General Information
9th
Annual
Jewish
Music & Cultural Festival
Celebrates
Israel at 60!
On
Sunday June 15th, from 11am to 6pm, Clinton Square in downtown
Syracuse will be buzzing with activity as The 9th Annual Jewish Music
and Cultural Festival gets underway as the last Israel@60
event of the community celebration for the 60th anniversary of the
State of Israel. Israeli products, food, information, displays and Israeli
performers will be featured. Special attention has been given to an expanded
selection of Jewish and Middle Eastern foods for purchase, all va’ad
supervised.
A
special Israel at 60 Ceremony will open the festival at 11 a.m. with area rabbis
and cantors along with local and state dignitaries. A community choir under the
direction of Francine Berg will perform. The ceremony will be a secular service
honoring the anniversary of the State of Israel. After this special ceremony the
music will start at 11:45am.
The
Festival Committee is excited to announce that Simply
Tsfat from Tsfat, Israel and Hananel
Edri from Kiryat Shmona, Israel will be two of the featured performers. Simply
Tsfat, three Hasidic members of the Breslev tradition, were wildly popular
when they performed at the fest in Syracuse four years ago, and have since
toured worldwide. Hananiel Edri has been on worldwide tours as a musical ambassador
for Israel, as a member of the Israeli Scouts and also as a solo performer.
Another group making their first appearance in Syracuse is The Shekhter-Tekhters,
The Schhaechter Daughters and Binyumen, will review kids, parents and
relationships in song. The choice
of these acts will assure high quality performances that will continue to
maintain and enhance Syracuse’s reputation as the CNY festival city.
Entertainment
from the Central New York and Upstate areas will include the ever-popular Love
and Knishes, and a jam session with Jonathan Dinkin & Klezmercuse and the
Keyna Hora Klezmer Band, as well as the only Jewish Community Choir in this
area, the Kenesseth Shalom Singers, Cantors, and Bonnie Abrams.
Also during the festival, at 1:30pm, there will be a
L’Dor v’Dor ceremony to honor all dads on Father’s day as well as
parents. Also all Bar and Bat Mitzvahs for the entire year will be introduced to
the community. The sounds of shofars will ring out in Clinton Square before and
after this special ceremony.
The
festival is free to the public and includes many types of Jewish music such as
Israeli, Yiddish theater, and klezmer (the
500-year old secular Jewish music of Eastern Europe). Plus this year the music
of Israel will be highlighted. Plan to come with the family to enjoy an eclectic
assortment of arts & crafts vendors, a variety of ethnic and kosher foods,
and children’s activities including games from the Jewish Community Center of
Syracuse, the Price Chopper hopper, life-sized puppets from the Open Hand
Theater, sand painting and an Instrument Petting Zoo. There also will be a
Community Tent where Jewish organizations and synagogues will provide
information.
The
festival is sponsored in part by the Syracuse Jewish Federation, a state grant
secured by Senator John A. DeFrancisco, the City of Syracuse Parks &
Recreation Dept, the Cultural Resources Council, the Jewish Community Center of
Syracuse, a Paul Roth grant, and the Pomeranz Fund. Corporate sponsors include
Price Chopper, Raymour & Flanigan, M&T Bank, Key Private Bank, Exhibits
& More, WellCare, and Natur-Tyme. Media sponsors are Time Warner Cable,
Sunny 102, The Post-Standard, Syracuse New Times, Syracuse.com, Table Hopping,
WAER, and the Syracuse Jewish Observer.




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