Events Welcome to BINA's events page 7th Annual Sheba film Festival ,9 Years Later Wednesday, May 5, 2010 7:30pm   Director: Yifat Kedar, Sari Ezouz. Israel, 2009. 70 mins. Hebrew & Moroccan w/English subtitles Danielle, a Jewish woman who grew up as a Muslim in Morocco, now lives in Israel and is in a struggle for the right to bring up her son. Nine years after she was forced to leave him, she returns to Morocco to fight for custody. She sets off, apprehensive about the meeting with her Muslim family, and the difficulties she expects to face due to local law. To her surprise, she finds that the real difficulties come from the society in which she lives, the Jewish one. I had a Dream- The Story of Yona Bogale, Leader of Ethiopian Jewry Tuesday , May 4, 2010 7:30pm   Director/Producer: Teztee Germay and Micha Shagrir Through rare archival materials and testimonies, the extraordinary story of Yona Bogale, the leader of Ethiopian Jewry, is brought to light. Through his stories we see the complexity of the Ethiopian absorption into Israel. Followed by a discussion with Rabbi Moshe Hailu Paris 7th Annual Sheba Film Festival Children of the Bible, Sunday , May 2, 2010 7PM   Children of the Bible Director: Nitza Gonen. Israel 2009, 53 mins. Hebrew and Amharic w/English subtitles. The rapper and informal educator, Jeremy “Cool” Habash, exposes us to the complex situations facing Ethiopian-Israeli youth. Jeremy works towards changing the humiliated and depressed image of the Ethiopian community in Israel, both in its own eyes and in the eyes of Israeli society, by bringing members of the Ethiopian community closer to their tradition – the songs, the meaning of the Ethiopian names, stories about the lives of the Ethiopian community and about the journey that has taken on mythical proportions SPECIAL SCREENING: The Name My Mother Gave Me Tuesday, February 23, 2010 7:30pm   Director/Producer: Eli Tal-El (Israel, 2008, 60 min.) This moving documentary follows a group of Israeli adolescents, mostly born in Ethiopia, on a life changing journey. The picturesque valley of Ethiopian region of Gondar becomes the scene of remarkable discoveries, as these children reunite with their past, each undergoing personal transformation. Seven Generations: An African Tradition Sunday, February 22, 2009 3PM-5PM   Seven Generations: An African Tradition The Ethiopian Jewish community has an oral history tradition that counts seven generations of an individual’s family at key moments in life. It has been practiced mainly by Kessim (rabbis) and elders for centuries in Ethiopia, and now in Israel, where many members of the Ethiopian Jewish community now live and where much of their culture, including this oral history ritual, is being lost with the death of the elders. Beejhy Barhany, director of the BINA cultural foundation, and artist Avishai Mekonen will offer a view of this ancient ritual from within the community in order to preserve it for future generations and to introduce the Ethiopian-Jewish culture to a larger audience. Enjoy Ethiopian food and music. Families are welcome. Co-sponsored with BINA, The Beta Israel of North America Cultural Foundation. Ethiopian Shabbat Dinner Friday , November 7, 2008 6:30pm   Ethiopian Shabbat At sunset on Friday, at the start of the Sabbath, the priests ring bells summoning the community to worship. They gather in the synagogue and say their prayers, facing east. At about 9:00 pm, they eat the Sabbath dinner. Sabbath prayers continue throughout the night, into early Saturday morning. Then in mid-morning, the community gathers again to listen the reading of the Ten Commandments and to have each family’s dabbos (large loaves of bread) blessed. When the bread is blessed it is sliced in a special way according to tradition, and a portion is given to the priests, who eat some, and pass the rest out to the poor. Prayers and reading from the Torah take place throughout the day, with breaks for meals and rest. Photo Exhibition Ethiopia: A View at the Millennium Monday, June 30, 2008 6:00PM- 9:00PM   The exhibition will be available for viewing from June 10th to July 1, 2008. Contact Gallery at 212-749-5298 Special Viewing Hours hosted by BINA Cultural Foundation: Mon. June 16th 6-9pm Tue. June 17th 6-9pm Wed. June 18th 6-9pm Meet the Artists Reception Sat. June 21st. 6-9pm Fri. June 27th 6-9pm Meet the Artists & Ethiopian Finger Food Reception The Ethiopian Millennium Celebration Series will include of a presentation of photography by Ethiopian and American photographers, The exhibition will increase the visibility of the Ethiopian culture and also introduce Ethiopian artists to a larger community. The photographs in the exhibition were taken by five professional photographers, each devoted to documenting and representing Ethiopian culture in Ethiopia, Israel, and the United States. The photographs represent a