jews in the d

Beth Ahm To Host Kabbalah Scholar

GI JEWS: Jewish
Americans in World War II

Filmmaker brings documentary to U-M campus.

D

ocumentary filmmaker Lisa
Ades will be on the University
of Michigan campus 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 6, at the U-M Museum
of Art Auditorium for a screening
of her latest work, GI JEWS: Jewish
Americans in World War II.
The film, based on
Frederick G.L. Huetwell
and Professor Deborah
Dash Moore’s 2004
book, GI Jews: How
World War II Changed
a Generation, has
appeared at several
Lisa Ades
film festivals across the
United States and pre-
miered on PBS this past April to com-
memorate Holocaust Remembrance
Day. The screening will be followed
by a discussion with Ades and Dash
Moore, who also served as a senior
adviser for the film.
Ades first became interested in
making a film about Jews in World
War II in 2012 during her production
of a documentary about the history of
Jewish people in Syria. While speaking
with Jews of Syrian decent in America,
she learned about their experiences in
World War II.
“Their stories were fascinating and
surprising — how after Pearl Harbor
they had lied about their age in order
to enlist; what it meant to serve as chil-
dren of immigrants; the anti-Semitism
they confronted in basic training on
their way to fight the Nazis; the horror
of the concentration camps they liber-
ated; and how, on their return home,
they found themselves changed forev-
er,” she said.
“I was surprised that even though
several films had been made on aspects

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of Jewish Americans in WWII, no one
had yet made a comprehensive doc-
umentary on the subject,” Ades said.
“Here, we would be able to tell the sto-
ries of Jews not only as victims of the
war, but also as Americans fighting for
both their nation and their people.”
She turned to Dash Moore’s book,
which tells the stories of 15 Jewish men
who enlisted during World War II and
how they simultaneously managed the
demands of military service and the
prejudices of their fellow American
soldiers.
Ades hopes viewers walk away with
a better understanding of the many
Jewish Americans who have served in
U.S. wars, going at least as far back to
the Civil War, and how important the
fight for equality still is now.
“Today, with the rise of white
supremacists, xenophobia, and
anti-immigrant sentiment in the
United States and throughout the
world, these stories of the children of
Jewish immigrants fighting anti-Sem-
itism at home in order to fight it
abroad — and thereby becoming more
American and Jewish in the process —
resonate profoundly for me.
“Every American has a relationship
to World War II,” Ades continued, “but
the role of Jewish American service
people has not been fully explored on
film. It’s been gratifying to hear from
Jewish Americans about how grateful
they are that this story has been told
for a national audience. Many Jews
don’t know the full history of this peri-
od, and it’s important for non-Jewish
audiences to learn about the Jewish
experience of World War II, from the
standpoint of the men and women
who served.” ■

Congregation Beth
Ahm, the Cohn-
Haddow Center
at Wayne State
University and SAJE
welcome Professor
Daniel Matt for a
Daniel Matt
weekend of learning
and mystical insight. Matt is one
of the world’s leading authorities
on Kabbalah and translator of the
Zohar (kabbalistic text). He will
introduce attendees to some of the
central themes in the Jewish mysti-
cal tradition.
Kabbalat Shabbat services on
Oct. 26 will begin at 6 p.m. at Beth
Ahm, followed by Shabbat dinner.
Matt will present “Shekhinah-The
Feminine Half of God.” He will
briefly trace the development of
Kabbalah and then focus on the
concept of Shekhinah.
There will be supervised
games and activities for children.
Advanced registration for dinner is

required by Oct. 19. Cost is $25 per
adult; children ages 18 and younger
are sponsored by the Nadis Family
Fund. Call (248) 851-6880 or email
ablau@cbahm.org to register.
On Shabbat morning, Oct. 27,
Matt will lead Torah study at 9 a.m.
before religious services. His topic
is the “Mystical Meaning of Torah.”
He will explore these questions by
teaching several passages from his
award-winning translation, The
Zohar: Pritzker Edition.
Following Shabbat lunch, Matt
will discuss “Raising the Sparks:
Finding God in the Material
World.”
The Scholar-in-Residence week-
end is sponsored by the Menashe &
Sarah Haar Fund.
On Sunday, Oct. 28, Matt will
speak at 11 a.m. at the Jewish
Community Center. His topic will
be based on his book God and the
Big Bang: Discovering Harmony
between Science and Spirituality.

Grant Will Aid Jewish Campers

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation (FJC) recently made a $12 million
grant to the Foundation for Jewish Camp that will support a new initiative to
increase accessibility for campers and staff with disabilities at Jewish summer day
and overnight camps.
According to a 2013 Foundation for Jewish Camp survey, camp professionals
highlighted two areas, among others, in which they required support to better
serve children with disabilities: funding for capital improvements to increase acces-
sibility as well as training for staff.
Projects funded through this initiative will support individuals with autism
spectrum disorder, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and physical and
sensory disabilities.

Refugee Symposium Set in Ann Arbor

A symposium on “Keeping
Our Door Open: A Multi-
Dimensional Approach to Refugee
Resettlement” will be held Oct.
22-23 at University of Michigan’s
Rackham Graduate Building, 915 E.
Washington, Ann Arbor.
Featured speakers are Dr. Jeff
Crisp, Oxford University Refugee
Studies Centre; Debbie Dingell,
U.S. Representative (Mich-12th
Dist.); and Mark Hetfield, presi-
dent/CEO of HIAS.
The two-day symposium will
consider the most significant
aspects in the present international
and domestic refugee system within
four tracks: Impact and Integration;

Transformative Practice; Health
and Wellness; and Policy and
Advocacy. The symposium will
include presentations by academic
experts, policy-makers, nonprofit
social services professionals and
government officials to analyze the
limitations in the present refugee
system and discuss ways of over-
coming these constraints.
Symposium sponsors are U-M
School of Social Work, C.S. Mott
Children’s Hospital and Jewish
Family Services of Washtenaw
County. To register, go to
jfsannarbor.org/symposium or
call (734) 769-0209.

