CJLL 2013 Winter/Spring Brochure

Spring 2013

l i te ra tu re fi l m art music d a n ce l ea r n i n g ON THE COVER: AKA DOC POMUS An unlikely blues singer.

You know his songs…

Now hear his story.

9th Annual

The Day I Saw Your Heart

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea Besa: The Promise

The Flat

All In

The Other Son

Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story

Remembrance

Seymour Schwartz: Home Movie

Prisoners of War Life in Stills

The Last Flight of Petr Ginz Ordinary Miracles: The Photo League’s New York

The Cantor’s Son AKA Doc Pomus

Hitler’s Children Numbered

Hava Nagila (The Movie)

A FRESH SPIN

ON DOCUMENTARY AND FEATURE FILMS WITH MEANINGFUL JEWISH / ISRAELI CONTENT

MARCH 6 –17

W

elcome to the 9th Annual Houston Jewish Film Festival, a collaboration between the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, with Holocaust Museum Houston as a longstanding venue.

A big thanks to our dedicated film committee volunteers, who spend dozens of hours screening films to select the best ones from around the world that tell stories of Jewish significance, with poignancy and creativity, and reflect the values that shape Jewish life. This year we are pleased to have two filmmakers and one actor to introduce their films and lead post-screening discussions.

We are grateful to our underwriters, sponsors, community partners, and patrons for their generous support. Enjoy the Festival and spread the word!

Barbara Bronstein, Chair Diane Lee, Co-Chair Doreen Joffe and Sharon Kagan, Honorary Chairs

2012-2013 Film Committee: Neil Aussenberg

Marisa Katz

Margie Beegle

Eve Lapin

Nada Chandler

David Mendel

Joyce Cramer

Miriam Pacht

John Dreyfus

Paula Siegel

Shelby Goodman

Stefani Twyford

Sue Goott

Helen Wils

Ellen Hamburg

9th Annual

Community Partners: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee Congregation Beth Yeshurun Sisterhood Congregation Or Ami Holocaust Museum Houston National Council of Jewish Women – Greater Houston Section United Orthodox Synagogues Yiddish Vinkel HJFF Staff: Amy Rahmani, ERJCC Marian Luntz, MFAH Tamara Savage, HMH

Supporters: Official Hotel of the ERJCC

Tango & Malbec Restaurant

Media Sponsor:

Fleischer Wines: A division of Mexcor

The Jewish Herald Voice

Jenny Tavor Custom Catering

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MARCH 6 – 17

OPENING NIGHT

A BOTTLE IN THE GAZA SEA (UNE BOUTEILLE À LA MER)

BESA: THE PROMISE

ALL IN (LA SUERTE EN TUS MANOS)

Thursday, March 7 • 5:00 PM • ERJCC Wednesday, March 6 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC Saturday, March 16 • 6:00 PM • MFAH Directed by Thierry Binisti France, Israel, 2011, 99 min French, Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles Drama “A gripping, unsentimental drama with a lot of action and a pacifist message of hope and reconciliation. A Bottle in the Gaza Sea is must-viewing.’’

—Montreal Gazette.

Tal is a 17-year-old French woman who has settled in Jerusalem with her family.

She writes a letter expressing her refusal to accept that only hatred can reign between Israelis and Palestinians. She slips the letter into a bottle, and her brother throws it into the sea near Gaza where he is carrying out his military service. A few weeks later, Tal receives an e-mail response from a mysterious “Gazaman,” a young Palestinian named Naïm. And thus begins a turbulent but tender longdistance friendship between two young people who are separated by a history they are trying both to understand and change. Hiam Abbass (Lemon Tree) and Mahmoud Shalaby (Free Men; The Other Son) star in this internet-age Romeoand-Juliet drama set in a troubled region. Based on the award-winning novel

by Valerie Zenatti.

Suitable for ages 15 and above.

Sponsored by June and Leonard Goldberg

Directed by Rachel Goslins USA, 2012, 86 min English with subtitles Documentary “Besa,” a code of honor, requires that all Albanians, most of whom are Muslim, protect refugees. Rexhap Hoxho is the son of an Albanian Muslim who protected a Jewish family during the Holocaust and retained their prayer books after the family’s departure, as it was too dangerous for a Jewish family to travel with prayer books. Until the fall of communism in 1991, Hoxho had no way of searching for the family, but yet, he felt that “besa” demanded he find and return the books to their rightful owners. His journey eventually leads him and his son to Jerusalem, documented by Jewish-American photographer Norman Gershman.