wide spectrum of artistic styles and subjects. Photographs by well-known photographer of Jewish life Joan Roth, who spent months in Ethiopia documenting rural Jewish life, were taken in Ethiopia predating the last waves of migrations of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. The landscapes and texture of the country, represented by the work of Andargé Asfaw and Ayda Girma, contextualize and complement Roth’s work with strong and sweeping scenes of nature. The work of photographer Yeganyahu Avishai Mekonen spans the Ethiopian Jewish experience in Israel. The work of Chester Higgins captures the spiritual legacy of Ethiopia. Photographer Bios Yeganyahu Avishai Mekonen is a photographer and filmmaker whose award-winning work has been shown at festivals and museums in Israel, the U.S., and Europe. His projects investigate issues of race and identity and have been broadcast primetime on Israeli television and have been screened at numerous international venues including theTel Aviv and Jerusalem Cinemateques and the International Competition Documentary Festival, Czech Republic. He is currently a recipient of the prestigious Six Points Fellowship, a joint fellowship project of the Foundation for Jewish Culture, JDub Records and Avoda Arts, sponsored by the UJA, for Seven Generations, a photography and sound project. He has lectured on the subject of Ethiopian Jews in the U.S. and in Israel both independently and through the NY Israeli Consulate. He holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from Tel Chai College of Haifa University/Hebrew University. al, Czech Republic. Chester Higgins Higgins has been a staff photographer for The New York Times since 1975. He has five books of photography to his–credit: The Black Woman (1970), of Life (1974),–Some Time Ago: A Historical Portrait of Black Americans–1850-1950 (1980), Feeling the Spirit: Searching the World for– the People of Africa (1994), and Elder Grace: The Nobility of– (2000)--all of which explore and celebrate, in different–ways, African-American or African heritage, culture, and identity. Higgins\'s photographs have appeared in Art News, New York Times Magazine , Newsweek , Fortune , Essence , Archaeology in addition to the New York Times Chester Archer Higgins Jr. was born in November 1946 in Lexington, Kentucky, and grew up in New Brockton, Alabama. He was raised by his mother, Varidee Loretta Young Higgins Smith, and his stepfather, Johnny Frank Smith. In 1970 he graduated from Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), in Tuskegee, Alabama, with a bachelor\'s degree in business management. While an undergraduate at Tuskegee, Higgins was Mentored by P. H. Polk, the school\'s official photographer; Polk gave Higgins lessons in photography and interested him in his African-American heritage. Joan Roth is an internationally acclaimed photographer who creates powerful portraits portraying the universal strength and beauty of Jewish women, Ethiopian Jews, and other cultural themes. Although Joan\'s projects usually begin as a personal journey, the outcomes have always evolved into more universal visions of the human experience. Through Jolen Press, Joan Roth has published elegant photography books including Jewish Women: A World of Tradition and Change, Shopping Bag Ladies of New York, (depicting the lives of New York’s homeless women during the 1970s), In the Merit of Women: A Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) Calendar, featuring images of Jewish women and relevant Biblical quotes. Ayda Girma is a graduate of the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Her portfolio spans areas of print, photography, and web design. A recurring theme in her work is the concept of Diaspora. \"The social message that I would like my art to have would be simply the value of culture and diversity,\" she writes. She has taught art to New York high school students through the Saturday Outreach Program. She also works with fellow artists and displays some of her artwork on a collaborative online website called interconnex.org. Andargé Asfaw, award-winning photographer, educator and author was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Asfaw has maintained a commercial photography studio, F/STOP STUDIO, in the Washington, DC area for over 25 years. His compelling portraits and luminous landscapes have been exhibited internationally and are held in private collections. Asfaw’s new coffee-table book, Ethiopia from the Heart, along with an accompanying photographic exhibition, is touring the US. The book’s twofold mission is to preserve the magnificent beauty of Ethiopia for future generations and to bring global awareness to the environmental crisis ravaging Ethiopia today. Asfaw, and a team of creative professionals, are currently building a foundation focusing on the restoration of the earth, beginning with