NYC Jewish-y Events, August 16 – 24

Editors Picks: 

ORLY BENDAVID AND THE MONA DAHLS

Israeli-American songwriter/performing artist Orly Bendavid and her band, The Mona Dahls, perform quirky, earthly and folksy songs, evoking sounds of a Parisian cabaret, the hills of Appalachia and the Middle East. Her first album, “Mona” (2016), is a collection of closely observed character studies that rarely end well. With guest pianist Matthew Davies. — Sunday, Aug. 18, 7 p.m., Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen St., (212) 477-4155, rockwoodmusichall.com.

SO&SO SUNSET OPERA
So&So is a collective of international musicians focused on producing symphony experiences. Founded by Israeli-American violinist and conductor Daniel Zinn, the group now brings the greatest hits of opera, performed against the setting sun, to the Brooklyn Army Terminal. Hannah Schneider, assistant conductor of the Oxford Philharmonic, will conduct. —  Saturday, Aug. 24, 7:30 p.m., Brooklyn Army Terminal, 80 58th St., Brooklyn, soandso.nyc.

FIDDLER: A MIRACLE OF MIRACLES

 

For Jewish moms and dads in the mid-1960s, Tevye was Everyparent. The times were a-changin’ and traditional gender roles as well as issues of race and religion were in flux, including whom you could and couldn’t marry. What’s love got to do with it, anyway? With the tides shifting under him, Tevye takes a last stand against marrying outside the faith. “Tradition,” he thunders. When “Fiddler on the Roof” opened in 1964, it held the record for the longest-running musical for almost 10 years, won nine Tony Awards and spawned five Broadway revivals. “Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles” is the first in-depth documentary to track the musical’s origin story and reasons for its long-lasting success, revealing why the story of Tevye the milkman is reborn again and again as a global cultural touchstone. (Today, its refugee narrative resonates.) Featuring Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sheldon Harnick, Hal Prince, Austin Pendleton, Joanna Merlin, Danny Burstein, Itzhak Perlman, Charles Isherwood, Harvey Fierstein and more. — Opening Friday, Aug. 23, Landmark 57 West, 657 W. 57th St., landmarktheatres.com and the The Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th St., (212) 255-2243, quadcinema.com

Theater

LOL NIDREI: NAUGHTY JEWISH COMEDY
This irreverent comedy show returns for its second annual Yom Kippur show. Hosted by Leah Forster, the show features comics Dana Friedman, Elazar Friedman, Liz Glaser, Raanan Hershberg and Eli Lebowicz. — Thursday, Aug. 22, 9:30 p.m., The Duplex Cabaret Theatre, 61 Christopher St., lolnidrei.com. For more information and tickets: (646) 598-4108, tickets@lolnidrei.com. $15 advance/$20 door (all tickets require two-drink minimum).

JACKIE HOFFMAN: THEMELESS
Currently playing Yente the Matchmaker in the National Yiddish Theater’s Yiddish-language production of “Fiddler on the Roof,” Jewish comic Jackie Hoffman is perhaps best known for (jokingly) throwing a tantrum after losing her 2017 Emmy nomination. Hoffman presents her signature combination of original music and monologues in a show she bills as a continuation of her “public downward spiral into oblivion.” — Sundays, Aug. 18 and 25, 9 p.m. doors, 9:30 p.m. show, Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St., (212) 539-8778, publictheater.org.

TWO’S A CROWD

They say opposites attract — they haven’t met Tom and Wendy. Forced together by a computer error, freewheeling Tom and uptight Wendy do their best to ruin each other’s vacations, but the bright lights of Vegas may still work their magic. This new musical comedy stars Broadway and comedy icon Rita Rudner, Kelly Holden Bashar, Brian Lohmann and Robert Yacko. — Through Sunday, Aug. 25, 59E59 Theaters, 59 E. 59th St., (646) 892-7999, 59e59.org.

THE LAST JEW OF BOYLE HEIGHTS
Set in the industrial east side of Los Angeles, in what was once a heavily Jewish area, three Holocaust survivors meet on a factory floor amid talk of deportations, poor wages and fading memories. Written and directed by Steve Greenstein (“Voices From the Holy and Not So Holy”). — Extended Through August, Sundays at 7:30 p.m., Actors’ Temple Theatre, 339 W. 47th St., actorstempletheatre.com.

