NYC Jewish-y Events, September 6-19

Editors Picks: 

SELECTED SHORTS: ETGAR KERET AND JOYCE CAROL OATES
Symphony Space’s late, beloved artistic director Isaiah Sheffer knew the power of having a story read out loud, especially by leading actors of the day. Selected Shorts has been a staple of the city’s cultural scene for more than 30 years. Next up is the work of two heavyweights: Israel’s Etgar Keret, a gifted short story specialist with a penchant for absurdist tales, and Joyce Carol Oates, who won the prestigious Jerusalem Prize earlier in the year. Liev Schreiber, Dianna Agron (“Glee”) and Becky Ann Baker (“Girls”) will read from Keret’s new collection, “Fly Already” (“Come on, fly already!” a boy says to a troubled guy on the roof of a four-story building in the title story). And from Oates, a master of the short story often compared to Chekhov. — Wednesday, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m., Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway, (212) 864-5400, symphonyspace.org.

RUSS & DAUGHTERS, AN APPETIZING STORY
Russ & Daughters, the 109-year-old, family-owned appetizing shop on the Lower East Side (and an uptown outpost of late at The Jewish Museum), has already been immortalized in a documentary (“The Sturgeon Queens”) and a book (“Russ & Daughters: Reflections and Recipes from the House That Herring Built”). Now, the store can add a photo exhibit to its legacy. The show opens with a talk and a nosh, of course. —Thursday, Sept.12, 6:30 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., ajhs.org/opening-russ-daughters-appetizing-story.

PROMISE AT DAWN

As a writer Romain Gary is all but forgotten here, but perhaps Eric Barbier’s new film of Gary’s autobiographical novel, “Promise at Dawn,” can help correct that situation. It’s a stylish and somber period piece recounting Gary’s peripatetic life and varied career. Played with verve by Pierre Niney, Gary is a classic wandering Jew, driven across Eastern Europe by the workings of history. Besides being a novelist, he was a bombardier for the Free French during WWII and a diplomat. At the center of his life and the film is his love-hate relationship with his domineering mother, played to the hilt by Charlotte Gainsbourg. — Opens Friday, Sept. 6 at the Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th St., quadcinema.com; Gainsbourg will attend the Friday evening screening for a Q&A.

Theater

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.

GOD SHOULD NOT HAVE CHOSEN US
Written and performed by a dozen young Jewish comics, this sketch show — think Jewish “SNL” — maps the Jewish millennial experience here. It features short parodies about “Fiddler,” Jewish parents, dating outside The Tribe, Jewish geography and more. — Sunday, Sept. 8, 8 p.m., The Peoples Improv Theater, 123 E. 24th St., thepit-nyc.com. $15 online/$20 door.

Film

HEADING HOME: THE TALE OF TEAM ISRAEL

Israel is not a native to baseball. Its 2017 Team leaned on several Jewish-American big leaguers, like former Met Ike Davis, Josh Zeid and Ryan Lavarnway. Most had a tenuous relationship to Judaism, and none had ever set foot in Israel. Tracking the underdog journey of Israel’s national baseball team, competing for the first time in the World Baseball Classic, “Heading Home” documents their odyssey traveling from the U.S. to Tel Aviv to Seoul, as they discover the pride of representing Israel on the world stage. — Opening Friday, Sept. 6, The Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th St., (212) 255-2243, quadcinema.com.

REFUGEE LULLABY

Hans Breuer, a Jewish shepherd in Austria, often leaves his flock and his land to help refugees entering Europe. He volunteers his car, his home and his family to feed, comfort and shelter the newcomers, always singing Yiddish lullabies. The film follows Hans and a small community of volunteers — some Jewish, others not — who find in their shared history as Jews and Europeans a common obligation to provide for those most in need. Screening followed by a Q & A with director Ronit Kertsner. — Monday, Sept. 16, 7-9 p.m., Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University, 1140 Amsterdam Ave., iijs.columbia.edu.

