Helping Chile
Last Wednesday evening we went to a concert at Beth Israel Conservative Congregation organized by Rabbi Birnbaum that was one of the best concerts we have ever seen/heard here in Netanya. The level of artistry was superb and the performers were excellent. But that wasn't what was unusual about this concert, what was is that it was given as a fund-raiser for the Jews of Conception, Chile. The recent earthquake there demolished their synagogue and they have no funds to rebuild it. So in a reverse of the former pattern, we Jews in Israel were collecting money to help Jews in the Diaspora. Although the North American Jewish community is very wealthy, that is not true of others dotted around the world, and as I have argued elsewhere, the center of gravity of Jewish life has now transferred from the Diaspora to Israel.
About the performers, there was our great favorite, violinist Adrian Justus, who immigrated from Mexico, and who plays the violin divinely. He played Mendelsohn's violin concerto on his Stradivarius with only piano accompaniment. What a virtuoso, certainly world class. Then my personal favorite Yulia Masti sang, she is as gorgeous as her voice is beautiful. She was striking in a red silk dress, she is about 6 ft 2 in tall, very curvy, with long brunette hair and a bewitching smile and she has a great pair of lungs too! The baritone, Michael Gaysinsky, has a powerful voice and he is quite short, a full head shorter than Yulia, and very playful. So they had great fun in duets, with her looking down on him. They sang in English, Russian, Hebrew and Yiddish. There was also a world class Dombra (small balalaika) player Teddy Shushenkov, originally from Russia, whose instrument is like a mandolin and he made it sing. Then there were several piano accompanists, most particularly Nadia Fridkovsky, who organized the concert. What a show!
I must say that we are incredibly lucky to have this level of performance artists so close by at such low cost that I have to say if anyone wants to retire, this is the place! Where could you get such entertainment, not in a retirement village in Florida or living alone in a large city. As well as helping fellow Jews in the Diaspora the audience was rapturous for this concert,
About the performers, there was our great favorite, violinist Adrian Justus, who immigrated from Mexico, and who plays the violin divinely. He played Mendelsohn's violin concerto on his Stradivarius with only piano accompaniment. What a virtuoso, certainly world class. Then my personal favorite Yulia Masti sang, she is as gorgeous as her voice is beautiful. She was striking in a red silk dress, she is about 6 ft 2 in tall, very curvy, with long brunette hair and a bewitching smile and she has a great pair of lungs too! The baritone, Michael Gaysinsky, has a powerful voice and he is quite short, a full head shorter than Yulia, and very playful. So they had great fun in duets, with her looking down on him. They sang in English, Russian, Hebrew and Yiddish. There was also a world class Dombra (small balalaika) player Teddy Shushenkov, originally from Russia, whose instrument is like a mandolin and he made it sing. Then there were several piano accompanists, most particularly Nadia Fridkovsky, who organized the concert. What a show!
I must say that we are incredibly lucky to have this level of performance artists so close by at such low cost that I have to say if anyone wants to retire, this is the place! Where could you get such entertainment, not in a retirement village in Florida or living alone in a large city. As well as helping fellow Jews in the Diaspora the audience was rapturous for this concert,
posted by Jack Cohen at 7:27 AM
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