TORONTO — Evelyn Tauben, the Koffler Centre for the Arts’ head of programs and exhibitions, wants to use the centre to create a Jewish cultural scene in Toronto.
Evelyn Tauben
“It can help us think about the Jewish experience in different ways and also find points of connection with other cultures,” said Tauben, a Montreal native who has been living in Toronto for the past 18 months.
“This city is so right for that kind of work. Part of my vision is that – multiculturalism and diversity are big buzz words in Toronto – but we have to continuously push that Jewish culture plays a role in that mix. We don’t see Jewish culture as only being accessible to Jews.”
At only 30 years old, Tauben already has a lot of experience combining her training in art history with her personal passion for the Jewish community and culture.
As a McGill University student, Tauben studied English literature, art history and Jewish studies, and even spent a semester studying at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
After graduating, she went to Washington, D.C., where she got a position at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
From there, she moved to Philadelphia and obtained a master’s in art history while working at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
While studying in Philadelphia, it occurred to Tauben that she had something unique to offer the Philadelphia Jewish community. Having attended Jewish day school in Montreal, she and her peers were taught to speak Yiddish since the first grade.
She said when others learned that she could speak Yiddish, they found it funny and questioned why she needed to speak a dying language.
“Yiddish is culture, theatre, music, literature, film… I just decided that I wanted to bring Yiddish culture to my group, specifically to those in their 20s and 30s,” Tauben said.
She planned a series of events in 2006 called Youngish and Yiddish.
“One [event] was with [musician] SoCalled, one was with [author] Michael Wex – two Canadians who came to Philadelphia – and one was with a young author named Sam Apple from New York. We offered Yiddish classes for people in their 20s and 30s. It was really a huge success, beyond my wildest dreams. I just wanted to do it.”
Tauben said that the success of Youngish and Yiddish led organizations, musicians and artists to contact her about organizing other events in Philadelphia.
Having immersed herself in Jewish culture in Philadelphia, Tauben decided to attend a Jewish culture conference in New York. At the conference, she recognized Lori Starr, Koffler Centre’s executive director, from a magazine article she’d read.
When Tauben introduced herself, she learned that Starr was looking to rebuild a team at the Koffler Centre, a non-profit agency of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, located at the Prosserman Jewish Community Centre in the new Donald Gales Family Pavilion.
“Maybe a month later, I came here to interview… and the rest is history,” she said.
“It would have never occurred to me to do programming for a JCC. But there is something different about what the Koffler is building, creating, shaping. Here, we’re really shaping a vision. This is a community that I feel is ready and kind of hungry for the kind of work that we’ve already started doing and what we’re building.”
She said that the programming is multidisciplinary and includes dance, theatre, music, fashion and design.
She said that the goal is to reach the younger members of the community from all backgrounds and denominations.
One example of the kinds of exhibits currently running until Aug. 31 at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre is called “One History, Many Stories: A Family Album of Israel at 60.”
The photography exhibit, by Israeli-born, New York-based photographer Zion Ozeri, portrays the diversity of contemporary Israeli society with photographs of families from Poland, India, Yemen, Argentina, Ethiopia, Bukhara and Russia.
“Through arts and culture, we can find a way to tell really nuanced stories about Israel, and to celebrate that complexity and not be afraid to be challenged about our perception of Israel,” Tauben said.
“We believe in supporting Israel as a Jewish state, but one way of showing your support is to really dig deep and understand what is so fascinating about Israel and Israeli culture. If your only goal is to cast a positive light, you’re missing all the shades of grey that are being represented through arts and culture.”
She said the centre recently held a screening of an Israeli mini-series called A Touch Away, about a Russian immigrant family that has a difficult time adjusting after moving to Bnei Brak, an Orthodox Tel Aviv neighbourhood.
“It’s not easy to watch. I mean, it’s entertaining, it is a love story, there are some racy scenes,” but, she added, there is also a scene where a haredi man beats another man.
“Some people don’t want to see those things, so much so, that someone in the audience, who was Israeli, all he could say was, ‘That’s not Israel.’”
She said she was glad to get a reaction from the screening because it elicited discussions about how to define what the real Israel is.
“This is what I mean about exploring Israel’s complexities. It doesn’t mean you love Israel any less if you show that Russian immigrants have a hard time when they come to Israel,” Tauben said.
She said she hopes that the programming the Koffler Centre produces will appeal to Toronto’s eclectic community.
“Maybe I’m a naive optimist, but I think that arts and culture is a meeting place for people of all backgrounds… In Toronto, it just seems hard to get people to go south of where they want to go or north of where they want to go,” she said.
But Tauben wants the centre to go beyond that of a local institution.
“Because I’m from Montreal, I’d like to see relationships cultivated with other communities across Canada. I’d like Montreal – especially because it’s my hometown – to be aware of what we’re doing here… to encourage outlets for Jewish culture and to understand the commitment this community has made to Jewish culture,” she said.
“Yeah, we have our struggles in communicating how important arts and culture is compared to the other things that we fund, but at the end of the day, we’re building a whole cultural centre, and that is a really significant commitment from the Jewish mainstream community.”
