A curated look at Jewish art picks of the month around Boston.

November 2020

Dear Bette Ann ,

Everyone I talk to is dreading November. And I just keep thinking that aside from keeping my family safe and healthy, voting, and preparing the fire pit and blankets for an outdoor Thanksgiving, that there is one other thing I can do - and that's share some good news and events that I hope bring us all better news this month.

Before my usual recommendations of the month, I'm excited to share that this month, we’re launching the new Community Creative Fellowship with CJP! In the coming weeks, I will have the honor of introducing you to two great local artists with fascinating Jewish stories, both of whom will spend 7 months working on their own art and inspiring our community. Colleagues around the country have noted what a unique opportunity we are providing - and as Insiders, I thought you’d share in some naches as we launch this!

As for my usual monthly recommendations, this is a pretty fantastic lineup of film, literature, comedy, and theatre. Enjoy!

Boston Jewish Film Festival

November 4-15

November is Jewish film month in Boston, and COVID-19 can't stop that. I love that this year, all films  are available to stream anytime between Nov 4-15, and there are scheduled zoom Q+As and events.

I must admit, the Festival going online this year poses a major benefit for me – which is that I can watch the movies and be home for kids' bedtime!

I talked to Artistic Director, Ariana Cohen Halberstam and asked her for some personal recs – so I’m sharing! 

FreshFlix Short Film Competition – a really fun and diverse lineup this year! There will be a Q+A on the first Thursday of the festival (as always!), Nov 5 at 7:30 pm with directors from the US, Germany, and Israel. Voting will be online and the winning film will be announced at the end of the festival.

In Your Eyes I See My Country  is a beautiful documentary about Neta Elkayam and Amit Hai Cohen, Israeli musicians of Moroccan descent, who travel to Morocco to play Judeo-Moroccan music and connect to the place their grandparents are from. The filmmaker and the musicians will be joining for a Q+A on Sunday Nov 8 at 12:30 pm, followed by a performance by the musicians.

This year’s TV binge will include a series in its entirety - UNCHAINED/ Matir Agunot stars Aviv Alush (Baker and the Beauty) as a rabbi who works for Israel’s rabbinical court. His job is to pressure men who are refusing to give their wives getts . Things get complicated when he learns a secret about his own marriage. There will be a conversation with the show’s creator/director Tamar Kay, the lead actress Avigail Koevary, and HBI’s Lisa Fishbayn-Joffe, which focuses on agunot.

For Israeli film fans, there are films by two of Israel’s hottest directors: Honeymood, the much anticipated sophomore film by Talya Lavie, the director of Zero Motivation (we will be having a conversation with her on Friday, Nov 13 at 1:30 pm) and  Sublet, the newest from Eytan Fox (Q&A with Eytan will be Sunday, Nov 15 at 1:30pm)

And on the local front, after a few years in the making A Father's Kaddish, by filmmaker Jen Kaplan, features the amazing story of potter Steven Branfman and how making pottery for a year was his own kaddish for his son.

Watch

A Bintel Brief: Staged Reading

Wednesday, November 11 at 7:00 PM

The Jewish Forward's Bintel Brief advice column was not only relevant for the better part of the 20th century, but today continues to provide eerie resonance and lessons for us.

JArts TheaterWorks has curated a group of letters for a reading, to be followed by a conversation with Dr. Jonathan Sarna.

Directed By: Dori Robinson

Starring: Lyndsay Allyn Cox*, Jesse Garlick, Barbara Wallace, Grossman, Stuart Hecht, Annette Miller*, Shoshana Narva, Joshua Luckens, and Rebecca Smith

*Denotes Member of Actors Equity Association

Rachel Korazim at LimmudBoston

Sunday, November 15

11:00 AM-4:30 PM

(Schedule Coming Soon)

I had the pleasure of speaking with Rachel Korazim in October, about her family and story of how she came to teach Israeli literature. This was a teaser for the two evocative sessions she will be leading for Limmud Boston. I always walk away from her classes energized and inspired, check it out.
Register

Comedy Writer Alan Zweibel

Tuesday, Nov 17 at 7 PM

Alan has written and seen it all on SNL, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and so many more TV greats. His new book Laugh Lines: My Life Helping Funny People Be Funnier is guaranteed to be amusing.

This program is presented in partnership by JArts, JCCNS, and The Vilna Shul.

Tickets are $9

This fall, get even closer to Jewish Culture.

See the full Fall 2020 season lineup here.

And don't forget, The Shape of Play is on display until THIS SATURDAY October 31. We hope you’ll get out there and play!

Laura

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