The Workshop - JOCISM Artists and Culturemakers Exploring Jewish Identity

"The Workshop Artist Salon Probing Collective Memory and Hybridity" will be presented on July 9 by co-sponsors Jewish Federation of the Berkshires and Shakespeare & Company. Rabbi Kendell Pinkney, founder of The Workshop, and members of the Jewish and arts communities talked with the BJV…

In My View: In Israel for Yom Ha'Zikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut and Much More

This year, Federation board member Arlene D. Schiff had the opportunity to visit Israel on the 75th anniversary of its founding, representing our community at the JFNA General Assembly. In this In My View column, she shares her experiences on Yom Ha'Zikaron and Yom Ha'Atzmaut - and of a…

Rabbi Reflection: Jewish Teachings on Reincarnation, by Rabbi Seth Wax

Rabbi Seth Wax of Williams College offers some deep, surprising, and accessible insights about Kabbalistic ideas about reincarnation - he writes, "Our process of reincarnation is not about us: it is about bringing healing to the soul of Adam HaRishon," the primordial human whose soul split…

Traveling With Jewish Taste: 'Open Sesame,' Sez Me!

Our Traveling With Jewish Taste columnist Carol Goodman Kaufman shares the Jewish history of sesame, and her own experiences: "It took a year of living and working with Mizrachi Jews in Israel to discover the culinary joys of sesame." Plus a recipe for roasted butternut squash and red onion…

"Downright Bashert!" Alan Paul Takes Over at Barrington Stage Company

On Thursday, June 29, Barrington Stage Company and Jewish Federation of the Berkshires will present a free panel, “Reflections on Antisemitism and the Cautionary Tale of Cabaret." In this BJV profile, our featured panelist Alan Paul, in his first season as the BSC artistic director, talks…