LABA

LABA seeks to transform the Jewish cultural landscape by placing artists at the center of communal institutions as leaders, innovators, role models, and sources of inspiration. Artists and culture makers of the lab serve as exemplars of grappling honestly and creatively with tradition and identity – strong voices that challenge conventional assumptions and advance new paradigms for Jewish life and contemporary culture, offering invaluable sources of artistic impact at the heart of Jewish infrastructure.

The name LABA defines this model as a dynamic, innovative, and experimental cultural LABoratory: The Hebrew meaning of the program name “LABA” is ”lava,” reflecting the aspiration of the program to become a unique catalyst moving from the center outwards in a rippling affect, transforming lives of artists and communities on a local and national scale, and creating a new cultural typography.

The 14th Street Y, a Jewish Community Center in the East Village, is a vital neighborhood resource that welcomes people of all backgrounds. We provide a variety of programs with a distinctive downtown point of view, emphasizing excellence, innovation, creativity, and a questioning spirit. We are inspired by Tikkun Olam, or repair of the world, in all that we do: a value that represents and renews the vitality of our Jewish heritage and its place in our diverse and vibrant community. The 14th Street Y is part of a network of 80 programs at 32 sites provided by The Educational Alliance for all residents of Downtown Manhattan.

LABA Festival
LABA Festival is a week long celebration of this year's theme Pardes. Running from April 11th to 18th, 2010, the festival is the culmination of the 14th Street Y’s innovative year of art programs. Look for more information soon.  

LABA National Model
LABA’s mission is to create meaningful change in the Jewish cultural landscape. We have built the program as a model which can then be distributed modularly to other communities, particularly JCCs. We have hired professional staff to evaluate and design the national model (Adam Courtney and Dr. Shira Epstein) to ensure that LABA can be transplanted to other communities while achieving a similar goal of cultivating community and building a rich cultural and spiritual practice. If you are interested to bring LABA to a JCC near you please contact us at Becky_Skoff@14streety.org. 

LABA Staff
Stephen Hazan Arnoff - Executive Director
Since September 2007, Stephen Hazan Arnoff has been Executive Director of the 14th Street Y. Having served as Managing Editor of the online and print publication, Zeek 2005-2007, from 2002 to 2005 he was Director of Artists Networks and Programming at the Makor/Steinhardt Center of the 92nd Street Y. Stephen writes and lectures on art, religion, culture, education, and Jewish life in academic, communal, and popular venues, and has been awarded the Rockower Jewish Press Award for Jewish Arts & Criticism (American Jewish Press Association, 2006) and the New Voices Prize (Jewish Family and Life, 2005). He has been a Jerusalem Fellow at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Israel and a Wexner Graduate Fellow at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he earned an MA in Midrash, is currently completing a doctorate, and has served an adjunct lecturer in Talmud and Rabbinics. 

Becky Skoff - LABA Manager 

Becky Deitsch Skoff is the Manager of LABA, The National Laboratory for New Jewish Culture at the 14th Street Y. She is a graduate of the Master's program in Arts Administration at Boston University, and has worked for numerous non-profit performing arts organizations throughout the United States, including the Roundabout Theatre Company, the Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston, the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in Gainesville, FL, the New Harmony Theatre, and the Lincoln Amphitheatre. She has also coordinated national educational tours with Chamber Theatre Productions. Becky is an alumni of the University of Florida, where she received her undergraduate degree in Public Relations and Theatre. She is an active member of the United Synagogue of Hoboken and is the founder and coordinator of a Torah study program for people in their 20's and 30's. She is an advocate, volunteer, and 60-mile walker for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day. Becky lives in Hoboken with her husband, playwright and attorney Judah Skoff. 

Basmat Hazan Arnoff- Educator, Program Coordinator
Basmat is a Skirball Faculty Fellow and has widely taught Jewish text, having served on the faculty of institutions such as the Brandeis Collegiate Institute, Kolot, and Elul, the last two based in Israel. She is the author of Mayyim Hafoochim, a novel, and works as a theater director. Her play, LeShem Yichud, won the award for best ensemble at the Akko Theater Festival. She recently adapted David Grossman's See: Under Love for the stage in Tel Aviv and New York.

Ruby Namdar - Educator, Artist-In-Residence
Reuven Namdar (1964) was born and raised in Jerusalem. He completed his BA (Sociology, Philosophy and Iranian Studies) and his Master’s degree (Anthropology) at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His first book, Haviv, (a collection of short stories) was published in 2000 and won The Ministry of Culture's award for the best first publication of the year. The manuscript also won The Jerusalem Fiction award for 1998. Reuven also published short stories, book reviews and translations of medieval Persian poetry in different literary periodicals in Israel. He is currently living in New York, is working on a new novel and teaches Jewish and Israeli literature in various Jewish learning centers around the city.

Our Supporters:
The 14th Street Y is deeply grateful for the support of the following foundations, whose generosity and vision has allowed us to launch LABA: The National Laboratory for New Jewish Culture:

The Nathan Cummings Foundation is rooted in the Jewish tradition and committed to democratic values and social justice, including fairness, diversity, and community. We seek to build a socially and economically just society that values and protects the ecological balance for future generations; promotes humane health care, and fosters arts and culture that enriches communities.

The Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds are a group of Baltimore-based family foundations whose philanthropic contributions have had significant impact not only on the city of Baltimore, but nationally and internationally as well. The Funds support higher education, cultural arts, social services, community redevelopment and various Jewish causes.