Simcha: a Celebration of Life

This weekend, the monkey's and I were in San Francisco. My closest friends and I (the friends I have had since childhood) took our kids to see a show on Saturday night. This was actually the whole reason for our trip to San Francisco. Of course, it's always nice for the grandparents (my parents) to see the grand kids.

Normally, I would save our trips for an occasion like a birthday. Once I heard what this show was about, I knew that it was something I wanted to take the monkeys to.

From their website:

Simcha: a Celebration of Life, Jewish American History in Dance



Inspired by the well-known stories of Sholom Aleichem, Firebird Dance Theatre's Simcha is a touching celebration of the spirit and history of the Jewish culture, using the art forms of dance and music. The story will immerse the audience into the emotions felt by a family torn away from their village in Eastern Europe and transported to a new land and an unknown life.


There are a couple of reasons I felt so strongly about this show but I think the main one is that, in many ways, this is the story of our (my family, my husbands family and most of our friends families) life! I was not born in this country and left the former Soviet Union due to religious persecution (OK I was 4 years old at the time, so it's more like my parents left and I had no choice but to come with). My parents came to the US with $500 and 1 suitcase each for themselves, my sister and I, and my maternal grand mother. They were also 40 years old and knew almost NO English.

The monkey's are 1st generation Americans. And I DO NOT WANT THEM TO FORGET OR TAKE FOR GRANTED ALL THAT THEY HAVE!

They may be little now, but I'm hoping that by taking them to events like this, and by talking about the past, the monkey's will value their heritage and understand the responsibilities they have in regards to keeping our history, and culture, alive.

For now, they ABSOLUTELY LOVED the dancing (both are in dance classes multiple times a week), the music (somehow the big monkey knows The Berry Sister songs?!?!?!) and the fact that they were seeing this show with their friends!

A truly successful night.