'Tis the Season to Embrace Differences
The Christmas holiday season can be a challenging time for American Jews and yet according to Rabbi Joshua Eli Plaut, PhD, former rabbi of the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, this has not always been the case.
Steam rose from many, many mugs of coffee on Saturday morning as the Martha’s Vineyard Book Festival began at the Harbor View Hotel in Edgartown. More than 30 authors attended the two-day festival, participating in readings and panel discussions at the Harbor View on Saturday and on the grounds of the Chilmark Community Center on Sunday.
The book festival has been held on the Vineyard every other summer since 2005, conceived and organized by Suellen Lazarus, a seasonal resident of Chilmark.
The Tisbury Amphitheatre sits nestled in the woods just off State Road, by the Lake Tashmoo overlook. It’s well hidden, unless you know where to look. Follow a narrow path into the woods and soon you will encounter a clearing. At the foot of the hill, 11 actors in simple costumes stand ready to begin their production of William Shakespeare’s Henry IV. The dirt stage is bare, save for a picnic table and a few wooden crates. There are not nearly enough actors to play all the roles in the show. It is a simple production, and that’s just how director Scott Barrow wants it.