david israel katz is a singer, composer and performance artist. deeply rooted in jewish community, david’s recent work has been drawing on biblical and prayer-book texts, as well as on the nonverbal text of Jewish ritual. he studied composition and improvisation at mills college, and art and social change at ciis, and has specialized in voice and movement improvisation. as director of foreignfire, he organizes ensemble improvisations, writes performance and art-ritual scores, and leads creative workshopping processes. ha’aretz described him as “an uber-performer,” and his art-ritual, THRESH, was praised by jewish currents as “an intense game you can lose yourself in.” recent appearances include musrara mix festival, (jerusalem); xavier veilhan’s studio venezia (venice biennale); and naomi rincon gallardo’s formaldehyde trip (sfmoma, the broad).

rabbi dan ain was ordained at the jewish theological seminary, served at the new shul and was director of tradition and innovation at the new york city 92nd st. y. he’s hosted friday night dinners with comedians and cosmologists, klezmer brunches with composers and analysts, and conversations with friends looking for ways to talk about god on their own terms. right before joining congregation beth sholom, rabbi ain co-founded the brooklyn based organization because jewish which creates opportunities for our religious perspectives to be in genuine dialogue with our artists, our musicians and our everyday lives. the times of israel wrote that “because jewish represents the zeitgeist of jewish brooklyn, circa 2016. its raison d’être is to offer community and presence amidst the racing speed and technological isolation of the here and now.”