Upcoming JW Events
DAVID BROZA -
Evening In Discussion and Performance with SINGER SONGWRITER
TOGETHER WITH
Invites You on
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11• 7:30 PM
For an Evening In
Discussion and Performance with
SINGER SONGWRITER
DAVID BROZA
Celebrtating the Release
of His New Album
EAST JERUSALEM / WEST JERUSALEM
He will discuss this album, performed with Israeli, American and Palestinian musicians,
pursues his lifelong dream to transform reality with the power of music.
David Broza will be in conversation with David Sable, global chief executive officer of Y&R
and a board member of The Jewish Week
The evening will also include a special 20 minute screening of the documentary based on
“THE MAKING OF EAST JERUSALEM /WEST JERUSALEM,” to be released this spring.
You can now get this album on iTunes just by clicking here.
TEMPLE EMANU-EL
10 East 66th Street
ADMISSION $18 FOR ADULTS $20 AT DOOR
FREE FOR STUDENTS*
The JewishWeek Media Group
Event Questions? Please-- events@jewishweek.org
Please note: There is no physical ticket issued.
Your name will be with staff when you check-in.
* Students should come to the event with a valid ID
and they will be admitted for free.
Ari Shavit, author of My Promised Land, presented by The Jewish Week, together with The Natan Fund and Central Synagogue, on March 6, 7:30 pm
together with The Natan Fund and Central Synagogue
presents on March 6, 7:30 pm
One of Israel s most prominent journalists,
Ari Shavit, author of My Promised Land:
The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel, winner of the first Natan Book Award,
in conversation with Franklin Foer, editor the New Republic.
Followed by a Town Hall discussion with young leaders of the Jewish community.
Ari Shavit Ari Shavit book cover " My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel
TICKETS are $20 online or $25 at the door
This event is FREE for students*
PLEASE JOIN US FOR A PRIVATE RECEPTION
WITH ARI SHAVIT and OUR GUEST PANEL at 6:15 P.M.
Suggested Donation $180
For information on the reception, please call Thea Wieseltier at 212 997 2905 or
email Thea here:
Those attending the reception will receive a free autographed book and
free admission to the event with reserved seating.
TO ATTEND THE EVENT, which starts at 7:30,
indicate the number of admissions you would like at the bottom left
of this page and then click, "add to cart."
SIGNED BOOKS WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AFTER THIS EVENT.
www.thejewishweek.com
Please note: There is no physical ticket issued.
Your name will be with staff when you check-in.
*Students should come to the event with a valid ID
and they will be admitted for free.
Between the Lines - Gary Rosenblatt
His Real Wealth: Service To His People
His family and friends called him “Tree.”
He loved doing crossword puzzles, watching “Jeopardy” and, after the age of 50, learning to play the piano and study Talmud.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a close family friend, recalled his risqué jokes and directness, including “occasional notes about my wardrobe choices.”
But most of all, in a grand, dignified “tribute celebration” to mark the shloshim, or 30-day mark, after the death of Edgar Bronfman, he was described lovingly by the former first lady and family members as a man of both regal bearing and genuine warmth who cared greatly about justice, honesty and doing the right thing.
Bronfman, the legendary businessman, philanthropist and activist Jewish communal leader on an international scale, died Dec. 21 at the age of 84.
More than 1,500 people, including a wide range of Jewish leaders, filled Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall late Tuesday afternoon to mark the occasion and recall a man that Rabbi Andy Bachman, in a brief invocation, called a “fierce friend and advocate of the Jewish people” who “redeemed captives and revitalized youth,” referring to his championing the cause of Soviet Jewry and launching programs like the Bronfman Youth Fellowships and providing major support to Hillel, the Jewish campus group.
The hall was darkened and the large stage was bare except for four large photographs of Bronfman, a memorial candle, and a tree in the middle, no doubt to mark his family nickname as well as symbolize roots, blossoms and growth.
Samuel Bronfman II described his father as a man of strength who told him, on joining the Seagram’s board he led, that his son would have two voting choices: “Aye, or I resign.” But in the hour-long service’s most emotional moment, his voice choked in recalling his father’s bravery after Samuel was kidnapped 40 years ago. Warned by the authorities against giving in to the kidnappers’ demand that Bronfman himself deliver the ransom in person, he defied the police and readily agreed — an act, his son said, for which he would always be grateful.
