9th Annual

Jewish Music & Cultural Festival

Celebrated Israel at 60!

A loud blast of the shofar by Ben Levy was the opening for the 9th Jewish Music and Cultural Festival on June 15th in Syracuse’s Clinton Square. A ceremony celebrating Israel @ 60 commenced at 11 a.m. Many civil dignitaries attended including Joanie Mahoney, Onondaga County Executive; Van Robinson, Syracuse Common Councilor; Deanna Cohen, Chief of Staff for State Senator John A. DeFrancisco; and. Representing the religious community were Jim Wiggin, Interfaith Religious Council; Meyer Grover, Associate Rabbi for Temple Adath Yeshurun; Rabbi Irvin Beigel; Rabbi Evan Shore from Young Israel Shaarei Torah; Rabbi Yaakov Rapoport from Chabad Lubavitch of CNY; Richard Friedman, Executive Vice President of the Syracuse Jewish Federation. A joint proclamation from the city and county was read, and Richard Friedman read a proclamation from Governor David Paterson. The ceremony included speeches celebrating the 60th year of existence of the State of Israel with prayers for the health and well being of the Jewish state. Cantor Francine Berg led the Kenesseth Shalom Singers and Cantor Marvin Moskowitz sang.

There was a special L'dor v'dor ceremony to honor all dads for Father's Day, parents along with the b'nai mitzvahs for the year announced to the community. A corp of shofar blowers were placed around Clinton Square to signal the ceremony. Cantor Fracince Berg and the Kenesseth Shalom Singers sang songs during this ceremony and Cantor Moskowitz sang at the calls for the shofars.

This year the performers, the food and the vendors all vied for the attention of the crowd. Performers from Israel were Hananel Edri, a former Israeli scout, who has a blossoming career as a singer and Simply Tsfat, ad group of talented Hassidic musicians from Safad, Israel. Other performers were “Love and Knishes”, “Shekhter- Tekhter and Binyumen”, Jonathan Dinkin and Klezmercuse, and the Keyna Hora Klezmer Band.

The Va’ad kosher food by Carnegie Catering was varied and plentiful. All varieties of Jewish ethnic specialties were served: knishes, hot dogs, pita, falafel, grape leaves and deli sandwiches. Juicy Freeze served up fruit smoothies and gourmet coffees. Local synagogues donated extra food: cookies, brownies, Israeli Chopped Salad, fruit cup, lox and bagels. Byrne Dairy donated ice cream as well.Also special thanks to the JCC of Syracuse for the use of their kosher kitchen in the preparation of some of the foods along with their help in slicing the corned beef and turkey.

The vendors showed items of extremely high quality including jewelry, beaded kipahs (caps for religious services), hand-made replicas of ancient Jewish items, books, and Israeli secular and religious items.

A steady stream of people came in and out of the festival throughout the entire day. For the last event of the day, the Jam session, many people stayed through a short rainstorm to listen and dance along.

The festival was 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, Syracuse New Times, Syracuse.com, Table Hopping, WAER, and the Syracuse Jewish Observer