Culturally Jewish

• Jewish artists have been ostracized since Oct. 7. Will it lead to a renaissance of Jewish art?

  Earlier this month, 18 Canadian theatre companies—including the world's largest queer theatre company, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, based in Toronto—joined a cultural and academic boycott of Israel, in solidarity with Gaza. It was just the latest evolution in a trend that has been particularly noteworthy since Oct. 7, 2023, when the North American arts community turned sharply against pro-Israel and Jewish artists in all fields, noteably theatre, film, literature, poetry. The progression has led us here. After years of isolation, there is more hunger than ever for proudly Jewish art, with calls for increased Jewish arts grants and community support. Here to echo those calls are two Jewish artists who have experienced these struggles in the last two years: Shaina Silver-Baird is a writer, actor and the creator of the TV series Less Than Kosher, and Hal Niedzviecki was the editor of Broken Pencil, Canada's magazine covering independent zine culture, which he abruptly closed after facing backlash from progressive activists to denounce Israel. In this series finale of Culturally Jewish, The CJN's podcast covering Canadian Jewish artists, hosts Ilana Zackon and David Sklar sit down for a frank conversation and take stock of the last two years—while also expressing hopes for the future. Credits Hosts: Ilana Zackon and David Sklar Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Sarah Segal-Lazar Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Culturally Jewish (Not sure how? Click here)

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• Daniel Pelton transformed Holocaust tattoos into orchestral jazz. This is what it sounds like

  Daniel Pelton hadn't felt much of a musical connection to his Jewish heritage before Oct. 7. But after reality changed for Jews around the world—including his hometown of Calgary—Pelton decided to learn more about both the Holocaust and its artistic representations. He read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which inspired him to adapt the tattoo numbers used in the book—34902-32407—into musical notes, using their 12-tone counterparts. The result evolved into a 11-minute epic, which Pelton supplemented with two other tracks to create a new trio of songs, released on Jan. 27 for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. To record the three works, Pelton teamed up with Calgary's National Music Centre and successfully applied for a grant to record with the "Violins of Hope", authentic violins once owned by Holocaust victims and survivors. Hear all the three works and learn how he embarked on this journey on this week's episode of Culturally Jewish, The CJN's podcast spotlighting Canadian Jewish artists. Credits Hosts: Ilana Zackon and David Sklar Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Sarah Segal-Lazar Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Culturally Jewish (Not sure how? Click here)

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• See the world through the eyes of an autistic poet in a new exhibit by Adam Wolfond and Estée Klar

  When Adam Wolfond was in his primary school years, the public education system wasn't giving him the support he needed as a nonverbal autistic student. So his mother, Estée Klar, along with other educators and allies, created their own kind of classroom, where neurodivergent kids could feel more free to learn in their own ways, pacing around the room or sitting in bean bag chairs. For Wolfond, using a text-to-speech device, he was finally able to respond in full sentences at his own pace—and discover his own poetic voice. This month, he is debuting an art exhibition at the Koffler Arts Centre in Toronto, "What If My Body is a Beacon for the World?", running from Jan. 9-26. The exhibit includes video installations and projections, along with bean bag chairs and sticks laying around the ground, which are central to Wolfond's way of living and communicating. Wolfond and Klar join Culturally Jewish, The CJN's arts podcast, to describe their artwork and journey to get here. Credits Hosts: Ilana Zackon and David Sklar Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Sarah Segal-Lazar Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Culturally Jewish (Not sure how? Click here)

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• Erez Zobary dives into her Yemenite heritage with R&B soul

  Erez Zobary spent a long time downplaying her Jewish identity in her music career. Her earlier work—a blend of R&B, pop, soul and jazz—dealt with issues relevant to her audience of largely twentysomethings: love lives, quarter-life crises, feeling stuck and aimless. It may not be surprising, then, that a woman whose songs so often looked inward would eventually turn to her heritage. As she tells Culturally Jewish, The CJN's arts and culture podcast, her songs began feeling increasingly disconnected from who she really was, and she wanted to try something drastically different. The result is Erez, her new album, which dives deep into her Yemenite family history—specifically her grandmother's escape from Yemen to Israel as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Zobary joins the show to explain her process and backstory, and to share how she feels releasing an album with Middle Eastern musical flourishes, covered in Hebrew writing, just one year after Oct. 7. Credits Hosts: Ilana Zackon and David Sklar Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Sarah Segal-Lazar Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Culturally Jewish (Not sure how? Click here)

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• 'My Dead Mom' gives the nagging Jewish mother trope a haunting twist

  After Wendy Litner's mother passed away, Litner was surprised that she still heard her voice—felt her presence, even, looking over her shoulder... often judging her. The feeling inspired Litner to write a new web series called My Dead Mom, released on Crave earlier this month. The show gives a modern, distinctly feminist twist to the stereotype of a Jewish mother ceaselessly nagging her daughter. And, as Litner explains on the latest episode of Culturally Jewish, it's less about saying goodbye than accepting the evolution of a relationship with those who've passed on. Also in this episode, co-hosts Ilana and David discuss their own history of using art to process grief and trauma, and give their biweekly round-up of Jewish art events across the country. Credits Hosts: Ilana Zackon and David Sklar Producer: Michael Fraiman Music: Sarah Segal-Lazar Support The CJN Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to Culturally Jewish (Not sure how? Click here)

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