The Greater Phoenix Jewish Film Festival and Generations After are excited to co-host the Southwest premiere of the new documentary film, “The Return”, at the Cutler-Plotkin Jewish Historical Society on Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 7:00pm.
“The Return” is the fascinating story of four young Polish women who were raised Catholic, only to discover in their teens they were actually Jewish. Alongside the film’s quartet of dynamic twentysomethings, Zucker invites audiences to explore a tiny but growing sector of young Poles attempting to pioneer an authentic Jewish identity with little knowledge of their long-buried ancestry in a country still regarded as a “Jewish graveyard.”
Before World War II, Poland was the epicenter of European Jewry and home to 3.5 million Jews. In the aftermath of the Holocaust and through the fall of communism in 1989, only an estimated 20,000 Jews remain.
The Return’s award-winning director Adam Zucker will be present at the premiere and conduct a post-film question and answer session with the audience.
More information at www.gpjff.org. Phone orders only: 602-753-9366
Participate in three rotating “mini” classes, followed by haroset tasting. (Each 20-minute class taught only once.)
- Rabbi Robert Eisen presents “Korech: The Hillel Sandwich… The Seder as a Remembrance of the Temple”
- Cantorial Soloist NIchole Chorney presents “Transforming Your Seder into a Song”
- Rabbi Ruven Barkan presents “The Moss Hagaddah: An Artistic Midrashic Exploration”
Admission: One box of matza per family for the “Matza & More” Passover Food Drive. Please RSVP by Apr. 1.
The community is invited to learn about the messages of Passover through activities, foods & a decadent chocolate seder. No charge to attend, but RSVP needed by Apr. 12 to Rabbi Ruven Barkan.
Participate in one of Judaism’s most beautiful and meaningful festivals. Share great dialogue, family participation; supervised children’s play; traditional dinner by Handmaker Catering. CAI Members: adult $45; child $30; Non-members: adult $55; child $40; College & military $37. Reservations due by Apr. 18. Seating is limited.
September 7: Rabbi Robert Eisen presents “The Testament of Abraham”
September 14: Rabbi Ruven Barkan presents “Teshuva and The 12 Steps”
September 21: Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny presents “Nusah: The Melody Which Gives Meaning”
3-week series $18 per person PLUS food donation for the Community Food Bank. Please bring item(s) to class. RSVP required by Sept. 2.
September 7: Rabbi Robert Eisen presents “The Testament of Abraham”
September 14: Rabbi Ruven Barkan presents “Teshuva and The 12 Steps”
September 21: Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny presents “Nusah: The Melody Which Gives Meaning”
3-week series $18 per person PLUS food donation for the Community Food Bank. Please bring item(s) to class. RSVP required by Sept. 2.
September 7: Rabbi Robert Eisen presents “The Testament of Abraham”
September 14: Rabbi Ruven Barkan presents “Teshuva and The 12 Steps”
September 21: Cantorial Soloist Nichole Chorny presents “Nusah: The Melody Which Gives Meaning”
3-week series $18 per person PLUS food donation for the Community Food Bank. Please bring item(s) to class. RSVP required by Sept. 2.
Please join us in honoring Kathryn Unger for her community leadership, and more than two decades of support for JFCS of Southern Arizona.
With a passion for “Tikkun Olam” (repairing the world) and “Tzedakah” (acts of kindness and justice), Kathy has selflessly dedicated her time and energy to support Jewish organizations, and the under-served diverse populations of our community. She is the Past Chair of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Board of Directors, and has served on the Boards of Directors of JFCS of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.
The speaker for the event is CNN analyst and author David Gregory, a sought-after speaker on politics, world affairs, and now faith since the release of his book “How’s Your Faith? An Unlikely Spiritual Journey.” Over the last 25 years, David Gregory’s career in journalism has taken him across the country and around the world. He is a CNN political analyst, and host of his podcast which features interviews with newsmakers and thought leaders. During his 20 years at NBC News, David served as the moderator of Meet the Press for six years, and was chief White House correspondent during the presidency of George W. Bush. In his book, David writes about his life and quest to deepen his faith.
The emcee is Stella Inger, an Anchor with KGUN 9 in Tucson.
Event steering committee members include:
Barbara Befferman Danes
Heather Caine, Chair
Fred Fruchthendler
Carole Levi
Eric Mellan
Jill Rosenzweig
Betty Anne Sarver
Liz Weiner-Schulman
“Special Needs” – “Disability” – “Inclusion” – so many ways to describe individuals in our community who have differences. Come hear what those words mean to a mother of a young adult, a disability agency, and an individual. Rabbi Nate Crane will moderate a panel through which these speakers can tell their stories sharing what support means to them in both the secular and Jewish communities. Learn how best to help in various situations and get involved in a way that makes sense to you.
Panelists Amy DL Hummell of Gesher Disability Resources, Sharon Landay, and Barton. Facilitated by Rabbi Crane of Congregation Or Tzion and Hagigah.
The Center for Holocaust Education and Human Dignity of the East Valley JCC presents “Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi: The Gray Zone of Holocaust Survival” 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 18, at Chandler Center for the Arts.
Professor Nancy Harrowitz of Boston University’s Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies will read written works by two Auschwitz survivors, Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel, and discuss how they started a new life after the Holocaust.
Elie Wiesel and Primo Levi are the two most widely read authors on the subject of the Holocaust. They share their harrowing and deeply moving stories in very different ways, but are tied together through a deeply philosophical perspective, an emphasis on social justice, and the meaningful legacies they have left behind. How do they create an approach to the Holocaust that brings readers to appreciate its importance in today’s world? How can looking at their stories and how they tell them help us understand their relevance? What can we learn from these two writers/survivors? The program is the debut of a partnership with Boston University’s Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies.
Nancy Harrowitz is a professor of Italian and Jewish studies at Boston University. She has published widely on anti-Semitism and gender in the modern period. Her most recent work includes the book “Primo Levi and the Identity of a Survivor.” At Boston University, she teaches courses on modern Italian literature, film and literature produced under fascism, and representations of the Holocaust in literature and film. She also directs the school’s new minor in Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Studies.