2007
March 2007
Wednesday 7 March 2007
Wed 7 Mar, 12 pm. Ruth Andrew Ellenson is the editor of the bestselling anthology, The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt, winner of the National Jewish Book Award. Ms. Ellenson is a journalist who writes for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Forward and Heeb among other publications and received the Emerging Jewish Feminist award from the Association of Jewish Studies. In an age when Jewish women have unprecedented opportunities, Ms. Ellenson will discuss how Jewish women make choices about their identity from contemplating getting a pedicure on Yom Kippur to worrying about using caller ID to dodge family phone calls. Cost: $20 advance / $25 at door (includes lunch). 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Saturday 10 March 2007
Sat 10 Mar. Open your Heart and Soul on Saturday evening, March 10, 2007, at the second annual concert benefiting The Gershman Y. That night The Y will feature a double bill of the Klezmatics, the premier Klezmer band in the US, and Philadelphia's own Dixie Hummingbirds, the iron men of gospel music, for an exciting evening of music and revelry. We guarantee you will sing along and dance in the aisles as The Y celebrates faith through music. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [more][email][events]
Monday 12 March 2007
Mon 12 Mar, 7 pm. Directors: Tommy Schwarcz and Avi Lehrer, 2002, Israel, 53 minutes, in Yiddish with English subtitles, Documentaries and Dialogue Guest Speaker: Dr. Rakhmiel Peltz Philadelphia Premiere. Israelis have been reluctant to embrace Yiddish, the language that has been spoken by so many Jews for centuries. This warm and engaging documentary looks at the changing response to Yiddish in Israel and finds the writers, poets and ordinary people who are trying lovingly to revive the language in Israel today. Dr. Peltz holds two doctorates, one in biology and one in Yiddish Studies. He has been the director of the Judaic Studies Program at Drexel University since 1998. He is the author of "From Immigrant to Ethnic Culture: American Yiddish in South Philadelphia.". 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. $10. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Sunday 18 March 2007
Sun 18 Mar, 11 am. Martin Abramowitz has been called "America's custodian of Jewish baseball memory." He is the founding President of Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc., a Boston-based not-for-profit organization that documents "American Jews in America's Game." His first project, in affiliation with Fleet Trading Cards, and the American Jewish Historical Society, was a baseball card set commemorating the 142 Jewish Major Leaguers from 1871 to 2003's All-Star Game, and the follow-up to the baseball cards was a program "A Celebration of Jews in Baseball" at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. December 2005 saw the release of the "2006 Update Edition" of the baseball cards. Martin is currently working on "Playing America's Game," a volume of oral histories of former players. In "real l. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Monday 19 March 2007
Mon 19 Mar, 6 pm. From Argentina to Philadelphia: A Personal Conversation with Philly's New Israeli Consul The Gershman Y welcomes the new Consul at the Consulate General of Israel in Philadelphia, Leo Vinovezky, as he shares his Foreign Ministry experiences that have taken him from Russia, Uzbekistan, and Uruguay to Philadelphia. Special topics to be addressed include Israel's relationship with Latin American countries, the current political situation in Israel, and moving the Philadelphia Jewish community forward. Cost: $10 advance / $15 at the door. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Tuesday 20 March 2007
Tue 20 Mar to Tue 1 May, 4-6 pm. Spring – March 20 & 27, April 17 & 24, May 1 Secular Judaism and Secular Jews: 1789 to 2005 Instructors: Dr. Jonathan Steinberg & Dr. Marion Kant Can Judaism exist without the religion? Are there secular Jews? Is it possible for people to consider themselves to be Jewish without any formal affiliation with either a religious or other specifically Jewish institution? If so, what sort of Jews are they? These questions trouble all those interested in the history, present position and future prospect of the Jews as a people. There have been many answers: Zionist, non-Zionist, cultural, ethnic, sociological, theological (both Christian and Jewish) and others less respectable. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. 100. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Saturday 24 March 2007