Thursday, March 7 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC Directed by Daniel Burman Argentina, 2012, 107 min Spanish, French with English subtitles Drama In this witty, romantic comedy, Uriel, a Jewish divorced father of two and a professional gambler is in the habit of finessing his way through life. He decides to get a vasectomy and enter into a new life of freedom and romance.

On the very day he decides to have the operation, his ex-girlfriend Gloria shows up, having returned to Buenos Aires after years of living in France. Uriel learns that a poker face may not be the most effective way to pursue romance.

erjcchouston.org/filmfest mfah.org/film

DISOBEDIENCE: THE SOUSA MENDES STORY Friday, March 8 • 1:00 PM • ERJCC Wednesday, March 13 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC Guest Speaker: Sousa Mendes Visa Recipient Sarah Tanne Tillis Directed by Joël Santoni France, 2008, 104 min French with English subtitles Drama Based on events in 1940 Bordeaux, this film tells the story of Portuguese Consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes, who defied Dictator Antonio Salazar’s directive to forbid the entry of “undesirables,” particularly Jews, into Portugal. Against Salazar’s orders, Sousa Mendes issues approximately 30,000 Portuguese visas allowing people to escape to Portugal. This film is a portrait in courage, relaying the story of a man who chose to live by his convictions despite danger and hardship. After his death, Sousa Mendes was declared to be among the righteous of nations and posthumously promoted to the rank of Ambassador.

Underwritten by The Maurice Amado Foundation

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MARCH 6 – 17

Post-film discussion with Jon Schwartz

SEYMOUR SCHWARTZ: HOME MOVIE Saturday, March 9 • 7:00 PM • MFAH Guest Speakers: Filmmaker Jon Schwartz and Newton Schwartz Sr. Directed by Jon Schwartz USA, 2012, 89 min A reception in the English Museum galleries Film essay follows the screening.

A Houston story with universal appeal, this film essay is a character study of the filmmaker’s father, as well as a chronicle of a Houston Jewish family spanning the 20th century. Interviews with the outspoken Seymour (19192008) frame a family history richly illustrated by photographs, letters and historical materials. The story is rounded out by poignant recollections of Seymour’s marriage and unlikely role as a community activist late in his life. 25 years after his first film, the acclaimed documentary This Is Our Home: It Is Not For Sale about Houston’s Riverside neighborhood, Jon Schwartz delivers a riveting family portrait.

COMING THIS

NOVEMBER THE YELLOW TICKET Presented by the Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston, the Houston Cinema Arts Society, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

THE LAST FLIGHT OF PETR GINZ Sunday, March 10 • 1:00 PM • MFAH Tuesday, March 12 • 2:00 PM • MFAH Directed by Sandy Dickson and Churchill Roberts March 12 USA, 2012, 66 min screening English is free with Museum Documentary admission A story of celebration and tragedy, The Last Flight of Petr Ginz is a whimsical and fantastical journey through one boy’s imagination. Combining animation, art, and live action, the documentary is a testament to how a boy’s creative expression represents the best of what makes us human. By fourteen Petr Ginz had written five novels and penned a diary about the Nazi occupation of Prague. By sixteen he had produced more than 170 drawings and paintings, edited an underground magazine in the Theresienstadt Ghetto, written numerous short stories, and had walked to the gas chamber at Auschwitz.

THE YELLOW TICKET: A live multimedia concert event featuring a new score by violinist Alicia Svigals that reanimates a silent cinema classic. Set in Poland and Tsarist Russia, the 1918 film – starring legendary actress Pola Negri – portrays a woman’s struggle to overcome adversity in a story of secret identities, heroic measures, and triumphant love. Svigals has crafted a lush composition, which she performs with live jazz piano virtuoso Marilyn Lerner.

