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Another Cultural Jewel

D

etroit's Jewish community supports
Jewish culture in a multitude of
ways. We've got Jewish theater
(JET), Jewish fine arts (Janice
Charach Epstein Museum/Gallery), Jewish
authors (Jewish Book Fair) and Jewish music
(a parade of Jewish performers who grace the
stages of our synagogues, the Jewish Commu-
nity Center and other venues).
But if you ask the average Jewish Detroiter
what he or she did last weekend, the most
popular answer is bound to be, "I saw a
movie." It probably wasn't a Jewish movie,
however. For unlike other cities with consid-
erable Jewish populations, Detroit hasn't,
until now, made a concerted effort to bring
in the newest and finest in Jewish Filmmak-
ing.
There are exceptions — for example, the
occasional mainstream release (like Italy's Lift
Is Beautiful) or limited-run feature (like James
Moll's The Last Days, a new documentary from
Steven Spielberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visu-
al History Foundation, coming Feb. 19-21, or
Healing By Killing, a 1997 Israeli film based on
Robert Lifton's book Nazi Doctors, coming
Feb. 22, both to the Detroit Institute of Arts'
Detroit Film Theatre).
But moviegoers interested in Jewish themes
must travel to places like Toronto, New York,
Boston, Baltimore or Washington to view cut-
ting-edge and diverse Jewish films.
True, the Agency for Jewish Education of
Metropolitan Detroit sponsored a two-week
Israeli film festival in 1997. And some syna-
gogues and communal groups, as well as the

IN FOCUS

JCC and the Jewish Federation of Metropoli-
tan Detroit, periodically host showings of films
with a Jewish theme, or even mini film fests.
We commend all for championing the cause of
Jewish culture.
Still, we can do better. We should have a
Detroit Jewish Film Festival.
A true Jewish film festival must go beyond
just Israeli film. The recent New York Jewish
Film Festival, for example, included movies
about Jews from the former Soviet Union, Fin-
land, Hungary, France, Germany, Greece, the
Mississippi Delta and other points.
Probably more than any .other medium, film
has the capability to strengthen our awareness
of Jewish identity, history and culture, pro-
mote dialogue on issues of concern to Jews
worldwide and break down stereotypes of Jews
found in much of the mainstream media. Film
is a shared experience that crosses generations
and gender, beliefs and background. It is the
medium that most often speaks to the human
heart.
So we applaud the Jewish Community Cen-
ter for undertaking development of what will
hopefully become an annual Jewish film festi-
val here in Detroit. We urge programmers to
consult with those who have mounted success-
ful Jewish film festivals in other cities and with
local resources like Elliot Wilhelm, Detroit
Film Theatre director and author of Video-

Hound's World Cinema: The Adventurer's Guide
to Movie Watching.

A world-class Jewish film festival, added to
our other cultural jewels, will help elevate
Detroit to a world-class Jewish community. 7

Wish List For The 106th

I

n Washington, there are reports that legis-
lators on both sides of the aisle are anx-
ious to build a record of legislative accom-
plishment after the impeachment tragi-
comedy. We hope those reports are accurate.
At the top of our list for the 106th Con-
gress is the precarious Social Security system.
With the federal budget in the black for the
first time in decades, we have an unexpected
opportunity to begin the process of shoring up
a program that could go broke when Baby
Boomers begin to retire.
We agree with President Bill Clinton that
most of the projected surpluses should be
reserved for Social Security, but we will be
deludinab ourselves if we think the cure will be
as painless as that.
What we need is sober analysis of the sys-
tem's flaws and corrective measures that do not
depend entirely on economic good times.
Medicare needs serious attention as well, as does

the broader health care system. Voters, fed up
with soaring costs and declining quality, may
not forgive lawmakers if they fail to pass a com-
prehensive Patients Bill of Rights this session.
We also need legislation barring discrimina-
tion by health insurers based on genetic infor-
mation, a rising concern among Jewish
women. Last year's bill was lost in the
impeachment frenzy.
The 106th should pass the Workplace Reli-
gious Freedom Act, which would protect
employees whose religious obligations require
reasonable accommodations from employers.
Reasonable, fair campaign finance reform
would be nice, but with expensive elections
coming in 2000, we're not holding our breath.
In the best of circumstances, all of that is a
tall order for the 106th Congress. We hope
lawmakers will rise to the challenge, and not
sink to the crass partisanship that characterized
the 105th. I 1

Building Knowledge

The most popular class during Term I of Seminars for Adult
Jewish Enrichment (SAJE) at the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit was "Two Rabbis, Three Opinions"
taught by Rabbis Daniel Nevins and Paul Yedwab. Term II,
featuring 28 classes, starts next week. Courses run three weeks
and are held at both JCC branches. For course and registration
information, call the JCC, (248) 661-7649.

LETTERS

Hadassah
And Jordan

Last week's articles
(Feb. 12) on the late
King Hussein of Jor-
dan were informative
and important, as he
was one of the lead-
ing peacemakers of
the Middle East.
"Building Bridges
To Peace" is also the
road Hadassah plays
in the Middle East.
The royal palace in
Amman, Jordan,
summoned Professor
Shimon Slavin of
Hadassah Hospital in Ein
Kerem. He went to Jordan
and was part of the team that
flew with the ailing monarch
to the Mayo Clinic. At the
clinic, he served as an "advis-
er" to prepare King Hussein
for a second transplant of
stem cells.
Slavin, an immunologist,

the chairman of the Sidney
Weisner Department of Bone
Marrow Transplantation and
the director of the Baxter
Research Center at Hadassah
University Medical Center in
Ein Kerem, is world-
renowned for his innovative
and promising techniques in
treating lymphoma and other

2/19
1999

Detroit Jewish News

27