Thursday, February 16, 7:30 pm
Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus, free
Master storyteller and host of the hit podcast series, Israel Story, Mishy Harman will be in Tidewater as part of the Community Relations Council (CRC) and community partners’ 6th annual Israel Today series. Harman will share “Israeli news, news that isn’t the regular kind,” as he does regularly in Israel and now more often, while traveling in the U.S.
Harman will join forces with local “partners in rhyme,” Sheena Jeffers and Jennifer Chapman’s community engagement project, Story Exchange for a unique blend of storytelling with live, local characters sharing a different Israel, one which rarely seen: life-sized, nuanced, funny, and touching.
What is jokingly known as a “shameless rip off” of NPR’s This American Life by Ira Glass, Israel Story began as a small podcast meant for family and friends, but exceeded Harman’s wildest dreams. The founder and host of the podcast and his three childhood friends now reach hundreds of thousands of listeners with each episode. An award-winning show and one of the most popular programs in Israel, where it is aired nationally on prime-time, Israel Story offers listeners world-wide, an opportunity to hear voices that are rarely heard through the mainstream media. The show showcases and celebrates the plurality of local communities and traditions throughout Israel, presenting stories that are not aired anywhere else.
The idea behind Jeffers and Chapman’s Story Exchange is that human experiences are told through art. “We are a group of arts-loving, community-focused project starters bringing together neighborhoods, businesses, artists and their mediums to share life stories close to our hearts,” says Jeffers.
Everyone in the community—novice writer or professional, young or old—is eligible to submit a story based on the question “What’s your Israel story?” (See details below.) Visual and performing artists will review the submissions, choose one that speaks to them and interpret it through their media. An artist will depict the stories that are chosen via dance, cinematography, visual art, or other artistic means and then perform them at the Reba & Sam Sandler Family Campus this spring.
Story Exchange has presented five local events: Visual Art at MOCA; Photography at Flo Pilates; Music and Spoken Word at Java Surf; Film at Esoteric; Dance, Spoken Word, Visual Art and Film at Push Comedy Theater (in conjunction with “Tell Me More” and the NEON Festival); and Illustration and Sculpture at Croc’s.
The date of the Tidewater’s Israel Stories performance will be announced with Mishy Harman’s appearance at the Reba and Sam Sandler Family Campus, as well as the names and mediums of the participating artists.
Share your stories of Israel: the real, the bold, the memorable. Celebrate the stories of Israel that are carried right here in Tidewater.
Listen to Israel Story online at www.IsraelStory.org.
To RSVP (required for security purposes) for this free and open to the community event, or for more information on the Israel Today series, including upcoming events and a full list of community partners, visit www.JewishVa.org/IsraelToday or call 965-6107