ORDINARY MIRACLES: THE PHOTO LEAGUE’S NEW YORK Sunday, March 10 • 3:00 PM • MFAH Introduced by Anne Tucker Directed by Daniel Allentuck and Nina Rosenblum USA, 2012, 74 min English Documentary The story of the rise and politically motivated fall of the Photo League, (1936–1951) which for fifteen years served as the center of the documentary movement in American photography at a time when the camera was held to be, in James Agee’s words, “the central instrument of our time.”

The Photo League’s membership roster included Sid Grossman, Aaron Siskind, Jerome Liebling, Dan Weiner, Morris Engel, Walter Rosenblum, Weegee, Lisette Model, and W. Eugene Smith.

Ordinary Miracles is built around a handpicked selection culled from hundreds of images, fashioned into sequences designed around various subjects of League focus (Harlem, the Lower East Side, children at play, Coney Island, WWII). The rich and evocative soundtrack is a blend of contemporary and vintage music: The Mills Brothers, The Ink Spots, Django Reinhardt, The Andrews Sisters, Fats Waller, Coleman Hawkins, and Philip Glass.

Bring your ticket or pass to the café for 10% off.

Pre-order your meal and it will be ready for you!

713.729.3200 ext. 3232.

Eat at Café at the J during HJFF! The Café is open until 7:30 PM every night of an ERJCC screening.

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HITLER’S CHILDREN

NUMBERED

Sunday, March 10 • 6:00 PM • HMH Directed by Chanoch Ze’evi Germany, Israel, 2011, 80 min English, German, Hebrew with English subtitles Documentary

Monday, March 11 • 5:00 PM • ERJCC Talkback follows screening Directed by Uriel Sinai, Dana Doron Israel, 2012, 60 min Hebrew with English subtitles Documentary

Hitler’s Children is a unique documentary film about the descendants of some of the most powerful figures in the Nazi regime: Himmler, Frank, Goering, Hoess, men and women who inherited a legacy that permanently associates them with one of the greatest crimes in history.

Director and producer, Chanoch Ze’evi, himself a third generation descendant of Holocaust survivors, used detailed and intensive research to create this indepth documentary. His interviews with the descendants are mesmerizing as he explores the effects of the Holocaust from a different view point.

Auschwitz prisoners were denied their names and tattooed with numbers. In this engrossing film, survivors discuss what the numbers mean to them: a tattoo is a sign of shame, a badge of honor, or something else entirely? “Today, it is a sign of prestige; I have a number. It gives me a kind of superiority,” says one survivor. Another will not wear short sleeves. A daughter has her father’s number tattooed to her ankle as a sign of remembrance and solidarity with her deceased father; a grandson takes his grandfather’s number as a sign of survival and continuity. Am Yisroel Chai.

THE FLAT Tuesday, March 12 • 5:00 PM • ERJCC Friday, March 15 • 1:00 PM • ERJCC Directed by Arnon Goldfinger Israel, 2011, 97 min Hebrew, German, English with English subtitles Documentary When Israeli director Arnon Goldfinger’s grandmother Gerda Tuchler died at 98, she left behind a flat filled with books, works of art, photographs, and memorabilia. His findings lead him to explore his grandparents’ history, including a long-term friendship with a Nazi officer that survives the war. Zionists traveling with Nazis to Palestine?

Unbelievable, and yet, it happened. The relationship was unknown to the family, nor were many other aspects of the Tuchlers’ history until Goldfinger contacted people who knew his grandparents, reviewed archives, and traveled to Germany in an attempt to understand their story.

mfah.org/film

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MARCH 6 – 17

THE DAY I SAW YOUR HEART (ET SOUDAIN TOUT LE MONDE ME MANQUE) Monday, March 11 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC Directed by Jennifer Devolère France, 2011, 98 min French with English subtitles Drama In this French comedy, Eli, celebrating his 60th birthday, announces that his 42-year-old wife is pregnant. Justine, a daughter from a prior marriage thinks this is a mistake considering Eli’s previous experience as a father. Eli is an unusual father; he keeps in touch with all of Justine’s many former boyfriends and makes outrageous suggestions regarding the pending birth. But what can you expect from a father who promised his daughter a toy store, and when one doesn’t materialize, explains that as “a good Jewish father” he wanted to prepare her for disappointment.