In a video presentation, Bronfman, in interviews, spoke of the importance of Judaism in his life as a source for his pursuit of “justice and truth,” and the value of a Jewish education “to know who you are.”
Jeremy Bronfman, one of Edgar’s 24 grandchildren, followed with reflections on his grandfather’s commitment to family. It was a complicated one — his father was married three times though only Jan Aronson, his third wife, to whom he was married the last 25 years, was mentioned publicly.
Dana Raucher, executive director of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation, recalled how she met Edgar when she was a 16-year-old Bronfman Youth Fellow and noted that more than a decade later he tapped her to head his foundation.
“He took young people seriously,” she said, “he believed anyone can change the world” and taught that “a philanthropist is someone who does, not just funds.”
Matthew Bronfman, one of Edgar’s seven children, spoke of his father as a Jewish leader, a man who cared less about being liked than being respected. As president of the World Jewish Congress, his son recalled, in 1985 his father chose to expose Kurt Waldheim’s past as a former Nazi officer even though the Austrian leader was running for president at the time. “For my father it was not a political issue, it was a moral issue, and he felt how dare he not do something?”
Matthew also spoke of accompanying his father to a key meeting in Moscow in 1990 with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to call for the release of Jews from the USSR. Despite the high stakes, Bronfman boldly interrupted a long monologue by the Soviet leader to bring up the issue of Soviet Jews — a move, his son said, that won him Gorbachev’s respect.
In a video presentation, Israeli President Shimon Peres said of Bronfman, “he came from the lions,” a “brave leader never reluctant to face the truth,” adding: “He was not afraid to argue with non-Jews, and with Jews as well.”
Bronfman’s “real wealth,” he said, was not money but “service to his people.”
Hillary Clinton’s talk blended warm personal remembrances with praise for Bronfman’s direct style as “a champion for justice and human dignity.” She spoke of his commitment in the 1990s to gain financial restitution for thousands of survivors and their families by forging an agreement with Swiss banks to release Holocaust-era accounts. “He knew it would not be easy but that it was the right thing to do,” she said, “and that time was running out.”
Bronfman received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest U.S. honor for civilians, from President Clinton in 1999.
In closing remarks, son Edgar Bronfman Jr. said his father “died without regrets” and that he did not hunger for power but used it “for the betterment of mankind.”
“Thank you, Dad,” he said, “for the standards you set.”
The program began and ended with Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl leading the audience in a Havdalah “niggun” (or melody without words) Bronfman loved. A fitting coda to a man who infused countless young people with a love for their Judaism.
Gary@jewishweek.org
NEWS and FEATURES
Scarlett Johansson And SodaStream
The seltzer gizmo company's Yonah Lloyd calls out the BDS agenda.
Alan Zeitlin
Jewish Week Correspondent
SodaStream's Super Bowl ad staring Scarlett Johansson has generated a ton of buzz, although maybe not exactly the kind the company was looking for when it cast the superstar actress. BDS supporters and Oxfam have criticized her for serving as the company’s spokeswoman because one of the company’s major plants sits in territory they claim is illegal for Israel to operate in. Yonah Lloyd, SodaStream’s chief corporate development and communications officer, responded to Blueprint’s questions via e-mail.
Why did you select Scarlett Johansson to be your spokesperson and featured star in the Super Bowl ad? Were you considering anyone else?
We were [looking for] a global brand ambassador, and were inspired by how Nespresso worked with George Clooney, which had quite a significant impact on their business. During the process we received a call from our French distributor that an "American" was in Paris and had contacted his office to find a replacement CO2 carbonator for her SodaStream. It turned out to be Scarlett Johansson's people who reached out, and we soon learned that Scarlett has been a SodaStream user for years, with our products in her home as well as at her movie sets. We knew we now had our perfect choice, as she already loved our brand.
As someone who promotes sustainability and Israelis working alongside Palestinians, do you think you have been unfairly targeted?
