By Andrew Adler
Community Editor
A scene from the 2023 Israeli Street Fair at the Trager Family JCC
The Israeli Street Fair is back, and for 2025 the Trager Family JCC’s celebration of Israel’s food, culture and heritage returns to the breezy outdoors. So plan on stopping by Sunday, June 8 from 12-4 p.m., when an ordinary parking lot is transformed into an evocation of Middle Eastern delights.
“We’re back on the pavement,” declared Tricia Kling Siegwald, Senior Director for Festivals and Special Events at the Trager Family JCC. Last year’s event, dubbed the Israeli Arts & Culture Festival, was held indoors, a more modest event reflecting the comparatively muted mood prevailing after October 7, 2023.
For 2025, however, the fair will build on the success of the June 2023 event, which unfolded on a sun-splashed afternoon full of laughter and manifestations of delectably organized joy.
“We want to give a taste of Israel, with an environment like you’d walk in a market in Israel,” said event chair Becky Admony. “You’re going to feel the smells and the sounds, literally, of Israel.”
Speaking of enticing aromas, this year’s fair will include cuisines representing not only Israel, but of global scope. There will be food trucks including All Thai’d Up, Spinelli’s pizza, All Things Fish (tacos, fish sandwiches and hush puppies) and Prince Mediterranean, and of course, falafel — plus a booth serving up samples of authentic Israeli desserts — think ice cream with a dash of halvah, a drizzle of tahini and a dash of date honey.
“We’re going to do it every hour – just take, I don’t know, 50 or 100 samples and just give them out for free.”
Noshing is a big part of the Israel Street Fair, but it’s far from the only enticement. Local DJ Aaron Thompson will play an ongoing smattering of Israeli music. At 1 p.m., cantors David Lipp of Adath Jeshurun and Sharon Hordes of Keneseth Israel will lead everyone in the Israeli national anthem, Hatikvah, followed at 1:30 p.m. by dancing led by ShinShinim Kyla and Eden.
And don’t forget the Kids Zone.
“We’ll have inflatables, a bounce house and an obstacle course,” Siegwald promises. “There’ll be face painting, and we have a lot of Israeli and Jewish arts and crafts. PJ Library will be present, and then we have the Dead Sea Mud Experience.”
The what?
“It’s a skin care product,” Siegwald explained, making the somewhat self-evident point that applying it is a lot easier than scooping up a handful of mud from the actual Dead Sea in Israel (for the record, the lowest land-based point on Planet Earth).
“I’ve been to the Dead Sea (so named because its extreme salinity means nothing can survive) many times,” Admony said. “There’s mud everywhere – you just take it and put it over your whole body.”
There will be no shortage of vendors at the fair. Examples include Etsy-based JewishDragonDesigns (think stickers) and MinxManxMonks (Seller note: “We are special needs parents to a beautiful ASD child whose needs prompted us to find a creative outlet to supplement our income and keep us close to home. The name of our home-based business honors our child through the use of the playful nickname we have given her, Minx Manx Monks”).
Berry Best Farm out of Clark County, Indiana, and Hope Designs will offer herbs, flowers and handmade napkins – plus driftwood art from Knot Just Wood.
Dazzling Designs promises a selection of handmade clay-bad bracelets. Atmosphere Bakery will provide macaroons, mini-cakes and cookies, And the Filson Historical Society will be on hand with Jewish and Israeli-themed items, plus information on becoming a member.
The fair will also feature its version of a shuk – evoking a traditional Israeli marketplace where you can pick up some authentic Israeli spices and Louisville T-shirts (Hebrew-lettered, in case you’re wondering how they fit in).
“It’ll be like you’re walking in a market in Israel,” said Admony, herself an Israeli native. “You’re going to experience the smells and the sounds – giving you a taste of Israel.”
Admony expects that – with the fair returning to its original format this year – people will be especially eager to attend.
“They’re happy it’s going to be outdoors again, as big as it used to be,” she said. “I think there was a buzz when it was here two years ago – and because the Trager Family JCC was brand new. And now we’re an even bigger community.”