New Archive:

March 2001 Issue

Gefilte Phun Zone Weekend:
Three Days of Music, Spirituality, and Coexistence

By Brandeis students Greg Lawrence '02, Roland Chlapowski '04, and Sarah Chandler '01

"Get ready to set your gear shift to the high gear of your soul." This verse from the popular Phish song "Run Like an Antelope," encompasses the theme of the upcoming Gefilte Phun Zone Weekend. To kick off Shabbat Across America, Rav Shmuel Skaist and his band, the Bartlebees, will perform on the Brandeis campus on Thursday evening, March 22.

Rav Shmuel and his bandmates, some of which hail from Israel, others from America, are members of the Jewish organization GefiltePhish. The Bartlebees play cover songs of the popular American band Phish. Often times they tour with the band Phish over the summer. While on tour they conduct planned and impromptu discussions with phans, both Jews and non-Jews alike, about religious and spiritual matters.

Brandeis University, though a secular and pluralistic institution, has strong Jewish roots today, as the founders of the school intended. Almost two-thirds of the college is Jewish, leaving the remainder potentially from backgrounds that know nothing about Jewish culture. Even of the Jews on campus, many come from non-practicing households. What does this mean? There is a large portion of the campus that is submerged in Jewish culture and religion, notably the weekly Shabbat, with little or no idea what it is about.

We are looking to change this. Learning about the Jewish Sabbath not only will raise awareness about Judaism, but also build bridges and community. With this event, The Gefilte Phun Zone Weekend, a consortium of groups, Jewish and non, work together to use the common ground of popular jam-band music to create bonds between potentially alienated groups. Not only will non-Jews learn about the habits of their Jewish counterparts at this event, but Jews will learn about the concerns and feelings of their Gentile neighbors.

As part of The Shabbat Experience, Rav Shmuel will speak three times. A major aspect of this program is to draw the attendees of the concert to a celebration of Shabbat. It is meant to reconnect those Jews not having participated in Hillel programming in recent months to Jewish life on campus and as an experiential program for interested non-Jews as to what Shabbat is all about. Because of the widespread taste for Rav Shmuels bands music, the concert promises to be a community-wide unity building event.

This concert at Brandeis University is aimed at drawing students to an event consisting of widely popular music amongst students here. By having it on a Thursday, we plan to segue the concert directly into Rav Shmuels open forum discussions which will take place twice on Friday and once on Saturday.

The concert and Shabbaton are open to people of all ages and backgrounds, including non-Brandeis students. If you would like to stay on campus for Shabbat, please contact Sarah Chandler at (781) 529-5644 or sarah@brandeis.edu.

The full schedule of the event is as follows:

Gear 1: Thursday night concert featuring the Bartlebees
Sherman Function Hall, 9:30pm
Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, MA
Tickets: $3 in advance, $5 at the door
(for directions, go to: Brandeis)

Gear 2: An informal lunch with Rav Shmuel
Gearing up to slow down-preparing yourself for a day of rest
Sherman Dining Hall - 1:30pm

Gear 3: The Shabbat Experience
services:
Reform-Pearlman Lounge, Fri. 5:30pm Saturday 10:00am
Conservative-Berlin Chapel- Fri. 5:35pm Sat. 9:15am, 5:20pm
Orthodox- International Lounge Fri. 5:40pm Sat. 9 am, 5:25 pm
shabbat meals:
Friday dinner: 7pm Sherman Function Hall
Saturday lunch: 11:30am Sherman Dining Hall
Saturday Seudah Shlishit (third meal): 5:45pm Alumni Lounge

Gear 4: Post dinner talk with Rav Shmuel
Seeking the High Gear Through Music
Lurias 123 (upstairs Sherman) - Friday evening 8:30pm

Gear 5: Sat. post lunch discussion with Rav Shmuel:
Along a path toward unity
Levine-Ross (upstairs Sherman) - 2pm

---

lifestyles | fiction | politics | daily buzz | relationships | culture | social action | spirituality | chatroom | J-TV giude | win stuff | e-postcard | about us | archive | disclaimer