The Global Jewish Story

[Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky <reyzl...>]

This is a notice I found on the Bridges Mailing list that I am 
forwarding (with Clare's permission of course).

Dr. Kay Shelemay was a wonderful ethnomusicology professor of mine 
at Columbia grad school and am just very happy to post this around.   
She has done some very interesting work in the 1970's, including 
demonstrating the authenticity of claims by Ethiopian Jewry that 
they really are Jewish by analyzing their liturgical music - not 
an easy task.  At the same she proved that the Falash Mora in 
Ethiopia are not really Jewish, despite their claims that they are, 
by analyzing their ritual music.


Reyzl

PS, I fixed much of the formatting problems.



-------------------------FORWARD---------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 06:48:40 -0700 (PDT)
Message-Id: <1(dot)5(dot)4(dot)16(dot)19990511060143(dot)21cf1804 (at) 
pond(dot)net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset"iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
To: BRIDGES: the Jewish Feminist journal <bridges (at) shamash(dot)org>
From: Clare Kinberg <ckinberg (at) pond(dot)net>
Subject: The Global Jewish Story

for you folks in Southern California:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


WJCC and Ivri-NASAWI Launch 93The Global Jewish Story,94 Featuring 
Harvard Scholar Kay Kaufman Shelemay on "Syrian Jewish Music and Memory"

LOS ANGELES-The Westside Jewish Community Center of the Jewish Community

Centers of Greater Los Angeles, with Ivri-NASAWI (New Association of
Sephardi/Mizrahi Artists & Writers International), is proud to announce
the first in a new series which examines the "global Jewish story",
beginning with a presentation by Harvard ethnomusicologist Kay Kaufman 
Shelemay, author of the critically-acclaimed new title, "Let Jasmine Rain 
Down: Song and Remembrance Among Syrian Jews". (University of Chicago 
Press, 1998)  

Prof. Shelemay will speak at the Westside JCC on Sunday, May 23, at 2 pm, 
where she will also autograph copies of her book.

The media sponsor for this "Global Jewish Story" program is the Jewish
Spectator, an intellectual magazine interested in all responsible Jewish
opinions which has been continuously published since 1935.  Copies of the
Jewish Spectator will be available on May 23.

"The Global Jewish Story" series will feature eloquent readings and
vibrant discussions on Jewish experiences from around the world - a 
truly multicultural approach which recognizes the diversity of Sephardi, 
Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews; examines their varying traditions and 
languages; and includes at least two principal aspects of a particular 
cultural experience: story, art, photography, music and/or gastronomy, 
or other element.  Each program in the series focuses on a particular 
region where the Jewish experience has produced a culture rich in art 
and ideas. Forthcoming programs on Thursday, June 17 and Sunday, July 
25 include a panel on "German Jewish Identity, Yesterday and Today", as 
well as "The Culture and Identity of Egyptian Jews in the Diaspora" 
featuring Stanford scholar Joel Beinin, and "The Latin American Jewish 
Experience" with Chilean poet and Jewish activist Marjorie AgosEDn.

Writes Sephardic scholar David Shasha of "Let Jasmine Rain Down", "In
[Shelemay's] work we have an honest and lively reconstruction of an 
Arab Jewish community retaining its distinctiveness amidst the melting 
pot culture of modernity."  Writes Dr. Stuart Feder of the Albert 
Einstein College of Medicine, this book "is masterfully elaborated and 
illustrated with written and recorded examples. More than this, 
Professor Shelemay considers the sociology and psychology of change 
itself."

Kay Kaufman Shelemay is professor of music at Harvard University. She 
is the author of several books, including "A Song of Longing: An 
Ethiopian Journey", and is currently the president of the Society for 
Ethnomusicology.  Established in 1954, the WJCC has become a central 
Los Angeles location which promotes Jewish identity and appreciation 
for Jewish heritage through cultural, educational and physical programs 
for all ages. Founded in 1996, Ivri-NASAWI is a Jewish multicultural 
association which emphasizes the Sephardic and Middle Eastern 
experience, with arts programming in Los Angeles, New York and the 
San Francisco Bay Area.

"Syrian Jewish Music and Memory" is co-produced by the Westside JCC 
and Ivri-NASAWI at the Westside JCC, 5870 West Olympic Blvd., Los 
Angeles 90036.
 
Tickets to this edition of 93The Global Jewish Story94 are $5 for 
members of the JCC and Ivri-NASAWI and $7 general admission.  "Syrian 
Jewish Music and Memory" includes a book signing and will be followed 
by a reception.  Advance reservations highly recommended. Please call 
(323)  938-2521 ext 2210. Author photos and book covers are available 
electronically from Ivri-NASAWI.  For press photos or to arrange 
interviews with Kay Kaufman Shelemay, please contact Jordan Elgrably, 
(323) 650-3157.

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