Ethiopia. The foundation’s priorities include education, reforestation and the application of sustainable technologies. Jill Vexler, PhD Jill Vexler, PhD, Curator, is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in curating exhibitions about cultural identity and social history. She has traveled in Ethiopia twice where deep friendships and a love of the culture were forged through her work with children’s arts programs and through recently adopting a six year old girl. Her graduate studies were at the National School of Anthropology in Mexico City and the University of California, Los Angeles. Her curatorial work spans hands-on anthropology exhibitions for children’s museums and, for the past ten years, exhibitions which center around the Holocaust experience. She was Executive Director of Remembering Luboml: Images of a Jewish Community, a photo-essay of pre-War Jewish life in a Polish village, and curator of Portrait of Memories, the permanent exhibition at the Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswieçim, Poland. She is presently the curator and project manager of the traveling exhibition Letters to Sala: A Young Woman’s Life in Nazi Labor Camps which is traveling internationally through 2010. Conference and Panel Discussion: Ethiopia and the Three Faiths of the Book Sunday, June 22, 2008 3:00pm   “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God” Psalm 68 Ethiopia has the distinction of being mentioned on numerous occasions throughout the Old Testament and has often played a special role in the pathos of the monotheistic belief. In the book of Exodus, it is mentioned that one if the Rivers that flowed through the Garden of Eden is the Gihon River, which flows through the highlands of Ethiopia today. The special Partiarch Moses was rumored to have held the throne of Ethiopia for 40 years and was weded to an Ethiopian Tziporah (Zipporah). Ethiopia was the sanctuary for two books, the Book of Enoch and the Book of Jubilees, that were lost to scholars and theologians alike. Ethiopia is mentioned as one of the first countries where Christianity took a foothold, later becoming the state religion in the early 4th Century. It also served as a sanctuary for the family of Mohammed as he fled Arabia. In return, Mohammed ushered a decree that no Muslim invader is to raise arms against Ethiopia. A panelists of experts will address this role Ethiopia has played in history and what role it could play in the future in reconciling three faiths that has a collective origin. Speakers Dr. Ephraim Isaac currently serves as the Director of the Institute of Semitic Studies at Princeton Univ. in NJ and received his Ph. D. in Near East languages and Civilization from Harvard University. Prof. Isaac is also coordinating the Millennium Project that is scheduled for the Ethiopian Millennium, and also serves on the Board of BINA. Prof. Isaac is a scholar extraordinaire, a linguist, a conductor, a historian and history maker. He speaks over seventeen languages and is author of numerous books and articles on Jewish literature including The Book of Enoch; An Ethiopian history of Joseph; A history of religion in Africa; and A cultural history of Ethiopian Jews. An Ethiopian national active in peace efforts, he is cofounder of the National Literacy Campaign Organization and coordinator of the Ad Hoc Peace Committee in Ethiopia. He has taught and published widely in the areas of African languages, ancient religions and black civilizations, Ethiopian history, and the concept and history of slavery. Dr. Yohannes Zeleke, is an Ethiopian archaeologist, anthropologist and, historian, and also, former curator of the National Museum of Ethiopia. He is a board member of the Washington Association for Ethiopian Jews. Currently he is affiliated as a research associate at the Natural History museum of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC. Over the past 5 years, he has been teaching at George Washington and American universities as adjacent professor. He has taught courses in Anthropology, Sociological, African History and Politics. And also he is regularly teaching the History of the Ethiopian Bette Israelis at the Washington Jewish Study Center. Dr. Zeleke has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Russian Academy of Sciences, and MA in archaeology and BA in history from St. Petersburg State University. His research interests include prehistoric archaeology, social and cultural anthropology, human origin and social development, pre-historic and ethnographic art and history and the history of the Ethiopian Jewish. He has worked with many research teams in Africa, Central Asia, Caucasus, Russia, and Europe. Dr. Zeleke is the recipient of numerous fellowships including fellowship at the University of California at Berkeley, in England awarded by the Boise Foundation of Oxford University, the British