Joy Katzen-Guthrie's Net Gazette
All the news about Joy Katzen-Guthrie's concerts, recordings, & tours that's fit to print

June 2008 Issue
South Florida Summer
2008 Calendar
Joy's Neat News
China & More
Song of Joy ... Online Specials
Recommended Listening/Viewing
Baltimore in June
Boynton in June & August
Port St. Lucie in August
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On Monday, June 23rd and on Friday, August 22nd, I return to South Florida with lecture/concerts  for Grand Edventures at Temple Torah in Boynton Beach: Broadway Musicals of the 50's, A Serving of Irving (Berlin), Favorite Broadway Musicals. Visit Grand Edventures for more information, and contact me to schedule additional appearances on the East Coast or in Southwest Florida  near those dates. E-mail or call (800-354-1302) for bookings. See programs & promotional kit.

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On June 16th I return to Baltimore for the JCC's June 2008 Learn Inn series at Westminster with a class on Remote Jews of the Diaspora, a class concert on The American Popular Songbook, and a concert Celebration of Jewis Music. Visit the JCC for more information.

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On August 16th, I will appear in concert for Temple Beth El Israel of Port St. Lucie, FL, with A Celebration of Jewish Music. Contact the temple at 772-336-2424 for information, or download a flyer for the event.

View details of these and all my 2008 appearances
here
HIGHLIGHTS OF UPCOMING
Public Appearances

View these appearances & many more in detail here
Temple B'nai Israel, Clearwater, Shabbat Services: May 30, June 6, June 13-14

Congregation Schaarai Zedek
,Tampa, Shabbat Services, July 4, 11, 18, 25

New Life Unity
, Tampa, July 6, August 24

Unity of Palm Harbor
, June 8, 29, July 13, August 10, 31

June-December '08: Eckerd Elderhostel: Here's Jerry Herman!, Comedy in Music, Jazz: Roots to Bebop, Richard Rodgers, Musicals of the 4'0s & 50's, Film Scores of the American Cinema, MGM Musicals, In the Company of Women, Legendary Musical Theatre Composers, Legendary Broadway Composers, & more

June 16: JCC of Greater Baltimore's Learn Inn Experience:
Remote Jews of the Diaspora, American Popular Songbook, Celebration of Jewish Music


Mon., June 23, 2:15-4 pm: Grand Edventures in Boynton Beach: Broadway Musicals of the 50's

Fri., June 27, 7:15 pm: Aston Gardens of Sun City Center, FL: Musical Concert

Sat., Aug 16, 8 pm: Temple Beth El Israel of Port St. Lucie, FL: A Celebration of Jewish Music

Fri., August 22, 2:15-4 pm: Grand Edventures in Boynton Beach: Life & Times of Irving Berlin, Golden Age of Broadway

High Holidays 2008/5769: Sept 29-Oct 9, Temple Shir Shalom, Gainesville, FL
                                     
Oct 13-29: Eckerd Osher Institute: Home Sweet Home: America's Musical Legacy

Nov/Dec: Eckerd Osher Institute: Changing Times & Changing Tastes: Broadway Musicals of the 60's and 70's

Tues.-Fri., Nov 11-14: Eckerd Osher Institute Bio Series: Remembering the Great Dane: Victor Borge

Tues., Dec 16, 7 p.m.: Freedom Square, Seminole, FL: Musical Hanukkah Celebration

Tues., Dec 23, 2:45 p.m.: Beckett Lake Lodge, Clearwater: Hanukkah Circle of Songs

View details of these appearances & many more here
Joy's Neat News

I love to share discoveries I make on the internet as well as news of friends and colleagues. If you have neat news you would like me to share, please email me to tell me about it!

Eggroll FestivalThe Museum at Eldridge Street Synagogue features its annual Egg Rolls and Egg Creams Festival on Sunday, June 15, 12-4 pm. An all-day family program celebrates the cultures that make the Lower East Side so unique ~ from the stories and crafts of the Eastern European Jews who built the Eldridge Street Synagogue to the customs and traditions of the Chinese immigrants who followed. Hands-on demonstrations of calligraphy and other art forms, Yiddish and Chinese storytelling, and traditional foods await. You won't want to miss this mix of Klezmer music, Chinese opera and acrobatics, language lessons, scribal art, folk art demos, crafts, tours and, of course, kosher egg rolls and egg creams, voted the best annual block party by the Village Voice. And it's free! Read more

Nordic MuseumThrough the month of June, the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle continues its exhibition of Norwegian Resettlement of Jewish Refugees after World War II. Nearly 600 Jewish refugees were re-located to Norway after World War II. This exhibition tells their story through photographs, text, and artifacts. Visit the museum website.