LUNCH AND A

MOVIE

+

lts 60

u For Ad

THE FLAT $8 Member/$10 Public Friday, March 15 • 1:00 PM RSVP REQUIRED with 24hr advance notice.

Call Esther Bethke for reservations 713.595.8186.

erjcchouston.org/filmfest

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MARCH 6 – 17

THE OTHER SON (LE FILS DE L’AUTRE)

REMEMBRANCE (DIE VERLORENE ZEIT)

Tuesday, March 12 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC Thursday, March 14 • 5:00 PM • ERJCC Directed by Lorraine Levy France, 2011, 105 min Hebrew, Arabic, French with English subtitles Drama

Wednesday, March 13 • 5:00 PM • ERJCC Directed by Anna Justice Germany, 2011, 105 min German, Polish, English with English subtitles Drama, Thriller

When Joseph, the 18-year-old son of a high ranking Israeli officer in Tel Aviv, reports for his physical prior to national service, his blood test shockingly indicates he is not his parents’ biological son. Further investigation reveals he was accidentally switched at birth with Yassin, a Palestinian raised in Gaza. Follow this dramatic, compelling story of two loving families, whose lives are turned upside-down, forcing them to confront each other and examine their own identities, values, and attitudes.

Underwritten by The Maurice Amado Foundation

In 1944, Anna, a Jewish prisoner in a concentration camp, and Tomasz, her Polish prisoner-of-war lover, manage a harrowing escape from the camp. She takes refuge with Tomasz’s sister-in-law, a Polish partisan, while he goes in search of his brother. In the ensuing chaos at the end of the war, the two are separated, each believing that the other is dead until 30 years later when Hannah, happily married and a mother in New York, believes she has seen Tomasz being interviewed on television about his war experiences and renews her search for him.

TO PURCHASE TICKETS VISIT:

erjcchouston.org/filmfest mfah.org/film

PRISONERS OF WAR (HATUFIM)

7:00 PM Happy Hour Reception Exclusively for ages 20s and 30s $5 for Happy Hour and Screening

Thursday, March 14 • 8:00 PM • ERJCC Created by Gideon Raff Israel, Pilot episode 60 min (2010) Hebrew with English subtitles TV Series, Drama Addicted to Homeland? Wait until you see the original Israeli series upon which Homeland is based, even more engrossing and powerful than its U.S. offspring.

Prisoners of War begins with the return of three soldiers who had been in captivity for 17 years. Two of them - Nimrod and Uri - come back alive; one - Amiel - returns in a coffin. The series follows Nimrod and Uri and the people closest to them as they attempt to go back to the lives they were yanked out of 17 years ago. Hatufim, Hebrew for “kidnapped,” has been rated Israel’s all-time highestrated drama.

LIFE IN STILLS Saturday, March 16 • 8:00 PM • MFAH Guest Speaker: Film Subject Ben Peter Directed by Tamar Tal Israel, Germany, 2011, 58 min Hebrew, German with English subtitles Documentary At the age of 96, photo shop owner Miriam Weissenstein never imagined that she would be facing a new chapter in her life. But when the shop – her late husband Rudi’s life’s work – was destined for demolition, even this opinionated and uncompromising woman knew she needed help. Under the cloud of a family tragedy, a special relationship is forged between Miriam and her grandson, Ben, as they join forces to save the shop and its nearly one million negatives that document Israel’s defining moments.

Despite the generation gap and many conflicts, Ben and Miriam embark on a heartwrenching journey, comprising many humorous and touching moments – a journey that requires a lot of love, courage, and compassion.

Presented in collaboration with the Consulate General of Israel to the Southwest.

did you know?

EVERY MOVIE TICKET AT THE MFAH GETS YOU 10% OFF AT CAFE EXPRESS IN THE MUSEUM

MAKE IT A “DINNER AND A MOVIE” KIND OF NIGHT!

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MARCH 6 – 17

CLOSING NIGHT

HJFF RESTORATION HIGHLIGHT

Photo Credit: Jenny Jimenez

Photo credit: The National Center for Jewish Film

“Save the Last Dance…” for our music-themed closing day!

