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Raising The Cultural Bar

s Jews, we're a universal
people with a common
homeland in Israel but
whose roots extend
throughout the diaspora. A love for
the cultural arts binds many of us.
Stage, screen, theater, canvas — it
doesn't matter. We're drawn by the
lure of creativity.
American Jews, especially, are cul-
tural connoisseurs, and not just in
obvious places like New York or Los
Angeles.
The Detroit Jewish community
shimmers, too, when it comes to rec-
ognizing and appreciating artistic
merit.
Which is why the Jewish Commu-
nity Center's new Lenore Marwil
Jewish Film Festival resonated last
year. It's back for a second season
April 30 to May 7.
The festival was admittedly a frag-
ile experiment. We've never had a
sustained effort to bring the newest
and finest in Jewish filmmaking to
town. And that oversight, frankly,
was surprising. Going to the movies
easily ranks right behind going out
to eat as a favorite pastime for
Detroit Jews.
We've long had cultural jewels like
the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, the
Janice Charach Epstein
Museum/Gallery, the Jewish Book
Fair and Jewish music festivals.
But it took the vision of Milton

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IN FOCUS

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Marwil and his family, dozens of
generous supporters and an unde-
terred steering committee led by
Mindy Soble Kaufman and Mark
Chessler to make the silver screen
come alive Jewishly.
Despite complaints about some
inconvenient show times, the debut
season last year sold enough tickets and
created enough of a b1177. to assure a
return engagement. And the producers
have put together a 2000 marquee
that's, by the film count, bigger and, by
the film selection, better.
Partly because Jews helped devel-
op it, and partly because its reach is
boundless, the movie industry has
been a key in exploring and invigo-
rating our Jewish identity. Movies
have the uncanny ability to broadly,
even stunningly, portray who we
really are as Jews.
What's especially nice about the
JCC Lenore Marwil Jewish Film Fes-
tival is its appeal to all streams and
all ages. The Jewish News is proud to
be a sponsor.
We can't yet call it a jewel in
Detroit Jewry's cultural crown. The
festival still must prove itself through
first-rate films and large audiences for
them every year. But no one ever said
championing the cause of Jewish cul-
ture would be easy. ❑

Moving In

Sinai Guild moved from Sinai-Grace Hospital in northwest Detroit to new offices
in the Samuel and Lillian Hechtman Building, on Telegraph, north of 13 Mile, in
Bingham Farms with a community open house on April 13. Standing beneath the
newly affixed mezzuza are Rose Rita Goldman, Guild president; Jan Services; vice
president/Sinai care services; Connie Franco, vice president/Sinai support services;
and Shari Cohen, Guild member.

A Verdict For History

l udaism has a strong tradition of exceptional
women who stand up for their people when
the needs arises. Sarah and Rachel, of course,
and Leah and Miriam. Purim, just past, cele-
brates Esther's intelligence and courage and how they
prevented the Jews of Persia from being exterminated.
Deborah Lipstadt would likely be a bit embar-
rassed to be mentioned in the same breath with
these heroines. And we are not arguing that 3,000
years from now her name will be recited in our
descendants' prayers. But she certainly deserves our
current thanks for the honorable and effective fight
she waged both as a historian and as a person facing
an assault that should never have happened in the
year 2000 or 5760.
Six years ago Lipstadt, the Dorot Professor of
Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory
University, published a book, Denying the Holocaust,
that convincingly exposed British author David Irv-

Il

Deborah Lipstadt celebrates her court victory.

ing's faulty scholarship. Using Britain's libel laws
that require the defendant to prove her statements
truthful, Irving sued. Last week, the three-month
trial ended with a stunningly complete victory For
Lipstadt. Irving, the trial judge said, was clearly a

Holocaust denier, antisemitic and racist to boot.
The trial was a useful reminder of the power of
delusion. In his admiration for Hitler, Irving could
pretend the Fuhrer didn't know how his henchmen
carried out his orders. He also thought somehow
he could rewrite his own professional history to
pretend that he was not the denier he clearly is.
With enormous intelligence and skill, Lipstadt
nailed him down with his own words and thereby
won what she said was "not only a personal victo-
ry, but also a victory for all those who speak out
against hate and prejudice."
Being an academic, Lipstadt might be comfort-
able being described as a modern-day Beruriah, the
second-century scholar. But we like to think she
also could be correctly compared, in a broader way,
to Yael, who, in self defense, courageously killed the
Canaanite General Sisera by driving a tent peg
through his head. ❑

4/21
2000

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