A Tapestry of Jewish Life

“A Tapestry of Jewish Life,” the theme of Sunday’s outdoor Valley Jewish Festival at Cal State Northridge, will bring together Arab, Jewish and other Middle Eastern influences in food, dance and music.

With 150 booths and three entertainment areas, visitors will encounter everything from Jewish food popular in Shanghai and Budapest to a reggae band called Mongoose performing in Hebrew, French and English.

The event attracted 30,000 people last year and is expected to draw even more this year, prompting the move to larger quarters on the CSUN campus, said Bonnie Somers, a festival spokeswoman.

This year’s festival will host the debut performance by Hamsa, a quintet of Jewish and Arab musicians that festival organizers have billed as a “Jewish-Arab supergroup.”

Hamsa (an Arabic word for “five” that refers to the palm-forward hand symbol for “good fortune” common to both Arabs and Jews) will present a program mixing Sephardic, Middle Eastern and Indian-influenced music.

“It will be a completely original blend of ideas and original kinds of combinations,” said Adam del Monte, the quintet’s Israeli-born virtuoso flamenco guitarist.

The group also features violinist and oud player Nabil Azzam, the Palestinian doctor who founded the Galilee Orchestra in 1995; Jai Uttal, an American Jew who trained in India; Souhail Kaspar, a Lebanese master percussionist; and Geoffrey Gordon, veteran Hollywood Bowl and Carnegie Hall percussionist.

In addition to international-style music, the festival will present the popular ska band Save Ferris. Other activities aimed at young people include a climbing wall, a gyro sphere ride and Israeli dancing.

For those even younger, there will be free arts and crafts booths, carnival rides and a special Children’s Park Stage starring children’s recording artist Robbo! and Cindy Paley’s Yiddish-flavored interactive theater.

Other performers on the main stage will be Jewish soul singer Neshama Carlebach, daughter of the legendary Shlomo Carlebach;the Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble; and Yiddish chanteuse Taja Solnik.

Information booths will cover topics ranging from Jewish singles groups to providing support for Kosovo refugees.

The theme of international cooperation will be heard at 2 p.m. when the Children of the World Choir performs as part of a tribute to refugee relief organizations, including those in the Valley hosting Kosovo refugees.

BE THERE

Valley Jewish Festival, Cal State Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St. Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Parking $7; enter north on Darby Street from Nordhoff just east of Reseda Boulevard. Free admission, but a $5 contribution is requested for Kosovo relief and resettlement efforts. Call (818) 464-3205.