The voices calling for a boycott of our products are conveniently forgetting that our facility in Mishor Adumim is 100% legal as per the Oslo and Paris agreements signed between Israel and the PA. And further, they are actually demonstrating a completelack of humanitarian sensitivity to the thousands of people who benefit from the stable economic opportunity that we provide. Our employees are paid wages based on Israeli law, which means that our Palestinian employees make four to six times more than what is available under the PA. They also get a full array of social benefits – medical, maternity leave, etc. – almost unheard of under the PA. And no less important is the fact that our factory is a wonderful example of how people from all backgrounds can work, eat and celebrate milestones together in peace, an objective that will come from mutual understanding and respect nurtured in a stable economic environment that brings hope for a better life.
Was Johansson aware that there would be some backlash?
Yes, any Google research on our brand will show that the BDS story has been around for years so this was to be expected.
Does the controversy help or hurt the brand?
The SodaStream brand is thriving in 45 countries worldwide, continuing to grow strong, and our consumers don't really relate to the media noise. They simply want a smarter, better-for-you alternative to the packaged sodas they have been buying.
Do you think the BDS critics are aware that you employ so many Palestinians? Should that fact trump their concerns about the location of your plant?
SodaStream is the largest employer of Palestinians in the region, with approximately 600 at the facility in Mishor Adumim, along with an additional team of 400 Israeli Arabs and 400 other Israelis from Russia, Ethiopia, Darfur, the U.S. and of course native-born. The BDS [camp is] well aware of this information, but clearly they have a very different agenda than actually seeking to help the people they claim to be representing.
USA TODAY's ad-meter listed last year's ad as 35th out of about 55. Is that something you think matters and do you expect to see a higher score this year?
Last year the media we received before and after the Super Bowl generated over 8 billion media impressions worldwide, which exceeded our expectations for raising brand awareness. This is what matters most to us, and we look forward to another great kick-off moment to a strong year of educating consumers about our brand and the benefits of our products.
Were you surprised that England would not run your ad last year and knowing that Pepsi sponsors the halftime show, and did you expect the first ad to be rejected by CBS last year?
Last year the TV commercial we wanted to run included images showing that when people use SodaStream it helps make bottles of Coke and Pepsi disappear. Did you know that approximately 1 billion bottles and cans are not recycled every single day? We are a beverage company, and Coke and Pepsi are our competitors, so we created an ad that uses what is called comparative advertising, a perfectly common way to help consumers understand why our products are better. The rejection of the ad in the UK and by CBS was simply censorship, likely due to commercial pressure they felt from those Big Soda companies that spend lots of money. It came as a surprise, and we ended up having to air a different spot. And the best part was that the original ad that we uploaded to YouTube received over 5 million views, so we accomplished our goal. However, despite not being seen on TV at the Super Bowl itself, the ad did run on other stations at other times, including Fox.
Do you think the major soda companies fear your product and do you think the ad will increase sales in the American market?
Coke and Pepsi must know very well that their current business model for bottling and selling soda for home consumption is antiquated and will be a thing of the past in the not-too-distant future. People love the empowerment that today's consumer products give them, such as smartphones, and this trend is quickly becoming important in the kitchen as well. Indeed, Coca-Cola sales in the US are significantly lower now compared to the past few years, and that trend will likely continue. Our way is the future of home soda, and any soda company that wants to keep their brand in people's homes will likely soon have to find a way to work with us if they want to continue to be relevant.
editor@jewishweek.org
The Disco Rabbi
Tim Boxer
Jewish Week Online Columnist
It began in 1969 when Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, a sixth generation rabbi from Meah Shearim in Jerusalem, discovered Israel’s street children consisting of wandering orphans, drug addicts, abused kids, estranged from their poor families and without faith.
The 23-year-old rabbi made it his mission to rescue the lost children. He and his wife took a bus to Migdal Ha’Emek, a disadvantaged town in the northeast Galilee populated by the poorest immigrants from Eastern Europe and Arab countries. It was a hotbed of crime and drugs where Torah was all but forgotten.
As the bus rumbled into town the rabbi asked, “Where is the yeshiva?”
“There is only a disco,” the driver said.
“Okay, take me to the Disco Yeshiva.”
The driver turned to the rabbi’s wife: “Is he crazy?”
The rabbi gathered kids from the discos and the streets and started a Torah class. In the local jail he taught Pirke Avoth twice a week. He gave one of the prisoners a kiss. Two days later he opened a letter: “Rabbi, that was the first kiss I ever got in my life.”
