As some of you may know, over the last six months our synagogue has hosted a series of readings with leading Jewish poets in the Bay Area and beyond. The reading series is a project of Kehilla’s Adult Education Committee, now in coordination with the Art Gallery Committee’s sponsored art openings that are held about every two months in the Fireside Room. The reading series is called “Writers and Poets at Kehilla.”
As a result of the collaboration, poets often are invited to select readings to highlight the actual art exhibit. For example, Rose Black and Judith Tannenbaum, both writers with histories of working in prisons, shared their poetry and experiences facilitating workshops at San Quentin and Salinas Valley State Prison. In May, poets Joan Gelfand and Jan Steckel wrote responses to the Allen Price Photography Exhibit, “Vision Interrupted,” that they will share at the reading on May 14th.
Dvora Gordon, Chair of the Art Gallery Committee said, “We are delighted to be coordinating these cultural evenings with the Adult Education Committee. We will be both sharing these evenings and doing some separate events as well. We are thinking about adding music to these cultural evenings so stay tuned.”
Upcoming shows for July and August will include a retrospective of some of our past artists, and September and October will include work representing the theme of the High Holy Days celebration.
To date, we have hosted the following poets: Marcia Falk, Melissa Stein, Tova Ricardo, Rose Black, Judith Tannenbaum, Chana Bloch, Sharon Dolin, Joan Gelfand, and Jan Steckel. All events have been well-attended and enthusiastically received. Future readings will host writers in addition to poets. We hope to offer a more diverse line-up of readers and look forward to your continued support.