ACADEMYAWARD® NOMINEE

E EST 1=> O CUMENTAR -IC

Left to right,
from opposite page:

"ONE OF THE MOST
POWERFUL FILM EXPERIENCES
you WILL EVER HAVE."

( : 111

— IAN

Murray Baumgarten:
"People have thought
Jewish writing is a result
of ghetto writing."

RAI tit

Lee Shai Weissbach:
"Patterns of Jewish life
are reflected in the patterns
of synagogue architecture."

— IGit CRAIG, 60 SK:0N0 PRI-VIEW/

Jeffrey Shandler:
`Artificial images get mapped
into Jewish neighborhoods
through television."

STEVEN SPIELBERG

and

ment, bringing singles into the syna-
gogues, will be another of his topics.
Capturing a different view of syna-
gogues, Weissbach will build on two
research trips to Michigan.
"Patterns of Jewish life are reflected
in the patterns of synagogue architec-
ture, and I'll be talking about national
trends starting with the 19th century,"
says Weissbach, who teaches in the
department of history at the
University of Louisville. "The subtitle
of my talk could be 'Buildings as
Documents' because we can read into
a building by noting such things as
placement of the bimah and what's
written on the outside."
Weissbach's talk is similar to one he
gave in 1996 at the University of
Michigan — "Lessons of the
Synagogue: Architecture and American
Jewish Life." He wrote a book with a
similar focus, The Synagogues of
Kentucky: Architecture and History,
which was published in 1995.
"You can walk into a synagogue
and tell whether it's Orthodox,
Conservative or Reform, but there's no
uniquely Jewish architecture," says

Weissbach, who will explore how
newer houses of worship reflect
expanding activities going on inside.
Shandler, a Dorot teaching fellow
in the Skirball department of Hebrew
and Judaic studies at New York
University, will use his conference
time to point out the myths of Jewish
characters depicted on television. He
will go back to the 1950s' series "The
Goldbergs" and end with today's
series, such as "The Nanny."
If audiences think these series hold
up a mirror to life, then they have a
very distorted view," says Shandler,
whose book While America Watches:
Televising the Holocaust is being pub-
lished this year.
One of the distortions Shandler
points out is the character of Molly
Goldberg, played by Gertrude Berg in
the first series about a Jewish family.
While the character fit all the stereo-
types of a very traditional, ethnic
mother, the actress was a very savvy,
progressive businesswoman.
"Artificial images get mapped into
Jewish neighborhoods through televi-
sion," Shandler says.

"The Urban Jewish Experience as Represented in the Arts and
Architecture" will feature Lee Shai Weissbach and Murray Baumgarten 2:30-
3:45 p.m. Monday, March 8, at the McGregor Memorial Conference Center
on the Wayne State University campus. (A 9:30-11:30 a.m. morning session
explores "Jews and the Urban Experience: A Comparative Review" and a
11:45 a.m.-2:15 p.m. luncheon session takes a look at "Jews in Greater
Detroit.") The fee is $35 and includes registration and lunch for the all-day
Monday program/$50 if the Sunday bus tour is included.
Jeffrey Shandler will speak at 8:15 p.m. Monday, March 8, at Adat
Shalom Synagogue, followed by a reception celebrating the 10th anniversary
of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies. The session is free and open
to the public. Keynote speaker Nathan Glazer's 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 7,
lecture at Temple Beth El also is free and open to the public.
For more information, call the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic
Studies, (313) 577-2679.

THE SHOAH FOUNDATION

present

•

• .;

••••••••:.

; :e. :

•

•

•.
LVIN SPIII.BERGAthiTHE SI 1()AI F(..x.irsii)ArioN .
PRESENT A KEN • LIPPIR/ILINE BEALL()KpRoDucnoWTi IL LAS F. DAN I"
A ram BY JAM ES MC)LL at
HANS ZIMM It pifniaiRpgf H AR.R IS DON L

ASSDOIATF

MAIA VRVILC) RICHARD KREI•MAN
pirosoNta ELYSE KATZ AARON ZARROW 43WAUI, S I EVEN SPII I IIIRG
PRODUCrn j
y" LINE 13EALLOR KIN LIPPER
m TIOVI AMLS MCI L

■

g■

PG-131PARDITS STRONGLY CJWTIONEn

/MI bhn.l Ms, 14 1341.0,103 In MMus WAN 13

on

DOLOYSTEREO

www.octoberfiIms.com

OCTOBER

(1999 Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. The Shoah Foundation and Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation
are trademarks / servicemarks of Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. Artwork
∎ ' 1998 October Films. Inc.

DETROIT FILM THEATRE

THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS

CAFt and BAR away& OPEN

IT 1313) 833 - 2323 TO RECEIVE

A COMPLETE 1999 DFT SCHEDULE

FRIDAY
SATURDAY

SUNDAY

7:00 & 9:30
7:00 & 9:30
4:00 & 7:00

ALL SEATS-_$5.50, AVAILABLE. -AT THE__QCDOR
.1 N ADVANCE.
STUDENT,' SENIOR AND GROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE

oe_

2/19

1999

Detroit Jewish News

75