Hanging out with the homeless kids on the street and in the discos, Rabbi Grossman gained their confidence and attracted a growing number of at-risk children. Beginning with 18 of them, Grossman and his expanding staff now serve more than 10,000 boys and girls across the country with four daycare centers, 10 kindergartens, four elementary and junior high schools, 6 high schools, a Gan Yavne College, Zoharim Youth Village, 200 foster family supervised apartments, 160 Ohr Yisraeli Youth Clubs, a recording studio, medical center and a bridal salon for weddings.
Migdal Ohr (“Tower of Light”) graduates are among Israel’s top doctors and lawyers, army generals and even a Knesset member.
With a universal reputation as “the disco rabbi,” Grossman came to New York last month to preside over the annual Migdal Ohr gala at Espace. He introduced one of his graduates, Isaac Kakone.
Isaac grew up in a broken home in Montreal. At 15, embittered that his parents divorced, he found himself on the street, drinking and “doing things.”
“Not knowing who I am, with all this anger in me, I hit rock bottom. This man said he’d send me to Israel to see Rabbi Grossman. I wanted to go to Tel Aviv but I went to Midgal Ha’Emek. There was someone to talk to. I started studying computers and Torah. They gave me food, clothing, everything that only your mother gives.”
The disco rabbi put his arm around him. “Whatever happened, happened. From now on you just grow.”
disco yeshiva, Gan Yavne College, Migdal Emek, Rabbi Dovid Grossman, Zoharim Youth Village
Natalie Portman's Husband Converting to Judaism
Benjamin Millepied said he is 'in the middle of the conversion process.'
French choreographer Benjamin Millepied, the husband of Jewish actress Natalie Portman, told an Israeli newspaper that he is converting to Judaism.
Millepied told the Hebrew-language Yediot Acharonot in an article published Wednesday that he is “in the middle of the conversion process.” He added that he hopes the process will “come to an end soon and I will become a Jew.”
Becoming Jewish is “very important for me,” Millepied told the newspaper.
The couple is in Israel through March as Portman casts the movie that she is directing based on “A Tale of Love and Darkness,” a book by Israeli author Amos Oz.
The couple will relocate to Paris, where Millepied will work as director of dance at the Paris Opera Ballet.
Portman said in September in an interview with the French magazine Madame Figaro that she is interested in becoming a French citizen.
“I don’t have the French nationality, but I would be love to get it. But I don’t know if it’s possible because I already have an American and an Israeli passport,” she said.
Portman and Millepied, who have a son named Aleph, were married in a Jewish wedding ceremony last year.
New York News
Slammin' The Sermon
Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope plays host to debut NY event, a spoken-word riffing on sanctuaries and tabernacles.
Elie Lichtschein
Special To The Jewish Week
The sermon is a staple of the American Jewish synagogue experience. Commonly used to glean insight into the week’s Torah reading or as an excuse to catch up on sleep — depending on your interest and the speaker’s talent — the sermon as a form tends to be formulaic. Raise a question about the parsha, offer an explanation, maybe tell a story, stick in a joke here or there. Pretty straightforward, right?
Wrong. At least when it comes to SermonSlam, a public forum geared toward re-energizing talks on the weekly Torah portion by imbuing them with the urgency and spirit of slam poetry. SermonSlam’s founder, David Zvi Kalman, a doctoral student in Jewish-Islamic medieval studies at the University of Pennsylvania, said the forum is aimed at “exploring the many different ways of delivering a sermon. My hope is that SermonSlam will give inspiration to sermonizers to experiment with how to best convey Torah ideas.”
SermonSlam made its New York debut in the large auditorium of Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope last Thursday night. Over 130 people sat in the audience as 12 brave souls got up in turn and slammed. Among them were students, poets, comedians, rabbis-in-training and laypeople, all of whom shared the common denominator of passionately riffing on the night’s theme of “Sanctuaries and the Tabernacle.” In typical slam fashion, each presenter was given five minutes or less. Jonah Rank, a musician and rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary, was on hand to play elegant, Oscar-style lead-out music if any of the performers’ slams went over the allotted time.
