Concert: King David String Ensemble

The King David String Ensemble, composed of virtuoso string players from the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, has appeared all over the world , and has performed in venues ranging from the Sala Barozzi in Milan to the King of Thailand's birthday party. $20.00 general admission, $15.00 students with IDs.

Special TZAVTA deal! $18 if you mention TZAVTA at the box office!

August 17 @ 7:30 PM - Julia Morgan Theatre: 2640 College Avenue, Berkeley. (510) 843-5246.

More: israeliconsulate.org/Events/king.htm

A Land Twice Promised with Storyteller Noa Baum

IsraeIi storyteller Noa Baum, who began a heartfelt dialogue with a Palestinian woman while living in the United States, weaves together their memories and their mothers' stories. She creates a moving testimony illuminating the complex history and emotions of Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Sat, 11/1/03, 7:30 PM: Berkeley Richmond JCC 1414 Walnut St., Berkeley. Info & tickets ($7-$10): 510.839.2900 #253

Sun, 11/2/03, 5 PM: as part of Israel Education Day (1pm-5pm), Osher Marin JCC, 200 N. San Pedro Rd. San Rafael. Info: 415.444.8061; tickets: 415.444.8060, www.marinjcc.org

Golden Thread Productions, dedicated to exploring Middle Eastern culture and identity, presents a collection of short plays including Coming Home by Israeli playwright Motti Lerner, Security by internationally renowned playwright Israel Horovitz, and Karima's City by Yussef El Guindi.

10/30-11/23/03: New Langton Arts, 1246 Folsom St., San Francisco. Info & tickets: 510.986.9194, www.goldenthread.org

The Emerging Artists Series

Featuring Robbie Gringras, Dan Wolf and Amy Tobin, the show will showcase the wide variety of contemporary Jewish solo performers. Dan Wolf incorporates rap, hip-hop and personal reflection to tell the tale of “Stateless.” In cabaret style, Amy Tobin will perform her blend of live music and theater, exploring what's mythical in the mundane. Israeli artist Robbie Gringras will finish the evening with “The Situation Comedy,” about a man who arrives three and half weeks late for a job interview.

12/4-12/6/03, 8 PM: Traveling Jewish Theatre, 470 Florida Street, (between 17th & Mariposa), San Francisco. Info & tickets: 415.285.8080

The Hub Presents: Danny Hoch in "Jails, Hospitals & Hip Hop"

First event in the new SFJCC building!

The remarkable young performance artist Danny Hoch finds crusted layers of cultural contradictions in portraits whose subjects range from a world-wary alcoholic prison guard to a Cuban engineering student in love with the language of rap. This vivid, complex one-man show, directed by Jo Bonney, swings through hospital lobbies, prison cafeterias, jail cells and television talk-show sets. Along the way, it asks shrewd questions about the mutating nature of racial identities, the ways gangsta rap and hip-hop shape social fantasies and the frustrations of being trapped in the very fallible instrument known as the human body." --The New York Times Sponsored by the Hub of the JCCSF, with special thanks to the Young Adult Division of the Jewish Community Federation.

Saturday, February 7, 8:00pm: JCCSF, 3200 California Street, SF
$26 JCCSF Member/$28 Public, Box Office (415) 292-1233 http://www.jccsf.org/friend_hub.htm

CHARLIE VARON: Visiting Professor of Pessimism

Whether mining his Jewish identity in America or taking the pulse of the world, Varon's humor is literate, poignant, and exquisitely original.

Wednesday February 11, 8:00pm: The Marsh, 1062 Valencia Street, San Francisco (near 22nd street in the Mission). $25-50 sliding scale.

For reservations call415.826.5750, email tickets@themarsh.org, or go to www.themarsh.org

Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin (1943-1999) was on of the most original and innovative writers of his generation. His work from bold pacifist and satirical political cabarets to shocking and poetic drama, transformed the Israeli theater and shook its audience.

The Labor of Life, a first collection of eight of Levin's plays in English translation was recently published in the US (Stanford University Press).

Wednesday, February 18, 7:30 P.M. Morrison Library, UC Berkeley. Free Admission.
Thursday, February 19, 7:00 P.M. Building 200, room 002, Stanford. Free Admission.

More information: israelemb.org

"Flowers Aren't Enough"

Shalom Bayit is pleased to invite you to celebrate our 12th anniversary with a benefit performance of a riveting one-woman show written and performed by Israeli actress Naomi Ackerman.

“Flowers Aren't Enough” tells the story of Michal, a young woman from an upper-middle-class Israeli family who finds herself in an abusive relationship. The monologue is woven from true stories shared by women willing to talk about their all-too-common experiences of domestic violence. Introductory remarks by Kamala Harris, San Francisco District Attorney, and Rabbi Sydney Mintz, of Congregation Emanu-El.

