For its second year, the Broomfield Jewish Festival will provide a space for the celebration of Jewish culture and heritage.
The festival, organized by Chabad of Broomfield, includes Jewish cultural food and music as well as family-friendly festivities and activities, according to the center’s codirector, Rabbi Yossi Rapoport.
“It’s a family-friendly celebration of Jewish culture and heritage — it brings the community together,” Rapoport said. “It has music, food, art, Judaica — and it’s really an amazing event for people of all backgrounds and faiths to come together and learn about Jewish culture.” Judaica refers to objects related to Judaism, including ceremonial objects like menorahs or historical items and literature.
Chabad of Broomfield holds a special place in the city’s community as its hub for Jewish life and culture, offering a variety of events and services for the Jewish community and people of all faiths looking to learn.
The center comes from a long history of Chabad centers — started over 200 years ago, the Chabad-Lubavitch movement is informed by a love for every Jewish person and desire to help the Jewish community in need, according to Chabad of Broomfield’s website.
Festival attendees can enjoy Jewish culture through things like music and traditional food, including a baking tent where they can learn how the traditional Jewish unleavened bread, matzo, is made. Visitors to the tent will also be guided on how to make their own matzo to take home, Rapoport said.
In addition to food, Jewish traditional music plays an important role at the festival. This year the band Shefa will be taking the stage.
“Shefa is a soulful fusion between rock, reggae and ancient Jewish tribal niggun,” the band’s cofounder, Rabbi Shalom Lebowitz, said. Niggunim are a traditional form of Jewish music.
“One of the great Jewish masters said that ‘the quill is the pen of the mind, but music is the pen of the soul,'” Lebowitz said. “Words can only go so far, and there’s a certain point where words end. Ever since I was a little kid I was dancing and singing, and to hone that in and craft spaces where people could connect and find soulful ways of living and soulful community is what I thrive for.”
Rapoport said that the festival’s funds include support from the Broomfield Community Foundation and sponsorships from local business. One of the sponsors, Well Minded Counseling, provides therapy in Broomfield and beyond.
“Diversity and inclusion are really important values of ours, and bringing community together is really important to me as a business owner,” Stephanie Konter-O’Hara, the owner of Well Minded Counseling, said. “There’s this community mindset that I have, which prioritizes making things accessible, being inclusive and being diverse … that (Rapoport) really echoes.”
The free festival is slated to start at 1 p.m. Aug. 17 in Anthem Community Park, 15663 Sheridan Parkway.
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