24 | DECEMBER 12 • 2024
J
N

I

t is easy to take for granted a
functioning elevator, a welcoming
and safe space, a flawless
educational and social program, a
full room of friends and soon-to-be
friends. Don’t. Don’t take any of it for
granted. Embrace the blessing and
feel an extra depth of gratitude for the
vision, work, commitment and life that
manifested the Samantha Woll Center
for Jewish Detroit.
Jeremy Soper, one of the newest staff
team members and the program and
engagement coordinator of the Isaac
Agree Downtown Synagogue, has been
busy creating and promoting events to
engage the urban and suburban Jewish
community and welcome all to the
newly completed Center.
“Planning the Spooky Yiddish Movie
Night was meaningful to me because
Yiddish cinema captured a way of
European Jewish life that was largely
destroyed during WWII,
” he said. “The
Dybbuk is considered one of the most
influential and important Jewish films
of all time.
“Filmed in an actual Polish shtetl,
many of the background actors were
residents of the very village where it
was shot. I felt it was essential for our
community to not only see the film
but also connect with the cultural and
historical context of a place so many of
our ancestors called home.
”

The evening was made possible
through collaboration with
Congregation T’
chiyah and the Jewish
Historical Society of Michigan. More
than 50 guests were in attendance. The
evening started with Rabbi Ariana
Silverman leading a Havdalah service
to mark the transition from the sacred
time of Shabbat to the new week
ahead. Then the guests enjoyed the
remarks of two speakers, including
Nadav Pais-Greenapple, who provided
insights into the history of the film
itself.
Pais-Greenapple, Yiddishist,
historian, writer and a vice president
of the Jewish Historical Society of
Michigan, said, “The subtitle of the
film and play, ‘Between Two Worlds’
or in Yiddish ‘tsvishn tsvey veltn,
’
summarizes perfectly the liminal space
in which the story of The Dybbuk
operates. Those two worlds could be
life and death, tradition and modernity,
or the present and future. Or, as many
have observed, present and future-
lessness.
“The film is itself a ghost story, yet
on a metatextual level it has become
even more chilling and ghostly: It
is in many ways a last testament to
Polish-Jewish life, a cinematic time
capsule of traditions already on their
way out of existence in 1937, and
soon to be destroyed entirely… The

location filming in Kazimierz-Dolny,
for example, included the real citizens
of the shtetl… Most of Kazimierz-
Dolny’s Jews — as well as most of the
film’s Jewish cast and crew — would be
murdered by the Nazis just a few years
later.
”
Before settling in to watch The
Dybbuk, guests grabbed snacks to eat

during the film.
“This event was a testament of the
power of film to bring people together,
spark conversations and preserve a
vital part of Jewish culture,
” Soper said.
The event is also a testament to
the bright future and pivotal role of
the Samantha Woll Center for Jewish
Detroit.

Downtown Synagogues of
ers events in its new Samantha Woll Center.
Spooky Yiddish Movie

STORY AND PHOTOS BY YEVGENIYA GAZMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

OUR COMMUNITY

LEFT: Rabbi Ariana Silverman leads a Havdalah service marking the end of
Shabbat and transitioning to a new week. RIGHT: Nadav Pais-Greenapple,
Yiddishist, historian, writer and a vice president of the Jewish Historical Society
of Michigan, sets the stage for the film.

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31555 West 14 Mile Road, Suite 100 Farmington Hills,

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