SHABBAT SHALOM, GESHER SHALOM!


 
March 15th 2019
 
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Shabbat Times: 
Candle Lighting
Congregational dinner
Evening Service
Morning Service
Minha
6:44 pm
6:00pm
7:15pm
9:30am
6:15pm
 
  Forecast: 49/partly cloudy

IN THIS ISSUE...
Shabbat Kiddush
Join us for Kiddush on Shabbat. This is the perfect opportunity for us to experience community and get to know each other better.

Birthdays and Anniversaries 
Helene Rabin
Joni Rosen
Richard Fasman
Joey Guigliano
Brooke Leon
Erwin Dickman
Stuart Goldsmith
Alex Salit
 
Beth & Howard Schefflan

   UPCOMING EVENTS
   
Saturday 3/16
Morning Service 9:30 am
Minha , S'uda Shlishit (3rd Shabbat Meal), timely topic, Maariv and Havdalah 6:15 pm
Tuesday 3/19
Sisterhood Book Club 1:00 pm "The Last Watchman of Old Cairo" by Michael David Lukas
Wednesday 3/20
Noah Solomon Chase Concert 1:00 pm
Purim Celebration & Megillah Reading 7:30 pm
Thursday 3/21
Megillah Reading and Morning Service 6:30 am
Friday 3/22
Bible Class 11:30 am

 
New Zealand
I am just sick over what happened in Christchurch...How is it any different (except in greater magnitude) from what happened in Pittsburgh? It disturbed my sleep: I awoke at about 2:00 a.m. to read updates for about an hour. This act of terror -in New Zealand no less!-is a shock that leaves me unable to react except viscerally in the hours after it occurred.
kas


SNOWED OUT AND RE-SCHEDULED
16 of us went On the Road to Liebman's Deli last Thursday
 

"While the meat was still between their teeth..." (Numbers 11: 33)  Go ahead...look it up!
Thank you to Richard Schiff for the photographs!
AND 11 OF US WENT-IMPROMPTU--TO SEE/HEAR MITCHELL SHEDLARZ PLAY IN POMONA, NY on Saturday, February 23rd



Tonight: Evening service at 7:00 p.m.
Tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m.
The reaction to last week's analysis of Bret Stephens' op-ed on ("The Progressive Assault on Israel') was so positive, that we will try it again with        
Daniel Gordis' new article: Netanyahu Is Now Attacking His Own Democracy
Faced with the possibility of losing his post, Israel's prime minister makes stunning claims  
You can read it here: And I will make copies for everyone for Shabbat morning
Tomorrow afternoon at 6:15 p.m.
During Seudah Shlishit we will read Liberal Zionism and Michelle Alexander by Peter Buchsbaum the first rebuttal to Leslie Alexander's

This Week's Yahrzeit Observances
We hope that our weekly listing of yahrzeit observances will serve 2 purposes:
1)     To remind those who have the yahrzeit for a second time, much closer to the date of the actual observance
2)     To alert friends and acquaintances that someone they know is observing a yahrzeit. We hope that you will show them your support by joining them at our minyanim, and helping to assure that Kaddish can be recited with a minyan 
   
Abraham Ravid will be observing yahrzeit for his mother, Sara Ravid on Friday evening, March 15th
Joseph Hyman will be observing yahrzeit for his wife, Helen Hyman on Sunday evening, March 17th
Jeffrey Adler will be observing yahrzeit for his father, Abraham Adler on Tuesday evening, March 19th
Lore Benario will be observing yahrzeit for her mother-in-law , Irene Benario on Thursday evening, March 21st
Heidi Skolnik will be observing yahrzeit for her grandmother, Bella Weitzman on Thursday evening, March 21st
Diane Sudakoff will be observing yahrzeit for her father, Julius Zucker on Thursday evening, March 21st




