Interfaith Comedy Night at Alabama

Rabbi Bob Alper returns to Alabama this month, and for one of his two shows, he’s bringing along a couple of friends.

Alper, an ordained rabbi, became a stand-up comedian and became known as “the world’s only practicing clergyman doing stand-up comedy... intentionally.” His shows are “100 percent clean” and described as “Gentile-friendly.” He will be at Birmingham’s Temple Beth-El on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m., and the University of Alabama with an interfaith program on Feb. 28.

A native of Providence, R.I., Alper is a graduate of Lehigh University, was ordained at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, and is the first Jewish person ever to earn a doctorate from the Princeton Theological Seminary. He has served congregations in Buffalo and Philadelphia, where he continues to conduct High Holiday services. He began his comedy career in 1986 when he entered the “Jewish Comic of the Year Contest” at the Going Bananas club in Philadelphia. Television, radio and personal appearances followed as he quickly honed his distinctive approach to stand-up. He has been seen on Good Morning America, The Today Show, Showtime, the BBC, and CNN, among many others.

On Feb. 28, Alper will appear at the University of Alabama with two fellow comedians as part of their Laugh in Peace 2011 tour. Azhar Usman and Rev. Susan Sparks appear with Alper at these events across the country. The show will be at the Ferguson Student Center at 7 p.m.

Usman is the co-founder of “Allah Made Me Funny–The Official Muslim Comedy Tour,” and he has performed in over a dozen countries on five continents. Formally trained as an attorney, Usman has been touring as a full-time comedian since 2004. He invented and appeared as the character “Vijay the VJ” on MTV. He also is part of the Make Chai Not War comedy show, uniting Hindu, Jewish and Muslim comics. Usman lives in Chicago, where his parents immigrated to from India before he was born.

Sparks is a trial lawyer who became a standup comedian, and is also an ordained Baptist minister. After 10 years as a lawyer, she traveled the world by herself for two years, then went to Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She is senior pastor of the historic Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City, and blogs for Psychology Today and the Huffington Post.

The Tuscaloosa appearance kicks off the University of Alabama’s Interfaith Week, and is sponsored by the Campus Ministry Association, of which Hillel and the Muslim Student Association are members, and University Programs. Tickets are free, and are being distributed through Crimson Arts.

Tickets to Alper’s Feb. 26 show at Beth-El are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, and are available at the synagogue office, (205) 933-2740.

Hebrew Mamita performing in Birmingham

On Feb. 16, New Yorker Vanessa Hidary, also known as the “Hebrew Mamita,” will give two different performances at Ted’s Garage in Birmingham, sponsored by the Leah Marks Honor Our Children Fund of the Birmingham Jewish Foundation.

The fund’s purpose is to encourage young people to make smart life choices. Hidary’s first performance, at 5:45 p.m., will be aimed at teens, with themes of Jewish identity and being comfortable in one’s own skin. Dinner will be served to the students.

The 8 p.m. show will be her more traditional “Hebrew Mamita” spoken word and rap-style verse show, and will also feature local spoken word performers.

Hidary grew up on Manhattan’s culturally diverse Upper West Side. Her experiences as a Sephardic Jew with close friends from different ethnic and religious backgrounds inspired her to write “Culture Bandit,” the nationally toured solo show that chronicles her coming of age during the golden age of Hip-Hop and her dedication to fostering understanding and friendship between all people.

She has aired three times on “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam” on HBO, and is featured in the short film, “The Tribe,” which was selected for the Sundance Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, and the Jewish Motifs International Film Festival in Warsaw, Poland, where she attended as the film’s representative.

Last November, she performed at the opening reception for the Lion of Judah conference at the Jewish Federation’s General Assembly in New Orleans.

She has conducted poetry and racism workshops with B’nai B’rith Youth Organization and is the director/developer of “MONOLOGUES” — an evening of solo performances by 15 young adults exploring their Jewish identity, inspired by a 10-day trip through Israel, produced by Birthright Israel NEXT.

The evening performance is open to the public. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free, but a minimum donation of $20 to the Leah Marks Honor Our Children Fund is requested.

Jewish Krewes to March on Feb. 19

In addition to the usual throws, anniversaries will be in the air for Mardi Gras groups with Jewish roots this year.

On Feb. 19, the Krewe du Mishigas will once again march in the Krewe du Vieux Parade through the French Quarter. Each of the sub-krewes in Krewe du Vieux will have a theme related to the parade’s 25th anniversary, “25 Years Wasted.” Picking up that idea, the Mishigas will parade as “Chai Ho Silver, Oy Vey!”

