Sunday saw the launch of the 7th Festival of Spoken Ivrit at JW3 with a variety of performances and reception with the Ambassador of Israel.
The central London venue welcomed hundreds of children to arts and crafts sessions linked to new performances of ‘The Lion and the Mouse’ and ‘Peter Pan-Tom’s Super Hero’.
Adult and teenage audiences enjoyed ‘Champion of Israel’, a play about Olympic Gold Medal winner Oren Smadga and ‘Sentenced for Life’, based on the real-life personal story of Avraham Aurbach, a child Holocaust survivor, to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.
From right to left: Matan Bar Noy, Lord Polack, actors Tal Danino and Lidor Admoni, the head teacher of Hasmonean Boys Mrs Zarfati, Michal Agmon and Mrs Wilkenson
The Festival had its formal schools opening on Monday at Hasmonean Boys’ Middle School, attended Lord Polak and will go on to tour at 16 synagogues across the country.
Organiser Tali Tzemach told Jewish News: “I am proud to be Israeli and be part of this beautiful cultural endeavour. I feel very honoured to bring the Festival of Spoken Ivrit to London for the 7th time this year. The theme and the plays of Hashaa theatre are fantastic, and the actors are giving their heart and soul to the audience.”
She added: “Seeing the audience and their reaction including the teachers and the community in the synagogues is filling my heart and makes me feel that we are doing something important and special.”
