Purim in Providence, RI

I spent the weekend visiting family and friends in Providence, Rhode Island, in anticipation of Sunday’s Purim Parade. In spite of the cold, a fair number of families showed up for the yearly event.

The crowd gathering…

Children and adults alike dressed up for the occasion in very distinctive costumes, such as the Alice in Wonderland‘s Mad Hatter accompanied by Hulk Hogan (as bodyguard?).

Pluto and the Cookie Monster…

Garfield the Cat…

…a cute little kitten (one of my granddaughters)

The parade got under way with a uniformed marching band, under the asuperb direction of musical phenomenon Fishl Bressler (atop a truck), leading. Among the participants were the town’s Rabbonim, Rosh Yeshivos and the Rosh Kollel.  A non-Jewish Scotsman, with kilt and all, proudly played the bagpipes.

Though it barely lasted an hour, due to the brutal cold, the parade brought out the comraderie and the mirth of Providence’s frum community. It was my first attending the parade and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

CS

A Conversation with Rabbi Matatia Chetrit

This evening at 10:00pm (Eastern Time) on The Kosher Scene’s Radio Show, our guest will be Rabbi Matatia Chetrit. Rabbi Chetrit iscurrently the President of president of Ohr Binyamin; he received an MBA from NYU Stern Business School and was Director of Marketing for a very successful software company in Switzerland, in the early 90s.

Having come to the conclusion that his soul thirsted for far more than just becoming a CEO, he took a leave of absence for one year and enrolled in Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim in the US, and in Israel, for almost 15 years under the tutelage of Rabbi Zecharia Mines.

In Israel he started a magazine – called Jerusalem Life– a magazine  and now a website – jerusalemlife.com. It’s purpose is to help a person discover him/herself through Judaism  He now serves as Board Member of several Jewish Organizations. The magazine eventually gave him the push to start Ohr Binyamin – a non-profit organization that helps people realize their potential through Judaism.

We will talk about the Pursuit of Happiness, through Spirituality and Judaism’s eternal truths.

Meanwhile in case you missed it, please listen in to our Conversation with Ami Nahari, for some good kosher wine talk.

Please, don’t forget to tune us in this evening at 10:00pm (Eastern Time) on The Kosher Scene’s Radio Show, our guest will be Rabbi Matatia Chetrit. We’ll be wait’n for ya!

CS

Jew in the City, A conversation with Allison Josephs

This show was postponed to next Tuesday, January 8, at 10:00 pm (Eastern Time).

Our guest, this evening at 10:00pm (Eastern Time), will be Allison Josephs, founder and director of Jew in the City. Who is Allison Josephs?

Allison has been involved in the field of Jewish Outreach for over a dozen years, teaching and lecturing, working at Partners in Torah, Sinai Retreats, and NCSY. She is, also, the spiritual mentor to actress Mayim Bialik.  She was named one of NJOP‘s Top Ten Jewish Influencers in 2012 and has been quoted or written about in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Huffington Post, and Yahoo News.

Allison has been interviewed on television and radio, including programs such as “What Not To Wear,” Associate Press TV, and NPR;  her articles have appeared in numerous publications including the newly released anthology Like Water on a Rock, The Washington Times, The Jewish Press, and The Forward. She has also written many articles, directed and produced videos for Aish.com and lectures around the country and on WebYeshiva. She received her Bachelor in Arts from Columbia University in Philosophy and lives with her husband and four children minutes from the George Washington Bridge.

We will be talking about her recent video as well as future plans for her website and blog.

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, please listen to last week’s fascinating discussion with abstract painter Igal Fedida about his life’s journey towards becoming an Orthodox Jew and the connection between his art and Sefer Breshit.

Don’t forget to tune us in this evening at Blogtalkradio.com/kosherscene for an interesting talk, with Allison Joseph of Jew in the City at 10:00pm (Eastern Time). We’ll be wait’n for ya!

CS

This show was postponed to next Tuesday, January 8, at 10:00 pm (Eastern Time).

A Talk with Igal Fedida

This coming Wednesday at 10:00pm (Eastern Time), we will be talking to Igal Fedida. He is a modern painter with a message that extends beyond time. His colors are bold, Hebrew letters appear almost invariably, his brush strokes reveal a lot more about the subject matter than do the works of far more photo realistic artists. In short, though he paints Jewish art, his paintings speak to Jew and non-Jew alike, his works stir up emotions far beyond what the eyes can perceive. While looking at his works, you see the colors dance, you see the colors explode; no definable shape is discernible, yet everything that exists or ever existed is in them.

The artist in front of one of his creations.

I’ve been speaking to Igal almost daily over last week, his is a fascinating life’s journey to orthodoxy and the healing process of painting. His website, tells us:

Igal Fedida, born and raised in Israel, moved to the United States at an early age to pursue a successful business career in construction, design and remodeling. Being of curious and deeply spiritual nature, however, he decided to take some time to get to know the World and he traveled to many distant and unusual pockets of our home planet. He enjoyed drawing, sketching and design since an early age and he discovered the love for photography during his travels, capturing images of nature and people alike.

Returning to Los Angeles, he enrolled in intensive photography study program at the UCLA. Exploring the world of photography, his need for expression drove him to develop a unique form where he combined Polaroid photographs with water color in order to deepen the effect of the image. In doing so he discovered that his need to express the nature and the World that surrounds us far surpasses the limited potential of photography. Subsequently, as if an invisible hand pointed a direction, the magic door opened and he was pulled into the world of painting.

The gallery (at 1482 First Avenue, between 77th and 78th in Manhattan’s Upper East Side), showing his series on Creation.

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, please listen to our broadcast with Dimitry Salita. Dimitry is another interesting personality, an Orthodox Jewish boxer!

Whatever you do, please don’t forget to listen in to our show with Igal Fedida this coming Wednesday at 10:00pm (Eastern Time). In fact, gentle reader, why don’t you call in (at 714.333.3357) while we are talking to this fascinating guest?

CS

For a Night of Wine and Art, to meet Igal Fedida,
to sip some great Israeli  wines and partake of some delicious cheeses
on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013,
click here

RELATED POSTS

A Night of Wine and Art

A Night of Wine and Art – Part 2

Dimitry knows!

Dimitry Salita, – last evening’s guest on our internet radio show – shows his understanding of blogs and his superb reading taste by giving The Kosher Scene a thumbs up, in the photo below which appeared last eve on The Wall Street Journal‘s website and on page 25 in the Greater New York section of today’s print edition.

Photo by: Astrid Stawiarz for The Wall Street Journal

Seriously, gentle reader, I certainly did not set up this shot, even though I was standing by when the WSJ photographer was taking her photos last Thursday eve, at Allison Joseph‘s Jew in the City‘s event at Kehilath Jeshurun I guess being the only red logo on the poster over the red carpet makes us stick out, being in the center was also a very lucky break! I guess now I can claim, that the big media noticed us… Huh… huh… can I?

CS