THE CANTOR’S SON

AKA DOC POMUS

HAVA NAGILA (THE MOVIE)

Sunday, March 17 • 1:00 PM • ERJCC Introduced by Hazzan David Propis Directed by Ilya Motyleff USA, 1937, 90 min Yiddish with English Subtitles Drama

Sunday, March 17 • 4:00 PM • ERJCC Directed by Peter Miller and Will Hechter Canada, USA, 2012, 99 min English Documentary

Sunday, March 17 • 7:30 PM • ERJCC Guest Speaker: Filmmaker Roberta Grossman Directed by Roberta Grossman USA, 2012, 73 min Closing Night English reception follows Documentary screening.

Moishe Oysher (1907-1958), a cantor and singing star whose repertoire ranged from the cantorial to the operatic stars in this restored 1937 Yiddish language film as Shloimele, a young man who leaves his family and Polish shtetl and endures a life of poverty until he is finally discovered washing floors in a nightclub. After he attains stardom, Shloimele is torn between his desire for his shtetl and family and the attractions of the New World. The film is based in part on Moishe Oysher’s life.

The film has been provided and restored with new English subtitles by The National Center

Paralyzed by polio as a child, and confined to crutches and a wheelchair, Doc Pomus, a white Jewish Brooklynite born Jerome Felder, becomes an unlikely blues singer performing in various musical venues in NYC, having obtained his first gig as a result of sheer chutzpah. Subsequently, Doc Pomus traded his singing career for that of a song writer, composing “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “A Teenager in Love,” and “This Magic Moment.” The film includes interviews with his many friends and those songwriters and singers he taught and influenced as dean of the live music scene in NYC. In 1992, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Ever wonder about the origins and history of the tune that is played at almost every Bar Mitzvah party and Jewish wedding? Then don’t miss Hava Nagila, The Movie. Black, Italian, and Irish Americans all connect to and perform “Hava Nagila,” a tune recognizable all over the world, having traveled from the Ukraine to YouTube. But then, who would not like a song whose title means “Let us rejoice?”

Patron Sponsors: Bunny and Perry Radoff

for Jewish Film, www.jewishfilm.org

Patron Sponsor:

KENNY &ZIGGY S N E W Y O R K D E L I C AT E S S E N R E S TA U R A N T

/ Ziggy Gruber

Lost Treasure of the Jewish Ghetto of Venice Restored by Venetian Heritage Inc.

THROUGH APRIL 28 This exhibition is organized by Venetian Heritage Inc., and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in collaboration with the Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation. The objects were restored with the support of Maison Vhernier.

$5 @ 5:00!

ALL FIVE O’CLOCK MOVIES AT THE ERJCC ARE ONLY FIVE DOLLARS!

Generous funding is provided by Joan and Stanford Alexander; Julie and Drew Alexander; Joyce Z. Greenberg; Barbara and Gerry Hines; Shirley Toomim; Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff; Helaine and David Lane; Jeri and Marc Shapiro; Nancy and Scott Atlas; Nancy Beren and Larry Jefferson; Paula and Irving Pozmantier; Regina Rogers in honor of Holocaust survivor Stefi Altman; Glen Rosenbaum; and Shirley and Marvin Rich.

Chanu (one of a pair), Venetian, 19th century, bronze, Jewish Community of Venice

1001 Bissonnet at Main • 713.639.7300 • mfah.org

CLOSING NIGHT

7:30 Hava Nagila (The Movie)*

4:00 PM AKA Doc Pomus

1:00 PM The Cantor’s Son

17

6:00 PM Hitler’s Children

INDIVIDUAL TICKETS: $8 ERJCC Member/Patron of the Arts & MFAH Film Buff/Member/Students/Seniors (65+) $10 Public All 5:00 PM Movies at the ERJCC are $5

7:30 PM Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story

5:00 PM Remembrance

13

8:00 PM Prisoners of War (Get Cultured)

5:00 PM The Other Son

14

8:00 PM Life in Stills*

6:00 PM A Bottle in the Gaza Sea

16

7:00 PM Seymour Schwartz: Home Movie*

9

SATURDAY

Morgan Family Center 5401 Caroline Street Houston, TX 77004 713.942.8000 hmh.org

Holocaust Museum Houston

FESTIVAL PASS: Free for ERJCC Patrons of the Arts who elect the Film Series $50 ERJCC Member/Patron of the Arts $70 Public $5 discount for students and seniors

