The beauty and diversity of Jewish culture

GABRIELLA LEV

I would like to look at the phenomenon itself and ascertain what it can contribute to this ancient/modern city, Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish halachic world.
The Jerusalem Film Festival at the Sultan’s Pool
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Three festivals celebrating the diversity of Jewish culture take place in Jerusalem in the space of two months: Kisufim, the writers conference in Van Leer; the International Jewish Festival for Contemporary Art, produced by Theater Company Jerusalem at Beit Mazia; and the Jewish Film Festival at the Jerusalem Cinematheque.

All three festivals subscribe to an inclusive definition of Jewish culture and include both Israeli and Diaspora artists. Though each of the three festivals focuses on its own distinctive art form – writing, performing arts and film, respectively – each brings together a wide array of opinions about, reactions to, and explorations into, Jewish culture and what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century.

In this article, I do not want to explore what Jewish culture is – this topic is too broad for a short article and has been studied extensively by the greatest thinkers, each defining the term slightly differently. What I would like to do is to look at the phenomenon itself and ascertain what it can contribute to this ancient/modern city, Jerusalem, the center of the Jewish halachic world and indeed the Jewish world in general.

The Jerusalem Jewish Film Festival is presented by the respected Jerusalem Cinematheque and is the most veteran of the three festivals. Tens of films, from all over the world, explore Jewish history, culture, the Holocaust, life in Israel and the Diaspora, the role of Jewish identity and the State of Israel.

The Jerusalem Kisufim Conference is presented by the Hebrew Writers Association, and the author and poetess Hava-Pinhas Cohen is the driving force behind this unique conference. It brings together writers, poets, playwrights and intellectuals, who write in different languages and represent various styles and avenues of thought in the Jewish world. It is an encounter that emphasizes the significance of Jewish culture in the life of the Jewish people.

The International Jewish Festival for Contemporary Art is presented by Theater Company Jerusalem and is the initiative of Osnat Gispan, the general director of the company. It presents a variety of dance, theater, music, and video art, dealing with Jewish content from Israel and abroad. For a fringe theater company to undertake such a challenging project must come from a deep desire to share its stage with other like-minded artists and so promote the dialogue of Jewish culture.

The above three cultural events include over 1,000 participants from over 50 countries, reaching audiences of tens of thousands – all concerned with Jewish culture. And what strikes me is the passion and the vitality of the different events and the keen wish to dialogue, to inquire, to relate.

Perhaps because no sector has been marginalized, perhaps because there is an air of celebration, something that is becoming rare in our institutionalized Jerusalem, perhaps because there is a refreshing absence of dogma, these three festivals attract the crowds they do.

And what is startlingly evident is the respect and mutuality in the respective events, even when dealing with sensitive issues.
Art has always been a way to reach people’s hearts and to inspire. Let us hope that these remarkable artistic events in Jerusalem can transform the public arena of discourse and help make it finer, more elevating and thus truly beneficial to all.

The writer is the founder of Theater Company Jerusalem – Beit Mazia