An on-deck system made sure that each slammer was given adequate prep time before ascending the podium. Three judges sat in judgment, determining who would take home the prizes for “Funniest Slam,” “Most Creative Slam,” “Best Use of Sources,” and “Overall Best Content.”
The night began with a piece from Rabbi Marc Katz, CBE’s assistant rabbi; he wrestled with the biblical edict of “Build me a sanctuary,” and then proceeded to paint a rosy picture of serving God in the good ole days of the Temple.
Subsequent slammers used the night’s theme as a springboard to delve into a host of issues. One pondered how to balance living in a world largely defined by greed and consumption with feeling a deep need to be charitable. Another took the classic call from God to man of Ayeka — “Where are you?” and turned it on its head, demanding, “Where am I? No, God. Where are You?”
Serving God was compared to building an IKEA bookcase by a slammer, with all of the attendant frustrations. “My sanctuary is authenticity,” another began. “What’s yours? What’s your sacrifice? Would you ever set your iPhone on fire?”
Some used the forum to expound on a sermon in the typical question-answer-here’s-the-takeaway format, but still others went even further, transforming the sermon experience in ways unfamiliar. Naked Barbie dolls were used by one of the presenters as makeshift keuvim, the angels that either faced or turned away from each other to indicate whether or not God was feeling favorable toward the Jews.
Another slam, titled “The Metamorphosis,” retold the story of Kafka’s protagonist, Gregor Samsa, except from the perspective of a yeshivish girl who wakes up one morning to find the words Kodesh L’Hashem, Holy to God, tattooed in gold across her forehead. (This slam took home the top award of the night; the prize was a SermonSlam T-shirt and a ruler with pictures of Israeli war heroes on it).
Some of the slammers were punners as well. “When I heard that it was to be Torah themed,” one began, “I reached deep into my dvarsenal.” And the last contestant of the night slammed along to a soundtrack of singles from the ’70s, which nicely jived with her piece about the struggles of growing up with one foot in the traditional Jewish world, the other in mainstream society. Or, as she put it, “I grew up with Bowie and babka … with the Rambam and the Ramones … with ABBA and abba.”
In between each slammer, two MCs kept the atmosphere in the room light and jokey, with an assortment of audience-involved activities, such as Parsha Mad-Libs (“Next year in … Minnesota!”), a communal round of Jewish geography (“Does anyone here know anybody named … Josh Rosenberg?”), and pairing off of two six-person teams competing to make the better “human sanctuary.”
One of the slammers, Avishai Gebler, a second-year rabbinical student at Riverdale’s Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and the rabbinic intern at Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights Shul, used the night’s theme to draw connections between Lego, casinos and the tabernacle. “When a friend first told me about it,” he said, “It just sounded like a fun event, a different way to give over Torah, and also a forum for me to work on different modes of expressing myself. In addition, the chance to hear all different people with all different backgrounds and approaches sharing that space in fun, slightly subversive yet deeply devoted ways was so special.”
SermonSlam NY was the third such event. The first was held in Philadelphia in November and the second was in Jerusalem at the end of December. SermonSlam NY received its funding from a Schusterman Make It Happen grant, which has allowed it to fund the rental cost of the equipment used to film and record each event. Kalman also recently launched a KickStarter campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openquorum/sermonslam) to raise awareness and more funding for future slams.
Kalman’s ultimate goal is to have one SermonSlam every week, in communities all around the world. The gathered content will then be disseminated in video and podcast form before Shabbat that week, in essence allowing SermonSlam to serve as a resource for compiling new, inventive Torah content. Slams are planned for the next few months in Tel Aviv, Boston, Chicago, Providence, R.I., Columbus, Ohio, Ann Arbor, Mich., Berkeley, Calif., Montreal and Toronto.
SermonSlam is the first public event of Open Quorum, an online platform that is the sole project of Jewish Public Media, a nonprofit founded by Kalman last month. There are, however, other Open Quorum events simmering — all of which aim to include the same level of audience participation as SermonSlam.
“Sermons are never experienced alone,” Kalman said. “They’re meant to be experienced as a live event. When we record them, we include a separate microphone to get the sounds of the audience. To experience a sermon is to experience the audience, too.”
editor@jewishweek.org
Food and Wine
A Sweet Crowd Pleaser
To satisfy demand, make a double batch of these chewy honey cookies.
