The spirit of Hanukkah season is approaching (http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/default_cdo/jewish/Hanukkah.htm). I have no real connection to religious holidays with the exception of when I was a child who questioned the existence of religion and being admonished for it by Sister Virginia. However I did find delight counting the Menorahs that radiated the windowsills in Canarsie on many cold December nights. Heck two of our closest family friends were Jewish who celebrated Christmas by having annual Trim A Tree parties. Their Festival of Lights consisted of the reds, blues, greens, yellows that twinkled and glowed on Christmas trees that were enormous and elaborately decorated compared to ours. To this day, a puny artificial tree sits in my living room during the Christmas season. (Note to self—put up tree sometime before December 25th)
The other day I was perusing the Queens Library website (www.queenslibrary.org) taking note of the events calendar as a way to plan and partake in the few days I have off at the end of this month. There is a whole array of free activities for people of all ages throughout the borough of Queens. Now that Jimmy Van Bramer, Chief External Affairs Officer of the Queens Library (http://www.jimmyvanbramer.com) has been elected to the City Council representing the 26th District I am sure library funding wont fall short as it usually does during votes on the city’s fiscal spending. One caught my eye at the Central Branch located in Jamaica that is served by many Queens’s bus routes and three subway lines including the Long Island Railroad. For directions: (www.hopstop.com). The Sunday Concerts @ Central is now in it’s 24th year where they present free concerts featuring World Music from September-July. It begins at 3:00 p.m. but I recommend you arrive by 2:30 to ensure a prime seat as the auditorium fills fast though from every angle there is a good view. December 6th’s show featured The David Glukh Klezmer Ensemble (http://www.glukh.com/klezmer.php) five guys from four boroughs represented their Jewish heritage during an awesome show. Some of the songs they played such as If I Were A Rich Man were familiar to me as they were to members of the audience that was a sampling of the cultural diversity Queens rightly claims as the most diverse community in the nation.[1] I was moved on how each of the instruments (the violin, bass, bongos, flutes, trumpet and accordion) replicated the sounds of humans crying, laughing, and singing. I could see dancers dancing joyfully at a wedding and feel the sadness in another. For further reading on klemzer music visit http://worldmusic.about.com/od/europeanjudaica/p/Klezmer.htm
