What’s Going On In NYC This Week — June 15 - 24 - Jewish Telegraphic Agency (2024)

The top events in NYC, as curated by our arts and culture editors.

SPIRAL

Who could forget the shock of the 2015 Hyper Casher terror attack in Paris? Ever since then, France’s 500,000 Jews have wrestled with their place in French society and pondered packing up for Israel or elsewhere. Director and journalist Laura Fairrie gets at the complexities of their situation in her documentary “Spiral.” She shows clips from the film and talks about the plight of French Jews next week at the Streicker Center. The film opens at the Quad as well. —Friday, June 22, 6 p.m., Streicker Center, 1 E. 65th St., emanuelstreickernyc.org.; Quad Cinema, 34 W. 13th St., quadcinema.com.

SCRIBBLERS ON THE ROOF

One of the longest-running literary series in town, Ansche Chesed’s “Scribblers on the Roof” begins its 18th season this month. Monday evenings, from June 18 to Aug. 6, bookish New Yorkers are invited to ascend to the synagogue’s rooftop to hear a pair of Jewish writers read from their latest works. The program was founded by three authors in the congregation and is now curated by executive director Josh Hanft. This year’s lineup, as is traditional, mixes new and established writers, including Sally Koslow (“Another Side of Paradise”) and Allan Appel (“The Book of Norman”) on June 18. Other participants include Dara Horn, Sam Graham-Felsen, Jenna Blum, Kenneth Bonert and Jeremy Dauber. In case of rain, the scribblers move inside. — 8-10 p.m., Ansche Chesed, 251 W. 100th St., anschechesed.org. $5 contribution.

TASTE OF JEWISH CULTURE

Carrying the alliterative theme of “Diversity is Delicious,” the Workmen’s Circle’s annual Jewish food and culture bash celebrates immigrants’ contributions to cuisine. The fare, as you might expect, is daring: reuben quesadillas, Yemeni tacos, babka ice-cream sandwiches and sweet potato and beet latkes. Ben’s Kosher Deli, Harlem Seafood Soul, Danny Macaroons and other purveyors of food and drink will be there. Aaron Alexander and the Klezmer All-Stars and the cast of the Folksbiene’s Yiddish production of “Fiddler” perform. And, since it’s Father’s Day, all dads get a free egg cream! — Sunday, June 17, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Sixth Avenue between 48th and 49th streets, http://circle.org/event/taste-jewish-culture-street-festival.

Theater

VITALY: AN EVENING OF WONDERS

Israel-raised magician Vitaly Beckman makes his NYC debut. (Production recommended for ages 8+). — Opens Thursday, June 21, through Sept. 30, Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd St. (9th-10th avenues), telecharge.com. $89.

ASHLEY BLAKER: STRICTLY UNORTHODOX

A well-known writer for British TV and radio and arguably the best-known Jewish Orthodox stand-up comic in the UK, Ashley Blaker returns to NYC for a five-week, Off-Broadway run of his one-man show “Strictly Unorthodox.” Call it black humor. — Through June 28, Jerry Orbach Theatre, 1627 Broadway, (212) 921-7862, ticketmaster.com.

Film

THE LIBERATORS

“The Liberators” tells the true story of American GIs whose march across Germany in April 1945 led them to the Dachau concentration camp. Screening will be followed by guest speaker Ben Lesser, a Holocaust survivor featured in the film. Presented by 3GNY, an organization formed by descendants of Holocaust survivors. — Tuesday, June 19, 6:30 p.m., Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Place, mjhnyc.org. Free, but RSVP requested.

SHABABNIKIM

Written by Eliran Malka and Daniel Paran, this hit Israeli TV show (slang for “yeshiva drop-out”) offers a whimsical and cutting glimpse into the lives of the new and cool brand of charedi youth emerging in Israel. Lincoln Square Synagogue screens three episodes at a time. Hebrew with English subtitles. — Sunday, June 17, 3 p.m., Lincoln Square Synagogue, 180 Amsterdam Ave., (212) 874-6100, lss.org/event/shababnikim.

Music

MENDELSSOHN: A MUSICAL STAGED READING

Experience the story of Jewish-born composer Felix Mendelssohn with a modern twist, featuring a cast of nine, a live band and 15 original songs and classical music excerpts. Q&A with the cast follows the show. Part of Theater for the New City’s “New City, New Blood” reading series. — Monday, June 18, 7 p.m., Theatre for the New City, 155 First Ave. (bet. 9th & 10th streets), (212) 254-1109, theatreforthenewcity.net. $5 suggested donation.

THE JEWISH AMERICAN DISAPORA EXPERIENCE

In a program of music and discussion, the Multicultural Music Group ensemble performs Frank London’s symphonic work, “Eastern Parkway Bulgar.” Also on the bill is music from George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. — Friday, June 15, 7 p.m., Studio Theater at Lehman College, 250 Bedford Park Blvd., multiculturalmusic.com. Free.

SONGS FOR THE HOLY CITY

The annual “John Paul II Lecture on Interreligious Dialogue” features an interfaith evening of music and prayer. The Jewish Theological Seminary hosts a gathering of clergy, vocalists and musicians from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian traditions, where they lead attendees in song and prayer for the peace and future of Jerusalem. — Wednesday, June 20, 7:30 p.m., JTS, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd St., jtsa.edu.

EHUD ASHERIE TRIO

With a “sprightly dancing style on the keyboard” (Jazz Notes), the New York-based, the Israeli-born jazz pianist plays a straightforward, classy jazz repertoire which All About Jazz magazine described as “a wonder and more than a joy to hear,” while the New Yorker described him as “a passionate craftsman joyfully at ease with pre-swing idioms.” — Sunday, June 17, 7:30 – 10 p.m., Smalls Jazz Club, 183 W. 10th St., (646) 476-4346, smallslive.com.

ARI HOENIG TRIO

The Philadelphia-born drummer Ari Hoenig relentlessly explores the melodic possibilities of the drums and has worked with a long list of top-flight musicians. With Eden Ladin on piano and Or Bareket on bass. — Saturday, June 16, 8:30 and 10 p. m., Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia St., (212) 989-9319, info@corneliastreetcafe.com, corneliastreetcafe.com. $10 cover plus $10 food/drink minimum.

Talk

READING BELLOW, ROTH, ETC.

Jewish Week culture editor Sandee Brawarsky talks with Steve Shepard about his new book, “A Literary Journey to Jewish Identity: Reading Bellow, Roth, Ozick and Other Great Jewish Writers.” Shepard is founding dean emeritus of the CUNY graduate school of journalism and a former senior editor at Newsweek. — Tuesday, June 19, 7 p.m., B’nai Jeshurun, 257 W. 88th St., bj.org. Free for BJ members, $10 non-members.

BIALYSTOKER THE BEAUTIFUL

Explore the magnificent Bialystoker Synagogue during a one-hour tour, followed by a special presentation and signing by author Michael J. Weinstein on his book “Ten Times Chai,” which features photos (613 to be exact) of 180 Orthodox synagogues throughout the five boroughs. — Tuesday, June 19, 7-8:30 p.m., Bialystoker Synagogue, 7-11 Bialystoker Place/Willett St., eventbrite.com. $10.

Exhibitions

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.

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.

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