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,
31555 West 14 Mile Road, Suite 100 Farmington Hills,

MI 48334

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