WASHTENAW May 2009 Iyar/ Sivan 5769 Volume XXXIII: Number 8 FREE Fifth Annual Celebrate Israel set for May 17 PJs, pancakes, and lots of Event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Tel Aviv fun at YAD family event Eileen Freed, special to the WJN Tina Gutman, special to the WJN el Aviv-Yafo, Israel’s most modern city Breakfast for dinner, comfortable dress (pa- turns 100 this year. The Ann Arbor jamas optional), a fantastic bedtime story, T community will gather to celebrate Is- and lots of fun for the whole family will all rael’s 61st and Tel Aviv’s 100th birthday on Sun- be on the menu at the Jewish Community day, May 17, from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. at the Jewish Center of Washtenaw County for the June 7 Community Center of Washtenaw County. This PJs and Pancakes event. community event brings together representa- The evening’s special guest will be Judy tives from Greater Ann Arbor’s Jewish organi- Schmidt of the Ann Arbor Storytellers’ zations to conceive, program, and implement Guild. PJs and a celebration of Israeli innovation, creativ- Pancakes is co- ity, and culture. More than 600 participants of sponsored by the all ages are expected. PJ Library and As in previous years, participants will the Young Adult learn Israeli dances and sample Israeli street Division of the food. There will be Israel- and Tel Aviv- Jewish Federation themed activities for the entire family and of Greater Ann a shuk marketplace with local craftspeople Arbor (YAD). and merchandise from Israel. This year’s According to focus on Tel Aviv will bring new features, YAD’s Stefanie including the Tel Aviv Café, a disco, crafts, Aronow, “PJs Judy Schmidt demonstrations, and much more. Com- and Pancakes is a munity members who want to continue the great way for families to ‘do Jewish’ together celebration are invited to an Israeli Dance in a fun, family-oriented atmosphere.” party from 3:30–5 p.m. in the JCC gym. The event will also have a tzedakah com- For the second year in a row, Ann Arbor ponent: Families are asked to bring lightly will host a delegation from its Partnership Ariel Freed celebrates Israel with JNF’s Blue Box Bob, May 2008 used children’s books to donate to the 2000 community, Moshav Nahalal. The dele- Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library. gation will develop a special exhibit focusing a community reception at 7 p.m. on Monday, highly encouraged. For more information The cost per family is $18, and includes on Israel’s agricultural sector and featuring May 18, at the JCC—community members or to register, volunteer, or sponsor Cel- dinner, the storyteller, and crafts projects. jewelry and organic cosmetics produced by are invited, and asked to contact Eileen Freed ebrate Israel, visit www.jewishannarbor. For more information about the event, or to Moshav members. The six-member delega- for more information. org/celebrateisrael or contact Eileen Freed register, visit www.jewishannarbor.org, or tion has a full itinerary of meetings and site Tickets for Celebrate Israel are $5/indi- or Tomer Zur at celebrateisrael@jewishan- contact Jeff Lazor at 677-0100 or jefflazor@ visits, and will receive official recognition at vidual and $10/family. Pre-registration is narbor.org or 677-0100. n jewishannarbor.org. n Festival features exciting speakers and films Margi Brawer, special to the WJN any special features are planned in Shepard and Simply Scrumptious Caterers will reflects on both the adventure and personal conjunction with the eighth an- greet sponsors at 6:30 p.m., followed by an 8 growth that is inherent in the Birthright experi- M nual Lenore Marwil Jewish Film p.m. screening of the evening’s movie, Noodle. ence. Finally, the festival’s closing film,Sixty-Six , Festival, running from May 3–May 7 at the This comic-drama follows the misadventures of is a heart-warming, coming-of-age story with Michigan Theater. an abandoned Chinese boy and the Israeli El Al an all-star cast. Opening the festival will be a free preview of flight attendant who tries to re-unite him with Throughout the festival, several speakers will The Little Traitor on Sunday, May 3, at 10 a.m. his family. augment the filmgoers’ viewing experience. (See This film recounts the friendship that develops This year there are several films that will page 4) In addition to these film-related talks between an 11-year-old Israeli boy and a British appeal to teens and young adults. The docu- and discussions, many other unique and com- soldier during the British occupation, and has mentary The Hope (showing on Wednesday, pelling films will be shown during this four-day special appeal for children and families, giving May 5, at 5 p.m.) is about the singer-songwriter event at the Michigan Theater. Tickets will be insight into what life was like during this period