Important Reads
This op-ed, which appeared in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on 2014 may better reflect the sentiments of the Somali immigrant community than Rep. Ilhan Omar. It was written around the time of the last Gaza war.
kas
Somali-Americans, Say No to Hatred
Anti-Semitism reflects badly on our culture and gets us no closer to a Middle East solution.
By Omar Jamal                    
I am a Somali-American who is proud to make Minnesota my home - along with thousands in our community. I have served my native country as Somalia's First Secretary to the Somali Mission to the United Nations.
I am a friend of Palestine. I am a friend of Israel. I am a friend of the Muslim community. I am a friend of the Jewish community.
At times I have opposed policies of the Israeli government. Indeed, I voted in favor of the November 2012 United Nations General Assembly resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood, which Israel and the United States opposed.
At the same time, I remind our community that Israel was the first nation at the U.N. to support Somali admission into the organization. Israeli nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have long extended assistance to Somali refugees in East African refugee camps. More recently, an Israeli judge granted asylum to Somalis living in Tel Aviv. By contrast, Saudi Arabia continues to deport Somalis to the dangerous conditions of the civil war.
Israel is a country with which we have important disagreements, but Israel is also a nation that has been supportive of the Somali people, support we deeply appreciate.
This full history of the Somali-Israeli relationship is not evident in the expressions of hate and anti-Semitism - in Somali, Arabic and English - that I read on social media from members of our local Somali community. Here are some illustrative examples: "Kill the Jews." "Hitler was a hero." "Boycott Jewish business." And so on.
Such comments are wrong, abhorrent and counterproductive in the effort to establish peace in the Middle East - and they reflect badly upon our community. I keep in mind that these are not sentiments held by the vast majority of decent and caring Somalis, but are the vicious outbursts of a small group of people. But unless our community repudiates them, what they say will do great damage.
We have not come to the United States to become haters of Jews, of Israel or of anyone else, for that matter. Leave that hatred to the Europeans, whose streets in Brussels, Paris and London are filled with demonstrators shouting "death to the Jews" by way of protesting the Gaza war. This is not our way. This is not the American way. This is not the Somali-American way.
This country - our country - is a land where, for all of its historical difficulties, including its own Civil War, the expression of political differences is largely civil and does not descend to the level of wishing death or misfortune for those with whom we disagree. That type of discourse has no place in the United States and should have no place in our Somali-American culture.
Besides being morally wrong, anti-Minnesotan and anti-American, such expressions of hatred bring a Palestinian state no closer to existence. All such talk does is alienate the broad band of Minnesotans and Americans who support Israel and who recognize the just need for an independent Palestinian state - a position for which I cast an affirmative U.N. vote. Mixing support for Palestinians with hatred of Jews quite rightly turns people off and relegates those who engage in it to the fringes, where Americans rightly place all anti-Semites.
Somali support for a Palestinian state is natural and important. Somali support for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine is historically right and just, and helps our community become a bridge between our Muslim and Jewish friends in Minnesota and across the United States.
This is the American way and the Somali-American way! 
Omar Jamal is a Somali community activist in St. Paul and former executive director of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center.
 
Is Anti-Semitism Exceptional?                                                                                                                                               The inevitable decline of left-wing philo-Semitism. "The outsize success of Jewish intellectuals and scientists and artists and businessmen and activists was an especially good thing, a unique proof of American exceptionalism - because ours was the one country where a people so long persecuted could not only survive but triumph."     
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Says AIPAC is Coming After Her...                                                                                         except the "AIPAC activist" quoted by the NYT, Stephen Fiske of Florida, confirmed to JTA that he has not been associated with the pro-Israel lobbying group for several years!   
US Anti-Zionism Reminds Me of The USSR's Anti-Zionism ..."operating within a left-wing ideological framework, they drew heavily on far-right, racist ideas."                         

Anti-Semitism Is the Religion of People Too Lazy to Accept the Complexity of Reality
After Week of Infighting, Democrats Wonder Where to Draw Line on Speech
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict a Low Priority for Americans                                                                                           Nearly as many liberal Democrats sympathize with Palestinians (38%) in the Middle Eastern conflict as sympathize with Israelis (41%), according to a Gallup poll out this week. That's in contrast with conservative/moderate Democrats, who sympathized with Israelis more than with the Palestinians by 28%.    

Max Boot on Leaving the Republican Party, and Why Trump Isn't Good for Israel
"I think at the end of the day, Trump is not good for Israel. He's making it a political football. There used to be bipartisan support for the country. That was already fading before he came into office, but it's changing more and more rapidly now."   

An Exhibit in South Africa Recalls the Exodus of Ethiopian Jews to Israel   
Last remaining Jewish community on the African continent has a responsibility to portray all communities.   
"We bring a lot of African schoolchildren through the museum - I'd like them to see that Jews are not homogenously white, Ashkenazi, middle-class people, but that we are a very diverse culture and community..."   


 
Israel
Nothing Like Netta! This is Israel's 2019 Eurovision Submission (to be held in Tel Aviv):
The Israeli Entry "Home" Performed by Kobi Marimi       
Saw this lightweight, flexible suit at AIPAC last year!

