Dare I Call You Cousin, an exhibition of photos, poems, and videos compassionate to the struggle of both Israelis and Palestinians, will open on Thursday, March 3, at Havurah Shalom.
“…have the fears from our history/crusted our eyes like the inside of kettles/ have they rusted the hinges of our mouths…” – Frances Payne Adler
Cousin is a collaboration by three artists:
– Portland poet Frances Payne Adler
– Jerusalem photographer Michal Fattal (photo on left © Michal Fattal)
– Tel Aviv videographer Yossi Yacov
Many of the voices and images shared, from both Israeli and Palestinian points of view, are those that are often missing from national and international media narratives. These voices reveal the simmering conditions that underpin day-to-day lives—conditions that repeatedly erupt into war. Viewers will see and hear from both Palestinians and Israeli settlers in Hebron; Israeli and Palestinian high school students at the region’s only bilingual, integrated school; workers and students crossing over at Qalandiya checkpoint; rabbis; peace activists; and others.
The exhibition offers viewers the opportunity to experience, through art, some of the struggles of Israelis and Palestinians; to meet people perhaps not yet known to them, stories not yet heard. Dare I Call You Cousin provides the occasion to come together to participate in reflection and dialogue, creating breathing space for community discussion.
First Thursday, March 3
Opening & Reception, 6:00 – 9:00 pm
Brief Poetry Reading, 8:00 pm
Havurah Shalom
Please join us at the opening on March 3 and return for a follow-up event of your choice:
- Sunday, March 6, 2:00-5:00 pm, Viewing at your own pace. Brief reading 3:00 pm.
- Tuesday, March 8, 7:00-9:00 pm, Poetry reading by Frances Payne Adler. Viewing of the exhibition is from 7:00-7:30 pm. Poetry reading is from 7:30 – 9:00 pm. Introduction by Paulann Petersen, Oregon’s Poet Laureate, 2010-2014.
- Thursday, March 10, 7:00 – 9:00 pm, Video screening. Reflect & discuss in community. Viewing of exhibition is from 7:00 – 7:30 pm. Videos are from 7:30-9:00 pm.
- Sunday, March 13, 2:00 – 5:00 pm, Video screening. Reflect & discuss in community. Viewing of exhibition is from 2:00-3:00 pm. Videos are from 3:00-5:00 pm.
Carpool and public transportation are recommended. The Lovejoy streetcar stops one block away.
Funded in part by Portland’s Regional Arts & Culture Council
Co-Sponsored by J Street Education Fund
Hosted by Havurah Shalom
About the artists:
A Jerusalem photographer and a Tel Aviv videographer whose ancestral families emigrated from the conflicts in Iraq and Yemen; a Portland poet whose grandmother, by herself at the age of 13, walked out of Russia and away from pogroms. Three artists concerned about the settlements have collaborated to create Dare I Call YouCousin. Poet Frances Payne Adler, author of five books and founder of the Creative Writing and Social Action Program at California State University Monterey Bay; photographer Michal Fattal, who works for Ha’aretz newspaper and whose photographs have been published in the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, and the Guardian; and videographer Yossi Yacov, who has documented the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements for years.
“Thank you for Dare I Call You Cousin. The poems and photographs are close to my heart. Sending my respect and appreciation.” – Amos Oz
Philip Roth and R.B. Kitaj became good friends in London during the ’80s, and the painter influenced Roth in many ways, especially for the title character of Roth’s greatest novel, Sabbath’s Theater. Roger Porter, Professor of English and Humanities, Emeritus, Reed College focuses his lecture on Roth and Kitaj’s shared attitudes, or perhaps those of their characters and their painterly subjects, regarding desire, ecstasy, and the inevitable demise. The title of the lecture is a paraphrase of a quote by the protagonist Sabbath on the last page of Roth’s Sabbath’s Theater.