Amy Spiro
Jewish Week Online Columnist
A touch of honey makes for an extra-chewy cookie. Amy Spiro
I'm always looking for crowd pleaser cookies. Sure, I love experimenting with peanut butter, oatmeal, craisins, apples and pretty much anything one can put in a cookie. But if I'm baking for a big crowd, I like to play things a bit safer, so I know that everyone will enjoy them.
If there ever was a crowd pleaser cookie it is definitely these honey cookies. Light and sweet with crisp edges and a deliciously chewy center with just a touch of honey flavor, everyone will come back for seconds. In fact, you might want to make a double batch. Just in case.
Amy Spiro is a journalist and writer based in Jerusalem. She is a graduate of the Jerusalem Culinary Institute's baking and pastry track, a regular writer for The Jerusalem Post and blogs at bakingandmistaking.com. She also holds a BA in Journalism and Politics from NYU.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup (150g) oil
1 cup (200g) sugar
1/4 cup (85g) honey
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups (250g) flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
turbinado/demerara sugar, for rolling
Recipe Steps:
Beat or whisk together the oil, honey, and sugar until smooth (it may not look like a very cohesive mixture, but don't despair - you an also zap it in the microwave for 20 seconds to help).
Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt until no white streaks remain. Chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour.
Shape the dough into about tablespoon-sized balls and roll in the turbinado sugar, making sure to coat the whole cookie.
Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 8-12 minutes until the edges are light brown in color. Keep an eye on them as they can burn quickly. Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, the remove to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
The Bagel-Croissant Hybrid From The Bagel Store In Brooklyn
First came the Cronut. Now, there's the Cragel.
On January 13th, the New York City blog Gothamist broke the news that the Bagel Store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was baking up a bagel-croissant hybrid no doubt inspired by the wild success of Manhattan bakery Dominique Ansel’s cronut, a pastry cream-filled, croissant-like flaky pastry. The latter became a bonafide phenomenon: hours-long lines formed outside the bakery, and pastry chef Ansel even trademarked the term—check out the little “TM” in a recent profile run by Food & Wine magazine.
After the Gothamist piece ran, numerous outlets flocked to the Bagel Store on Bedford Avenue to interview owner Scot Rosillo, who claimed that customers had been “absolutely astounded by the taste” and said that the store had trouble keeping the cragels stocked. Still, only a few blogs actually tasted the cragel to verify such claims. Such was my mission earlier today, when I made the trip up to the store to conduct a taste test.
The first thing I noticed when I arrived? The store’s cragel offerings had expanded from one flavor—plain—to several, including a pretzel-croissant type as well as a cinnamon sugar variety. But being the good Jew that I am, the type that caught my eye was the (poorly-named) “Ruagel,” a so-called cross between a bagel and a chocolate rugelach. I picked up both a ruagel and a plain cragel and went on my way.
Back at the Jewish Week offices, I dug into my bounty. I liked the ruagel: it’s very flaky, with a hit of light chocolate flavor and a little bit of complementary saltiness, but certainly doesn’t satisfy like an Ostrovitsky’s rugelach does. And the original cragel? In my opinion, it’s a total dud: neither light and flaky enough to qualify as a croissant, nor hearty and chewy like a good bagel, with a dull, under-salted flavor. If you’re in the New York area, try it yourself and see if you agree.
The Bagel Store
349 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 218-7220
Note: the Bagel Store is not a kosher bakery.
The KFWE (Kosher Food and Wine Experience) February 24.
Make your online ticket purchase now as this year's event, which is bigger than event, with added space, is nearly sold out. To accommodate as many as possible, the luxury yacht, The Hornblower Hybrid, accessible from Pier 60 which will be available for all of our Guests are welcome to come and go between the two areas as they please throughout the evening.
Tickets
Travel
The Hottest Cold Spot Around
Hilary Larson
Travel Writer
Antarctica is the only continent your faithful correspondent is unlikely ever to reach.
There are myriad reasons, chief among them my distaste for cold weather — unless there is plentiful indoor distraction in the form of opera houses, cafés and museums.