1001 Bissonnet Street Houston, TX 77005 713.639.7515 mfah.org/film

1:00 PM The Flat

15

1:00 PM Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story

7:30 PM All In

8

5:00 PM Besa: The Promise

FRIDAY

MARCH 6 – 17, 2013

7

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

OPENING NIGHT

7:30 PM A Bottle in the Gaza Sea

6

THURSDAY

calendar WEDNESDAY

Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center of Houston 5601 South Braeswood Houston, TX 77096 713.551.7255 erjcchouston.org/filmfest

7:30 PM The Other Son

5:00 PM The Flat

2:00 PM The Last Flight of Petr Ginz

12

ticket information

venues

7:30 PM The Day I Saw Your Heart

5:00 PM Numbered

1:00 PM The Last Flight of Petr Ginz

* Includes filmmaker visit

 HMH, HERZSTEIN THEATRE

 MFAH, BROWN AUDITORIUM THEATRE

11

3:00 PM Ordinary Miracles: The Photo League’s New York

TUESDAY

 ERJCC, KAPLAN THEATRE

legend

MONDAY

10

SUNDAY

9th Annual

Center for Jewish Living and Learning Scholar Series

From Enlightenment to Intifada: FRENCH

JEWRY

THEN

AND

NOW

Dr. Robert Zaretsky is a professor of modern French history at the Honors College of the University of Houston. Dr. Zaretsky is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, The Forward, Los Angeles Times and Le Monde Diplomatique.

His lectures will address the history of the Jews of France from the French Revolution to the modern period, focusing on the Dreyfus Affair, the Jews in Occupied France, and the relationship between the French, the Jews, and the State of Israel after 1967.

The Dreyfus Affair: How An “Affaire Française” Became Our Affair Thursday, March 21 7:30 PM In 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, an officer in the French Army’s High Command, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island for acts of treason. As disturbing details emerged concerning the case—it happened that Dreyfus was Jewish—the nation was sundered in half between those who reminded France of its revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity and those who insisted that Jews could never be fully French.

$10 Member / $15 Public (per lecture) $27 Member / $36 Public (series pass)

From the Second World War to the Second Intifada: France and the Jews Today Thursday, May 2 7:30 PM

Vichy Then and Now: The Jews of France in the Second World War Thursday, April 18 7:30 PM France’s military defeat in 1940 heralded the birth of the Vichy regime, which sought to turn the clock back to prerevolutionary France. Central to this reactionary agenda was the regime’s battery of anti-Semitic laws—initiated without the slightest of nudges from the Nazis. Beginning in 1942, these laws enabled Nazi Germany’s application of the Final Solution to France, leading to the murder of nearly 75,000 Jews, both foreign and native-born. We shall discuss the motivations of the bureaucracy that created and applied these laws and reflect on those institutions and individuals that resisted them.

In 1967, the great political theorist (and secular Jew) Raymond Aron, upon hearing President Charles De Gaulle’s remark that the Jews were an “elite people, sure of themselves and domineering,” wondered if this opened “a new chapter in Jewish history and perhaps anti-Semitism.” With the surge of violence in North African quarters against Jews, climaxing in the horrific massacre at Toulouse, French Jews now ask themselves if they can remain both fully French and fully Jewish.

Register online at erjcchouston.org/frenchjewry These lectures are made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas, a state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

language

ARTS, CULTURE, EDUCATION

| ADULTS | SENIORS | KIDS & FAMILY |

Thanks to our community partner:

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Level 1 - Beginning Hebrew Instructor: Karen Greenspan 10 Wednesdays April 3 – June 12 No class May 15 7:00 – 8:30 PM $190 Member/$240 Public This introductory course is a program of letter recognition, reading proficiency, building vocabulary, and learning basic phrases using the Hebrew textbook series Aleph Isn’t Tough.

Reading The Book of Ruth Instructor: Karen Greenspan 10 Mondays April 8 – June 10 7:00 – 8:30 PM $190 Member/$240 Public

Advanced Conversational Hebrew Instructor: Nomi Barancik 9 Tuesdays April 9 - June 11 10:45 – 11:45 AM $117 Member/$150 Public

This class will develop Hebrew comprehension and grammar skills through a close reading of the Book of Ruth. Participants should be able to read Hebrew fluently and have a basic biblical Hebrew vocabulary. Please call before registering to determine if this class is suitable for you.

