Finders

This is an age of spiritual exploration, with people discovering, rediscovering, straying from and connecting to their Jewish roots in new and fascinating ways. Join some of the today's most interesting modern seekers, as they describe their journeys: Robin Chotzinoff (Holy Unexpected: My New Life as a Jew), Jay Michaelson (chief editor of Zeek), Rabbi David Ingber (Kehillat Romemu) and Gabriel Sanders (assistant editor of the Forward).

Is the Torah really a Basis for Liberal Values?

Today, it's common in some circles to hear claims that the Bible aligns with modern liberal ideas such as taking care of the less fortunate, pursuing peace and justice, and ending baseless hatred. So does that mean that far-right Jewish ideologues, and Jewish neo-conservatives, are just plain wrong? Join Jay Michaelson, chief editor of Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture, for a hard-nosed look at the many voices of Biblical text.

Babel to Bamba: New Words From, About, and Wrestling with Israel.

Zeek presents poets, writers, performers, and artists shouting, jamming, and reciting their work about the Promised Land. Featuring both American and Israeli voices (and Israeli-American ones), we'll move beyond the cliches to engage with the social, political, and religious realities of Israel and diaspora, as reflected in the literary mind. Co-presented with Corner Prophets as part of Israel Non-Stop at the JCC.