But travel to Antarctica is exploding in popularity. For many people, the allure of the exotic and extreme, and the opportunity to explore one of Earth’s last virgin territories, eclipse the considerable expense and complexity of an Antarctic trip.
About a year ago — just past the solstice, when Southern Hemisphere days are longest — my friend Barbara made the 10-day voyage, and she’s been raving about it ever since. So as New Yorkers shiver through the Polar Vortex, I thought it appropriate to ask Barbara what it’s like to visit somewhere truly polar.
My first question, naturally: How cold was it?
“It wasn’t that cold, actually,” Barbara said with a laugh. “Certainly not as cold as it is in New York today.” Daily highs during her trip fluctuated between the 20s and 30s, which doesn’t sound terrible for a place where penguins live — except, of course, that this was midsummer.
And unlike New York in January, Antarctica is a place where you actually want to spend hours at a time outdoors, savoring the otherworldly beauty of blue glaciers, glistening ice sculpture and (of course) those adorable penguins. So Barbara and her husband, Geoff, heeded the counsel of their tour operator — Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic, a venerable outfit with long experience in the Antarctic — and came prepared with thermal clothing.
There was plenty of opportunity to sightsee. In the Southern Hemisphere summer, daylight never fades completely — “not that I stayed up all night to look,” noted Barbara (cabins are equipped with blackout shades for sleeping). The sun dipped, but never set, casting a pink glow over the icy, watery landscape. “There’s a sort of austerity about it that is beautiful,” said Barbara, speaking of the scenery overall.
Her long-anticipated journey began with a flight to Buenos Aires, an overnight stay with sightseeing in the Argentine capital, and then a flight to Ushuaia, the world’s southernmost city and a common jumping-off point for Antarctic trips.
From there, the M/S National Geographic Explorer took Barbara, Geoff and about 150 fellow travelers across the Drake Passage — a notoriously stormy and windswept waterway — to the Antarctic Peninsula, which reaches northward toward South America. The island archipelago that surrounds this spit of land is home to various scientific stations, including a U.S. base, Palmer Station, on Anvers Island.
Tourists are increasingly common at Palmer Station, but the scientists still seemed thrilled to meet new faces, presenting tanks full of krill and updates on local research to a captive audience. Lest voyagers go into retail withdrawal, the base even boasts a gift shop — a very popular activity, given how infrequently the opportunity arises for Antarctic postcard shopping.
Nearby, a British research station was abandoned more than a half-century ago when supply interruptions necessitated a total evacuation. The station is now a curiosity for sightseers, an eerie time capsule complete with underwear hanging out to dry, like Chernobyl without the radiation.
But the biggest thrills come courtesy of the stunning natural surroundings — which the Lindblad travelers explored during five days of professionally guided photography, small-boat cruises, fjord passages and hikes up snowy mountainsides. Massive ice formations, said Barbara, “are just like sculpture. It’s like an outdoor art exhibit, and they’re this unearthly blue, the most gorgeous turquoise you’ve ever seen.”
Spontaneity is an essential element of Antarctic adventure. The itinerary can from trip to trip, even day to day, as the captain makes calculations based on forecasts, currents and wind direction. Some harbors are only accessible, for instance, if weather is good; the same goes for activities like kayaking amid the ice floes. And travelers keep their all-weather boots handy for sudden announcements over the P.A. system: “Orcas off to the left!” can be a serendipitous photo-op.
With tour operators proliferating, Barbara advised looking for those with solid experience in the Antarctic — a place that remains, as a recent incident with a stranded vessel illustrated, a perilous and unpredictable corner of the world. A truly satisfying trip will include lectures by expert naturalists that put the scenery into context, as well as the good food and creature comforts that Shackleton — the British explorer whose legendary Antarctic voyages are the subject of a PBS documentary — could only dream about.
Most modern-day explorers are thrilled just to cross Antarctica off their list. “For many people, this was their seventh continent,” said Barbara. While she still has one or two to go, she acknowledged that apart from its natural thrills, Antarctica retains a singular and ineffable mystique.
“There’s something about the fact that it’s so difficult to get there, that so many people tried to get there and couldn’t,” she said. “You think, ‘Wow, I have been somewhere very few people will ever go.’”
editor@jewishweek.org
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