For over twenty years, the Bildner Center has been a key resource in carrying out the mission of Rutgers University by linking the academic community and the public, and encouraging lifelong learning. Our diverse programs include the annual Rutgers Jewish Film Festival, public lectures, free Holocaust education for public school teachers, and enrichment opportunities for Rutgers students. The Center also has a national and international reach by hosting visiting scholars who contribute to intellectual life on campus and in the community. As a non-profit institution and academic center at Rutgers, the Bildner Center depends on your generous support to provide these programs and to serve as an academic and community resource. Every gift is greatly appreciated. The Bildner Center Fund supports a wide variety of lectures, mini-courses, and seminars offered to students and the public. The Rutgers Jewish Film Festival, now in its 22th year, features award-winning international dramas and documentaries that explore the Jewish experience. Filmmakers and scholars engage with the audience for lively post-screening discussions. Holocaust Education is mandated in the state of New Jersey for kindergarten through twelfth grade. Our free courses and workshops provide a toolbox of resources and information to help middle and high school teachers teach this difficult topic. Donate Online! For additional information on sponsorships, bequests, annuities, and other methods of giving, please contact: Allison Sachs Klein, Director of DevelopmentPhone: 848-932-6455Email: aklein@sas.rutgers.edu

Bildner Center 12 College Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (except where noted)Phone: 848-932-2033 | Fax: 732-932-3052 Nancy SinkoffAcademic Director  848-932-2033 Karen SmallManaging Director 848-932-3345 Robyn AuerbachProgram Coordinator Administration 848-932-3574 Sarah PortillaProgram Coordinator Film Festival, Master Teacher Institute 848-932-4165 Amanda GravenhiseSenior Department AdministratorAdministration 848-932-3571

Directions The Bildner Center12 College Ave, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 Rutgers Maps From Route 18 North Proceed on Route 18 North to the exit marked "Route 27 South - Princeton". This will loop you under Route 18, heading south for Princeton on what will become Albany Street. Stay in the right hand lane and turn right onto Johnson Drive. Johnson Drive becomes Hamilton. Continue on Hamilton until the second light, College Avenue. Turn left onto College Avenue and the Bildner Center will be on the right side. From New Jersey Turnpike (North or South) Turn off at Exit 9. After toll booths bear to the right; follow signs for "Route 18 North - New Brunswick." Follow directions from Route 18 North. From Garden State Parkway (North or South) Southbound - Coming from northern New Jersey, turn off at Exit 129 for the New Jersey Turnpike and head south. Follow directions from Route 18 North. Northbound - Coming from southern New Jersey, turn off at Exit 105 and follow signs for Route 18 North. After approximately 24 miles you will pass the entrance for the New Jersey Turnpike and continue on Route 18 North. Follow directions from Route 18 North. From Route 1 (North or South) Turn off at exit marked "Route 18 North-New Brunswick." Follow directions from Route 18 North. From Route 287 (North or South) Turn off at Exit 9 (formerly Exit 5) "River Road, Bound Brook, Highland Park". Proceed east on River Road toward Highland Park until you reach the fifth traffic light (approximately 3.4 miles) at the intersection of River Road, Metlars Lane and Route 18. Turn right onto Route 18 and cross the Raritan River on the John Lynch Memorial Bridge. Stay in the right lane and take the first exit which is marked "George Street - Rutgers University, New Brunswick, Route 27." At the traffic light at the top of the exit ramp proceed straight onto George Street heading toward downtown New Brunswick. Follow directions from Route 18 North.

Jewish Community Initiatives The Bildner Center serves as a resource for leadership development in the Jewish community. It develops statewide programs in cooperation with the New Jersey Jewish Federations and other community organizations for volunteer leadership and Jewish communal professionals. The Center founded the New Jersey Leadership Think Tank, a two-year project focused on building a statewide leadership network among the twelve Jewish Federations of New Jersey. The Center encourages students to explore careers in Jewish education and Jewish communal service through internships and special career seminars.    New Jersey Jewish Leadership Think Tank - 2001    New Jersey Jewish Leadership Forum - 2007-2008

Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artist-in-Residence (Fall 2018) Moshe Zonder was the head writer for Fauda, the enormously successful television series broadcast in Israel. In 2016, Fauda became the first Israeli series to be released as a Netflix Original. He has written many screenplays for film and television, including the documentary film Sabena Hijacking shown in the Rutgers Jewish Film Festival in 2016.  He is currently working on several projects, including writing a dramatic series about Israel's struggle against the Iranian nuclear program and writing a dystopian series about a futuristic State of Israel ruled by a king who builds the third temple in Jerusalem. Zonder began his career as an investigative journalist working at Maariv, one of Israel’s leading Hebrew-language daily newspapers. While at Rutgers in Fall 2018, Zonder will teach “Screenwriting for Television” in the Creative Writing Program and participate in outreach activities of the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life including the Rutgers Jewish Film Festival. The Schusterman Visiting Israeli Artist Program is sponsored by The Israel Institute. Public Events October 11,  7:00 – 9:00 pmBehind the Scenes of Fauda, A Conversation with Head Writer Moshe ZonderLocation: JCC of Edison, 1775 Oak Tree Road, Edison, NJ    https://www.jccmc.org November 11, 2:00pmPanel Discussion: Writing about Historical EventsLocation: AMC Loews Theater, 17 U.S. Highway 1 South, New Brunswick Free admission - ticket required.  