NASA to Include Israeli Radiation Suit in Orion Moon Mission
 Women of the Wall Activists Shoved, Spat on at 30th Anniversary Event
 Israel's Attorney General Seeks to Disqualify Far-Right Candidate Over "Severe and Extreme" Racism  

Bibi's latest outrage has led me to endorse J Street's platform, with 1/2 reservations (first their platform, then the qualification):
  • Condemn Netanyahu's elevation of ultra-racist politicians
  • Talk about the need to end the occupation and achieve a two-state solution to secure Israel's future
  • Denounce racist rhetoric and incitement against Israel's Arab minority
Here's my reservation: By occupation, I hope they mean some modification of the 1967 lines, and that they also recognize the reality that at this time neither the Palestinians-nor the neighborhood-can provide Israel with a secure future.

Netanyahu, in War of Words over Arab-Israelis, Says Israel is 'Not a Country of All its Citizens'   
When an actress said that Arabs are equ al citizens of Israel, Netanyahu said Israel is "the nation-state of the Jewish people."  

Don't Say Goodbye to Israel's Netanyahu Just Yet 
Netanyahu's Departure Would Be a Very Big Deal                                                                   
Could Ayman Odeh Determine Who Becomes Israel's Next Prime Minister?    
In a fiery speech, the country's top Arab politician imagines what was previously considered impossible: a Jewish-Arab coalition to topple Benjamin Netanyahu  

A Beginner's Guide to the 2019 Israeli Elections        

Jaffa Is Tel Aviv's Unexpected Luxury Hotspot                                                                                                                   Just last year, the ancient neighborhood saw the opening of three high-end hotels.                                        




BDS / Anti-Semitism / anti-Zionism
15 years later, there is ample evidence to suggest that BDS not only has failed in delegitimizing Israel in any meaningful way, but is now struggling to defend its own legitimacy throughout Europe, the United States and beyond.      
Anti-Boycott Laws Are Not "Loyalty Oaths to Israel"   
What's Behind Europe's Surge in Anti-Semitism?                                                                                                         Violent attacks against Jews are multiplying as fringe politics become the norm.                                            
Semites, Anti-Semites, Zionists and Anti-Zionists                                                                                                         Emmanuel Macron recently described anti-Zionism as a new form of antisemitism, setting in motion a process to criminalize anti-Zionism. In this article, Shlomo Sand discusses changing natures of Judeophobia, Zionism, and of Jewish identity 

French Far-Left Politician Cracks Holocaust Joke Amid Spate of Anti-Semitic Vandalism   
Uses same pun that was the domain of the extreme right                                                          

 
Rahm Emanuel: I've Faced the Charge of Dual Loyalty    
It was anti-Semitic then, and it's anti-Semitic now.                                                            
The Omar Affair                                                                                                                                                                       The socialism of fools takes Washington     

Tony Blair on the Labour Party's Transformation 
The British Equality Watchdog's Probe Leaves Labour with a Painful Choice
The Shocking Last Line:   "Labour runs the very real risk of being only the second political party to ever be formally investigated for discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, religion or belief in this country.  The first? The BNP."   (BNP is/was National (Nazi affiliate) Party).   
Leeds University Union Rejects Motion to Adopt Anti-Semitism Definition                                                
Rampant Anti-Semitism in US Mosques
Antisemitism inside Radical Islam Mosques in America: In Their Own Words
Antisemitism inside Radical Islam Mosques in America: In Their Own Words

Ilhan Omar Can't Break the U.S.-Israel Bond                                    





The Palestinians

The Failure of Palestinian Nationalism      
Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon ("Bogie"): Israeli-Arab Conflict Is Over                                         Israel: UN Commission of Inquiry on Gaza Disregards Hamas                                                         

Ongoing Protests in Jordan Threaten to Destabilize the Regime  
Jordan's King Abdullah: Walking a Fine Line between the Bedouin and the Palestinians   
King Abdullah Issues Instructions to Expand Joint Council for the Management of the Temple Mount to Include PA, Fatah Officials  
Wakf to Start Renovating Golden Gate Site on Temple Mount Following Agreement  
PA TV Uses International Women's Day to Glorify Female Terrorists
Abbas Appoints New Prime Minister; Hamas Won't Recognize New PA Government       
Hamas Risks War to Avoid Economic Collapse 
A DREAMY TRAIN BETWEEN RAMALLAH AND NABLUS                                                                                                     Plans are afoot for a rail line in the northern West Bank, extending eventually to the south.