FOLKSBIENE’S HANNAH SENESH
Presented with music and song, this one-woman show tells the true story of Hannah Senesh, one of many Jews who escaped from Axis-allied Hungary in 1939 to the safety of British Mandate Palestine. There she joined Haganah and then volunteered for a daring Special Operations mission to parachute back into Europe to save Jews from Nazi hands. — Through Aug. 18, Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org.

YIDDISH FIDDLER

“Fiddler on the Roof” (A Fidler Afn Kakh) in Yiddish continues its Off-Broadway run. Directed by the acclaimed Joel Grey, a rich Yiddish translation by the late Shraga Friedman adds new depth to the iconic musical. With English and Russian supertitles. — Stage 42, 422 W. 42nd St., (212) 239-6200, broadway.com.

Music

MOSHE VILOZNY
Born in Portland, Ore., and raised in Santa Cruz, Calif., and Israel, Moshe Vilozny sings in English, Spanish and Hebrew, incorporating life experiences into original folk songs steeped in American Roots Music and sprinkled with influences from his world travels. — Friday, Aug. 23, 7 p.m., Rockwood Music Hall, 196 Allen St., rockwoodmusichall.com.

A LOVE SONG SHABBAT
Judy Buchman and Aron Bederson team up for love songs on the joyous and romantic holiday of Tu b’Av, followed by an oneg Shabbat. — Friday, Aug. 16, 7 p.m., The Actors Temple, 339 W. 47th St. (8th-9th avenues), info@theactorstemple.org, the actorstemple.org.

Talk

STORIES SURVIVE SPEAKER SERIES
Born in The Hague in 1940, Holocaust survivor Eddy Boas was 3 when his family was rounded up and sent to Holland’s Spoor train station. From there, he was loaded into a cattle wagon with his family, deported to Westerbork concentration camp and taken from there to Bergen-Belsen. He’ll share his harrowing life story with the museum audience, in a special visit from Australia.  — Wednesday, Aug. 28, 7 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, mjhnyc.org. Free; advance registration recommended.

TESTING FAITH
In occupied Ukraine, most non-Jews swiftly divided into collaborators, accomplices to occupying forces and bystanders. Some, however, turned to rescue work. Raisa Ostapenko will use her collection of primary source testimony from Ukrainians to explore why some marginalized groups were more likely to empathize with persecuted Jews. — Monday, Aug. 19, 7-8:30 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, mjhnyc.org. Free; advance registration recommended.

THE EICHMANN TRIAL
In 1961, one of the world’s most notorious war criminals sat in a courtroom for a trial that would be among the first in history to be completely televised. The trial brought the Holocaust into the historical, educational, legal and cultural discourse, not only in Israel and the Jewish world, but in the consciousness of people around the world. Educators Sylvia Solomon and David Wintre will discuss the trial, as part of the 92nd Street Y’s interactive course “Lunch & Learn: Great Trials That Changed the Course of History.” — Thursday, Aug. 29, noon-2 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., 92y.org.

Exhibitions

BACKSTORY

Street artist Sara Erenthal gives new life to discarded items by drawing on them, re-designating them from “trash” to “art.” Most of the works in this new solo show are created from “thrifted” paintings, upon which Erenthal, who left the Orthodox fold to find herself as an artist, paints her signature motif: a graphic silhouette of a woman’s form with wide eyes and red lips. — Through Aug. 18, The Storefront Project, 70 Orchard St., storefrontproject.com.

NATURE OF WONDER
“ZAZ10TS,” a cultural initiative in the lobby of 10 Times Square, features a new exhibition by Israeli-American interdisciplinary artist Shony Rivnay. Comprised of a large series of vibrant paintings, varying in size and technique, the series reveals a natural curiosity about the ties between form and matter in nature and in art. — Through Monday, Sept. 2, 1441 Broadway, zaz10ts.com.

THE COLMAR TREASURE: A MEDIEVAL JEWISH LEGACY
A cache of jeweled rings, brooches and coins, hidden in a wall of a house in Colmar, France, tells the story of a Jewish family and community, which were scapegoated and put to death when the plague struck the region in 1348-49. Now on loan from the Musée de Cluny, Paris, the treasure will be displayed alongside works from The Met Cloisters, underscoring the prominence of the Jewish minority community in the tumultuous 14th century, and the perils it faced. — Through Jan. 12, 2020, The Met Cloisters, Fort Tryon Park, (212) 923-3700, metmuseum.org.

AUSCHWITZ
The most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz to date, this groundbreaking presentation brings together more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs from over 20 institutions and museums around the world to explore the history of Auschwitz and its role in the Holocaust. — Through Jan. 3, 2020, Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.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.