Herbert and Leonard Littman FamiliesHolocaust Resource Center The mission of The Herbert and Leonard Littman Families Holocaust Resource Center (HRC) at Rutgers University is to teach future generations about the Holocaust by training educators and providing educational materials to teachers, students, and scholars. Its programs are designed to enhance public awareness of the Holocaust and promote discussion of racism, genocide, discrimination, and the importance of protecting human rights. The HRC is an important part of the Bildner Center’s overall mission of prejudice reduction and outreach to the broader community. 

The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life A major gift from visionary philanthropists Allen and Joan Bildner in 1996 made it possible to establish the Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University. The founding of the Bildner Center and shortly thereafter the Department of Jewish Studies, demonstrated the university’s commitment to the growth and vitality of Jewish studies scholarship, Jewish culture, and Jewish life on campus and in the broader community. A unit of New Jersey’s flagship state university, the Center creates compelling programs that connect the university to the wider community and promote the values of a pluralistic and just society. Under the guidance of Professor Emerita Yael Zerubavel, founding director (1996–2018), the Bildner Center grew into an internationally recognized leader in the field of Jewish studies. In 2018, Nancy Sinkoff, a professor of Jewish studies and history at Rutgers for more than twenty years, stepped into the role of the Center’s academic director. Sinkoff, with her broad range of scholarship and creative vision, is leading the Center into its next phase of development. She codirects the Center with Karen Small, managing director, a recipient of numerous awards for innovative programming in the areas of Jewish education and Holocaust education. (See bios for Sinkoff and Small below.) The Bildner Center serves as a bridge between the university and the larger community through a rich breadth of public programming that includes lectures and symposia, the annual Rutgers Jewish Film Festival, online mini-courses, and cultural events. The Center collaborates with other schools, units, and departments throughout the university as well as with academic institutions, cultural organizations, and scholars around the region, nationally, and internationally, to create innovative educational programs that draw diverse audiences. Thanks to a generous gift from the Herbert and Leonard Littman families, the Center developed its holocaust resource center in 2000, which offers professional development for public school educators on teaching about the Holocaust and genocide. This training helps teachers meet the New Jersey state mandate for Holocaust education. Working closely with the Department of Jewish Studies, the Center offers a wide range of programs, internship opportunities, and financial support for Rutgers students. The Center’s commitment to academic excellence also includes hosting scholarly conferences, and sponsoring international visiting scholars. Three endowed visiting scholar positions make this possible: post-doctoral positions established by the late Jerome and Lorraine Aresty, and by Dr. Norman and Syril Reitman; and the Bildner Visiting Scholar position created by Joan and Allen Bildner to enhance intellectual life at Rutgers. For twenty-five years, the Center has inspired audiences, addressed ignorance, and fostered a deep understanding of the world. Today, the Center is more committed than ever to presenting ideas that equip audiences to navigate contemporary challenges. Fostering Academic Excellence Academic conferences and seminars International visiting scholars Jewish Studies Online (free noncredit courses) Support for student research and study abroad Partnering with the Community Public programs on Jewish history and culture Rutgers Jewish Film Festival Community Initiatives Serving as a Holocaust Resource Center Teacher training Resource for scholars, teachers and students Access to USC Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive Public programs on the Holocaust, racism, and genocide

Master Teacher Institute in Holocaust EducationTeacher Seminars and Workshops The Master Teacher Institute (MTI) in Holocaust Education is a dynamic advanced training program to develop expert teachers in Holocaust studies who will serve as resource providers in their schools, districts, and communities. The MTI engages teachers in a wide-ranging study of the history of the Holocaust and its remembrance and addresses the complex methodological issues involved in teaching about this subject. The MTI is open to middle and high school educators who are currently teaching. Applicants must have a minimum of one year teaching experience and at least one year of involvement with Holocaust/genocide education. There is no fee to participate in the MTI programs. Spring 24 Free Mini-Course: Theresienstadt Reconsidered Tuesdays, March 12th, 19th, and 26th4:30 PM - 7:00 PM Educational materials and dinner included. IN-PERSONLocation: Miller Hall, Rutgers College Avenue Campus, New Brunswick Theresienstadt has been called the "model" camp by some, "the last ghetto" by others. Course Description: Prof. Justin Cammy will explore cultural life and resistance at Theresienstadt, which was used as a German propaganda tool.  Prominent artists, musicians and cultural figures were deported there and it served as a “model” camp for visits by the International Red Cross. Material objects, family archives, art, women's experiences, and oral histories will be utilized in preparing to teach about this important Holocaust site. Continuing education credits provided. See More Info The MTI prepares teachers to: Teach the Holocaust with primary documentsTeach Holocaust literatureTeach the Holocaust with film, photography, art, and other mediaPrepare students for visits to Holocaust exhibitsTeach about the Holocaust within the broader framework of other genocides, prejudice, and intolerance   Participating teachers receive: Resource materials for classroom use and professional enrichmentAccess to leading scholars of the HolocaustAssistance in curriculum development from experts in Holocaust pedagogyAccess to supportive teacher networkAccess to Shoah Visual History Archive   For updates and announcements of related programs, please join our teacher email list.  For more information, contact Sarah Portilla at 848-932-4166 or email: sarah.portilla@rutgers.edu. Previous seminars and workshops Past presenters include: James Young, University of Massachusettes, Amherst • Omer Bartov, Brown University • David Engel, New York University • Henry Greenspan, University of Michigan • Jan Gross, Princeton University • Atina Grossman, The New School • Marion Kaplan, New York University • Samuel Kassow, Trinity College • Harry Reicher, University of Pennsylvania • Hanna Yablonka, Yad Vashem  and Ben- Gurion University  