Marina Shafran
, a doctoral student at Western Michigan University, writes to say she is working on her PhD in counseling psychology with a main focus on the Holocaust. Currently in early stages of her dissertation regarding Soviet Jewish Holocaust survivors, she will graduate in approximately two years and hopes to move to New Zealand. Marina is seeking research opportunities in the Holocaust area as well as work with survivors or education related to the Holocaust. Please contact her directly if you know of opportunities that would be appropriate.
Stillpoint Lodge AlaskaThe exquisite spirituality and creativity center will feature A Stillpoint in Hallibut CoveRabbi Lenore Bohm in a retreat entitled Universal Teachings of Jewish Spirituality, September 25-28, 2008. Bohm was among the first women rabbis in California. The center is designed as a quiet place where guests can reconnect with themselves, nature, and a source beyond themselves. Read more about the center and Rabbi Bohm's program.
LES ConservancyI love these tours and wish I were in New York to enjoy them regularly. The offers public Jewish tours of the Lower East side. See historic synagogues, homes, and public places, and hear  recollections of residents and remarkable stories and sights in the neighborhood, with indepth visits to significant historical venues. The next public walking tour is Lower East Side Jewish ConservancySunday, June 8, 2008, at 11:15 a.m., when urban historian Barry Feldman will provide a narrative of the sights and housing architecture  from the edge of Chinatown to Corlear's Hook, entitled Three Centuries of Domestic Architecture on the Lower East Side. Tours last approximately 3 to 3.5 hours. A variety of tours visit various landmarks and locations at affordable prices, and private tours may be arranged as well. Read about these tours here and here, and visit LESJC here.
It's Good To Be Back...
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So much has happened since I last wrote, with my travel for more than 3 weeks to China and continuing work in the studio, with my website, and in class and concert since I returned. Though I created this Gazette as a monthly publication, I've only had the time to release it every 2 to 3 months prior to now. I expect this issue to begin monthly installments.

I welcome new subscribers, and I hope all of you contribute feedback and suggestions to my site and newsletter, both of which are intended as a service to you. As a result of my recent visit to China and the earthquake since, I have much to share on that subject in this issue, in addition to other news. In the coming weeks, I'll turn my attention to heritage tour possibilities in other parts of the world as so many of you have requested.

I look forward to hearing from you whenever you have news to share.
Warmly, Joy · www.joyfulnoise.net

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Returning from China

China Group 2008I returned from China in mid-April after 3 weeks visiting Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Suzhou,and towns and cities of the Yangtze River Basin, including Wuxi, Yangzhou, Zhenjiang and Nanjing. The spring cherry, peach, and plum blossoms, flowering rapeseed and Chinese parasol trees were particularly exqisite during our travels, and our visits with Kehillat Beijing and the Jewish community of Shanghai, our fantastic meal at Dini's Kosher Restaurantin Beijing, as well as our walk through the recently-restored Hongkou district of Shanghai where some 15,000 Jews lived during the WWII years, were deeply memorable. The group was terrific, and we thank Temple Beth El of St. Petersburg for making possible this wonderful experience as well.

Viewing the photos from our tour brings back vivid extraordinary moments. Since my return, I have been sifting through my photos in every moment I've had available. Since there are some 5,000 images that I took, it is quite a large project that will continue through the month of June. However, the first photos from the tour are up on my site in a quicktime movie here. It is a large file, so the page may need some extra time to load, but it's worth it! You may allow the photos to scroll as a movie, or to view the photos individually, click the pause button on the bottom left, then use the arrows on the bottom right to view each picture one at a time. Double-clicking on the forward or back arrows will move the pictures through one at a time for you to view at your own pace. Once the page is loaded, you will be able to return to it without having to wait for it to re-load. This is the first of what will be a number of pages of images from this visit to China.

Kaifeng SynagogueIn response to many requests to update my Links to Jewish China Resources on my website, I have taken 3 weeks in doing so since my return. That page ~ now containing more than 1,000 links on Jewish China and Asia ~ is now divided into categories for finding specific information on the Jews of Kaifeng, Shanghai, Harbin, Tianjin, and much more. Additionally there are now categories related to Jewish adoption of Chinese children, the rescue efforts of Chiune Sugihara and Ho Feng-shan, Jewish communities and artifacts of India, Japan, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, and other areas of Asia, and the fusion of Eastern and Judaic spiritual concepts, among other categories. I know you'll find the page tremendously beneficial as you are seeking information on these subjects. Visit it here.

