The 33rd Jewish Culture Festival was celebrated from June 23rd till June 30th, 2024, with more than 22 000 participants taking part in 176 events held under the main theme of this year’s edition of the JCF, i.e. Shema Jisrael | Ahava.
Shema Yisrael. Hear, O Israel – the Jewish declaration of faith and love, meditation of the mind open to the experience of God’s unity and a conscious statement of the Jewish identity. A prayer without intention is like a body without a soul. A prayer must be spoken slowly, in concentration and with the eyes covered, and loud enough to be heard. Only in this way you can open the gates of Heaven. Only such a prayer brings Peace.
Ahava. Love – for Jewish life and culture. We gather around this love, forming a community. What we need is an ordinary, unwinged, tangible, everyday love. This is what teaches us honest compassion, without which the world is just an empty vessel. Listen, Israel, to the voice of love and speak to the world with its voice. Let the world hear you. Let the world listen to you.
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ יְיָ אֶחָד
This 33rd Jewish Culture Festival initiated a series of the Festivals dedicated to the Jewish spirituality and mysticism. Hence the title of the first edition refers to the most important Jewish prayer, which, for lay persons, is also a declaration of belonging to the People of Israel.
The 176 events of the 33rd JCF, comprised:
95 events in the main program (the list is presented below)
– 22 musical events (concerts, DJ party);
– 18 lectures, meetings and presentations;
– 25 guided tours;
– 24 workshops;
– 3 exhibitions;
– 3 film screenings;
– 1 ceremony.80 accompanying events (the list is presented here)
MUSICAL EVENTS
Because the title of this year’s Festival featured the word “listen”, we prepared, for our audience, as many as 37 musical events, including 22 concerts and DJ parties and 15 workshops, lectures and meetings
As the tradition of the JCF has it, its music program reflects the entire variety of the contemporary Jewish music: to start with the Klezmer music, through the music of the Mizrachi and Yemenites to end with the contemporary interpretations of the cantorial music, improvised music and DJ sets.
A large part of the concerts at the 33rd JCF, had its world premieres, such as the Hebrew Tangos of the Warszawskie Combo Taneczne with Karen Malka or two concerts given by the Maqamat group – created especially upon the order of the JCF, similarly as this incredibly intimate project created by Jarosław Bester, Bach in the Synagogue played on solo accordion, as well as the concert opening the 33rd JCF, performed by Maia Belsitzman, Matan Ephrat and Cracow Golden Quintet, played by these artists for the return of the Israeli hostages.
Also, for the first time in Poland, the JCF audience could hear the most recent project of Ravid Kahalani, Voices of Yemen, the concert of The Sway Machinery, The Dream Past: A Sonic Conjuring and a recital of Kadya Molodovsky’s songs performed by The Kadya Trio. Moreover, the Festival featured nigunim of various Hassidic dynasties performed by Bastarda Trio, a concert inspired by the Jewish Krakow – Cut The Sky by Alex Roth, and the material from the newest records of the band formed especially for the needs of the 23rd JCF, MLDVA and the klezmer concerts performed by the Strauss / Warschauer Duo.
Maya Belsitzman, Matam Ephrat, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Maya Belsitzman, Cracow Golden Quintet, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Maya Belsitzman, Matam Ephrat, Cracow Golden Quintet, photo Wojciech Krysiak
The Kadya Trio, photo Edyta Dufaj
The Sway Machinery, photo Michał Ramus
The Sway Machinery, photo Michał Ramus
Bastarda Trio, photo Edyta Dufaj
dj squal, photo Michał Ramus
Voices of Yemen, photo Michał Ramus
Voices of Yemen, photo Michał Ramus
photo Michał Ramus
Alex Roth's Cut The Sky, photo Michał Ramus
dj kajt', photo Michał Ramus
Maqamat: Adon Olam, photo Michał Ramus
photo Michał Ramus
Maqamat: Am Eastern Jewish Phantasia, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Welcomig Shabbat: Maya Belsitzman, Matan Ephrat, photo Michał Ramus
Welcoming Shabbat, photo Michał Ramus
The Swam Machinery @ Alchemia, photo Michał Ramus
Maqamat: Am Eastern Jewish Phantasia, photo Wojciech Krysiak
photo Michał Ramus
Yemen Blues, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Ravid Kahalani, Yemen Blues, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Shanir Ezra Blumenkrantz, Yemen Blues, fot. Wojciech Krysiak
Yemen Blues, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Bach in the synagogue, Jarosław Bester, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Bach in the synagogue, Jarosław Bester, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Shabbat Klezmer Dance Party, photo Wojciech Krysiak
Shabbat Klezmer Dance Party, photo Wojciech Krysiak
MLDVA DJs, photo Michał Ramus
Hebrew Tango, photo Michał Ramus
Jan Emil Młynarski, Karen Malka, Hebrew Tangos, photo Michał Ramus
Festival Tent, photo Michał Ramus
MLDVA & Cinar Timur, photo Michał Ramus
EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
Since the first editions of the JCF, education has played a pivotal role in their program: to present facts, fight stereotypes and give the opportunity to have a personal experience for the Jewish culture, ask questions, involve in conversations, or, in order words: to get to know better what is important for the contemporary Jewish world.
Lectures, workshops, author meetings, discussions and guided tours make up 75% of the program of each edition and, for 36 years of the Festival’s existence, they have helped educate new generations of people open to the Jewish culture and also, helped many of them to find their own roots and understand their Jewish heritage.