Presented by: The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life with support from the Karma Foundation The following critically acclaimed, international dramatic and documentary films were featured at the 2007 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: Three Mothers Israel, 2006, 35mm, 106 min. Hebrew, French, Arabic with English subtitles Director: Dina Zvi-Riklis Three Mothers, an intricate family saga about triplets who fled from Alexandria, Egypt to Israel in 1958, is a tale of powerful love and deadly deceit that is played out in three languages and across three generations. Loosely based on the director's family, the film stars Gila Almagor and Rivka Raz.   The First Basket USA, 2007, DVD, 86 min. in English Director: David Vyorst The First Basket traces the little-known Jewish history of basketball and its spread to turn-of-the-century New York settlement houses via the YMCA circuit. Full of vivid anecdotes and distinctive characters—including Ossie Shechtman's first basket for the New York Knickerbockers—the film follows the evolution of basketball from inner-city neighborhoods to Madison Square Garden.   The Rape of Europa USA, 2006, 35mm, 117 min. in English Directors: Richard Berge, Bonni Cohen, and Nicole Newnham Following the Nazis' systematic looting and destruction of art on a scale unprecedented in history, this film travels across seven countries and traces the fate of major works of art in museums and private collections. The film weaves in historical footage with contemporary stories of restitution and return of some of the displaced art.   Just An Ordinary Jew Germany, 2005, DVD, 90 min. German with English subtitles Director: Oliver Hirshbiegel This fascinating film focuses on a moment of reckoning for Emanuel Goldfarb (Ben Becker), a German-Jewish journalist who is invited to speak about being a Jew to a group of German schoolchildren. His letter of refusal develops into an intriguing soliloquy that confronts Germany's dark past and the complexities of German-Jewish identity.   51 Birch Street USA, 2005, DVD, 88 min. in English Director: Doug Block Both unexpectedly funny and heartbreaking, 51 Birch Street spans sixty years and three generations, weaving together hundreds of snapshots, home movies, and two decades of verité footage. What begins as an intimate, autobiographical story about director Doug Block's family soon evolves into a broader meditation on the universal themes of love, marriage, fidelity, and the mystery of family.   The Year My Parents Went on Vacation Brazil, 2006, 35mm, 104 min. Portuguese with English subtitles Director: Cao Hamburger This dramatic coming of age tale features twelve-year-old Mauro who is caught between political upheavals in Brazil and the excitement that surrounds Brazil’s competition in the World Cup in summer 1970. Left at the doorstep of his Jewish grandfather when his parents flee, the boy is thrust into the unfamiliar world of Sao Paolo's Jewish community. The film follows the relationships that develop between Mauro and the community while also portraying life under political dictatorship.   Matchmaker Switzerland, 2005, DVD, 70 min. Swiss-German with English subtitles Director: Gabrielle Antosiewicz A light-hearted documentary about the trials and tribulations of finding a Jewish match in Switzerland. Filmmaker Gabrielle Antosiewicz gets to know her most promising suitors by inviting them over to bake challah. While the dough is rising, viewers meet three families who provide insights into Judaism and romance, from Orthodox matchmakers to Internet dating.   West Bank Story USA, 2005, DVD, 22 min. in English Director: Ari Sandel This short musical comedy tells the story of David, an Israeli soldier, and Fatima, a Palestinian fast food cashier—an unlikely couple who fall in love amidst the animosity of their families’ falafel stands in the West Bank.   Out of Faith USA, 2005, DVD, 22 min. in English Director: Ari Sandel This documentary film follows three generations of a family torn apart by conflicts over interfaith marriage. The family's matriarch, Leah Welbel, and her husband Eliezer, both survivors of Auschwitz, consider their grandchildren's marriage to non-Jews a form of victory for Hitler. Tensions within the family grow leading to an unexpected ending.   My Father My Lord Israel, 2006, 35mm, 72 min. Hebrew with English subtitles Director: David Volach My Father My Lord presents an intimate portrait of an ultra-orthodox family and the tension between strict adherence to religious beliefs and the welfare of the family. This powerful film evokes the story of the binding of Isaac (the Akedah). It explores the tenacity of faith in the face of tragedy.   Roots: Families for Sale Russia, 2005, 35mm, 107 min. Russian and Yiddish with English subtitles Director: Pavel Lungin Roots: Families for Sale is a black comedy about Jews who seek their long lost family members from a poor Ukranian town. A con-artist convinces the townsfolk to pass themselves off as the relatives and as the scheme unravels hilarity ensues. Lungin’s film is a parody on the recent trend of Jewish tourism to Europe in search of roots. (This film contains adult content.)   Encounter Point Israel/USA, 2006, 35mm, 89 min. Hebrew, Arabic, and English with English subtitles Directors: Ronit Avni and Julia Bacha This documentary follows the grassroots efforts of both Israelis and Palestinians who lost family members to violence, yet risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent resolution to the conflict. These activists struggle to overcome military and societal obstacles and advocate dialogue to work toward peace.   Beaufort Israel, 2007, 35mm, 120 min. Hebrew with English subtitles Director: Joseph Cedar Based on the story of Liraz Liberti, the 22-year-old commander of the Beaufort outpost, and his troops during the final weeks before Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Beaufort relays the experience of these young soldiers who must find a way to carry out their mission until the very last moments on that mountaintop. Ultimately, the film raises questions about the meaning of war in society. Jewish Film Festival Archives Current Jewish Film Festival    

