Munich Havdalah

SHIUR 1700 – Munich Havdalah

Jewish rituals meet Dionysian ecstasy and contemporary experiences of escaping the world: The video project “SHIUR 1700 – Munich Havdalah” interprets the Hawdala ceremony, the end of the Shabbat holiday, in the Munich Glyptothek.

In performances and a discussion, Jewish and non-Jewish artists explore the rite and the values behind it: freedom, intoxication and utopia – with ancient statues, beer pong games and music by Erwin Schulhoff and Kurt Weill.

The video is part of the digital event series
SHIUR 1700
. It is produced by the
Berlin ID Festival
in co-production with the
HIDALGO
.

A separation that connects

Anyone who parties in a club or attends a music festival often wants it to never end: the night, the ecstasy, the out-of-this-world feeling. This feeling is what “SHIUR 1700 – Munich Havdalah” is all about. The starting point for the video project is the ritual of Havdalah, which marks the end of the Jewish holiday of Shabbat, when traditional Jews deliberately take a break every Saturday.

Shabbat is a retreat from normality, it is a foretaste of utopia. It ends on Saturday evening after the appearance of the first stars with the Hawdala ceremony. It is an attempt to bring the sacred into normal everyday life. In other words: an attempt to preserve a piece of the club night or festival ecstasy during the week.

Artistic encounters instead of exoticizing voyeurism

Between the Greek and Roman statues of the Munich Glyptothek, “SHIUR 1700 – Munich Havdalah” interprets the Jewish Shabbat closing ritual – through an encounter with ancient mythology and contemporary aesthetics. The aim is not to take a voyeuristic look at an “exotic” ritual and provide information about it.

The spectators therefore do not see how the wine, spices and light are blessed. Rather, they experience an interpretation of the values and themes behind Hawdalah: Freedom, ecstasy and escape from the world.

Music performance about intoxication and fleeting moments

Under the artistic direction of Micki Weinberg and Tom Wilmersdörffer, mezzo-soprano Corinna Scheurle and the Ensemble UNO will create a staged musical performance with speeches. Three music videos with works by the German-Jewish composers Erwin Schulhoff and Kurt Weill show ecstasy and what follows it using various scenes in the rooms of the Glyptothek: Degeneration, regeneration and perhaps a synthesis.

In two discussion rounds (in English), the themes and values behind the Jewish rite will be explained and commented on: Do these fleeting moments of utopia and ecstasy that we experience in spiritual environments, intoxication, dance and music have to end? Can we integrate them into normal everyday life? And how?

The series in the festive year “Jewish Life in Germany”

SHIUR 1700 is a digital event series by ID Festival Berlin specially designed for the 2021 festival year “Jewish Life in Germany”. As the latest innovation in German-Jewish encounters, SHIUR 1700 combines contemporary performances from the German cultural scene with Jewish content and traditions.

Around the Jewish holidays, Jewish and non-Jewish viewers will have the opportunity for a holistic, transformative and unexpected experience. It is artistically directed by SHIUR under Micki Weinberg – the Berlin project aims to renew text-based discourse and other Jewish traditions for the 21st century. HIDALGO is involved as co-producer in “SHIUR 1700 – Munich Havdalah”.

PRODUCTION

A production of the ID Festival in co-production with HIDALGO

Under the patronage of Rüdiger Kruse

Supported by #2021JLID – Jüdisches Leben in Deutschland e.V. with funds from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community.

With the kind support of Junction, an initiative of JDC Europe and Nevatim, a project of the Jewish Agency for Israel.