Music and war have a longtime relationship. Think of fife and drums corps accompanying Revolutionary War armies on the march, buglers signaling orders to Civil War troops.
The Lions of Judah and Pomegranates of the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley will explore a different sort of relationship between music and war when they gather to kick off their new year with Night at the Movies on Monday, November 14.
The Lions and Poms will view the documentary “Rock in the Red Zone” and discuss it and the situation in Sderot, Israel, a half mile from the Gaza Strip, with its writer and director, Laura Bialis. Amid years of continual bombing of the city by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Israeli musicians turned bomb shelters into music halls and birthed a new sound blending folk traditions from their own diverse cultural backgrounds with rock and roll. “The Sderot bands were essential in the process of shifting Israeli music, being a fusion of East and West,” says an on-screen commentator.
Laura Bialis traveled to Israel from her native Los Angeles to film the movie. She says on screen that “I encountered some of the most amazing music I’ve ever heard.” She ended up staying, settling right there in the war zone and crucible for art that her film depicts.
The Lions and Poms will discuss the tumultuous situation and the artistic innovation that arose from it, the spirit of the musicians and fellow residents, and other aspects of the multilayered reality represented on screen.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Emmaus Theater at 19 South Fourth Street in Emmaus. The film will be screened and a discussion with Bialis will follow.
Lion of Judah and Pomegranate members who are donating $1,800 to the Federation’s 2023 Annual Campaign for Jewish Needs are invited to attend and to bring a spouse or other guest along with them. Dinner will be served, dietary laws observed.
RSVP by Nov. 7 at mailbox@jflv.org or 610-821-5500.