Iran / Syria / Hezbollah





 Pop Culture
Thousands of Israelis Now Call Berlin Home And Make Their Cultural Mark                                                

"Call Your Mother": A New podcast Gets Real about Parenting while Jewish                                            
Don't try this on Passover:

"Top Chef" Contestant Sara Bradley Reaches Finals with Chinese-Inspired Matzah Ball Soup 
Israeli and Palestinian Chefs Break Down Barriers Through Food and Friendship                                                           Chefs Itamar Shani and Haitham El Khatib are collaborating on lunch events at U of British Columbia all semester 
Not sure if this is serious or not, so I placed it here:

A Jewish Comedian is the Front-Runner in Ukraine's Presidential Vote   
The award-winning one-man show is inspired by the Academy Award nominee and proud communist Abraham Polonsky.        








                                            
We Need Volunteers From Our Congregation
WE NEED YOU!!!

To volunteer, please email Hilda Froelke-  hfroelke@aol.com  














 

February 2019 / Adar I 5779

Dear  Families,

I am pleased to make you aware of National Ramah's Affordability Initiative, which provides substantial funding for families in crisis to send their children to Camp Ramah.

If you know of someone in your community who might be interested in Ramah but cannot afford any tuition, please let us know. We will make every effort to make it possible for the child to attend a Ramah camp.

This scholarship assistance applies to our regional  overnight camps and  day camps offering four-week and full summer sessions, as well as the two-week sessions at  Ramah in the Rockies and our newest camp,  Ramah Sports Academy in Fairfield, CT. This also applies to children and teens with disabilities for whom our  Tikvah programs might be appropriate.

Please reach out to me or your local camp director if you have any questions or want to recommend a specific family.

Many thanks,

Mitch

Rabbi Mitchell Cohen, Director
National Ramah Commission, Inc. of The Jewish Theological Seminary






68TH ANNUAL ISRAEL FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL AND FAIR

A GALA CELEBRATION OF ISRAEL IN NEW YORK CITY

Sunday, March 24, 2019
 
 
 
On Sunday, March 24, 2019, The 68th Annual Israel Folk Dance Festival and Festival of the Arts will be held at a new venue, The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College, 524 West 59th Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues), New York, NY.  The Festival is an annual gala celebration in Dance, Music and Song, this year reflecting the theme of MABAT L'ACHOR - TZA'AD KADIMA, Looking Back - Stepping Forward. The Festival Performance will be at 3:00 pm, preceded by the free Festival Fair from 11:30 am to
2:30 pm.
 
A highlight of this year's festival will be performances by Galgaley Rishon, an inspiring wheelchair dance troupe from Israel. They will be joined by multiple generations of dancers and singers from Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. Every year the festival performers share the diverse styles and moods that constitute Israel's evolving folk culture in a thrilling and uplifting stage production.
The Festival day  begins with Rivkaleh's Fair, a once a year indoor event for the whole family featuring community Israeli dancing for all plus arts, crafts, cultural exhibits and activities, and of course, kosher food.
Mark your calendar! MABAT L'ACHOR - TZA'AD KADIMA, A Gala Celebration of Israel in Dance and Song on Sunday, March 24th, 2019 at John Jay College, 524 West 59th Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues), New York, NY.  Fair begins at 11:30 am, Festival performance at 3:00 pm. 
Tickets are available for the Festival at $20 / $15 for students, seniors and groups of 15 or more. 

Admission to the Fair is free.

Checks should be made payable to the Israeli Dance Institute and mailed to Israeli Dance Institute, P.O. Box 124, New York, NY 10025 and received before March 15th. Tickets can also be purchased online

The Israel Folk Dance Festival and Festival of the Arts is a project of the Israeli Dance Institute in partnership with Jewish National Fund with the support of Bnai Zion, the New York Board of Rabbis and the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
68th Annual
ISRAEL FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL
and Festival of the Arts
MABAT L'ACHOR - TZA'AD KADIMA, Looking Back - Stepping Forward 



Sunday, March  24, 2019
The Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College
524 West 59th Street (between 10th & 11th Avenues)
New York, NY

A Day-Long Celebration!
 
Special Guest Performers - Galgaley Rishon, wheelchair dance troupe from Israel!

Rivkaleh's Fair 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
The Fair is a great prelude to the show with lots
to see and do for the entire family!
A marketplace of Judaica and crafts vendors
Dancing for adults and children
Kosher food and snacks
Admission to the Fair is free!

Performance: 3:00 pm
Dancers and singers from Israel and across 
the United States join together on one stage!
See below for ticket information.
 