Presented by: The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life with support from the Karma Foundation The following critically acclaimed, international dramatic and documentary films were featured at the 2006 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: Live and Become This epic story follows an Ethiopian boy who is airlifted from a Sudanese refugee camp to Israel in 1984 during Operation Moses. Although he thrives as an adopted son of a loving family, he is plagued by two big secrets: he is neither a Jew nor an orphan, just an African boy who struggles to find his place in Israeli society.   The First Time I Was Twenty A talented oddball teenager is having trouble blending into her loving but ordinary Jewish family in their 1960s Paris suburb. Sixteen-year-old Hannah is smart, funny, and plays a mean upright bass. She dreams of joining her school’s all-male jazz band and is good enough to break the gender barrier. Laced with dark humor, and a fabulous jazz soundtrack, this charming film follows an underdog who struggles to find her place in a rather hostile environment.   Metallic Blues Two Israeli car dealers buy a vintage American-made limousine, hoping to get rich quick by selling it in Hamburg. When everything that could possibly go wrong does, the lead characters are faced with unexpected truths about friendship, reconciliation and the ghosts of the Holocaust. This look at German-Jewish relations is carried off against the backdrop of present-day Hamburg.   Fateless Fateless is a melancholic meditation on not only what it means to be Jewish, but how an ordinary person deals with seemingly unthinkable circumstances. Based on Nobel Prize winner Imre Kertesz’s novel, the film portrays a Hungarian Jewish boy’s experiences during and after the Nazi occupation of Hungary. Deported to a series of concentration camps, he is never quite sure whether he is the victim of his captors or of an absurd arbitrary destiny. After liberation he returns to Budapest and is deeply affected by the alienation and indifference of his neighbors.   Yiddish Theater: A Love Story Enter the funny, larger-than-life world of Yiddish theater through this documentary about the amazing woman who has kept the longest-running Yiddish theater in America alive. Zypora Spaisman conquers all hearts in her passion for art, life, and Yiddish. This heartwarming story of one unique woman’s struggle portrays the fight of both an old art form to stay relevant and an old actress to find meaning and a stage in a society that worships youth.   A Cantor's Tale The tradition of Eastern European Jewish cantorial music is alive and well in modern America thanks to the efforts of Brooklyn-born Cantor Jacob Mendelson. A Cantor's Tale explores the American roots of "hazzanut" (Jewish liturgical music) with a nostalgic journey through family, neighborhood, and tradition. Special appearances by renowned cantors and aficionados Joseph Malovany, Ben-Zion Miller, Alberto Mizrahi, Matthew Lazar, Neil Shicoff, Jackie Mason, and Alan Dershowitz.   KZ KZ looks at emotional repression and confrontation in Austria today in relation to the Nazi atrocities of World War II. This documentary examines the shadow cast on visitors, tour guides, and local residents by Mauthausen, a concentration camp (“KZ” for short) on the banks of the Danube. Old-timers in this idyllic Austrian town are queried about the dark secrets of the past, newcomers are asked about choosing to live there now, and tourists’ reactions to the camp are monitored as tour guides recount the horrors of Mauthausen in minute detail.   ...More Than 1000 Words This documentary follows award-winning photographer Ziv Koren, whose photographs of the Middle East conflict have been published around the world. Shot over a two-year period, the film follows him into the heart of riots, terror attack scenes, secret meetings, and Israel’s pullout from Gaza. This movie also delves into a married man’s struggle with the history of a fierce war in which he is involved on a daily basis, and the place he finds for himself in it.   Keep Not Silent Ilil Alexander’s debut film boldly documents the clandestine struggle of three women fighting for their right to love within their beloved Orthodox communities in Jerusalem. All three are pious, religiously committed women. All three are lesbians, and members of a secret support group called the "Ortho-Dykes." They are unwilling to compromise themselves and unwilling to give up the wholeness of their sexual orientation, their religious convictions, or the warmth and support of their religious communities, and the consequences of their choice ravage all three lives, daily.   One Day Crossing On October 15, 1944, in Budapest, Hungary, a woman struggles to survive the brutality of war while protecting her family and hiding their own dark secrets. One Day Crossing chronicles the struggle to maintain identity and extend compassion in times of oppression and horror.   The Man Who Loved Haugesund Morris Rabinowitz, a Polish clothier, came to the small Norwegian town of Haugesund in 1911. He built a hugely successful clothing business that became the bedrock of Haugesund’s community. Regardless of his efforts and success, he remained an outsider in town. Prior to World War II, Rabinowitz became an outspoken critic of Nazism and topped the Nazi’s most wanted list when Germany invaded Norway in 1940. Jewish Film Festival Archives Current Jewish Film Festival