Art + Spirit Workshop
Willa Schneberg, poet and ceramic artist, will join us for a two-hour workshop based on poems by Jewish poets that are in part inspired by biblical texts. Discussion, prompts, visualizations
and opportunities to write, sketch, move and imagine will be provided.
Cost: $18.
Tickets: oregonjcc.org/art-spirit
In partnership with ORA: Northwest Jewish Artists
Her novel alternates between late medieval Spain and Portugal during the traumatic time of the Inquisition, and a very small town in New Mexico in 1992. The modern New Mexican characters are Catholics with peculiar habits. Nobody in town eats pork but they don’t know why. It is likely they are the descendants of conversos, Jews who converted during the Spanish Inquisition. The story weaves a connecting thread from the Iberian Peninsula to Mexico City and then on to the original settlers who moved into what is now the American Southwest. Five hundred years later, a young amateur astronomer wonders about the secret of the town he grew up in: Entrada de la Luna, or Gateway to the Moon.
Morris’ previous work, The Jazz Palace, won the Anisfeld-Wolf Book Award for important contributions to the understanding of racism in 2016. She also writes short stories and travel memoirs. Her many novels and story collections have been translated into six languages. She lives in Brooklyn, New York and teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College.
Doors open at 4:00 PM to meet and greet the author. A one-hour author reading and discussion will follow beginning at 4:30 PM. Light refreshments will be served. Admission is free.
Co-sponsored by the Beit Am Jewish Community and the MJCC. Grassroots Bookstore will be there with copies of the paperback edition of Gateway to the Moon for sale and author signing.
Art + Spirit Workshop: Entering into the Shiviti
Through the traditional Jewish art form known as the Shiviti, we will study, contemplate and enter into artistic expression. Please bring the medium of your choice — visual and expressive arts, songwriting and composing, sculpture, glass, fabric arts and more. A half-hour talk on the history, mystical practice and examples of traditional and contemporary forms will be followed by Q&A, Shiviti gazing, time to create your own Shiviti art work and debriefing.
Rabbi Dr. Goldie Milgram is an artist, educator, author and spiritual guide honored by the Covenant Foundation and National Jewish Book Council for her innovative programs, books, and resources. Her new book release is Wisdom from Reb Zalman: Embracing the Jewish Spirit (Reclaiming Judaism Press).
Thursday, Aug. 1
6:30 pm
Cost: $18.
Register: oregonjcc.org/artandspirit
In partnership with ORA
Nosh & Drash with Rabbi Eve
Thurs, Nov 14, Dec 12, 11:30am-12:30pm, MJCC
Time for relaxed study & good conversation. More: eposen@nevehshalom.org.
Please note: Programs are subject to change; please contact the office for more information: 503.246.8831 or visit the website at: www.nevehshalom.org.
Nosh & Drash with Rabbi Eve
Thurs, Nov 14, Dec 12, 11:30am-12:30pm, MJCC
Time for relaxed study & good conversation. More: eposen@nevehshalom.org.
Please note: Programs are subject to change; please contact the office for more information: 503.246.8831 or visit the website at: www.nevehshalom.org.
Looking for a great holiday gift? Local artists from ORA will be in the MJCC lobby all week selling all forms of artwork.
Sunday – Friday, December 1 – 6
Nosh & Drash with Rabbi Eve
Thurs, Nov 14, Dec 12, 11:30am-12:30pm, MJCC
Time for relaxed study & good conversation. More: eposen@nevehshalom.org.
Please note: Programs are subject to change; please contact the office for more information: 503.246.8831 or visit the website at: www.nevehshalom.org.
Young Family PJ Havdallah
Saturday, December 14, 5:15-7:30pm
Young families say goodbye to Shabbat in our PJs with dinner, stories, art and fun at Congregation Neveh Shalom
$30/family or included with the Shul Pass with RSVP required.
RSVP: nevehshalom.org/pjhavdallah
Please note: Programs are subject to change; please contact the office for more information: 503.246.8831 or visit the website at: www.nevehshalom.org