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September 17, 2004/Tishri 2 5765, Vol. 57, No. 3
Festival captures spirit of Israel
JENNIFER GOLDBERG
Staff Writer
From poetry and film to music and lectures, the upcoming Heartbeat of Israel festival has something for everyone interested in learning more about the Jewish state.
The third annual festival, sponsored by the Israel Center of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, allows participants to "get up close and personal with Israel," said Eitan Ben-Ami, director of the Israel Center. He said the purpose of the festival is for people to think of Israel less as a distant Holy Land and more as a thriving, vibrant country.
In the past, the festival has incorporated a film series, concerts, lectures and more; however, this year's program includes the most popular elements and adds some original new events.
Author Donna Rosenthal, an award-winning journalist who has worked for The New York Times, Newsweek and The Jerusalem Post, will open the festival when she discusses her book "The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land" (Free Press, $28 hardcover), Monday, Sept. 27, at Temple Chai.
Rosenthal has cre-ated an intimate, human look at Israel through interviews with Israelis of all ages, races, religions and backgrounds. "She interviewed Is-raelis for four years" to create her book, Ben-Ami said.
Israeli artist, eth-nographical photo-grapher and pro-fessional lecturer Harel Stanton will exhibit the multi-media "The 1,000 Faces of Israel," on Oct. 24 at the Ina Levine Jewish Com-munity Campus. The presentation includes an interactive lecture, music and slideshow depicting the land-scapes, culture and people of Israel.
Upcoming festival installments will in-clude two November events: an Israeli nightclub evening with performer Pini Cohen at Temple Chai, and a live via satellite evening with poet Amos Oz, at the Scottsdale Civic Center Library, in conjunction with the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center book fair.
The Heartbeat of Israel festival will conclude with the eighth annual Israeli Film Festival as part of the Jewish Film Festival in early 2005. Although the film selection has not been set, Ben-Ami said that people will be impressed with the quality of films currently coming out of Israel.
"The last two years were very fruitful for Israel," he said. "Some of the movies won international awards."
Ben-Ami said he hopes that exposure to Israeli culture will inspire people to visit the country. "It's been a low season for Israel the past three years," he said. "Thousands of people go, but many do not. I want them to come and see and smell Israel and give them a seed of desire to go."
Contact the writer here
Details
- What: Evening with Donna Rosenthal, author of "The Israelis: Ordinary People in an Extraordinary Land"
- When: 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 27
- Where: Temple Chai, 4645 E. Marilyn Road, Phoenix
- Cost: $6
- Call: Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, 480-634- 4900, ext. 1119, or Temple Chai, 602-971-1234
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