This course is suitable for those who read and comprehend Hebrew at a more advanced level but wish to expand their vocabulary and develop their fluency.

living

FRESH, LOCAL AND ORGANIC PRODUCE

A Fresh Take on Passover: HEALTHY NEW RECIPES FOR THE HOLIDAY!

AT THE ERJCC

Be good to your farmer, your family, and your environment, and join the Hazon Community Supported Agriculture program! Enjoy a weekly bounty of fresh, local, and organic vegetables delivered directly to the ERJCC from Home Sweet Farm in Brenham, Texas. Choose a full share (weekly), a half share (bi-weekly), or split a share with a friend!

Wednesdays, March 6 - July 24 $576 for 18 weeks / $288 for 9 weeks (bi-weekly)(NEW!) PLUS $34 Member / $46 Public (one-time site fee) Pick up at ERJCC Main Lobby or Bertha Alyce Center (NEW!) To register or for more information contact Rabbi Samantha Safran Bodner at sbodner@erjcchouston.org or 713.729.3200 ext.3322.

film

Tired of eating the same old matzoh crackers and kugel for eight days in a row? Join registered and licensed dietician Wendy Lusky Rosenfeld as she shows us how to make healthy, creative and delicious chametz-free food.

Kosher-for-Passover never tasted so good!

Thursday, March 7 7:00 – 9:00 PM $15 Member / $20 Public

To register for the lectures and classes included in this catalog please call Nomi Barancik at 713.729.3200, ext. 3288 or visit erjcchouston.org

FOUNDATIONS

of Jewish Family Living

A NEW PROGRAM FOR PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN

What are the Jewish values you want to teach your child?

Jewish Film Club $2 Member / $4 Public All screenings take place at 12:45 PM The Jewish Film Club will feature monthly screenings of classic and contemporary films that highlight Jewish characters or themes. A discussion of each film, facilitated

by Jonathan Fass or Rabbi Samantha Safran Bodner, will follow. Coffee and snacks will be provided for the discussion.

February 22 - For Your Consideration (2006) March 29 - Partisans of Vilna (1986) April 12 - Avalon (1990) May 17 - Praying with Lior (2007)

The ERJCC is delighted to announce that Saranne and Livingston Kosberg have generously underwritten a new program to create richer Jewish experiences for Houston parents. Entitled Foundations of Jewish Family Living, this new course from the Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning provides parents with the skills and knowledge to practice the core values of Judaism at home with their families. Topics will include Essential Judaism, Words that Hurt and Honor Between Generations.

The Foundations program runs throughout the year. 20 sessions will be offered in 4-5 week blocks. The book for the course is $54. After paying the initial fee of $54, parents may participate in as many sessions as they choose during the year at no additional charge. Facilitated by local rabbis and Jewish educators.

UPCOMING SESSIONS: March 3, 10, 17, 24,

April 14, 21, 28 and May 5 CLASSES TAKE PLACE AT THE ERJCC ¡ CHILDCARE WILL BE PROVIDED *This program is particularly appropriate for parents of children ages 2 through 8, but all parents are welcome.

For more information about Foundations, please contact Rabbi Samantha Safran Bodner at sbodner@erjcchouston.org or 713.729.3200 ext. 3322.

MECHON HADAR HOUSTON SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE PROGRAM

Judaism And Ethics: An In-Depth Investigation

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARTICULARISTIC

ARE “BEING A GOOD

JEWISH VALUES AND MORE

JEW” AND “BEING A GOOD

GENERAL UNIVERSAL ETHICS?

PERSON” SYNONYMOUS TERMS?

THESE CHALLENGES WILL BE EXPLORED IN OUR IN-DEPTH INVESTIGATION OF JEWISH ETHICS WITH DR. RABBI ETHAN TUCKER OF MECHON HADAR HOUSTON

Dr. Rabbi Ethan Tucker, Co-Founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Mechon Hadar, the only egalitarian yeshiva in the United States, returns to Houston for a four-day scholar-in-residence program from February 24 through February 27, 2013. Rabbi Tucker was ordained by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and earned a Ph.D. in Talmud and Rabbinics from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He was named one of Newsweek’s Top Fifty Rabbis in America in 2011 and 2012.