Museum, Cambridge and Liverpool Universities. Dr. Said Sheikh Samatar is professor of African history at Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey. Prior to this position, he worked at Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Kentucky. Coming to the United States as a refugee from Mogadishu, Somalia, he studied at Goshen College in Goshen, Indiana and graduated in 1973 with a degree in the history of western civilization, he completed his master\'s degree in East African history and received a graduate certificate in African studies. He received a doctorate in African history at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois in June 1979. Dr. Samatar has published a number of books, including a series on Somalia; in addition, he has written a variety of articles, professional papers and book reviews, and has served as managing editor of Horn of Africa since 1988. A member of the executive committee of the Somali Studies International Association since 1979, Samatar was also a consultant to \"The Somali Experience\" project and is a member of the African Studies Association [1]. He is currently working on a project titled, \"The Somali Collapse: Its Causes, Consequences and Context.\" Dr. Samatar has also participated in other professional activities. In 1992, he went to Somalia as a consultant and interpreter for the ABC news program Nightline with the American journalist Ted Koppel, as part of the Social Science Research Council team\'s reassessment of the \"Teaching and Study of the Humanities in Africa.\" Since 1983, Samatar has appeared on BBC shows for interviews regarding Africa, and has discussed Somalia on NBC, ABC, CBS as well as PBS\' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and Canadian Broadcasting Corporation\'s radio and television news programs and CNN International. Samatar has been cited in Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Dr. Ayele Bekerie, was born in Ethiopia, and earned his Ph.D. in African American Studies at Temple University in 1994. He has written and published in scholarly journals, such as, ANKH: Journal of Egyptology and African Civilizations, Journal of Black Studies, The International Journal of Africana Studies, and Imhotep. He is a Assistant Professor at the Africana Studies and Research Center of Cornell University. Dr. Bekerie is also a contributing author in the highly acclaimed book ONE HOUSE: The Battle of Adwa 1896 - 100 Years published by Nyala Publishing. This is a beautifully illustrated and written book about events in Ethiopia that reversed the scramble for Africa and inspired freedom movements in the Americas, Africa and the Caribbean. Cultural Dancers Preceding the Panel Discussion will be a Cultural Dance Performance by dancers from Ethiopia, India and Joshua Nelson . Ethiopian Dancers Keremela Dance Group Indian Dance Group - VAISHALI CHAUDHURI Bharathanatyam is the most ancient dance of India and has come down through centuries. Based on the ancient Indian scriptures of the Vedas the dance was performed exclusively in the temples of India by beautiful dancers known as devdasis or servants of the Lord. Around the last century the dance which was taught only in the orthodox custom of Guru-shisya- parampara or disciplic succession and had remained in the community of the devdasis was brought out for mass teaching by a family of famous devdasis. The sanctity and devotion during the learning and performing of this dance is as crucial as to keep the intricate rhythm and the movements synchronized with the music. NATESHA KAUTHUVAM Natesha Kautuvam is a dance in praise of Lord Shiva, who is also regarded as the Lord of Dance and involves rhythmic movements set in specific time frames in unison with music and interposed with the description of the celestial Lord Shiva who is worshipped by all the mankind in heaven and on earth. DASAVATARAM The Natesha Kautuvam will be followed by the Dasavatara leela of Lord Krishna. This composition depicts the various forms that Lord Narayana took to save the world from evil. He took the form of the Fish, Tortoise, Wild Boar, Lord Nrisimha, Vamana, Parashurama, Rama, Balarama and even took his own form to come to the world to give the world the knowledge of the Gita and lastly Kalki. Joshua Nelson In the 17 years since Joshua Nelson first sang along with a Mahalia Jackson album he discovered in his grandparents\' home when he was eight-years-old, he has spread th e sheer joy of spiritual music to audiences from New Jersey to Jerusalem and throughout the world. Joshua, whose voice bears a remarkable resemblance to that of the late Ms. Jackson, has performed in concert halls, synag ogues, churches, and at various outdoor venues, both solo and with such musical luminaries as Wynton Marsalis, Billy Preston, Aretha Franklin, and Stephanie Mills; Gospel greats Albertina Walker, the Barret Sisters, Hezekiah Walker, Kirk Franklin, Dottie Peoples, Dorothy Norwood, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Reverend Timothy Wright, and Bobby Jones & New Life, the greatest Jewish Klezmer band in the world, The Klezmatics, and late jazz greats Cab Calloway and Dizzy Gillespie, among others. 