Additionally, I have provided a category of recommended books, recordings, and films on this page, in which I have listed many of the finest resources I have read, viewed, or discovered during my research and studies of the Jews of Asia and China. Some of those resources are mentioned below.
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Earthquake Relief

Ganeinu BeijingI have no doubt that you have been as shocked and deeply touched as I in seeing the devastation from the earthquake and aftershocks in Sichuan Province. I returned from China only 3 weeks before the quake struck. The Ganeinu International School of Chabad Beijing has been collecting donations and supplies for those communities. Additionally, Dini's Kosher Restaurant in Beijing has donated 10% of its sales in May to the earthquake relief effort. To send donations, contact Dini Freundlich, Ganeinu School Principal, at info@ganeinubeijing.cn or dini@ganeinubeijing.cn. Items needed include tents, gauze bandages, latex gloves, waterproof material such as large rolls of heavy plastic, diapers, hammers and tools, and wipes, which the school is collecting or which donations will purchase. Visit the Ganeinu website. Their May 2008 email newsletter (which is not yet on the site) contains details of the earthquake relief efforts and may be requested from the link on the site or above.

Chabad of Hong KongDonations may also be made via Chabad of Hong Kong. Information is available here. An article describing Chabad's efforts in Chengdu to distribute supplies to earthquake victims can be read here, and an article describing Chabad of Beijing's earthquake relief efforts can be read here. The Baltimore Jewish Times writes of Jewish earthquake relief efforts in China here. A dramatic two-day Search-and-Rescue for two missing Israelis in the earthquake region brought Chinese and Israelis together in a touching heroic account and a happy ending, which can be read in a JTA story here.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Israel has provided a plane to southern China with clothing, medical supplies, generators, and tents for earthquake victims. Read the story here. The Consulate General of Israel in Shanghai site further reports of Israel's relief efforts here.

JDCThe American Jewish Joint distribution Committee is providing China Earthquake Relief and Myanmar Cyclone Relief through donations that may be made here. The K. Hannah Holtschneider Holocaust Relations Mountain Institute China Program also is raising funds to which you can donate to rebuild homes for the estimate 5 million who are homeless from the quake.

Your local Federations and synagogues will also offer earthquake relief funds, and other excellent agencies worldwide to which you may donate for earthquake relief are listed here.

Half The Sky FoundationSusan Yesenko of Detroit, a member of our 2008 tour group, requests your donations for Half the Sky, whose Children's Earthquake Relief Fund provides emergency shelter, food, and medical care for children orphaned or separated from their families, along with temporary or long-term foster care. Half the Sky Foundation provides early childhood education, learning, infant nurture and foster care programs to babies and children who await adoption. You may donate to their earthquake relief fund here.
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Recommended Newly-Released Publications

Place and MemoryAuthor and speaker Vera Schwarcz, Director/Chair of the Freeman Center for East Asian Studies, has let me know of her newest book: Place and Memory in the Singing Crane Garden, just published by the University of Pennsylvania Press. The result of years of writing and research, this work brings together voices from Chinese, European, and Jewish tradition in a discussion of devastating historic events and culture ~ such as China's Cultural Revolution ~ with a focus of healing and connection.

Bridge Across Broken TimeSchwarcz' earlier acclaimed publication, Bridge Across Broken Time: Chinese and Jewish Cultural Memory, is an exploration of the meaning of cultural memory in the Chinese and Jewish traditions. Though each tradition is vastly different, she finds a bridge between the two civilizations in their shared commitment to remembrance and to witnessing to the significance of the past through survivors who preserve the continuity of their long traditions.


Covenant and Mandate of HeavenAuthor Tiberiu (Tibi) Weisz has let me know of his recently released The Covenant and the Mandate of Heaven: An In-Depth Comparative Cultural Study of Judaism and China. Weisz suggests that, if China is yin, there must be an opposing culture that matches her in endurance, sustainability and depth. Is Judaism the yang of China's yin? Weisz explores cultural bonds between Judaism and China, the relationship of Israel and China past present and future, and other topics both Chinese and Jewish. He compares ancient and contemporary Chinese sources with corresponding Western literature to show that these two cultures balance one another in a cultural relationship of yin and yang ... one as a religion that deeply influenced Western cultures and the other in an opposing environment secluded, isolated, and little understood by outsiders. The book also presents China and Judaism through the eyes of the people who have faithfully followed their tenets since antiquity. Readers will experience these two cultures as two vibrant cultures tied by invisible bonds to survive and flourish to present day

Kaifeng Stone InscriptionsWeisz is also author of The Kaifeng Stone Inscriptions: Legacy of the Jewish Community in Ancient China. An indepth examination of the 1489, 1512, and 1663 stelae of the Kaifeng synagogue, Weisz examines the similarities and contrasts in the stones and what they tell us of story of the Kaifeng Temple and the Israelite faith as described by the members of the Kaifeng Jewish community. Weisz believes that at the time of the engraving, the Israelites had lived intermittently under Chinese administration for over 1500 years, maintaining their own biblical rituals and customs.