Between Wisdom and Honor: When Divine Commands Threaten Human Dignity Sunday, February 24 • 7:30 PM Human beings are created in the divine image and the Torah is built on a foundation of basic human decency. How do we deal with situations where the observance of a commandment gets in the way of this larger vision? We will begin this series by exploring a Talmudic passage that addresses this tension and attempts to lay out a framework for integrating these sometimes competing impulses.

Was Abraham asked to Sacrifice His Ethics?

Tuesday, February 26 • 7:30 PM

Ethical Norms as the Foundation of the Torah Monday, February 25 • 7:30 PM This lecture will delve into a bold essay by R. Moshe Shmuel Glasner (19th-20th c., Hungary), who spells out a theory of how Judaism ought to relate to modern values. We will explore his text as a basis for rethinking the interrelationship of traditionally Jewish obligations with contemporary crusades for environmental and economic justice. Can we affirm the power of universal ethics without harming our commitment to Judaism?

Can Jewish Texts Be Unethical: Grappling with Difficult Sources Wednesday, February 27 • 7:30 PM

This lecture will explore anew the classic conflict between ethical commitments and religious duty: the Binding of Isaac.

This biblical narrative plays a central role in Jewish prayer, has inspired countless Jews throughout the generations, and continues to haunt us on Rosh Hashanah. In the modern period, the Binding of Isaac has been used for more dramatic effect: making true devotion to God dependent on transcending one’s own ethical instincts. We will reevaluate this reading in an effort to reclaim the Binding of Isaac without sacrificing our own ethics in the process.

Sometimes we encounter a Jewish text that seems to say something offensive and contrary to our ethical sense. How do we respond as heirs to this tradition while being true to our ethical instincts? In this lecture, we will explore one 19th century rabbi’s attempt to deal with Talmudic statements that appear to speak disparagingly about Gentiles. Through his approach, we will investigate what it means to take ownership of a tradition that does not, at least at first glance, intuitively match our ethical instincts.

$15 per lecture. To register go to erjcchouston.org/hadar

THIS PROGRAM IS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CONGREGATION BRITH SHALOM, CONGREGATION BETH YESHURUN, AND CONGREGATION OR AMI.

Center for Jewish Living and Learning

Mann Makht und Gott Lakht’: Man Makes, God Laughs An exhibit of paintings by Uzi Silber February 25 – April 5 Uzi seeks out the relics, images, symbols, scripts and patterns which have made us who we are, resuscitates and integrates them in a new yet timeless context as whimsical as it is serious. Works available for purchase to benefit ERJCC. Gallery Hours Monday-Thursday 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM Friday & Sunday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

J Teen Art Scene Israel: Hope through Time Sunday, April 14 4th Annual Teen Visual Art Exhibition April 14 – May 24

EVELYN RUBENSTEIN JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER 5601 S. Braeswood | Houston, TX 77096 erjcchouston.org

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage

PAID

Houston, Texas Permit No. 6217

For the 4th year, the ERJCC Deutser Art Gallery will exhibit original works by local Jewish teenagers. This exhibit will open with a Showcase, on all-day arts festival showcasing teenage artistic talents across many platforms.

Now accepting submissions in several arts categories until Monday, March 18.

For information visit jtas.weebly.com.

literature film ar t music dance learning

A Bottle in the Gaza Sea

Besa: The Promise

All In

Disobedience: The Sousa Mendes Story

Life in Stills

Seymour Schwartz: Home Movie

The Last Flight of Petr Ginz

The Cantor’s Son

Hitler’s Children

Numbered

MARCH 6 –17

Ordinary Miracles: The Photo League’s New York

Spring 2013

9th Annual

ON THE COVER:

AKA DOC POMUS An unlikely blues singer.

You know his songs…

Now hear his story.

The Day I Saw Your Heart

The Flat

The Other Son

Remembrance

Prisoners of War

AKA Doc Pomus

Hava Nagila (The Movie)