Sat 24 Mar, 8 pm. Director: Andrew Perlmutter, 2006, USA, 30 minutes Special Guests: Filmmaker Kate Feiffer, her father, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and writer Jules Feiffer; and Filmmaker Andrew Perlmutter Over the past thirty years, the question of whether religiously motivated arguments are appropriate in public policy discussions has become a highly charged debate in American politics. Many people who feel deeply about issues such as abortion and embryonic stem-cell research are influenced by their religious beliefs and traditions. This documentary film-in-progress explores how the professors and students of a university community address these issues. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. $12. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Sat 24 Mar, 8 pm. Director: Kate Feiffer, 2006, USA, 60 minutes Matzo & Mistletoe is the documentary film that asks the question "Is Jewish more than bagels?" Six years ago, a Rabbi asked filmmaker Kate Feiffer if she was Jewish. As a non-practicing Jew who celebrated Christmas, she had no answer. Matzo & Mistletoe, which explores issues of religious and ethnic identity with heart and humor, became her answer. The film features her father and mother, Jules Feiffer and Judy Feiffer, as well as Mike Wallace, Alan Dershowitz and others. Kate Feiffer began working on Matzo & Mistletoe six years ago. Prior to that, she was a producer on the NBC news-magazine "Real Life" and a political producer at WHDH-TV, Boston's NBC affiliate. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. $12. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Sunday 25 March 2007
Sun 25 Mar, 2 pm. Directors: Michele Calabresi, Patrick Heeren, Carla Molino, Italy, 2005, 40 minutes, in Italian with English subtitles Special Guests: Filmmaker Kate Feiffer and her mother, novelist Judy Feiffer, Filmmakers Patrick Heeren and Carla Molino Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and other dictators appear on the labels of wine bottles sold in Italy. "Drink to Forget" attempts to unravel the complex emotional, ethical and legal issues raised by the selling and buying of these images through interviews with various actors, including the producers and buyers, legal experts, politicians, partisans and members of Italy's Jewish community. Born in Italy in 1971, Carla Molino graduated from law school in 1996 and has now set up her own production company. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Sun 25 Mar, 2 pm. Director: Kate Feiffer, 2006, USA, 60 minutes Matzo & Mistletoe is the documentary film that asks the question "Is Jewish more than bagels?" Six years ago, a Rabbi asked filmmaker Kate Feiffer if she was Jewish. As a non-practicing Jew who celebrated Christmas, she had no answer. Matzo & Mistletoe, which explores issues of religious and ethnic identity with heart and humor, became her answer. The film features her father and mother, Jules Feiffer and Judy Feiffer, as well as Mike Wallace, Alan Dershowitz and others. Kate Feiffer began working on Matzo & Mistletoe six years ago. Prior to that, she was a producer on the NBC news-magazine "Real Life" and a political producer at WHDH-TV, Boston's NBC affiliate. Her first children's book "Double Pink" was publ. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. $10. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Sun 25 Mar, 7:15 pm. Live broadcast from 92 Street's Y: Gene Wilder was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Leo Bloom in The Producers. That led to a role in Blazing Saddles and to another Academy Award nomination, this time for writing Young Frankenstein. His memoir, Kiss Me Like a Stranger, was a bestseller. Wilder has now written his first novel, My French Whore, an intimate love story set inside a classic spy adventure. Cost: $10 advance / $15 at the door. 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]
Monday 26 March 2007
Mon 26 Mar, 7 pm. Director: Tanaz Eshaghian, 2005, USA, 63 minutes Special Guest: Tanaz Eshaghian Sexual purity, money and a mother's worries come together in this humorous guided tour of America's status-obsessed Iranian Jewish community. The film follows Tanaz, the narrator, a hip New Yorker whose Iranian family attempts to marry her off now that she's reached the ancient age of 25. Tanaz vacillates between soppy American ideas of romance and a more business-like Iranian approach, and in the end may be unable to execute either. Tanaz Eshaghian is a graduate of Brown University and has a Master's in Media Studies from New School University. Her film,"I Call Myself Persian," has been seen on numerous PBS stations. "From Babylon to Beverly Hills: The Exodus of Iran's Jews". 401 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, 19103. 215-446-3045. $10. Gershman Y Jewish Community Center - [email][events]