Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Issue 41. |
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A 2,000-year-old seal with the image of Apollo
in the City of David?
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Well this is awkward.
Archaeologists in Israel just announced a rare find from Jerusalem: a signet ring with an image of the Greek god Apollo, dating to the 1st century of the Common Era. Why was a Jew walking around in the shadow of the Second Temple with jewelry depicting another god?! It seems to violate a whole host of Jewish conventions, from worshipping only one God to not depicting graven images. Weren’t the Jews of ancient Jerusalem, the central place of Jewish ritual practice, at direct odds with the pagan Greeks trying to impose Hellenistic culture?
It turns out that even Jerusalem in the first century was a more pluralistic Jewish environment than we give it credit for. Apollo was a god palatable to Jewish tastes. He represented light and good health, and therefore offered a benign take-up of Greek culture that wouldn’t offend either your own sensibilities or your family and friends. Wearing Apollo was a way to demonstrate your own freedom of expression without neglecting your core identity.
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Indeed, Jewish history and peoplehood is rarely characterized by a monolithic approach to belief, observance, thought, and practice. Much like our own times, Jews often adopted small trappings of the surrounding culture, incorporating local symbols to supplement or enhance their Jewish identity. Ever wear a Giants kippah to High Holiday services?
Our present Jewish community is richer for the wide variety of experiences, expressions, interpretations, and practices that we bring to everyday life. We all have our own individual markers of identity; but we’re also all a part of this historic project we call Jewish Peoplehood. From Jerusalem to San Rafael, what we leave behind for future historians to find will say a lot about how we engaged with our Jewish community.
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DESTINATIONS
Broadway, NYC & Beyond
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Let me sneak you in the Stage Door to go “backstage” on Broadway! Meet special guest Broadway professionals who bring unique expertise, experiences & insights to the discussion at our exclusive, live, behind-the-scenes visits. Photos and video clips (when available) will enrich the experience.
Come learn, off stage, what makes the magic happen on stage!
Prices vary.
For details & tickets, click below.
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Travel, Tastings,
Music & More
Various Dates/Times
in November & Beyond
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Whether you’d like to join me in Amsterdam, Marrakech, Seville or Cincinnati for professionally guided tours, experience some interesting & delicious guided tastings, dive into Broadway, opera or more, check out our exciting events for Nov/Dec/Jan.
For details, tickets & product ordering, click below.
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More Julian!
\This week I am excited to share that a new book has been released as a follow up to a Camp Kehillah favorite!
Previously our campers were introduced to Julian in the story Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. In the book young readers are introduced to a world of freedom of individual expression.
If you or your family would like to rehear the story in which we were introduced to Julian, you can do so here.
And now for the follow up: Julian at the Wedding by Jessica Love. Click here to listen to the NEW story.
Author Jessica Love introduces her new book by sharing: "This is Julian, and this is Marisol. Today they are going to be in a wedding. Those are the brides, and that's their dog, Gloria. A wedding is a party for love."
We hope you enjoy!
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Books, Chats, Learning, Music & More!
Fill the season with joy and learning! Our November program calendar offers several Book Fest events, Coffee Talk discussions, Learning Unlimited lectures, Virtual Music & Morsels recital and more.
Click here for our November events calendar.
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Virtual Music & Morsels:
Harvest Festival
Wed, Nov 4: 1-2pm
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Bring your coffee/tea & dessert, take a front row seat at your computer, and join pianist Ian Scarfe for a live recital of Grieg, Bartok and Granados.
Cost: Free
For details & registration, click below.
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Coffee Talk:
Book Banter
Tues, Nov 10: 1-2pm
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Join Danielle Vierra & others for a "no reading book discussion!" Gather to hear and share recommendations, commentary & connections.
Cost: Free
For details & registration, click below.
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VIRTUAL CLASSES
Zoom practice makes perfect.
Please take a look at our Learning Zoom webpage and download the easy step-by-step manuals. Then register for one of our live online practice sessions.
Advance registration required. Zoom classes require a minimum of five registrants by 10:00am on the morning of the program.
Thanks to our donors, the manuals and sessions are free!
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Join retired attorney Oak Dowling for a discussion on the film The Post, which starred Meryl Streep as Katherine Graham & Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee, the executive editor of The Washington Post. Set in 1971, the film depicts the true story of attempts by journalists to publish the Pentagon Papers, classified documents regarding the US government’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The session is highlighted by film clips and a discussion of the role of a free pess in our society.
Cost: Free
For details & registration, click below.
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Some of my favorite movies are fascinating documentaries. They educate, inspire, entertain. I can be taken to a new realm of knowledge, history can be opened up, surprises are everywhere. When I was a teen, I saw The Sorrow and the Pity, Marcel Ophul’s exploration of the collaboration of the Vichy government and Nazi Germany during World War Two. From the resistance fighters to the collaborators, this detailed documentary sparked an interest that remains disturbing and fascinating. I started a journey into other films in this non-fiction genre and was rewarded, as I am, to this day.
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There are filmmakers who I will search for with the help of Google and YouTube. Les Blank is an example: a quirky artist who has shed light on unusual subject matter. My favorite is Burden of Dreams (1982). In the jungles of Peru, director Werner Herzog is shooting his epic, Fitzcarraldo. Blank takes us on a crew trying to carry a steamboat over mountains, actor’s egos, and an obsessed director who will stop at nothing to get his vision perfectly. Follow this one up with Peter O’Toole as a mad director in 1980’s The Stuntman. If you still are considering a career in film after those two, I’ll pray for you.
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Their names are Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. They have made some of the best documentaries around. Winners of two Oscars, five Emmys, and three Peabody Awards, they make documentaries from the LBGTQ Community to music legends. I became a true fan when I saw one of the best ever made, 1995’s The Celluloid Closet. We travel on a one-hundred-year history of gay and lesbian imagery in Hollywood. Lily Tomlin narrates with archival footage and smart star and writer commentary. No wonder many of us return to it at least once a year. Google these two fine filmmakers and watch all of their inspired work.
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She changed sexuality in film forever, and her impact still being felt. There was nobody like Mae West, an artist who broke barriers and had the courage to be authentic. American Masters produced a film as intriguing as the woman herself: Mae West: Dirty Blonde (2020). She amazed Broadway, then later Hollywood, as she tore the covers off conventional gender and sex roles and gave us a chance to laugh at sexuality along the way. This important cultural figure believed not only could women enjoy their own humor and bodies, but they didn’t have to be punished for it. I have been obsessed with the divine Miss Mae from an early age and thought I knew all about her until I saw this informative and intelligent documentary. Do not miss it!
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Bombshell was the name of my number one Top Ten Film of 2019. It is also the title of a fine documentary from 2017: Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story. A movie star, you ask…who cares? This woman has a story well worth telling and remembering. The Austrian beauty bravely ran from a Nazi industrialist husband to Hollywood, becoming the star we know. But under the glamour was a talented, inquisitive mind able to invent products and electronics. Some of her inventions include today’s frequency-hopping Bluetooth—and other important technologies. Her beauty was not always an asset, and it is hard to not feel she should’ve had a happier finale. The story is unusual and fulfilling on many levels, from science to art.
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Ken Burns has given us epic documentaries, often opening up this genre to many who would have missed it. Baseball, the Civil War, the Roosevelts, and our country’s parks are just a few of his topics. The one I devoured is Prohibition from 2011. The 18th Amendment and its era are carefully explored and explained, giving context and clearing up the rumors about gangsters and government. Some found it dry, but I was thrilled with the knowledge and period detail, finally understanding this American experiment.
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So many documentaries offer a wonderful chance to learn! |
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