NYC Jewish-y Events, May 18 – May 27

Editor’s Picks:

SPIRAL
Over the last two decades, a rise in physical attacks and verbal assaults on Jews has been recorded in many countries across Europe. At the same time, various global crises deepened political, social and racial rifts between Jews and their fellow citizens, phenomena particularly evident in France. In portraying the resurgence of anti-Semitism in France and in the wider world, director Laura Fairrie’s documentary trains its gaze on individuals from all sides of the conflicts that have fueled this escalation. The screening will be followed by a Q&A. — Tuesday, May 22, 7-9 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., (646) 505-4444, jccmanhattan.org.

THE BLUE DAHLIA

Brooklyn-born but a nomad at heart, Dahlia Dumont traveled the world from an early age, absorbing cultural and musical influences on her path. Her Eastern European heritage and her years as an anthropology student and teacher in France and Senegal shaped her musical palette. Now she’s back in New York City with an international band. Her project, dubbed “The Blue Dahlia,” mixes Tex-Mex accordion with klezmer violin, old-time French swing, reggae and ska to create a new musical whole. Think of her as the klemer Piaf. — Sunday, June 3, 10 a.m doors, 11 a.m. concert, City Winery, 155 Varick St., (212) 608-0555, citywinery.com. $10.

ISRAELI CHAMBER PROJECT
“The Israeli Chamber Project is that rarest of creatures: a band of world-class soloists that is not a muster of peacocks, but a hive mind in which egos dissolve and players think, breathe and play as one,” says Time Out New York. The award-winning group joins forces with American soprano Sarah Shafer to explore the lush lyricism, both vocal and instrumental, of Franz Schubert and Samuel Barber. — Thursday, May 24, 7:30 p.m., Kaufman Music Center – Merkin Concert Hall, 129 W. 67th St., (212) 501-3330, kaufmanmusiccenter.org.

Theater

GOLDSTEIN

Louis Goldstein has written a tell-all family memoir. The book is a best-seller — but is it true? Directed by Brad Rouse, with musical staging by Sarah O’Gleby, “Goldstein” drives home the message that families are complicated, the truth is multifaceted and forgiveness is key. — Through July, Actors Temple Theatre, 339 W. 47th St., (212) 239-6200, Goldsteinmusical.com.

THE BAND’S VISIT
In the hit Israeli film, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra travels to Israel from Egypt for a concert, ending up in the wrong place and bonding with local Israelis in the process. David Yazbek’s musical of the same name and based on the film won the 2017 Obie for Best Musical. It continues on Broadway after a sold-out Off-Broadway run. — Barrymore Theatre, 243 W. 47th St., telecharge.com, thebandsvisitmusical.com.

Special

TIKKUN LEIL SHAVUOT 2017
In what has become a Manhattan tradition, thousands of Jews gather on the Upper West Side to study, watch films, listen to music, dance, practice yoga, eat cheesecake and more at Stay the Night, the Paul Feig z’l Tikkun Leil Shavuot. Come for an hour or stay for the night, it’s free either way. — Saturday, May 19-Sunday, May 20, 10 p.m.-4:15 a.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., (646) 505-4444, jccmanhattan.org.

Dance

DYBBUK AT CITY BALLET
Using “The Dybbuk,” S. Ansky’s iconic Yiddish play, as inspiration, Jerome Robbins’ work (with music by Leonard Bernstein) evokes the types of dark magic-religious rituals, hallucinations and conflicts present in the original play. — Sunday, May 20, 3 p.m., New York City Ballet, David H. Koch Theater, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza, (212) 496-0600, nycballet.com.

