Last Sunday, the sanctuary of Anshe Sfard Revere Road Synagogue in Akron, Ohio was home to a bounce house, freshly grilled Ohio sweet corn and live Jewish folk music, along with a tefillin stand and numerous local Jewish vendors. Hundreds of parents, children and grandparents arrived to enjoy the Akron Jewish Family Festival.
This summer, Jewish festivals celebrating Jewish culture and life have popped up in parks and synagogues across the United States. For Akron, it’s the second summer festival. Chabad of the Shoreline’s annual Midsummer Festival on the Grassy Hills of Guilford, Conn., is its sixteenth. Rabbi, director of Chabad of the Shorelines Yossi Yaffe he says the festival, held in a public park, is an “open door” that brings Jews together and offers non-Jews a window into Jewish culture.
Shoreline Jewish Festival, Guilford CT
Despite the runaway success of long-standing Jewish festivals like Rabbi Yaffe’s, it’s only since the Covid era that the model has blossomed across the country, from Los Angeles to Seattle.
According to the rabbi Moshe Sasonkin, director of Chabad of Akron and rabbi of Anshe Sfard Synagogue, the outdoor festivals presented a Covid-19-safe way to bring the community together. But even now new festivals appear. As in New Hampshire, where the rabbi Berel i Rochy Slavaticki hosted its state’s first Jewish festival this summer on a scenic perch overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.
New Hampshire Jewish Festival
Programs vary from one Jewish holiday to another, but some ingredients are basic. There is fun for the kids, live music and entertainment for the adults, lots of delicious sandwiches and Jewish cuisine mixed with local cuisine. And they’re always outdoors, except in Akron.
On the morning of August 21 in Akron, Ohio, Rabbi Sasonkin also planned to host the outdoor festival. But dark clouds threatened rain, and the bounce houses, concert crew, pop-up deli and pop-up vendors moved into the synagogue. “The only place the bounce house fit was in the center of the sanctuary,” laughs Rabbi Sasonkin.
After its inaugural Jewish festival last summer, Akron was hooked. “It brought the whole community together,” he says. “An event that creates this kind of unity around vibrant Judaism makes all the hard work worth it.”
Akron Jewish Festival, Akron, OH
To pull off the event, Chabad of Akron worked with the local Jewish Federation, the JCC and other local Jewish organizations. More than four hundred people, from babies to boys, enjoyed the fun, including live performances of Chassidic songs and original compositions by the Jewish folk band from Chicago. Rogers Park. The concert even featured a band from nearby Cleveland that is made up exclusively of teenagers with special needs.
The children bounced their hearts out and got their faces painted before seeing a stilt juggler. Adults were immersed in a variety of cultural experiences, meeting local Jewish artists, artisans and jewelers or stalking up-and-coming vendors displaying their wares.
It’s a recipe that’s hard to beat. The smell of delicious food still wafts through the halls of the synagogue, but Rabbi Sassonkin is already thinking about next summer’s festival. “It’s just getting bigger and better; You simply can’t miss an event like this.”
Shoreline Jewish Festival, Guilford CT
Akron Jewish Festival, Akron, OH
Shoreline Jewish Festival, Guilford CT
New Hampshire Jewish Festival
Shoreline Jewish Festival, Guilford CT
Source link