Presented by: The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life with support from the Karma Foundation The following critically acclaimed, international dramatic and documentary films were featured at the 2005 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival:   Watermarks WATERMARKS is the story of the champion women swimmers of Hakoah Vienna, the legendary Jewish sports club, which was founded in 1909 in response to the notorious Aryan Paragraph that forbade Austrian sports clubs from accepting Jewish athletes. In 1938, the Nazis shut down the club, but the swimmers managed to flee the country before the war broke out. The film juxtaposes recent interviews with the women swimmers with historical footage from Vienna in the 1930s and documents their reunion after thirty-six years.   Ushpizin Set in the customarily closed world of ultra-Orthodox Jews, USHPIZIN tells the story of Moshe and Mali, a newly orthodox childless couple, who find themselves penniless on the eve of Sukkot. Unexpected visitors result in a chain of events that challenges the couple's faith and position in the community. USHPIZIN, the first feature filmed in Israel's ultra-Orthodox community is a semi-autobiographical story written by and starring Shuli Rand (MOSHE).   Paper Clips Nestled in the mountains of Tennessee, Whitwell is a rural community of fewer than two thousand people. Its citizens are almost exclusively Caucasian and Christian. In 1998, the children of Whitwell Middle School took on a project related to the Holocaust, which their principal hoped would open their eyes to the diversity of the world beyond their insulated valley. The paperclips project is an example of how a committed group of children and educators can create change.   Sister Rose's Passion SISTER ROSE'S PASSION tells the story of Rose Thering, a Dominican nun who has made the battle against anti-Semitism her life's work. A well known spiritual leader and educator who lives in New Jersey, Sister Rose challenged the doctrine blaming Jews for the death of Jesus, and took a leading role in Vatican II. She has been a strong advocate for mandating Holocaust education in the schools and continues to carry on her fight for these causes today.   Rosenstrasse This dramatic story, based on a historical event, portrays the courageous protest of Aryan women married to Jews against the imprisonment of their husbands in a cell on Rosenstrasse in 1943 Berlin. Director Margarethe Von Trotta tells this moving story, beginning in modern-day New York City where Hannah begins to probe into her mother's troubled past and discovers long-buried family secrets and her own connection to the historical events of Rosenstrasse.   Unzere Kinder (Our Children) In Poland's last Yiddish feature, comedy duo Dzigan and Shumacher play all the parts in a Sholem Aleichem story for an audience of children who survived the Holocaust. But the children out-do the performers when they exchange roles and demonstrate the healing, liberating powers of song, dance and storytelling. The film, featuring children living in a Jewish orphanage in postwar Poland, is a remarkable document of the first Jewish responses to the Holocaust.   My 100 Children In 1945, in the wake of WWII, Lena Kuchler discovers dozens of orphaned and abandoned children. She takes these children under her wing, creates a home for them, and eventually leads them to Israel. The film brings together moving testimonies of these lost children, and their memories about a woman who believed in humanity and in life. The film is based on Lena Kuchler's book My Hundred Children published in Israel in 1959 and translated into 14 languages.   Syrian Bride The film portrays the dilemmas confronting the Druze community which is split between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, by focusing on Mona, a Druze bride, on her wedding day. Mona is torn between her wish to get married and her knowledge that she will not be able to return to her family after she crosses the border to join her Syrian fiancé. Well-known Israeli director, Eran Riklis, shows the impact of political conflict on individual and communal life.   Another Road Home Israeli filmmaker Danae Elon takes us on a quest to find the Palestinian man who helped raise her. Elon's physical and emotional journey takes her from her home in New York to an Arab-American neighborhood in New Jersey and, finally, to the West Bank and Jerusalem. This deeply moving documentary by the daughter of Israeli author Amos Elon reaches out with unsentimental acuity to all who believe in the power of family, trust, and friendship.   ALLES AUF ZUCKER (Go For Zucker) The first Jewish comedy made in Germany since World War II, ALLES AUF ZUCKER. tells the story of two brothers who have been separated since the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961. Conniving pool shark Jaeckie Zucker must make up with his estranged Orthodox brother Samuel in order to meet the terms of his mother's inheritance. The resulting clash of civilizations is inevitable.   Jewish Film Festival Archives Current Jewish Film Festival

Presented by: The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life with support from the Karma Foundation The following critically acclaimed, international dramatic and documentary films were featured at the 2004 Rutgers New Jersey Jewish Film Festival: Wondrous Oblivion Eleven year old David Wiseman loves cricket but is a terrible player. When a Jamaican family moves in next door and builds a cricket net in the back garden, David is in seventh heaven. But when the neighbors start to make life difficult for the new arrivals, David's family is caught in the middle, and he has to choose between fitting in and standing up for new friends who have turned his world around. Oscar nominated director Paul Morrison (SOLOMON AND GAENOR) delivers an engaging, uplifting comic drama offering a view of a working class Jewish community in London in the 1960s.   A Lost Embrace Ariel's world is a multiethnic shopping center in contemporary downtown Buenos Aires, where his mother owns a lingerie shop. His search for identity and his struggle to understand why his father left the family to fight in Israel leads him to uncover family secrets. The story unfolds with fascinating character insights and a surprise ending.   Hiding and Seeking Director Menachem Daum, troubled by his ultra-Orthodox sons' narrow and insular views of the Gentile world, takes them on an emotional journey to find the Polish family who saved their grandfather during the Holocaust. A deeply moving intergenerational saga, this rich documentary addresses both the wounds of the past and the ongoing challenge of combating intolerance. Seethe special features at PBS .   No. 17 In June 2002, a bus en route from Tel Aviv to Tiberius was the victim of a suicide bomber. Seventeen people were killed, but only sixteen were identified - leaving No. 17. The police stopped searching for his identity believing that he must have been an undocumented foreign worker. This is where the filmmakers step in, documenting the search for his identity over a period of six months. Forensic evidence, interviews with surviving passengers, and drawings by a Hasidic police sketch artist provide clues to uncover this mystery.   Broken Wings This bittersweet comedy portrays an Israeli family's struggles to persevere in the wake of the father's sudden death. His widow, Dafna, juggles financial and professional pressures with her desire for romance and the demands of her children. Her older son, Yair, is a talented high-school dropout; her older daughter, Maya, an aspiring singer. A crisis involving Dafna's younger children provokes the family to unite and address their frustrations and dreams.   Yossi & Jagger Based on a true story, YOSSI & JAGGER portrays the pressures of military life on a remote army base at the Israeli-Lebanese border. In this desolate setting, a secret romance has bloomed between two male officers, with the added tension of a female soldier who is in love with one of the officers. Through these complex relationships, YOSSI & JAGGER explores the challenges of life in the Israeli military today.   Ruthie & Connie RUTHIE & CONNIE is a film about love, friendship, passion and politics-and the price two women paid to be themselves. Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz were both married mothers of young children, living in a working-class Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Then their passionate interest in social justice turned them into community leaders and their romantic interest in each other suddenly turned their world upside down. See www.ruthieandconniethemovie.com .   A Good Uplift A light-hearted look at a famous lingerie shop on the Lower East Side where owner and Jewish grandmother, Magda, will size you up, hook you in, and set you free in the perfect bra.   My Architect MY ARCHITECT tells a story of love and art, betrayal and forgiveness. Louis Kahn, a world-renowned architect who left a great artistic legacy, led a personal life filled with secrets and contradictions. He died bankrupt and unidentified, leaving behind three different families. MY ARCHITECT depicts a son's complicated journey to understand the life and work of his legendary and mysterious father. See www.myarchitectfilm.com. Jewish Film Festival Archives Current Jewish Film Festival