ANDREA MILLER

The Israeli choreographer and artistic director of the Gallim dance group closes her year-long residency at the Met Breuer with a six-day performance/installation. In collaboration with award-winning filmmaker Ben Stamper, composer Will Epstein and fashion designer Jose Solis, Gallim’s dancers take over the museum’s fifth floor in the world premiere of “(C)arbon,” a work on the phenomenon of the body. — Friday-Sunday, May 18-20, Tuesday-Thursday May 22-24, during museum hours, Met Breuer, 5th floor, 945 Madison Ave., (212) 570-3949, Metmuseum.org/Gallim.

Film

RBG

At 84, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. A documentary from Betsy West and Julie Cohen, “RBG” explores Ginsburg’s unique life, career and legacy. Co-produced by Storyville Films and CNN Films. — In wide release.

DISOBEDIENCE

Exploring female desire in the confines of a patriarchal religious community, Chilean director Sebastián Lelio charts the love affair between Ronit Krushka (Rachel Weisz), a New York photographer and a former Orthodox Jew, and her still-Orthodox childhood flame Esti (Rachel McAdams). Returning to her childhood community in the wake of her estranged father’s death, Ronit reunites with Esti and passions reignite, testing the boundaries of faith and sexuality. — In wide release.

HEADING HOME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuKMTC9N03w&vl=en

“Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel” is the David-and-Goliath story of Israel’s national baseball team as it competes for the first time in the World Baseball Classic. After years of crushing defeats, Israel finally ranks among the world’s best in 2017. Its roster includes many Jewish-American major leaguers, most with a tenuous relationship to Judaism with few having ever set foot in Israel. Their odyssey takes them from the Holy Land, where they are hailed as modern-day Maccabees, to the tournament in South Korea, where they must debunk their reputations as has-beens and wannabes. — Tuesday, May 29, 7-9 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., (646) 505-4444, jccmanhattan.org.  

Music

ROADS DIVERGE
After a decade as a sideman with the likes of Gilad Hekselman, Billy Hart and Uri Caine, Israeli-American bassist/composer Noam Wiesenberg and his quintet present his debut album as composer and bandleader, “Roads Diverge.” It’s clever mainstream-modern jazz with a Middle Eastern lilt. — Saturday, May 19, 7:30-10 p.m., Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th, smallslive.com.

GILAD HEKSELMAN TRIO
Israeli-born jazz guitarist Gilad Hekselman has drawn praise for his “warm and clean guitar tone, clear articulation, crazily extended improvisational ideas” (The New York Times). He’s become an A-list standout. — Friday, May 25, 8:30 and 10 p.m., Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia St., (212) 989-9319, corneliastreetcafe.com

ASAF YURIA

After playing alongside such Israeli jazz mavericks as bassist Omer Avital and saxophonist-clarinetist Anat Cohen, Israeli-born saxophonist Yuria leads his own straight-ahead jazz quintet in a repertoire of familiar tunes from the swing and jazz traditions, alongside original works. — Thursday, May 24, 1 – 4 a.m., Smalls Live, 183 W. 10th St., (646) 476-4346, smallslive.com.

JOACHIM STUTSCHEWSKY AND THE MUSIC OF HIS WORLD
Joachim Stutschewsky, a Ukraine-born Austrian and Israeli cellist, composer and musicologist who died in 1982, was one of the key pioneers of Jewish music. This concert features a variety of chamber works by Stutschewsky and composers of his coterie, both in Russia and in Israel, as well as the premiere of a new composition by Ofer Ben-Amots. Neil W. Levin, a scholar of Jewish music, will deliver the pre-concert lecture on Stutschewsky’s life and work. — Tuesday, May 22, 6 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, yivo.org.

WALL TO WALL LEONARD BERNSTEIN
Explore the many facets of the great maestro and composer’s creative life through a day of music, dance, conversation and films. — Saturday, May 19, 3-11 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, (212) 864-5400. For a detailed schedule visit symphonyspace.org.

Talk

WOMEN OF THE WALL

Lesley Sachs, executive director of Women of the Wall (WOW), shares the story of WOW — its history, successes, and challenges — and its role in building gender neutralism at the Kotel. — Saturday, May 19, 12:30 – 2 p.m., Congregation Shaare Zedek, 214 W. 97th St., (212) 874-7005, sznyc.org.