Rick Recht and the Jewish rock movement, and available at the box office, or in advance at the of Israel’s history. explores both music and ways of creating rel- JCC. For a full schedule, see www.jccannarbor. The festival’s official kick off will be a recep- evance in contemporary Jewish life. Following org. For further information, contact Julie Gales tion for film festival sponsors on Sunday eve- this film is Soul Tripping, a documentary about at [email protected] or 971-0990. ning, May 3. A Chinese meal catered by Lori Scene from The Little Traitor the Taglit Birthright-Israel experience. The film continues on page 4 Washtenaw Jewish News Presort Standard In this issue… c/o Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor U.S. Postage PAID 2939 Birch Hollow Drive Ann Arbor, MI Ann Arbor Invisible Mussar Ann Arbor, MI 48108 Permit No. 85 Book Festival Thread Workshop May 15–17 Event for Women of Change Page 2 Page 5 Page 11 I Community 2935 Birch Hollow Drive Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108 Ann Arbor Book Festival to feature voice: 734/971-1800 fax: 734/971-1801 e-mail: [email protected] novelist Adam Mansbach www.washtenawjewishnews.org Kathy Robenalt, special to the WJN oet and novelist Adam Mansbach will be performing at the 6th Annual Ann Editor and Publisher P Arbor Book Festival on the Ingalls Mall Susan Kravitz Ayer at 4 p.m. on May 16. Mansbach is a dynamic pub- Copy Editor lic speaker whose lectures combine elements of David Erik Nelson spoken-word, hip-hop, comedy, and traditional scholarship to address the complexities of iden- Calendar Editor tity, literature, and popular culture. He teaches Claire Sandler writing at the San Francisco Art Institute, and Advertising Manager his books include The End of the Jews and Angry Gordon White Black White Boy, or The Miscegenation of Macon Detornay. Design and Layout An ambitious and affecting family drama Dennis Platte and a sweeping tour of race, religion, art and Staff Writers identity in 20th century America, The End of the David Erik Nelson, Sandor Slomovits Jews features grandfather-and-grandson graffiti Adam Mansbach bombing missions, a Czech girl passing for black Contributing Writers in America, relatives betraying each other through novels, stoned bar mitzvah DJs forcing people to Roann Altman, Laura Berger, Jacob Berkman, Margi Brawer, Jane Charney, Rabbi Robert dance the hora to Eric B and Rakim’s “Microphone Fiend,” swaggering Jewish geniuses remaking Dobrusin, Eric Fingerhut, Sue Fishkoff, Eileen postwar American culture, and much more. The New York Times Book Review praised The End of Freed, Rabbi Aharon Goldstein, Richard Green- the Jews as “Smart… engaging… exquisite. Original in the way it explores the creative interchange berg, Ruth Ellen Gruber, Tina Gutman, Deborah between blacks and Jews and the give-and-take dynamic of artistic partnership. Mansbach’s char- Huerta, Ron Kampeas, Adam Kirsch, Kim Reick acters are sharply drawn… the creative partnerships among artists are suggestively and beautifully Kunoff, Rabbi Robert Levy, Jeffrey Lazure, Joan portrayed.” Levitt, Jeff More, Richard Pearlstone, Merrill Po- liner, Kathy Robernalt, David Shtulman, Ronnie Mansbach is an inaugural recipient of the Future Aesthetics Artist Regrant (FAAR), funded by Simon, Elliot Sorkin, Leslie Susser, Tomer Zur the Ford Foundation. The grant recognizes artists whose work “innovates beyond that which is already applauded in the present” and is intended to “usher in the next generation of artists who reshape the artistic landscape.” Mailing Committee Ruth Ankiewicz, Beverly Bixler, Ruth Breslaw, Mansbach is the founding editor of the pioneering ‘90s hip-hop journal Elementary, and a Ethel Ellis, Steve Fishman, Esther Goldman, former artistic consultant to Columbia University’s Center for Jazz Studies. His work has appeared Fran Goldman, Betty Hammond, Jayne Harary, in The Boston Globe, The San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, The New York Times, Vibe, JazzTimes Evelyn Horwitz, Doris Jamron, Marilyn Krimm, and elsewhere. n Lily Ladin, Doris Miller, Bob and Sophie Mordis, Irwin Pollack, Lotte Rosenbaum, Esther Rubin, Sol Saginaw, Sarah Shoem, Nell Stern The Ann Arbor Book Festival Special thanks The Ann Arbor Book Festival is a community-based event organized by a large group of To Ethel Ellis and Betty Hammond volunteers to showcase the written word in Ann Arbor. Each spring since 2004, the festival has featured a broad range of activities and events that appeal to people of all ages and The Washtenaw Jewish News is a free and inde- pendent newspaper. It is published monthly, interests. with the exception of January and July. It is reg- The Book Festival is unique to the community because it brings people together for a istered as a Non-profit Michigan Corporation.