played Ruth's husband
and two children.
Ms. Menlove, working
with Mr. Cirgenski, also
hired the crew. With
financing put up by the
two co-producers, along
with acquaintances and a
few friends, the budget
was anything but unlimit-
ed. Many on the project
worked for less than scale
because they believed in
the project, Ms. Menlove
says.
At times, crew members
were so emotional they
couldn't continue. In one
scene, the Nazis drag off
Ruth's two children and
her husband, then shoot
and kill them. Several
members of the crew asked

to leave during the film-
ing.
Even Mr. Cirgenski, who
had written the scene,
found it terrifying.
Usually, he says, he can
fairly well envision how
the words on a page would
look on film. The murder
scene was an exception.
Mr. Cirgenski and Ms.
Menlove hope to have One
Room Castle released in
October. Meanwhile, they
are working with an editor
to get the film down to
about 90 minutes and are
hiring a composer to write
a classical score. They plan
to take the film to various
festivals, including Can-
nes. ❑

Broner Returns
For Feminist Seder

KIMBERLY LIFTON STAFF WRITER

M

iriam was the sis-
ter of Moses and
Aaron. She was
the first prophet
and she foretold the
Exodus. She was the
singer at the seashore and
the one cast low.

E.M. Broner

In her latest book, The
Telling, feminist author
Esther "E.M." Broner calls
Miriam the "parenthesis of
Exodus."
"She is a structure, a
construct," Ms. Broner
writes in The Telling,
released last month by
Harper Books. "What had
been omitted from her his-
tory also was omitted from
our mythic past. It was

clearly time for a new
telling."
Ms. Broner, originally
from Detroit, will return
home April 16 as the guest
speaker for the annual
feminist seder • of the
Detroit Women's Forum, a
project of the American
Jewish Committee.
"The seder is for every-
one, for everyone to be
free," says Ms. Broner,
who taught English at
Wayne State University
before moving five years
ago to New York. "It took
us forever to get ahead.
Jewish women are still
fighting."
At its first feminist
seder in 1979, the Detroit
Women's Forum used the
Haggadah created by Ms.
Broner and another
Jewish feminist; Naomi
Nimrod. They have used
the book ever since.
"Why is this night dif-
ferent from all the rest?"
Ms. Broner asks at a femi-
nist seder. "Because every-
one is doing everything
together."
Ms. Broner's story is one
of change. Raised in north-
west Detroit, the daughter
of Paul and Beatrice
Masserman, Ms. Broner,
60, had an ordinary child-
hood.
"Usually visionaries
don't come out of visionary

Gary Rosenblatt
Takes New Post

STAFF REPORT

ary Rosenblatt will
step down as editor
of the Baltimore
Jewish Times in
June to become editor and
publisher of the Jewish
Week in New York.
Mr. Rosenblatt, 46, has
been in his current post
for more than 18 years.
He also serves as execu-
tive editor of The Detroit
Jewish News and the
Atlanta Jewish Times,
positions he will also
relinquish.
"Gary has provided us
with intellectual and cre-
ative leadership, a thera-
peutic sense of humor and
has set ethical standards
for almost two decades,"
said Charles A. Buerger,
publisher of the three
newspapers. "He is our
caring friend and we wish
him well."
Mr. Rosenblatt said
that "leaving is like leav-
ing family — a very spe-
cial and wonderful family

G

childhoods," she explains.
Always a voracious read-
er, she went with her
father each Friday to the
library. Her father was a
reporter for the Detroit
Times. Her mother was
"the guardian at the gate,"
standing by her children to
make sure nothing bad
happened to them.
Ms. Broner's journey to
feminism began in 1972
when she met Marcia
Friedman from New
Jersey, who organized the
women's movement in
Israel. Ms. Broner's father
was a socialist; she became
the activist.
"My parents were liber-
al but genderized," she
recalls.
The Telling: The Story of
a Group of Jewish Women
Who Journey To Spirit-
uality Through Commun-
ity and Ceremony includes
a revised feminist Hag-
gadah, which Ms. Broner
will read at the Detroit
seder. She also will read
anecdotes, songs, recipes
and poetry from her new
book.

— but I'm excited by the
challenges of this new
career opportunity."
Said Associate Publish-
er Arthur Horwitz, "Gary
played a significant role
in shaping the overall edi-
torial direction of The
Jewish News since it was
acquired from the
Slomovitz family in 1984.
We owe special gratitude
to Gary for building a
foundation that we will
continue to build upon in
the years ahead?
Mr. Rosenblatt will
lead a newspaper, the
Jewish Week, that has the
largest audited circula-
tion — 110,000 — of any
Jewish weekly in the
country. It publishes
regional editions in
Manhattan, Queens,
Brooklyn-Staten Island,
Long Island-Nassau
County and Westchester-
Bronx.
During Mr. Rosen-
blatt's tenure in Balti-

more, the Buerger-owned
chain took its place
among the nation's lead-
ers in Jewish journalism,
receiving numerous
awards for its content and
design. Mr. Rosenblatt
has been honored for his
writing, and his weekly
column, "Between The
Lines," which is syndicat-
ed by the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency
throughout the country.
A search for Mr.
Rosenblatt's successor is
under way. ❑

Ms. Broner believes the
Passover seder, perhaps
more than any other
Jewish ritual, encourages
feminist adaptation with
its historical charge that
each generation should
add to the story of Exodus.

The book is a portrait of
a community of Jewish
women — including Gloria
Steinem, Letty Cottin
Pogrebin, Bella Abzug,
Grace Paley and Lilly
Rivlin — who derive spiri-
tual strength from their
yearly gathering. ❑

Gary Rosenblatt

Students Learn Truths
About Campus Life

LESLEY PEARL STAFF WRITER

n Sunday, Marcus
Leon got a jump on
the realities of col-
lege life.
The North Farmington
High School junior attend-
ed the Jewish College Fair,
where he was able to meet
with university students
and professors and learn
about the problems Jews
encounter on college cam-
puses. The event was spon-
sored by Jewish Com-
munity Council.
"It was a lot like a tradi-
tional college night, except
the audience got to partici-

0

pate in discussion. I
thought that was impor-
tant," Marcus said.
Howard Wallach, chair-
man of JCCouncil's College
Fair task force, said
Marcus was one of about
150 students attending the
c-0
first-time event.
Sparked by Nation of (3)
Islam leader the Rev. Louis
Farrakhan's visits to vari-
ous college campuses and
the increase of anti-Semitic It
and anti-Israel propagan-
da, the task force took on
the project to help give 1
Jewish students the infor-