Shtetl Gets in Le Mood

Shtetl Montreal » Shtetl

Le Mood…Mais, qu-est ce que c’est?

I heard a young woman, looking at a flyer for this festival ask, “Is this a dating thing?”. Not an entirely surprising question since the image is of a naked man giving a naked woman an apple under a tree in an urban landscape, and, the day-long festival of Jewish arts, culture and learning is called….Le Mood.

The apple evokes temptation and knowledge, which go hand in hand according to Jewish lore. If you’re curious like Eve, or eager to uncover the mystery behind what makes an urban Jew tick…Le Mood seems like the place to congregate.
I can’t claim to be an objective journalist, since I’m moderating a session at Le Mood (see below). I can say that I’ve been skeptical about joining in any Jewish group/activity for as long as I can remember. Will it be all those things that I think make me uncomfortable about being part of the Jewish collective? Will there be fighting, name-calling, will it be cheesy, clicky, will I be forced to smile and nod as someone force feeds me their answers? Will I have to do folk dancing of any sort?

Thank the Lord above that there will be an informal session called “Jews on the Couch” happening at 1PM where anyone with Jewish identity issues can lie down and get a little “therapy” from Dr. Rachel Kronick of the Mile End Chavurah. After some venting about your fear of being “too Jewish”, or getting relief from your guilt about bringing a mickey of bacon grease to your Passover seder, you can travel with a lighter heart to the almost 60 sessions happening throughout the day (including one called Pork Memoirs by writer and swinologist Jeffrey Yoskowitz).

It really would be a shame if you didn’t peruse the program. Live art, yoga, sessions for the budding mystic, critical analysis of culture, law, identity, politics and even a how-to on everything you need to know about sheitels (wigs) with Myriam Aialon.
Tune in to Shtetl to get in Le Mood for what will definitely be a unique day. On the show we’ll have Zev Moses, Programming Chair of Le Mood and Curator of the Interactive Museum of Jewish Montreal. Also on the show: Felber, the bassist in the band uRockaoke -making all your Jewish rock star dreams come true, Wolf Clan Representative from the Mohawk Traditional Council, Stuart Myiow Jr. and Emily Litvack, a coordinator at Teva Quebec, who will give us a glimpse at what you can expect from their session with Rabbi Shachar Orenstein about similarities, and differences, in the Jewish and First Nations’ approach to the environment.

Thanks for tuning in!
p.s. The festival costs $20 for the day, but if you register with two other people you can get the third pass for free. The concert at night** , on its own, is $10. Do you think that this is expensive? Is it cheap? Can you afford it, or is it only for people with money? I say, just lay down the cash and come to Loaded, the panel on Jews and Money that I’ll be moderating at 2PM, and we can make sense of your financial issues (personal and historical) with Prof. Mort Weinfeld, filmmaker Lewis Cohen and music publicist Jon Asher. See you there!
**The concert is being produced in collaboration with POP Montreal and will feature a special one-time-only edition of uRockaoke doing JewRockaoke, with very special guest, Socalled, and a performance by The Youjsh.