The lectures of the 33rd JCF focused on the main theme of this year’s edition: Shema Yisrael. This prayer itself, its teaching, and its significance for each of us as well as their personal experience of this prayer was discussed by: Rabbi Boaz Pash, professor Stanisław Krajewski, Monika Krajewska and Janusz Makuch, whilst its mystical significance was explained by Rabbi Małgorzata Kordowicz and Father Wacław Oszajca SJ.
Literary meetings featured, among others, the premiere of the first monograph of the Krakow Pogrom in 1945 authored by professor Joanna Tokarskaj-Bakir and a meeting with an Israeli writer, Yakov Z. Mayer. In their musical presentations, Jeremiah Lockwood and Dr Michał Jaczyński introduced pre-war cantorial and entertainment music created by the Jews. The contemporary Israel, the events of the last months and their consequences were discussed by Ben Dror Yemini, Shana Penn and Moses Libitzky, Chen Malca – a SuperNova festival survivor and Dr. Yacov Livne PhD, Israeli Ambassador to Poland.
The workshops were dominated by music – this could not have been otherwise as the title of the 33rd JCF included the word “listen”! The workshops were conducted by Deborah Strauss (Yiddish music), cantor Jeff Warschauer (Yiddish singing), Paweł Szamburski (nigunim), Nissim Lugasi (piyyutim), Elad Levi (Moroccan singing) and jointly by: Alan Bern, Sveta Kundish and Mark Kovnatskiy (the workshop of Yiddish songs by Kadya Molodovsky). Bartek Kieżun took our audience for a journey in the footsteps of the Jews from many Mediterranean countries, Ewa Gordon introduced the public to the secrets of the Hebrew alphabet and calligraphy, whilst Natalia Iwaniec taught them to understand one’s body with the gaga technique worked out by an Israeli, Ohad Naharin.
Some completely innovative workshops were prepared especially for the JCF and conducted by Rafał Mazur, who created series of meetings teaching profound listening: how to listen in order to hear.
Festival Tent, photo Edyta Dufaj
Deborah Strauss, klezmer dance party, photo Edyta Dufaj
Ewa Gordon, Hebrew calligraphy, photo Edyta Dufaj
Natalia Iwaniec, Gaga workshops, photo Edyta Dufaj
cantor Jeff Warschauer, Yiddish singing, photo Edyta Dufaj
Book pesentation with prof. Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, moderation: Konstanty Gebert, photo Edyta Dufaj
Paweł Szamburski, Hasidic nigunim, photo Edyta Dufaj
Shana Penn, , photo Edyta Dufaj
Rabbi Małgorzata Kordowicz, father Wacław Oszajca SJ, photo Edyta Dufaj
Moses Libitzky, photo Edyta Dufaj
Monika Krajewska, photo Edyta Dufaj
Autor's meeting, Yakov Z. Meyer, photo Edyta Dufaj
Bartek Kieżun, culinary workshops, photo Edyta Dufaj
prof. Stanisław Krajewski, photo Edyta Dufaj
Janusz Makuch, photo Edyta Dufaj
dr Michał Jaczyński, photo Edyta Dufaj
Chen Malca, SuperNova Festival survivor, photo Edyta Dufaj
rabbi Boaz Pash, photo Edyta Dufaj
Ben-Dror Yemini, photo Edyta Dufaj
Synagogues in Kazimierz, photo Edyta Dufaj
Elad Levi, photo Edyta Dufaj
Apart from the popular guided tours of the seven synagogues of Kazimierz, Podgórze or the Jewish Krakow, prepared and conducted especially for the JCF by FKŻ Anna Kiesell, Agi Legutko and Paulina Żelazko, there were also three thematic walks prepared especially for our audience by Janina Naskalska Babik: along the footsteps of Miriam Akavia, Sary Shenirer and on the trail of the Krakow mezuzahs. Certainly, each tour had its Polish and English language versions, and also we had two tours in Ukrainian with Iryna Kamienieva.
EXHIBITIONS
During the 33rd Jewish Culture Festival, in the High Synagogue, we displayed a traveling exhibition prepared by the ANU Museum of Jewish People in Tel Aviv, titled October Seventh. The exhibition featured the reproductions of the works of Israeli artists, created as a response and reaction to the tragedy taking place on October 7th in the south of Israel. The visual works were accompanied by a soundtrack consisting of the songs composed after October 7th or those which gained a new meaning after the tragedy.
Another Festival exposition was prepared by the Shefter Gallery, presenting a site-specific exhibition, Pendulum, created by a Jerusalem artist, Meydad Eliyahu. The oldest Jewish gallery in Kazimierz, Shalom, prepared, especially for the 33rd edition of the JCF, an exhibition of a Polish artist Miriam Tajcher, titled The War Next Door.
FILM SCREEINGS
The meeting with Chen Malca, a survivor of the Festival of October 7th, mentioned above, was accompanied by the screening of a documentary, SuperNova, consisting mostly of the footages recorded with mobile phones by the participants of this event. The Be’eri kibbutz, torn down by the terrorists was the birthplace of Adam Kalderon, the director of The Swimmer – the film which we showed in the Krakow center of the LGBTQ+ community, the DomEQ.
The third film, showed at the 33rd JCF was a documentary about the Holocaust survivor, Eva Libitzky – The Assembly. After the film, shot mostly in Krakow’s Kazimierz, a meeting was held with Eva’s son, Moses Libitzky.
As in the previous years, in organizing the JCF, we were assisted by an international group of volunteers – The Machers – who came here for an entire month to be well prepared for their work during the Festival, but also, with the support of the European Union through the European Solidarity Corps, to work on their own project, which was part of the JCF program.
Last year, this project comprised a street theater performance, and this year it was an audio book in English and French, which the volunteers recorded under the supervision of Justyna Biernat. You can find it on our website and listen to it – the link can be found in the News.
