BJE JEWISH COMMUNITY LIBRARY
WINTER 2012
CULTURAL AND LITERARY EVENTS

THIS FALL, the Library casts a spotlight on the Jewish contribution to 20th century song and dance with exhibitions, presentations, and performances. In other offerings, writers talk about Israel, baseball, autism, transgender experience, women and Torah, and Yiddish culture. We look forward to seeing you and sharing the riches of the Jewish experience through many lenses.

All events are FREE, open to everyone, accessible to the handicapped, and held at the BJE Jewish Community Library at 1835 Ellis Street in San Francisco.

Did we mention that garage parking is free and no RSVP is required?

The Library sends out an email newsletter with upcoming programs, book reviews, community events, and more. If you would like to subscribe, please contact us at library@bjesf.org or (415) 567-3327 x703 with your email address.

For more information, contact Allison Green at 415.567.3327 x 703.

EXHIBITION

A Dancer's Scrapbook, 1928 - 1933

ON DISPLAY through February 23, 2012

Lovingly preserved by Rose Yasgour and her family, the memorabilia in this display from Rose Yasgour's scrapbook of programs, clippings, and other ephemera document her life as a young dancer and artists' model.

Rose Yasgour was born in New York State in 1909 and from 1928 to 1933 was an original member of the Humphrey-Weidman company formed by pioneers of early modern dance Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. The many programs in her scrapbook show her dancing in Humphrey's well-known "Air for the G-String" and "Dances for Women."

Out of economic necessity during the Depression, the company pursued other avenues, and in the 1930s, the Charles Weidman Dancers performed in several Broadway musicals. Rose danced in the 1934 Irving Berlin/Moss Hart hit As Thousands Cheer and other Broadway shows. She also worked with Harriet Frishmuth, a prominent sculptor of the period, who used dancers as models for their ability to hold difficult poses for long periods. Paula Rose Yasgour Rice died in 1993.

The exhibition is curated by Michael and Jane Rice from the collection of Michael's mother, Paula Rose Yasgour Rice.

Additional photographs courtesy of Scott Nichols Gallery, San Francisco

Co-presented by Dancers' Group and the Theater Dance, and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley

The Jewish Film Class
Israel's Breakthrough Cinema

While Israel has produced many excellent films over the decades, few have seen much success outside of Israel. This changed in the new century, with films such as Walk on Water, Beaufort, Or, and The Bubble earning prizes at international film festivals and achieving wide theatrical distribution. We will discuss two widely seen films, with attention to the films themselves and to the reasons for their global impact.

Taught by Library Director Howard Freedman.
Films will be shown in video projection.

Ushpizin (2004)

THURSDAY, JANUARY 19,
7 P.M.

A Hasidic couple finds themselves completely broke on the eve of Sukkot. A sudden change of fortune increases their faith, while the arrival of two escaped convicts as Sukkot guests (ushpizin in Aramaic) puts that same faith to the test. As a collaborative effort of secular and ultra-Orthodox Israelis (who have generally eschewed any involvement with Israel's secular film industry), this film represents an unprecedented expression of, and glimpse into, an insular community.
91 minutes, in Hebrew and Yiddish with English subtitles.

Waltz with Bashir (2008)

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9
7 P.M.

This Oscar-nominated animated feature is a disturbing meditation on the lasting impact of war. When a fellow veteran of Israel's first war in Lebanon tells him of a recurring nightmare, director Ari Folman realizes that he has repressed all memories of his wartime experiences. As Folman embarks on a quest for stories from others who served in Lebanon, the ensuing flashbacks and visions bring into focus both the horrors of war and the elusive nature of memory.
87 minutes, in Hebrew with English subtitles.

The Great Rehearsal: Jewish Identity in Russian Ballet
A presentation by Janice Ross

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16
7 P.M.

The supposedly neutral art form of Russian ballet functioned as an important medium for social resistance among Jews in the former Soviet Union, offering one of the few public forums where Jewish identity could be covertly expressed.

Central to this phenomenon is the tragic story of Leonid Jacobson (1904-1975), the leading Russian Jewish dance artist of the 20th century. To convey, through ballet, the conditions of a persecuted ethnic minority in the USSR - the Jews - was bold and potentially lethal; many of his 150 ballets were censored and suppressed by the State.

Rare footage of Jacobson's company and work will be shown during the program. Professor Ross will also consider how the role of ballet evolved for the many Russian Jews who immigrated to Israel after the opening of the Soviet Union.

Janice Ross is a professor in the drama department and director of the dance division at Stanford University. She is a past president of the Dance Critics Association and is currently president of the Society of Dance History Scholars. She is completing a book about Leonid Jacobson and Jewish choreography in Russian ballet.

Co-presented by the Kritzer/Ross Emigre Program at the JCCSF, Dancers' Group and the Theater Dance, and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley

The World's Worst Kept Secret
Israel's Bargain with the Bomb
A presentation by Avner Cohen

TUESDAY, February 21
7 P.M.

Born in a secret deal between Richard Nixon and Golda Meir, Israel's code of nuclear conduct encompasses both governmental policy and societal behavior. Israel is the only nuclear-armed state that does not acknowledge its possession of the bomb, even though its existence is a common knowledge throughout the world.

In The World's Worst-Kept Secret, Avner Cohen argues that the bargain, known in Hebrew as amimut, or opacity, has become increasingly anachronistic and at odds with Israel's domestic democratic values. In this book, his second on Israeli nuclear policy, Cohen offers fresh perspectives on Iran, Israel, and the effort toward global disarmament.

Avner Cohen is a senior fellow of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. He has published on subjects as varied as nuclear proliferation and nuclear history, political theory, skepticism, and Israeli history. Cohen is the author of Israel and the Bomb and the co-editor of Nuclear Weapons and the Future of Humanity and The Institution of Philosophy.

Co-presented by the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties and Congregation Emanu-El

Kadima Women's Torah Project

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2012
6:30 P.M. Viewing of the Torah and Judaica
7 P.M. Program

This evening celebrates the creation of a unique Torah scroll and honors the history of women and the Torah.

Wendy Graff:The Making of the Women's Torah: From Parchment to Parshah
Kadima, a progressive Reconstructionist community based in Seattle, commissioned the first Torah scroll to be produced by an international network of female scribes and artists. This recently completed scroll has the additional distinction of being the first to be sewn in community. Wendy Graff, director of the Women's Torah Project, will discuss this special collaboration and show a short video highlighting the scroll's completion.

Aimee Golant: Crowning the Past, Present, and Future
The rimonim, or finials, for the Torah were created by Aimee Golant to resemble a pair of open doors. Her design reflects the bold new direction taken by the Women's Torah Project, which opened the door for women to become Torah scribes. Aimee is known for her Judaic metalwork, and examples of her work will be on display.

Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman: Women and Torah: Reflections on the 90th Anniversary of the First Bat Mitzvah
In 1922, twelve-year-old Judith Kaplan, the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, stepped onto the bimah of her father's synagogue, the Society for the Advancement of Judaism. This was the first time a woman had ever read from the Torah in public. Rabbi Litman will explore Jewish law regarding women and Torah, discuss the history and development of the bat mitzvah ceremony, and point to future directions in women's interpretation of Torah.

Rabbi Jane Rachel Litman is the western regional director of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation and the rabbinic co-chair of the Bay Area Progressive Jewish Alliance. She is widely published in the fields of Jewish women's history and contemporary theology.