Presented by: The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life with support from the Karma Foundation The following critically acclaimed, international dramatic and documentary films were featured at the 2003 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: Monsieur Batignole In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, Edmond, a Parisian butcher, inadvertently takes part in the deportation of his Jewish neighbor's family. When the neighbor's son, Simon, shows up on what used to be his doorstep, he finds that Edmond and his family are now living there. Feeling guilty and seeking to avoid trouble with the German authorities, Edmond reluctantly agrees to hide the boy. As the situation becomes increasingly difficult, Edmond finds himself growing increasingly attached to him. Will this ordinary man find extraordinary courage to do the right thing?   Gloomy Sunday A popular song of the 1930s, "Gloomy Sunday" had a notorious reputation for causing people to commit suicide. Now, it is the inspiration for this unusual and remarkable love story. Based on Nick Barkow's book of the same title, GLOOMY SUNDAY flashes back from the 1990s to Budapest in the early 1930s, where a love triangle develops. Lászlò (Joachim Król) is a successful Jewish restaurant owner in love with his beautiful assistant Ilona. She, in turn, loves him as well as the pianist András, who composes "Gloomy Sunday" for her. Their situation becomes fraught with danger when a German patron of their restaurant, also in love with Ilona, returns to Budapest as a Nazi officer.   Strange Fruit STRANGE FRUIT explores the history and legacy of one of the most important American protest songs ever written. Best known by a 1939 Billie Holiday rendition, the song "Strange Fruit" gives a bitter and harrowing description of a lynching. While many people mistakenly assume that "Strange Fruit" was written by Holiday herself, the words and music were actually written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish school teacher and union activist from the Bronx. STRANGE FRUIT reflects on the lives of African-Americans, immigrant Jews, anticommunist government officials, radical Leftist organizers, music publishers, and jazz musicians. It is also a telling anecdote in the history of Black-Jewish relations.   Nobody's Business Cutting-edge, award-winning filmmaker Alan Berliner takes on his reclusive father as the reluctant subject of this poignant and graceful study of family history and memory. What emerges is a uniquely cinematic biography that finds both humor and pathos in the swirl of conflicts and affections that bind father and son. Ultimately this complex portrait is a meeting of the minds - where the past meets the present, where generations collide, and where the boundaries of family life are pushed, pulled, stretched, torn and surprisingly at times, also healed. Since its premiere at the New York Film Festival in 1996, the film has won twelve international awards and prizes.   The Sweetest Sound With the intimacy and humor of a personal essay, director Alan Berliner dives headfirst inside the American name pool in search of the treasures and dangers hidden inside his own name. A film that starts out in search of identity slowly transforms into a meditation on mortality. In the end Berliner leaves us with a greater sense of the power and magic embedded in a name, and how all of our identities are inescapably shaped by what we call ourselves. A film guaranteed to make you think twice about the who, the why and the where contained in every name, THE SWEETEST SOUND has Berliner's inimitable filmmaking signature written all over it.   Exodus Adapted from Leon Uris' best-selling novel, this classic Hollywood epic chronicles the rebirth of a people and a nation. Set in 1947 Palestine, the film shows the desperate attempts by émigrés to reach the Promised Land, and the efforts of the Israeli underground to defeat British and Arab opponents in its struggle to create the state of Israel. EXODUS stars Paul Newman, Eva-Marie Saint, and Sal Mineo, and was shot on location in Galilee, Haifa, Jerusalem, and other parts of Israel.   Exodus 1947 This rich documentary explores the dangerous voyage of the Exodus 1947, the ship that tried to bring Holocaust survivors to Palestine in 1947. Through archival footage and interviews with the surviving American crew members and passengers, EXODUS 1947 reveals the idealists, cynics, and heroes that made this perilous journey, bringing to life this momentous event in Zionist history.   Nowhere in Africa A love story spanning two continents, NOWHERE IN AFRICA is the extraordinary true tale of a Jewish family that flees the Nazi regime in 1938 for a remote farm in Kenya. Abandoning their once-comfortable existence in Germany, Walter Redlich, his wife Jettel (Juliane Köhler of AIMEE AND JAGUAR), and their five-year-old daughter Regina deal with the harsh realities of their new life in different ways. As war rages on the other side of the world, the family's relationships to their new environment become increasingly complicated. The film is based on the novel by Stefanie Zweig. See www.nowhereinafrica.com.   A Trumpet in the Wadi Based on the novel by Sami Michael, A TRUMPET IN THE WADI is a sensitive love story between two outsiders in Israeli society. Huda, a Christian Arab woman from Haifa, is drawn to her upstairs neighbor Alex, a new Jewish immigrant from Russia. The story is told from the point of view of Huda's family. Jewish Film Festival Archives Current Jewish Film Festival