HASIDISM: A NEW HISTORY
“Hasidism: A New History,” by David Biale (UC-Davis) and Samuel Heilman (Queens College), is being billed as the first comprehensive overview of the pietistic movement that shaped modern Judaism. The book launch will be preceded by a presentation from the authors. — Wednesday, May 23, 7 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, yivo.org.

TRAVELS IN JEWISH HISTORY
Art and travel writer Irene Shaland reports on her travels through Jewish history in Burma, India, China, Cuba and Cambodia. — Tuesday, May 29, 7 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (800) 838-3006, sephardi.nyc. 

MY ISRAEL TRAIL
After a devastating divorce that upended his deeply held optimism, Aryeh Green’s goal was to get his life back on track. His hike along the Israel National Trail (Shvil Yisrael) revealed a number of universal truths for living based on Jewish tradition. In a conversation on his just-published “My Israel Trail: Finding Peace in the Promised Land,” Green shares his new perspective on Israel – the land, the country, its history and people, accompanied by photos and videos. — Wednesday, May 23, 7 p.m., Congregation Shearith Israel, 2 W. 70th St., (212) 873-0300, shearithishearithisrael.org.

MICHAEL CHABON

Upon the publication of “Pops,” his new collection of personal essays, the acclaimed Jewish author and plot master (“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,” “The Yiddish Policeman’s Union” and “Telegraph Avenue”) speaks about fathers and sons, life and art, growing up and getting older. — Tuesday, May 22, 8 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., 92y.org.

THE EDDIE CANTOR STORY
Eddie Cantor’s music and comedy not only shaped the history of popular entertainment, but also provided a foundation for ongoing efforts to redefine Jewish culture and build a community in contemporary America. David Weinstein, Author of “The Eddie Cantor Story,” discusses all things Cantor. — Friday, May 25, 12 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., 92y.org.

Exhibitions

CHAIM SOUTINE: FLESH

This exhibition features more than 30 paintings of Chaim Soutine depicting hanging fowl, beef carcasses and rayfish. Considered one of the 20th century’s great still-life painters, Soutine created visceral, expressionist paintings of tortured animal carcasses, establishing a parallel between the animal and human, beauty and pain. The New Yorker hailed the exhibition as “potent … timely … elegantly curated.” — Through Sept. 16, Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave., (212) 423-3200, thejm.org.

INSIGHT
Curated by Emily Lambert and designed by The Studio Art program at Stern College for Women, this exhibit features a selection of works by this year’s graduating studio art majors. — Through Aug. 8, Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History, (212) 294-8330/8805, yumuseum.org. RSVP to RSVP@yum.cjh.org.

EVOLUTION

Michal Rovner, a pioneering Israeli artist, addresses the fragility of human life through photography, film, installation and video. Often relating her art to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Rovner uses historical objects and symbols from both sides, then alters them beyond recognition until they lose their original meaning. Her new solo show, “Evolution,” features a collection of older video works and prints, as well as new works and a major video installation. — Through June 23, Pace Gallery, 537 W. 24th St., (212) 421-3292, pacegallery.com.

EXILE IS HOME
The personal history of Oded Halahmy, one of New York’s most acclaimed Israeli-American sculptors, has been shaped by exile, migration and travels. Born in Iraq, raised in Israel, educated in London and currently traveling between homes here and in old Jaffa, Halahmy fills his work with images evocative of the cultures he is connected to. “Exile is Home” includes over 100 works representing his work from the mid-1960s to the present. — Through July 1, Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse, (718) 681-6000, bronxmuseum.org.

To publish events, submit them to jewishweekcalendar@gmail.com two weeks or more in advance. We cannot guarantee inclusion due to space limitations. Since scheduling changes may occur, we recommend contacting the venue before heading out to an event.