The parade goes through the Quarter at 6:30 p.m., and for the uninitiated, is decidedly not family-friendly due to mature — er, adult themes.

The older Jewish-themed krewe, Krewe du Jieux, will celebrate its 15th anniversary by participating in krewedelusion, which marches through the Quarter on Feb. 19 at 7:15 p.m. The Krewe will have its coronation on Feb. 12, with Jackie and Judge Sol Gothard serving as this year’s royalty. Part of the coronation night events will be the annual Running of the Jieux, a takeoff from the 2006 “Borat” film.

Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience Looking for New Home

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience will be re-enacting part of the Southern Jewish experience — starting out in a small town and moving on to a larger home.

In early January, the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life and the Union for Reform Judaism’s Henry S. Jacobs Camp announced an agreement that will result in the museum moving from its original site at the camp in Utica.

After the museum’s relocation, Jacobs Camp plans to transition the building into a performing arts space with multiple rehearsal areas, along with the auditorium that will continue to double as a worship space for the camp community and the Jewish community of the Deep South.

The museum’s new home is yet to be determined. Michele Schipper, the Institute’s chief operations officer, said the Institute “is in the process of looking for a new site” and suggestions are welcomed. The move offers the museum the possibility of increased visibility and access for visitors; for the Camp, it means the opening up of space critical to the enhancement of the camp’s program.

Jacobs Camp opened its gates in 1970 under the leadership of Rabbi Solomon Kaplan, who very soon after named Macy B. Hart as camp director – a position which he held until 2000.

As small congregations closed in the 1980s, their ritual items were donated to the camp for safe-keeping. In 1987, the items formed the nucleus of the museum, which opened following a lead gift from the Plough Foundation of Memphis. The museum’s central room, which housed many pulpit items and an ark, doubled as the camp’s worship space.

In the 1990s, photographer Bill Aron was sent on numerous trips through Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and South Carolina, creating a photographic exhibit of Southern Jewish life.

As the museum’s collection and mission grew, the Institute was founded, with Hart serving as the founding president. Now in its 10th year, the Institute provides educational and rabbinic services to Southern Jewish communities, documents and preserves the rich history of the Southern Jewish experience, and promotes a Jewish cultural presence throughout a 13-state region.

Since becoming camp director in February 2000, Jonathan “J.C.” Cohen has overseen tremendous growth and evolution at Jacobs as it has sought to keep pace with trends in the camping industry and the demands of the marketplace. In recent years, the camp has undertaken an ambitious renovation program, and has sought to add and improve recreational facilities to ensure a diverse range of top-notch program offerings.

In addition to turning its Lake Gary into a recreational venue, work has been done on its offerings in sports, outdoor adventure, creative arts, digital media, and aquatics; and, it has also identified a range of areas in which it aspires to continue improving – with performing arts at the top of the list.

The Museum plans to complete its move by the winter of 2013, after which time the conversion of the facility will begin, with hopes of it operating as a performing arts center that summer.

Both organizations anticipate fundraising for their respective programs — for the new museum and for transforming the old museum into the performing arts center.

ISJL Starts Webinar Series

The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life has begun a webinar series, to provide adult education opportunities to anyone with a computer.

Two webinars have been announced for each of the next two months. Information on the sessions and registration can be found at the Institute’s website, isjl.org.

The first February session will be “Full Exposure: A Revealing Picture of the Jewish Engagement with Tattooing,” on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m., with Rabbi Marshal Klaven, ISJL director of rabbinic services. The session will explore how tattoos have become more accepted in mainstream society, but the practice has more weighty issues in the Jewish world. Klaven will discuss tattooing practices from the ancient Israelites to modernity.

The second session, “Beyond Alef Bet: Tapping into the Intention of Tefillah” will be led by ISJL Director of Education Rachel Stern, and Education Fellow Mark Swick, on Feb. 20 at 12:30 p.m. The session will go beyond performance of prayers, and how to teach a level of meaning and a long-lasting relationship to Hebrew.

On March 8 at 7 p.m., ISJL History Department Director Stuart Rockoff leads “Not to be Taken Lightly: Paula Ackerman and Temple Beth Israel of Meridian, Mississippi.” Twenty years before women were ordained as rabbis, Ackerman became the leader of the Mississippi congregation, in the 1950s. She later led a congregation in her hometown of Pensacola.

On March 20 at 12:30 p.m., Associate Director of Education Jordan Magidson and Education Fellow Alex Glass present “It Is Not In The Heavens: The Text of Teaching.” Many are intimidated at the idea of studying texts. In this session, participants will explore the goals of text study and how to make it engaging for students.