Presented by: The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life with support from the Karma Foundation The following critically acclaimed, international dramatic and documentary films were featured at the 2002 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: FOCUS An adaptation of Arthur Miller's first controversial novel, FOCUS explores anti-Semitism, demagogy and extreme social paranoia in a Brooklyn neighborhood toward the end of World War II. William H. Macy stars as Lawrence Newman, an ordinary man who does not want to stand out in a dangerous world. Soon, however, the unassuming Newman and his outspoken new wife (Laura Dern) become caught up in a case of mistaken identity. Suddenly, the unwitting focus of his neighbors' prejudice, Newman is faced with a choice: to go down as a coward or become the unlikeliest of heroes - and tell the truth.   PROMISES Shot after the Oslo Accords and before the most recent intifada (Palestinian uprising), PROMISES explores the Middle East conflict through the eyes of seven Israeli and Palestinian children, ages 9 - 13, living in Jerusalem. The intimate stories of these children, ages 9 to 13, reveal what it is like to grow up in times of conflict in the Middle East. Though they live only 20 minutes apart, the children exist in separate worlds, with many obstacles between them. PROMISES tells the story of a few children who dared to cross the lines to meet their neighbors.   SOBIBOR In this documentary, Lanzmann defies two clichés: that the Jews had no inkling of what awaited them in the gas chambers, and that they went to their deaths without resistance. "Sobibor, October 14, 1943, 4 PM" refers to the place and time when Jewish prisoners in the Sobibor extermination camp staged a successful uprising against the Nazi captors. The story is told by Yehuda Lerner, who took part in the revolt as a youth. Sobibor was mentioned in SHOAH, but Lanzmann felt that Lerner's extraordinary account deserved a film of its own.   LATE MARRIAGE Set within the Georgian émigré community of Tel Aviv, LATE MARRIAGE is a sexy and biting comedy of manners that investigates what happens when one must choose between pursuing true love and adhering to family tradition. Lily and Yasha are distraught that their 31-year-old son Zaza has not yet married, and drag him to meet one "suitable" girl after another. Zaza must make a decision that will alter all of their lives.   LEO AND CLAIRE Director Joseph Vilsmaier (THE HARMONISTS) delivers a compelling drama based on the true story of Leo Katzenberger, a leader of Nuremberg's Jewish community, put to death in 1942 for an alleged affair with a young Christian woman. LEO AND CLAIRE depicts Germany's rising anti-Semitism and acute class tensions, as Leo is ultimately brought to trial and executed by the Nazis under the Nuremberg Laws.   SILENCE This powerful animated film captures the surreal world of a child Holocaust survivor whose pain has not been recognized or shared. It took fifty years for Tana to break the silence.   ANNA'S SUMMER Anna, a 50-year-old photojournalist, travels to the Greek island of her childhood after her mother's death to claim her inheritance, her ancestral home. When Anna finds an old family trunk, she welcomes the spirits of her Sephardic-Jewish ancestors, and memories, ghosts and secrets from her family's history start to emerge. Through dreamlike encounters, Anna confronts a family history marked by exile and deportation, escape from the Nazis, and forbidden love. Meerapfel weaves memories of the past with the vivid sights and sounds of the present day Mediterranean. Jewish Film Festival Archives Current Jewish Film Festival

Presented by: The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life with support from the Karma Foundation The following critically acclaimed, international dramatic and documentary films were featured at the 2001 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: Left Luggage Against a background of holocaust memories, a liberal Jewish girl becomes the nanny to a retarded strict Jewish young boy, and grows fond of him.    Divided We Fall In World War II Nazi occupied Czechoslovakia, a childless couple, Josef and Marie Cizek, can only watch while the Jewish family of their employers, the Wieners, are first removed from their own home to a spare room in their house by the Nazis, then removed to the far off facility of Thierenstadt. Years later, young David Wiener, the sole surviving member of that family has managed to escape and make it to the Cizeks. Although fully aware of the extreme danger of harbouring a Jew in the Third Reich, the Cizek's can not permit themselves to leave David to certain death and agree to hide him. However, this decision leads to terrible danger of discovery by the Nazis and especially their friend and Nazi collaborator, Horst Prohazka, who is attracted to Marie. With desperate cleverness and luck, the Cizeks struggle to keep the secret, even when Horst begins to suspect. In doing so, they find themselves making unorthodox choices and learning about the true nature of the people around them.    Fighter A psychological adventure unfolds as two friends take a risky road trip into the past. Together they revisit scenes of romance and humor, of narrow escapes and life-or-death confrontations. But their journey home becomes a contentious clash of personalities that will ultimately take their friendship to the brink of collapse. Two unconventional 70-year olds, Arnost Lustig and Jan Wiener, set out to revisit the Europe of their childhoods. But the two friends are only partially right: the trip will take take them on an original and unorthodox exploration of the Holocaust, revealing moments of joie de vivre, fighting spirit, romance and humor. It is, however, not nearly as pleasant a journey as they had expected.   Time of Favor Is today's fanaticism tomorrow's policy? In a West Bank settlement, Rabbi Meltzer has a grand design: he's building a movement "to pray at the Temple Mount." His yeshiva has scholars, and the settlement is getting its own military company to be commanded by Menachem, a disciple of the rabbi. He also wants his daughter, Michal, to marry Pini, the yeshiva's best scholar. Michal has no interest in Pini, but she is attracted to Menachem. When she rebuffs Pini, he hatches a bold and secret plan. Is jealousy the motivation or something else? Meanwhile, the army and Moussad are closely watching the rabbi's activities and Menachem's military training. Who is trustworthy?   Trembling Before G-d Trembling Before G-d is an unprecedented feature documentary that shatters assumptions about faith, sexuality, and religious fundamentalism. Built around intimately-told personal stories of Hasidic and Orthodox Jews who are gay or lesbian, the film portrays a group of people who face a profound dilemma - how to reconcile their passionate love of Judaism and the Divine with the drastic Biblical prohibitions that forbid homosexuality. As the film unfolds, we meet a range of complex individuals - some hidden, some out - from the world's first openly gay Orthodox rabbi to closeted, married Hasidic gays and lesbians to those abandoned by religious families to Orthodox lesbian high-school sweethearts. Jewish Film Festival Archives Current Jewish Film Festival