Presented by The Israeli Dance Institute in partnership with Jewish
National Fund with the support of Bnai Zion, The New York Board of
Rabbis and the Jewish Community Relations Council Of New York.

ORDER NOW!  Tickets:  $20 per person      
                        Student/Senior/Groups of 15 or more: $15
                       
For information: www.israelidanceinstitute.org | E-mail:
festival@israelidanceinstitute.org | Tel: 917-689-7677
Detach the order form below and mail with your payment to: 
Israeli Dance Institute, P.O. Box 124, New York, NY 10025
or purchase online

Rendered Void
A.I.R Gallery III
Artist, Gabriella Vainsencher
March 15 - April 14, 2019
Opening Reception, March 15 | 6:00 - 8:00 pm
A.I.R. Gallery is pleased to announce Rendered Void , an exhibition of recent photographs and porcelain sculptures by Fellowship Artist  Gabriela Vainsencher , in her first solo show in New York. Vainsencher's interdisciplinary practice includes video, sculpture and photography, and is grounded in an exploration of the processes involved in the formation of identity, be they physical, biographical, or political.
Art
Four, Group Exhibition
Yossi Milo Gallery
Artist, Oren Pinhassi
March 16 through April, 27 2019
Opening Mar. 16 |6:00 - 8:00 pm
Oren Pinhassi's  (b. 1985) art combines the logic of architecture and sculpture in his construction of fluid, eroticized installations designed to thwart one's traditional associations and encoded behaviors. Pinhassi  arranges his sculptures in simulation of queer sites where the boundaries between bodies and objects is blurred and played with, setting the scene for encounters with and among each work.
Film
The Unorthodox
Israeli Films at the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival 2019
Director, Eliran Malka
Israel | 2018 | 92 min.|Narrative
Sunday, March 17 | 7:00 pm   *  Center for Jewish History
Eliran Malka  directorial debut is a dramatic underdog story filled with comedic relief. This close-to-reality account of the founding of Shas, the Sephardi Haredi political party, has been an audience favorite everywhere it goes. Exposing the injustice and discrimination that Shas sought to challenge, its first successes in the early 1980s, its ultimate achievement in winning 17 of the 120 Knesset seats in 1999, followed by the in-fighting and corruption behind the scenes. Fun, funny and poignant & not to be missed.Born in 1980 in Nahariya, Israel,  *  Followed by Q&A with director  Eliran Malka.
Hebrew with English subtitles
Film
Labor, Rebellion, Upheaval From the Ancestral Sin Series (NY Premiere)
Israeli Films at the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival 2019
Directors; David Deri, Ruth Yuval & Doron Galezer
Israel | 2018 | 50 min.| Doc.
Sunday, March 17 | 4:00 pm   *
From the director of the electrifying documentary, THE ANCESTRAL SIN (NYSJFF 2018), comes a controversial new film about immigrant children from North Africa who are placed in vocational schools in periphery towns in Israel. While the systematic policy was meant to keep newcomers from Asia and Africa at the bottom of the social strata, the second generation created a grassroots movement for social and economic justice, ultimately rejecting exclusion and neglect.
*   Followed by Q&A with Director David Deri.  Hebrew with English subtitles
Film
The Lost Crown
Israeli Films at the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival 2019
Director, Avi Dabach
Israel | 2018 | 65 min.
Saturday, March 16 | 9:00 pm  *
Billed as "A Syrian Sephardi Thriller" ...
The Aleppo Codex, aka The Crown, is considered the most accurate and valuable edition of the Hebrew Bible. After being safeguarded for seven centuries by the Syrian Sephardic community of Aleppo, more than a third of its pages disappeared when it was smuggled to Israel in 1957. As Avi Dabach, the filmmaker and great-grandson of the Crown Keeper navigates the dark corridors of hidden history, archival documents and rare testimonies reveal an astonishing story involving an Israeli president, Mossad agents, passionate rabbis, and antique dealers.  English and Hebrew with English subtitles
Film
Pepe's Last Battle(NY Premiere)
Israeli Films at the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival 2019
Director, Michael Alalu
Israel | 2016 | 63 min.| Doc.
Sunday, March 17 | 2:00 pm
After decades of political struggles, Pepe Alalu, the leader of the left party in Jerusalem decides to run for mayor of the Holy City. Although it's a slim shot, Pepe believes in presenting the public with an alternative. Michael, his son and the movie's director joins him and together they embark on a Don Quixote Sancho Panza battle against the powerful windmills of the most complicated city in the whole world-Jerusalem.  Hebrew with English subtitles
Film
Photo Farag
Israeli Films at the NY Sephardic Jewish Film Festival 2019
Director, Kobi Farag
Israel | 2017 | 77 min.|Narrative
Wednesday, March 20 | 8:00 pm  Center for Jewish History
A riveting documentary, Photo Farag recounts the tale of ten siblings from Iraq who immigrated to Israel and revolutionized photography. Faraj Bilbul started photographing in Baghdad when he was nine years old and continued after he immigrated with his family to Israel. The brothers opened the largest chain of photography studios in the country. Using rare archival footage, nephew  Kobi Faraj tastefully embarks on a journey to solve the riddle that is his family.  Post-screening Iraqi-style Megillah Reading followed by a Purim Party Reception  Hebrew with English subtitles
Film Festival
Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia 2019
March 16 - April 7, 2019
In our 2019 season, the Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia marks its 23rd year.
The Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia is a celebration of Israeli culture, with the aim of enriching the American vision of Israeli culture and society through film. Each season, a slate of feature films and documentaries are selected to provide a diverse and impartial reflection of Israel.
Film Festival
The Unorthodox
Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia 2019
Director + Screenwriter, Eliran Malka
Israel | 2018 | 94 min.
Saturday, March 16 | 8:30 pm*
Sunday, March 17 | 2:00 pm

