"From Here and From There – a Festival of Jewish Spirit"

The Gilo Community Center in Jerusalem hosted a collaborative program with the Sephardic Community Center in Brooklyn and Jews from Toulouse, France to strengthen global Jewish identity.

Supported by the UJA Federation of New York , the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israel New York Connections office, this week-long festival of Jewish Peoplehood, «From Here and From There –  a Festival of Jewish Spirit»  highlighted the diversity of cultures brought by each city while celebrating the unique identity of each Jewish community. 

The festivities began with an art exhibit in local Gilo schools featuring the works of students from both Jerusalem and Brooklyn. Later a gala event brought together local and professional singers from Gilo and New York, singing traditional Jewish Sephardic tunes («Piyut»), cantorial ballades and rich Opera.

Performances were in a variety of languages, culminating in a multi-language version of Hallelujah.  Later in the week, intensive study sessions explored several difficult topics including what ‘Jewish identity’ means, educating today’s Jewish youth, and bridging gaps between secular and religious Jewry.

Family workshops were conducted on the subjects of Jewish history, Tanach , and, even ethnic foods. The joyous week concluded with an emotional tefillin presentation for  65 underprivileged  Bnei Mitzvah teens.

This groundbreaking festival  brought together families, teens, children , schools professionals and volunteers from all three communities celebrating  together a unified Jewish spirit. 

Opera singer Svetlana Bendikov (Gilo), Opera singer Joyce Mizrahi (NY), Shila Shwiki active member of the Sephradic Community Center, Opera singer Rachel Krasni (Gilo)

Fuente: Jewish Agency for Israel – Jerusalem,Israel