The Chosen People: Upcoming Jewish-Themed Events

By Troy Segal

The Jewish New Year is fast approaching, with Rosh Hashanah beginning on September 24. So, it’s an auspicious time to look at the autumnal variety of talks and tours, presentations, events, and performances that offer intriguing insights into different aspects of Judaism — from cultural riches to famed individuals.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage is throwing a High Holidays family party on Sept. 28, featuring crafts, a gallery tour, and a concert by that merry mistress of the musical mash-up, Mama Doni.

English National Opera Photo: Richard Hubert Smith

The Death of Klinghoffer — John Adams’ opera, based on the politically charged 1985 hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro — is getting a new production at the Metropolitan Opera (an event not without controversy itself); its director, conductor and composer all meet for a discussion about it at the Guggenheim Museum, Oct. 10, augmented by excerpts by the cast.

Three years ago, an international team of architects, artists, and historians began building a duplicate of the historic Gwoździec Synagogue in Poland. Watch the wooden structure come together (on film) and hear how the participants did it, at this YIVO Institute for Jewish Research presentation, Oct. 12.

Singer/composer Andrey Makarevich, of Time Machine fame, discourses on the links between Klezmer music and Big Band swing (so, where do you think Benny Goodman came from?) at two concerts at The Town Hall, Oct. 17 & 18.

Israeli-born and –bred super-chef Yotam Ottolenghi, whose empire of London delis offers the best takeaway in town (as the Brits say), has a new cookbook out; so what’s a man to do but offer a taste and a talk at The TimesCenter, Oct. 18, and at the 92nd Street Y on Oct. 19?

Helena Rubinstein with African mask, c. 1935. Helena Rubinstein Foundation archive, Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York, Special Collections. Photograph by George Maillard Kesslere. thejewishmuseum.org

Curators of the Jewish Museum lead talks on a guided tour of the exhibition Helena Rubinstein: Beauty Is Power, which examines the life, career and art collection of the formidable cosmetics entrepreneur, Nov. 3.

A trio of scholars examines the evolution of Judaism as a religion and a civilization from prehistory to the present day, part of the 92nd Street Y’s ongoing series about different faiths, Nov. 9.