FORGOTTEN SOLDIER

“Forgotten Soldier” tells the story of the “Master of Bluffing,” Salomon (“Sally”) Noach, a Dutch citizen who risked his life in Vichy, France, to save hundreds from deportation to Auschwitz. The film follows Noach’s daughter, Lady Irene Hatter, as she goes in search of the truth behind her father’s story. This New York premiere is followed by a discussion with Lady Irene Hatter, her brother Jacques Hatter and survivor Herman Veder, who is featured in the film. — Tuesday, Sept. 17, 7 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org.

Music

EMMET COHEN TRIO

EMMET COHEN TRIO
At 28, jazz pianist Emmet Cohen has been recognized as “an obvious heir apparent to the neo-traditional jazz mantle,” (The New York Times), a status cemented by his 2019 win of the prestigious American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship. With trio members bassist Russell Hall and drummer Kyle Poole, as well as special guest and saxophone legend George Coleman. — Sunday, Sept. 15, 7:30 p.m., Joe’s Pub, 425 Lafayette St., (212) 539-8778, publictheater.org.

Talk

HAMILL AND HABERMAN
They are two scribes — an Irish bard and a Jewish bard — that perhaps only New York City could have produced. Tabloid legend and novelist Pete Hamill sits down with acclaimed Times reporter Clyde Haberman (the father, it must be said, of The Times’ White House scoopster Maggie Haberman) to talk about the Irish and Jewish New York neighborhoods they came from, the immigrant experience then and now, the tabloid that launched their careers and the ever-changing city that continues to inspire. — Sunday, Sept. 8, 3 p.m., Center for Jewish History, 15 W. 16th St., (212) 294-8301, cjh.org.

HOW TO FIGHT ANTI-SEMITISM

Bari Weiss, who can infuriate liberals from her perch on The Times’ op-ed page (though she rapped the president on his Jews-are-disloyal-if-they-vote-Democratic charge), is out with a new zeitgeist-y book. In “How to Fight Anti-Semitism,” she reveals her own deeply personal relationship to the issue (she became a bat mitzvah at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the site of last October’s deadliest attack on Jews in American history), and discusses how social media and political polarization have reignited the problem. She’ll speak about her work with CNN’s Jake Tapper. — Sunday, Sept. 15, 7 p.m., 92nd Street Y, 1395 Lexington Ave., 92y.org.

THE EDUCATION OF AN IDEALIST
In her Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Powers offers an urgent response to the question, “What can one person do?” She talks to author Abigail Pogrebin about the power of idealism. Ticket includes lunch and a signed book. Proceeds benefit The Lambert Center for Arts + Ideas. — Wednesday, Sept. 11, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave., jccmanhattan.org. $180.

PROSECUTING HATE CRIMES: CHARLOTTESVILLE AND BEYOND
Leading litigator Roberta Kaplan discusses her lawsuit representing those injured at the 2017 white nationalist “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville. Kaplan will be in conversation with plaintiff Rev. Seth Wispelwey and Amy Spitalnick, executive director of Integrity First for America. With an introduction by Abe Foxman, director of the Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism. Moderated by CNN’s John Avlon. — Tuesday, Sept. 10, 7 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org.

HITLER’S HOSTAGE ART
Mary M. Lane, former chief European art reporter at The Wall Street Journal and author of “Hitler’s Last Hostages,” will discuss how Hitler’s obsession with art fueled his vision of a purified Nazi state, and the fate of the artwork that was hidden, stolen, or destroyed to “cleanse” German culture. Lane will converse with Erin L. Thompson, America’s only full-time professor of art crime. — Thursday, Sept. 12, 7 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, (646) 437-4202, mjhnyc.org.

Exhibitions

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.

LEONARD COHEN: A CRACK IN EVERYTHING
This show celebrates the singer-songwriter’s powerful legacy through mixed-media works, including a video projection showcasing Cohen’s own drawings and a multimedia gallery where visitors can hear Cohen’s songs covered by other musicians. — Through Sept. 8, The Jewish Museum, 1109 Fifth Ave., (212) 423-3200, thejewishmuseum.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.