Sponsored by PA’s Jewish Student Union, Jewish Cultural Weekend features a film next weekend features a speech, a concert and a Shabbat dinner planned for the whole Phillips Academy community while this weekend features a fi Beginning the weekend with a film, Jewish Student Union presents, “The Pianist”. Based on a true story, “The Pianist” portrays the journey of a Polish and a Jewish musician who struggle through the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto in World War II. This heart-wrenching movie won Best Film in the Palme D’Or Cannes Festival in 2002. Detailing a true story of the Holocaust, “The Pianist” presents an educational chance to learn about a critical time in Jewish history. Selected to act in the movie “The Pianist” as Halina, Jessica Kate Meyer, will speak to the students as the artist in residence in the Choir Room at 8:00pm. Next weekend’s celebrations will begin at 6:00 pm with a Shabbat Service in Cochran Chapel followed by a celebratory Shabbat Dinner in Paresky Commons. The weekend will end in harmony with the Klezwoods Concert at 7:00pm in the Underwood room on Saturday night. Klezmer music is an eastern European Jewish music style. After almost disappearing, it was revived in the U.S in the last 25 to 30 years. Based in Boston, The Klezwoods Band features bandleader Joseph Kessler on violin and vocals backed by a variety of instruments such as strings, horns, and percussion. The group will perform mainly traditional Klezmer music, but also international music to tune numerous ears. Jessica Meyer will be performing with the band in this concert and the spirit of traditional Klezmer and modern improvisations will ring through the campus to celebrate one of the best weekends at Andover. For Rabbi Swarttz, this weekend is “an opportunity to bring a piece of the Jewish culture to share with the larger Phillips community, so that hopefully [it] promotes greater understanding and appreciation of Jewish culture among the non-Jewish, the majority of the population on campus.” He says that this is “always [the] underlying goal of the Jewish cultural weekends.” Admission to both the dinner and concert will be free to all students. JSU co-head Shelby Centofanti’ 12 encourages all members of the Andover community to come. She says, “The events we planned can be universally enjoyed. Everything is not only informative, but also engaging and enjoyable. We are really excited and hope everyone sees how amazing these events will be!”