5th Annual Sheba Film Festival Sunday, June 15, 2008 3:00pm   Join us for the 5th Annual Sheba Film Festival showcasing films by and about Ethiopia and Ethiopian Jews. Program of films: 3:00 p.m. Caravan 841 (Israel, 2001, 52 minutes) Moshe, an 11 year-old Ethiopian boy, lives in the “Atidim” caravan site in the Western Galilee while he awaits the arrival of his mother from Ethiopia. He is drawn to both Aharon, an older baal teshuvah (newly religious Jew) who teaches him Torah, and Walter, an impulsive African-American saxophone player who runs a jazz club. Aharon gives Moshe a magic box and promises him that it will bring his mother to Israel. Walter gives Moshe the strength to believe only in himself. See http://www.ruthfilms.com/html/fs_caravan841.html for more information. Tickets $10.00 4:15 p.m. A Walk to Beautiful (85 mins.) This award-winning documentary tells the stories of five Ethiopian women who suffer from devastating childbirth injuries and embark on a journey to reclaim their lost dignity. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. They make the choice to take the long and arduous journey to the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in search of a cure and a new life. See http://www.walktobeautiful.com for more information. Tickets $10.00 6:00 p.m. Live and Become (France, Belgium, Italy, Israel, 2005, 140 min.) The epic story of an Ethiopian boy who is airlifted from a Sudanese refugee camp to Israel in 1984 during Operation Moses. Shlomo is plagued by two big secrets: He is neither a Jew nor an orphan, just an African boy who survived and wants, somehow, to fulfill his Ethiopian mother’s parting request that he “go, live, and become.” Q&A See http://www.menemshafilms.com/index.php?src=gendocs&link=live_and_become for more information. Tickets $10.00 Ethiopian Millennium Concert Saturday, May 31, 2008 11:00pm   The Ethiopian Millennium Celebration Series will kick-off with the Ethiopian Millennium Celebration Concert which will feature some of the rising stars of Ethiopia, including Abebe Teka and Asresash Meshesha, aka Mimi. The concert will feature traditional Ethiopian songs from ancient times to moderns beats and grooves that leaves the body shaking. Accompanying the singers will be Daniel Gebriel on keyboard, Samson Mitiku on bass guitar and Teshome Denek on Sax. To complete the concert, DJ Sirak will be spinning World Music as no other can. ktobeautiful.com Ethiopian Sigd Celebration Saturday, November 17, 2007 4:00pm   Sigd is a day of remembrance of the Covenant made when the Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, and consists of prayer, fasting, and thanksgiving. Join the Beta Israel community as we celebrate the Sigd festival. Ethiopian Erev Shabbat Service & Ethiopian Shabbat Dinner Friday, October 12, 2007 6:30pm   Celebrate Shabbat while learning about Ethiopian Jewish history, culture and worship. Led by Rabbi Koster with Beejhy Barhany, Director of Beta Israel of North America (BINA) and friends. Then join us for an authentic Ethiopian Shabbat dinner and stimulate your senses with hand-dipped vegetarian dishes and sheba tej (honey wine). Ethiopian Shabbat Dinner Friday, June 22, 2007 8:00PM   Ethiopian Shabbat Dinner on the 14th Street Y Rooftop Join us for an authentic Ethiopian Shabbat dinner to stimulate the senses: hand-dipped vegetarian dishes and sheba tej (honey wine). Ethiopian artist Avishai Mekonen will speak about his documentary Judaism & Race, with other invited guests. A Channukah Celebration of African Jewry 2006 Sunday, December 17, 2006 7:00pm - 10:00pm   Join us in celebration of the beauty and culture of African, Middle Eastern, and North American Jews of Color through candle lighting, regional foods, multicultural Jewish music, and inspirational conversation! Honored guest speakers will use ritual, spoken-word, poetry, music, and dance to highlight stories of diversity, hope, struggle, and triumph in honor of the Channukah holiday. 2nd Annual Sheba Film Festival Sunday , September 25, 2005 12:00pm   ADWA AN AFRICAN VICTORY FROM SWASTIKA TO JIM CROW YALDEREKA ENBA BLACK ISRAEL 1st Annual Sheba Film Festival Sunday, August 15, 2004 12:00pm   Menelik (Israel, 1999, 56 min.) Foreign Sister (Israel, 2000, 124 min.) Outcry Video Flour Awake Zion (2005, 60 mins.) Home | About Us | History | Events | Gallery | Programs | Support Us | Contact Us 25 BROADWAY, 17TH FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10004 INFO@BINACF.ORG © 2008 BINA CULTURAL FOUNDATION INC

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