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Course Description

 Join us on the third Tuesday of each month, from December 2026 through May 2027, for a journey through classic and lesser-known Jewish-themed cinema. Featuring acclaimed films from genres including drama, comedy, romance, and historical narrative, the series explores the richness and diversity of Jewish life, culture, history, and identity. Each screening offers insight into the social, cultural, and historical contexts that shaped these works and their continuing relevance. Curated by Peter Haas and Eric Kisch, the series includes a brief introduction and historical background before each film, followed by a lively Q&A discussion following the movie projection.

MOVIES DATES AND TITLES:
Dec 15: The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob
Jan 19 Tevye.
Feb 16. Weapons of the Spirit.
March 16. Live and Become.
April 13. Power
May 18. Pickle Recipe

* Registration is for individual session

 

 


 
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Section Title
CLASSIC JEWISH CINEMA SERIES: A MONTHLY FILM SERIES (NOT ALL DISMAL!) (IN PERSON MOVIE PROJECTION)
Type
In Person
Days
T
Time (Eastern Time Zone)
3:00PM to 5:30PM
Dates
Dec 15, 2026
Schedule and Location
View Details
Contact Hours
2.5
Location
Delivery Options
In-Person  
Course Fee(s)
Course Fee non-credit $10.00
Potential Discount(s)
Drop Request Deadline
Dec 08, 2026
Transfer Request Deadline
Dec 08, 2026

Section Notes

 The Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob.  (In French with English subtitles) 

A French farce from 1973 in which an antisemitic Frenchman and a liberal Arab leader are on the run from assassins, disguised as Hassidic Rabbis!  A film that could not be made today that is at times hysterically funny and at the same time has some worthwhile lessons on tolerance.  Very little known but brilliant comedy on Jewish themes.

Section Title
CLASSIC JEWISH CINEMA SERIES: A MONTHLY FILM SERIES (NOT ALL DISMAL!) (IN PERSON MOVIE PROJECTION)
Type
In Person
Days
T
Time (Eastern Time Zone)
3:00PM to 5:30PM
Dates
Jan 19, 2027
Schedule and Location
View Details
Contact Hours
2.5
Location
Delivery Options
In-Person  
Course Fee(s)
Course Fee non-credit $10.00
Potential Discount(s)
Drop Request Deadline
Jan 12, 2027
Transfer Request Deadline
Jan 12, 2027

Section Notes

 Tevye

1939 film in Yiddish with English subtitles. Written, directed and starring Maurice Schwartz, this is a gritty film that much more accurately portrays Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye stories than the romanticized Fiddler on the Roof.  Made on Long Island, the production recreated a complete shtetl on what was then a potato farm.  A classic of the American Yiddish film era that flourished from the 1920s till WWII.

 


 
Section Title
CLASSIC JEWISH CINEMA SERIES: A MONTHLY FILM SERIES (NOT ALL DISMAL!) (IN PERSON MOVIE PROJECTION)
Type
In Person
Days
T
Time (Eastern Time Zone)
3:00PM to 5:30PM
Dates
Feb 16, 2027
Schedule and Location
View Details
Contact Hours
2.5
Location
Delivery Options
In-Person  
Course Fee(s)
Course Fee non-credit $10.00
Potential Discount(s)
Drop Request Deadline
Feb 09, 2027
Transfer Request Deadline
Feb 09, 2027

Section Notes

Weapons of the Spirit

French documentary from 1989 – with English subtitles – by Pierre Sauvage that tells the story of the village of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, which saved the lives of 5,000 Jews during WWII by sheltering them until they could escape to Spain.  Described as “The astonishing story of a unique conspiracy of goodness.”

Section Title
CLASSIC JEWISH CINEMA SERIES: A MONTHLY FILM SERIES (NOT ALL DISMAL!) (IN PERSON MOVIE PROJECTION)
Type
In Person
Days
T
Time (Eastern Time Zone)
3:00PM to 5:30PM
Dates
Mar 16, 2027
Schedule and Location
View Details
Contact Hours
2.5
Location
Delivery Options
In-Person  
Course Fee(s)
Course Fee non-credit $10.00
Potential Discount(s)
Drop Request Deadline
Mar 09, 2027
Transfer Request Deadline
Mar 09, 2027

Section Notes

 Live and Become.  (In French and Hebrew with English subtitles)

This is a 2005 French drama about an Ethiopian Christian boy who is infiltrated among Ethiopian Jews in order to escape famine and to emigrate to Israel. The film follows his growing up, living as a Jew in Israel. It was directed by Romanian-born Radu Mihăileanu. It won awards at the Berlin and Vancouver and other film festivals.  Fascinating portrait of the problems faced by Ethiopian Jews in Israel and of the resilience of the human spirit in adversity.

Section Title
CLASSIC JEWISH CINEMA SERIES: A MONTHLY FILM SERIES (NOT ALL DISMAL!) (IN PERSON MOVIE PROJECTION)
Type
In Person
Days
T
Time (Eastern Time Zone)
3:00PM to 5:30PM
Dates
Apr 13, 2027
Schedule and Location
View Details
Contact Hours
2.5
Location
Delivery Options
In-Person  
Course Fee(s)
Course Fee non-credit $10.00
Potential Discount(s)
Drop Request Deadline
Apr 06, 2027
Transfer Request Deadline
Apr 06, 2027

Section Notes

Power

This is s a 1934 British historical romantic drama film based on Lion Feuchtwanger's 1925 novel Jud Süß, about the rise and fall of Joseph Süß Oppenheimer, a court Jew in 18th century Germany. Directed by Lothar Mendes, the film stars German actor Conrad Veidt in the role of Oppenheimer.  Unlike the Nazis' antisemitic propaganda film Jud Süß (1940), the British film was intended to be sympathetic to Jews, and is generally considered to be a faithful adaptation of Feuchtwanger's novel. It was hoped the historical analogy, condemning antisemitism in 1730, would be a successful means of evading the ban by the British censors on political topics in films.  This is an extraordinary film, shot in color, made at a time when the Nazi takeover of Germany was complete.

Section Title
CLASSIC JEWISH CINEMA SERIES: A MONTHLY FILM SERIES (NOT ALL DISMAL!) (IN PERSON MOVIE PROJECTION)
Type
In Person
Days
T
Time (Eastern Time Zone)
3:00PM to 5:30PM
Dates
May 18, 2027
Schedule and Location
View Details
Contact Hours
2.5
Location
Delivery Options
In-Person  
Course Fee(s)
Course Fee non-credit $10.00
Potential Discount(s)
Drop Request Deadline
May 11, 2027
Transfer Request Deadline
May 11, 2027

Section Notes

Pickle Recipe

(US 2015 in English).  Hilarious little known comedy of a Jewish family with a secret!  Jerry Miller is the undisputed king of Detroit party MCs.  He’s also a single father and deeply in debt.  To make matters worse, all his sound equipment is destroyed in a freak accident. His daughter’s Bat-Mitzvah is only weeks away and she is counting on him to MC.  At his wit’s end, he turns to shady Uncle Marty who agrees to give him the needed money, but – he has to steal his grandmother’s famous pickle recipe, the secret of which she has vowed to take to her grave!

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