Pizmon, a Jewish a cappella group from Columbia, Barnard College, and the Jewish Theological Seminary visited Chile in a mission led by University’s Chaplain, Jewelnel Davis, and partly funded by the Kraft Global Fellows Program. They sang in several public events, surprising and moving audiences with their extraordinary voices and, and, especially, by the charm of its ten members. They participated in the Kabbalat Shabbat and Sharajit services of the Chile’s Jewish Community, visited the home Beit Israel for the elderly and sang for the children of youth movements. In addition, they performed in Santiago’s key public spaces, including Barrio Lastarria, Parque Forestal and Plaza de Armas, with the objective of sharing Jewish spirituality through their voices and songs in Hebrew, English, Spanish, Ladino and Yiddish.
Every year Pizmon travels to a different country to promote Judaism, tolerance, diversity and peace. In Chile, they visited former concentration camp Villa Grimaldi and the Museum of Memory and Human Rights. They also went to Valparaíso to sing at Plaza Sotomayor and visit the house “La Sebastiana”, where poet Pablo Neruda, Chile’s Nobel Laurete, lived. We would like to share a thoughtful and inspiring reflection by Michael Berkson, one of the Pizmon members.
To see a photo montage of Pizmon´s visit to Chile click here and to see a video montage click here