On August 25 at the stunning Nożyk Synagogue in the heart of Warsaw, Cultural Affairs Officer Dan Hastings spoke at the official opening of Warsaw’s Jewish Culture Festival named after the Nobel-prize winning writer Isaac Bashevis Singer.  Singer was born near, and then grew up in Warsaw before he immigrated to the United States in 1935 and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978.  The U.S. Embassy has been a long-time supporter of the Jewish Culture Festival which brings star performers from all over the world to Warsaw to celebrate Jewish culture and Yiddish traditions and influences in contemporary performing arts.  The festival’s rich program offers theater, film, music, lectures, and open-air events for all ages.  The festival is celebrating its 16th edition this year, and is organized by the Shalom Foundation which was founded 30 years ago by the Polish-Jewish actress and theater director Golda Tencer.  The Embassy’s support of the festival this year helped bring the renowned American cantor Yaakov Lemmer from New York City who performed at the opening concert.  During his remarks at the festival opening, Cultural Affairs Officer lauded the goals of mutual understanding, openness, and dialogue that the festival promotes in celebrating the rich heritage of Jewish culture in Poland and around the world.  The U.S. Embassy has been a proud sponsor of Warsaw’s Jewish Culture Festival since its inception, and encourages festivalgoers to take advantage of its rich intercultural program that runs through September 1 in Warsaw.  For more information, please visit the festival’s website at http://shalom.org.pl/program-2019/.

 

By U.S. Mission Poland | 30 August, 2019 | Topics: Culture, Events, News