There are many more excellent resources and I'll share them with you in future issues. Visit my Jewish China/Asia Resources for a look at much much more.
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New Documentary, Recent News & Videos, Public Speaking Tours

Noam Urbach's documentary, Kaifeng, Jerusalem, now nearing completion, will explore the descendants of China's Jewish community of Kaifeng. Filmed over six years in Israel and China, the documentary follows the descendants of the Chinese Jewish community in the ancient capital city of Kaifeng on their quest to recover their Jewish heritage. Urbach, who is currently living and teaching within the Jewish Studies Program at Shandong University in Jinan, China, is seeking funds and donations for distribution and broadcast of the film. Visit his site here for more details.

In my last issue, I shared articles regarding the first wedding in Jerusalem of a Chinese Jewish descendant from Kaifeng. See a video report of the wedding on You Tube.

M Avrum EhrlichProfessor M. Avrum Ehrlich of theSchool of Philosophy and Sociology, Center For Judaic and Inter-Religious Studies of Shandong Universityin Jinan, shares the news that he plans a speaking tour of the USA in October/November of this year to discuss the Jews and Chinese relations and Judaism in Chinese philosophy, as well as to raise consciousness about the Jewish descendants in Kaifeng. Additionally, Dr. Ehrlich will release two new books. Anyone who would like to invite him to speak or who would like more information about his work may contact him directly.
Visit his websites here and here.

HaAretz reports this month of an esteemed panel that included researcher Zhong Zhiqing of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, Zhang Ping of Tel Aviv University, Rabbi Marvin Tokayer, Shalom Solomon Wald of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, and Fu Youde of the Judaic Studies Institute at Shandong University. The five spoke at the presidential conference in Jerusalem of their experiences of one another and their shared heritage. Read more.

This article about the Beijing Jewish Community appeared in China Daily while our group was in Beijing on March 28th. Read How to keep It Kosher here.

Check out these You Tube videos of Jewish life in China & Chinese Studies in Israel:
Hebrew School at Shanghai Interntional Jewish School
About on the Shanghai International Jewish School
Discussion During Israel-China Friendship Program
Chinese Language Studies in Israel
Report on the Jewish Community in Shanghai (including wedding in Ohel Rachel Synagogue)
Jews in China Feature

Enjoy this New York Times video report by Nicholas Kristoff, called Kaifeng On The Hudson, about the history of the city of Kaifeng.
Song of Joy ... Online SpecialsSteadfast Bridge CD

Online specials continue through the month of June, after which CD prices must adjust because of rising costs. Through the month of June, if you mention this special discount, shipping costs will be included at no charge with your online or phone order. Purchase any full-length CD for $14.99, or two for $25, three for $33, or four or more for $10 each. The free shipping special is not mentioned on the website, only in this newsletter, so please mention having seen it when you order.

Additionally, for a limitied time, purchase any two or more CDs and we will send you a cassette of your choice from quantities available (including Passages, How Good & How Pleasant, Heart of Ancient Promise, Seasons of Joy, and Soulstream).

We accept Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express, Cash, Check, or Money Order. We will also send CDs directly to gift recipients with a greeting card & personalized message. Visit the Online Store today.
Recommended Listening & Viewing

South PacificFor the first time since its original five-year run, the landmark 1949 Rodgers & Hammerstein musical South Pacific is experiencing a Broadway revival. The new Lincoln Center cast soundtrack ~ released just this week ~ is spectacular. Watch a video of highlights of the making of the cast album, with comments from production's creators at amazon.com, where the new cast album is available for the unbelievable price of $9.99. Listen to excerpts from the entire album, including exquisite new performances of some of the most memorable songs in the American musical theatre, including Some Enchanted Evening, Younger Than Springtime, Bali Ha'i, There is Nothin' Like a Dame, I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, This Nearly Was Mine, You've Got to be Carefully Taught, A Wonderful Guy and other classics. The New York Times gives the show unanimous accolades in these reviews and features by Ben Brantley, Charles Isherwood, and Frank Rich.

Rodgers & Hammsterin Sound of MoviesSpeaking of Rodgers & Hammerstein, my favorite documentary on their work for its pure entertainment value, and one that I often recommend, explores their filmed musicals through the transition of each production from stage to film, the film casting, and much about the making of the soundtracks and productions. With classic and behind-the-scenes footage and photographs, as well as fascinating trivia on each musical and its filming, Rodgers and Hammerstein: The Sound of Movies contains more than an hour and a half of details of every Rodgers and Hammerstein film, including State Fair, Oklahoma, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music. The DVD is available on amazon.com for only $12.99, the best price I've seen for it.