When Yakov Cohen finds out that his daughter was expelled from her high school because of her ethnicity he decides that enough is enough. With a pair of friends, a lot of anger, and little money, Cohen sets out to form a movement to empower all Sephardic Jews and to fight the injustice of prejudice. Set in 1983, this film is an emotional depiction the humble beginnings of the "Shas" political party, along with their rise to power as well as their fall to corruption. Writer/director Eliran Malka brings their absolute vision to the screen with humor and heart with a story that is given life by lead Shuli Rand. Don't miss this poignant, often comic and often nostalgic, recounting of Shas' unbelievable story.
*Join us for a wine and cheese reception prior to the movie and a gala reception following the screening.

Hebrew with English subtitles
Film Festival
Echo
Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia 2019
Directors, Amikam Kavnor + Assaf Snir
Israel | 2018 | 98 min.
Sunday, March 17 | 7:00 pm*

Echo comes to us from writer/director duo Amikam Kovnir  and  Assaf Snir . Anver (Yoram Toledano) is a husband who is struggling with the feeling that his marriage has become strained. In order to find out if his wife, Ella (Yael Abecassis), is faithful to him he begins to secretly record her conversations. His pursuit of truth turns to obsession as the recording reveal that the person that he married is an utter stranger. Echo is a gripping depiction of a family torn asunder that forces us to ask one of the hardest questions about our own deep, long-standing relationships. What is the difference between what we know and what we think we know?
*Join us for a reception following the screening .
Hebrew with English subtitles
Film Festival
Cause of Death
Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia 2019
Director, Ramy A. Katz
Israel | 2018 | 79 min.
Saturday, March 23 | 8:30 pm

From accomplished documentary director, Ramy A Katz  comes a film that strives to shed light on a decade old mystery. A terrorist opens fire in a restaurant in Tel Aviv. A Druze police officer, Salim Barakat, stops the terrorist but is somehow killed in the process. Now, a decade later, new evidence emerges that raises suspicious around Salim Barakat's death and how the situation really played out.  Cause Of Death follows Salim's brother Jamal in his pursuit of discovering the real truth and all the twists and turns that he encounters on his journey.  *Join us for a reception following the screening.  Hebrew, Arabic with English subtitles
Film Festival
You Only Die Twice
Israeli Film Festival of Philadelphia 2019
Director, Yair Lev
Israel, Austria | 2018 | 92 min.
Sunday, March 24 | 7:00 pm
Israeli documentarian  Yair Lev 's powerful project becomes personal when he films his own investigation into his grandfather's identity. After Lev's mother runs into some difficulty surrounding an inheritance, the family discovers a former president of an Austrian Jewish community with the same identity of their grandfather.  You Only Die Twice  is a story of surviving The Holocaust that entangles Nazis and their victims into a complex web. Lev's documentary is for anyone with a love of compelling history; full of surprises, confrontation, collaboration and, yes, even romance.  You Only Die Twice  is a powerful film that can't help but dwell on the minds and in the hearts of anyone lucky enough to experience it.  Hebrew, English, German, Serbo-Croatian with English subtitles






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