Presented by: The Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life with support from the Karma Foundation The following critically acclaimed, international dramatic and documentary films were featured at the 2000 Rutgers Jewish Film Festival: Yana's Friends Newly arrived in Tel-Aviv on the eve of the Gulf War, Yana, a young and beautiful Russian woman, is abandoned by her husband. As Israel is threatened by poison-gas missile attacks, an intense bond develops between Yana and her Israeli roommate Eli, a videographer who captures, on video, Yana's desperate attempts to return home to Russia. This beautifully crafted romantic comedy explores the complexity of, and challenges facing, the vibrant Russian community in Israel, where one in every five citizens is Russian. After the End of the World With humor and warmth, renowned director Ivan Nitchev offers a delightful tale from the lost Balkan world of the late 1940s. At that time, Jews, ethnic Bulgarians, Turks, Armenians, Greeks, and Gypsies coexisted peacefully in the Bulgarian town of Plovdiv. The town's rabbi, priest, and mullah played cards together, Communist leaders and Gypsies danced together at parties, and the young Berto Cohen pledged his love to an Armenian girl named Araksi. Then, with Stalin's purges, came the expulsion of the Turks, the immigration of Berto's family to Israel, and the decision by Araksi's family to flee to France. Now a well-known historian, Berto returns to a much changed Plovdiv, and a chance meeting with Araksi offers him the opportunity to relive childhood memories.  The Giraffe THE GIRAFFE moves between Germany and America as businessman David Fish attempts to understand his mother's mysterious death in a Manhattan hotel shortly after the firebombing of a Jewish-owned factory. David is magnetically drawn to charming set-designer Lena Katz, even though David's lawyer believes that Lena is hiding something. German filmmaker Dani Levy wrote, directed, and stars in THE GIRAFFE, which also stars the esteemed German actress and co-writer, Maria Schrader. Aimee & Jaguar In 1943, as bombs fall on Berlin and the Gestapo purges Jews from the capital, a dangerous love affair develops between two women. Lilly Wust, married with four children, enjoys her status as a model of Nazi motherhood. For Lilly, this love affair will be the most significant experience of her life.  For Felice Schragenheim, a Jew and member of the underground, their relationship instills in her the hope that she will survive. Solomon & Gaenor Against a backdrop of industrial unrest and racial tension in an early Twentieth Century Welsh coal-mining town, SOLOMON & GAENOR tells the moving story of a passionate love affair between an Orthodox Jewish boy and a Welsh girl. The beautiful Gaenor (Nia Roberts) belongs to a traditional family of pious chapel-goers. Solomon (Ioan Gruffudd), the son of merchants, sells fabric door-to-door. He meets and falls in love with Gaenor, but hides his religious identity until forced to disclose the truth. Lead actor Gruffudd also stars in the Emmy Award winning Horatio Hornblower and Great Expectations, and in the soon to be released 102 Dalmations. Jewish Film Festival Archives Current Jewish Film Festival

Welcome to Jewish Studies Online, a FREE program of the Allen and Joan Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life Our free, non-credit online courses allow you to learn at your own pace and study with the Jewish Studies faculty at Rutgers University.  Jewish Studies Courses  ♦ Register for a Course ♦ FAQs Share this free learning experience with your friends! The development of the online study program has been made possible by a generous gift from Adele and Gene Hoffman.

REGISTER FOR THIS COURSE The Bible and Historywith Professor Gary A. Rendsburg Almost three thousand years ago, a small group of ancient Israelite literati wrote the major narrative that spans the biblical books of Genesis through Kings, creating what may be called the world's first history. The narrative focuses on the people of Israel, but because the history of Israel constantly intersected with the surrounding countries, the Bible gives us a veritable tour of the ancient Near East. Great powers such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, and lesser powers such as the Philistines and the Phoenicians, all make an appearance in the Bible's pages. Professor Gary Rendsburg, the Blanche and Irving Laurie Professor of Jewish History at Rutgers University, will present both the evidence from the Bible and the wealth of archaeological data, with an eye to evaluating these two sources and to determining the manner in which they inform each other. Professor Gary Rendsburg holds the Blanche and Irving Laurie Chair in Jewish History at Rutgers University, at the rank of Distinguished Professor, with academic homes in both the Department of Jewish Studies and the Department of History. Prof. Rendsburg's research areas include literary approaches to the Bible, the history of the Hebrew language, the history of ancient Israel, and the literature and culture of ancient Egypt. Prof. Rendsburg is the author of seven books – including his most recent book How the Bible Is Written (Links to an external site.) (2019) – and over 200 scholarly articles. He has visited all the major archaeological sites in Israel, Egypt, and Jordan; and he has participated in excavations at Tel Dor and Caesarea. In addition, he has lectured around the world, including in Israel, Europe, Japan, and Australia. All materials produced herein by the faculty member (in particular, but not limited to, the script) are copyrighted, according to the policies set forth by Rutgers University. © Gary A. Rendsburg