On September 10, 2016, the Tarbuton hosted the Wandering Israeli in San Diego, CA. The show offers a positive message about Israel, the value in meeting others, learning and understanding each other, and sharing our passion for Israel with those we meet. Elad and the musicians in the production do a beautiful job of weaving stories from around the world, sounds and music from a variety of genres and a myriad of instruments with flair. The production includes humor, touching moments and connection for people of all backgrounds.
Tarbuton had limited time to market the production to the community. Knowing it was a busy time of year, before the Holidays and at the start of the school year, we opted to offer an experience that would appeal to both Americans and Israeli-Americans and bring them together. The show was offered in English, and the musicians and actor worked with us on a mix of music some in English and some in Hebrew to appeal to both. The musicians added, in fact, a song in Hebrew, related to Chag HaTishrei which gave both Israeli-Americans and Jewish Americans a feeling of connection to each other and friends and family in Israel at once and suited our mission of connecting through Israeli culture in Hebrew for both Israeli-Americans and Jewish Americans in San Diego as well. Appealing to the Hebrew speaking community, we also showed the documentary of Elad’s visit to Amman, Jordan to see friends and offered a Q&A after the screening. While this extended the evening in length, it was a nice way to finish the evening and enjoyed by all.
The production drew nearly 200, appealing to many Israeli-Americans, Jewish Americans and even some Americans not associated with the Jewish community at all. The show has enormous potential for a variety of audiences sharing a positive message about Israel with communities around the world, the importance of understanding each other, our languages, our experiences. We partnered with Israel related organizations and several local Jewish institutions to market the show. For San Diego which has approximately 100,000 Jews and 7-10,000 Israelis this was strong attendance. We believe had we had more time to market the production we could have drawn a larger audience.
We had excellent reviews and feedback from the audience and many who shared they had no idea it would be such an incredible show and how much their friends had missed out. Elad and his team are professional, wonderful to work with and a treat. Don’t miss the opportunity to bring the show to your community.
Jennie Starr, CEO/Founder Tarbuton
858-201-6094 - jennie@tarbuton.org - www.tarbuton.org