More information about the production and the artist.

Thursday, February 26, 7pm: Martin Meyer Sanctuary at Congregation Emanu-El, 2 Lake Street at Arguello. Tickets are $36; $18 for seniors/low-income. $54 sponsor: includes your ticket and sponsors a domestic violence survivor to attend the show. Organizations or individuals purchasing five regular tickets receive one free (6 seats for $180).

Meet the Actress - event with Naomi Akerman

One Arab. One Jew. One Stage. Two Very Funny Guys

An afternoon of non-political laughter starring Rabbi Bob Alper and Ahmed Ahmed. "The world's only practicing clergyman doing stand-up comedy...intentionally," Rabbi Bob Alper performs all across North America, London, and even at The Hollywood Improv. As seen on Showtime, Good Morning America, and Extra. Egyptian-born, California-raised, Ahmed Ahmed was a guest on ABC's The View, was the subject of a front-page Wall Street Journal article, and appeared in a recent Newsweek. He's been seen on Comedy Central, and headlines regularly at comedy clubs across the country. This unique comedy pair appeared on PBS's California Connected, CNN's American Morning with Paula Zahn, the BBC, and NPR. They were featured in the The Boston Sunday Globe, The Los Angeles Times, the front page of the San Francisco Chronicle, and Philadelphia Inquirer New York Newsday, AP and Scripps Howard articles.).

Sunday, February 29, 2:30pm: Congregation Shir Hadash, 16555 Shannon Road, Los Gatos. $15 for Tzavta members. RSVP, 415.512.6424, tzavta@sfjcf.org

Israel Non-Stop

Celebrate Israel with a sampling of the diverse, infinitely inspired contemporary Israeli arts scene. Presented in partnership with the Manhattan JCC. Participants TBA.

Emanual Gat (see also Israeli Music)

Presenting “Two Stupid Dogs,” the piece that was the runaway hit of this summer’s Israel Festival - featuring “five Israeli dancers, three Arab-Israeli rap singers, the poetry of Pushkin and one very old man - all on a big gray floor for 35 minutes of dance, music and poetry.”

Wed, 3/3/04, 7:30 PM: JCC of San Francisco, 3200 California St. (at Presidio), San Francisco, 415.346.6040, www.jccsf.org

Batsheva Dance Company: Deca-Dance

Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin has assembled a tour-de-force selection of excerpts from his most powerful dances of the past decade for Israel's 18-member Batsheva Dance Company. Deca Dance is composed of an excerpt from "Virus," a piece which revolves around Peter Handke's dramatic text, accompanied by the music of Habib Allah Jamal; and a Bosch-like vision of back-winged angels soaring on stilts in “Sabotage Baby”. "This is not dancing you will see anywhere else," says the New York Times.

More about the production and the artists

Wed, 3/10 - Sat, 3/13/04, 8 PM, Sun, 3/14, 2 PM: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Mission St., at Fourth St., San Francisco. www.performances.org

Special Events:

In Conversation: Yoshifumi Inao, Artistic Director of Batsheva.

Monday, March 8, 8:00 PM: At the San Francisco Jewish Community Center.

Dance/Screen: Batsheva Dance Company in Anaphaza.

Tuseday, March 9, 7:00 PM: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Mission St., at Fourth St., San Francisco.

The Hub Presents:
Yuri Lane in From Tel Aviv to Ramallah

In this theatrically innovative program, Yuri Lane weaves a vox-pop tapestry of Palestinian and Israeli voices into a mosaic of the Middle East and presents a vision of peace. Sharif Ezzat accompanies Yuri with live video projections.

“From Tel Aviv to Ramallah is a must-see for those interested in finding utopian spaces for peaceful coexistence in contemporary hip-hop culture.” --San Francisco Bay Guardian

Thursday, May 20, 8:00pm: JCCSF, 3200 California Street, SF
$15 JCCSF Member/$18 Public, Box Office (415) 292-1233 http://www.jccsf.org/friend_hub.htm

Special Tzavta Offer:
Tzavta gets the member's rate! $15 instead of $18. Make sure to mention Israel Center/Tzavta when purchasing your ticket!

"Murder" by Hanoch Levin

Israeli playwright Hanoch Levin's play "Murder," winner of five Israel Theatre Prize Awards, focuses on how far people will allow the cycle of revenge to take them. Levin's tale of four murders offers up his perspective of the basic elements behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

July 16 - August 15: Phoenix Theatre - 414 Mason St, 6th floor at Geary, SF. $13-20. Info: 415-820-1460. Get $3 off your ticket if you mention the Israel Center. secondwind.8m.com/Murder.html