September 2009

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer

Film series begins Selichot weekend at Beth Abraham

Film maven Rabbi Azriel Fellner will kick off Beth Abraham Synagogue’s new film series, screening three vintage movies over Selichot weekend, Sept. 11 through 13.

Fellner, who served for 18 years as rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, N.J., has lectured on Jewish images and themes in motion pictures at the 92nd Street Y in New York, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and at Warner Brothers Studios about its seminal 1927 film, The Jazz Singer.

Beth Abraham’s Rabbi Bernard Barsky studied homiletics with Fellner when Barsky was a rabbinic student at Jewish Theological Seminary.

The theme for this year’s series, Barsky said, is Who’s In, Who’s Out: The Representation of the Other.

“Since the Jew has been the archetype of ‘The Other’ in Western culture, Rabbi Fellner will launch the series with movies dealing with the Jew as outsider,” Barsky said.

The series will begin on Friday, Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. with a screening of The Jazz Singer, followed by the Kabalat Shabbat service, dinner, and a discussion about the film with Fellner.

On Saturday, following Shabbat services and a kiddush lunch at noon, Fellner will talk about how he developed his interest in film.

At 8:30 p.m., following Havdalah and refreshments, Fellner will screen and discuss The Gentleman’s Agreement, with the Selichot service at midnight.

On Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1:30 p.m., Beth Abraham will host a community-wide pizza and movie event for Jewish teenagers. Fellner will show and lead a talk about the 1947 film Crossfire, starring Robert Mitchum and Robert Young, about the murder of a Jewish man.

“We felt that today’s teens have no knowledge at all of the conditions of American antisemitism a generation or two back,” Barsky explained, “and this would be a great opportunity to teach that.”

The cost for the Friday night dinner is $15 for adults, free for children.

Beth Abraham’s film series will continue with screenings in December, January, and at the Men’s Club Deli Dinner in March.

For more information or reservations for the Sept. 11-13 events, call the synagogue at 293-9520.

Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad at Gilly’s

Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad

Invoking Mae West’s adage, “When I’m good I’m good, but when I’m bad I’m better,” the New York-based burlesque troupe, Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad, will perform on Friday, Sept. 11 (yes, on Shabbat) at 8 p.m. at Gilly’s, 132 S. Jefferson St.

The Girls have played to sold-out houses in New York, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and of course, the Catskills.

With singing, dancing and stand-up, the Girls make light of today’s scene for young Jewish women, with a decidedly raunchy flavor.

The New York Post called the review “good kosher fun.” Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. For more information, call Gilly’s at 228-8414.

Beth Or to screen movie ‘Sixty Six’

Scene from Sixty Six

As Jews around the world bid farewell to the ‘60s (5760s), Temple Beth Or will present a ‘60s-themed Selichot service on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m. followed by refreshments and a showing of director Paul Weiland’s film, Sixty-Six.

Set in England in the summer of 1966, the movie is about a 12-year-old boy whose Bar Mitzvah is scheduled for the day Great Britain will play in the World Cup finals. For more information, call the temple at 435-3400.