‘A Tremendous Presence’ Filmmaker’s tribute to teacher Rabbi Eliezer Cohen to be shown at JCC fi lm fest. LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER D aniel Cappell, a local filmmaker, produced a docu- mentary about the celebrated Detroit educator Rabbi Eliezer Cohen that will be shown at 3 p.m. Thursday, May 18, at the Berman Center for Performing Arts as part of the Lenore Marwil Detroit Jewish Film Festival. The film will be introduced by Cappell and Rabbi Azaryah Cohen, head of school at Frankel Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield and son of the late rabbi, who died Sept. 9, 2013. Rabbi Eliezer Cohen taught at Akiva Hebrew Day School (now Farber Hebrew Day School) for nearly 40 years. Among his youngest students was Cappell of Southfield, who studied with the rabbi during the last year of his life. After graduating from high school, Cappell began studying film at Oakland Community College. His teacher, Jack Cronin, assigned Cappell the project of mak- ing a documentary film introducing a real person to the viewing audience. Cappell, then 17, immediately chose Rabbi Cohen as his subject because “Rabbi Cohen was the Rabbi Eliezer Cohen most interesting character I knew.” “He was a tremendous presence,” Cappell recalled. “His class was formative for me TOP: Filmmaker Daniel Cappell’s and making the film was a reflection on an class assignment turned into a documentary film about the late important part of my personal history. Rabbi educator Rabbi Eliezer Cohen. Cohen’s memory made for a good documen- tary topic because many people in the com- munity had emotions ready to be poured out and captured on film.” The rabbi was known for his dedication to learning and teaching, his iconoclastic teaching methods and his fierce commitment to independent thought. He challenged stu- dents of all ages to encounter sources directly, to think logi- cally and to form their own opinions based on real informa- tion. He would say the ultimate reward for thinking is not good grades or praise from a teacher, but the pleasure of figuring it out for yourself. For the film, Cappell interviewed a student who had been in Rabbi Cohen’s first class at Akiva in 1974 as well as many students in each of the later decades, and even some who Ribbon Cutting Ceremony 21 M AY SUNDAY 3:00 - 5:00 P.M. 2 0 1 7 21100 W E S T 12 M I L E R OA D S O U T H F I E L D, M I 48076 CEREMONY LIGHT REFRESHMENTS TOURS CHILDREN’S AC TIVITIES Celebrating the roots of our past and the blossoms of our future This celebration would not be possible without the support of our community and event sponsors. We share this milestone with you: Synagogue Level Campbell Brown and Dan Senor Toth Family Foundation Schostak Family Gymnasium Level Shari and Alon Kaufman Robert P. Aronson Science Laboratory Level Multi- Purpose Room Level The Simon Family For a full list of sponsors or to become a sponsor please visit w w w. f a r b e r h d s . o r g / r i b b o n - c u t t i n g continued on page 30 jn May 11 • 2017 29