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The Charlotte Jewish News - January 2013 - Page 29 Hava Nagila - The Movie Hava Nagila Kicks off 2013 Festival in Style By Michael J. Solender All it takes is the first five notes and every Jew is running for the danee floor - it’s Hava Nagila! The 9th annual Charlotte Jewish Film Festival has seleeted for its opening night a new film on that quintessential Jewish folk song that will launeh the festival on a joyous and lighthearted note and just may have the audienee dane- ing in the aisles. What eould possibly be more Jewish than Hava? The question is one the film asks of its subjeets early in the opening seenes at Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles. When the question is posed to the eounterman who hovers over sueh delieaeies as herring, lox, and bagels - “Whieh is more Jewish, Hava Nagila or gefilte fish?” he unhesitatingly responds, “Hava Nagila!” And thus begins a journey that travels more than 150 years ex ploring the origins of the niggun that has its roots in the shtetls of the Ukraine, follows the tune to the beginnings of the Zionist state of Israel and provides eultural baek-story and eontext to Hava’s arrival into the Jewish Ameriean weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, and a storied pantheon of musie. The evolution of a true eultural ieon is not without eontroversy and it is in the exploration of the relationship between two families laying elaim to Hava’s original authorship that the film displays its serious researeh ehops, laying bare two equally plausible ver sions of a shared truth leaving the viewer to deeide for themselves (or not) whieh story has more ve- raeity. Filmmaker Roberta Grossman has an extensive baekground in doeumentary filmmaking both for publie and eable television. The question of what Hava Nagila was so vexed her that after eonversa- tions with seholar Josh Kun, she deeided she simply had to find the answers behind this important eul tural marker in her life. Grossman enlisted the help of Friends eo- ereator/produeer Marta Kaufinann along with a team of talented writ ers and support personnel and the Hava Nagila quest was on. “The film was originally titled, Hava Nagila - What is it?” said Grossman, who said her quest led her down a “rabbit hole” of explo ration uneovering more layers and nuanees to the Hava story than she ever imagined. The film has quiek paeing and features interviews with musieal seholars, historians, ehazzans, and most entertainingly performers. Turns out Hava Nagila has more eovers than the eouehes in the lobby at New York City’s Waldorf Astoria. Glen Campbell, Regina Spektor, Connie Franeis, and Hava’s greatest ambassador, Harry Belafonte all share for the film what the song has meant to them and how it eame into their repertoire. Other versions heard in the film feature Elvis, Bob Dylan, and a wildly energetie version by Catskill performer Irving Fields, at a spry 90 years old. Clearly a labor of love, Gross man’s film underseores the endur ing power of musie as story, lesson and spirit. Fair warning: You may leave the theater with an endless loop of Hava playing in your head. Re- joiee! ^ Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive at the LJCC Did you know the swab of a eheek has the potential to save someone’s life? For over 30 years, one of the best kept seerets in pro viding eures for illnesses sueh as leukemia, lymphoma, and siekle eell anemia has been bone mar row donation and transplantation. In 1987, a federal mandate ereated the National Marrow Donor Pro gram, whieh had a simple, auda- eious goal: eonneeting volunteer donors with patients whose only ehanee for a eure was a bone mar row transplant. In 1990, Projeet Life was born when a group of eollege students at Davidson Col lege held its inaugural bone mar row donor reeruitment drive. Primarily enlisting eollege stu dents as potential donors, Projeet Life has spent the past 20 years adding more than 6,000 donors to the national registry while en abling 45 individuals to provide miraele matehes to patients in need of a marrow transplant. LJCC Cares joins Projeet Life in reeruiting volunteers in the ef fort to ensure that every patient needing a transplant will have a great ehanee of finding a eure. Please join us for an edueational seminar on January 24 at 7 PM to learn about this proeess and at the donor registration drive on Sun day, January 27, from 8:30 AM- 12:30 PM. For more information, eontaet Julie Rizzo at julie.rizzo@eharlottejee.org. ^ Charlotte NC Filmmaker Expands Family Holo caust History Into Documentary Allen Weiss Uncovers a Pattern among the Children and Grandchildren of Survivors Award-winning North Carolina filmmaker Allen Weiss is working on a doeumentary entitled “Six Million Minus One” that explores a little known briek in the wall surrounding Holoeaust survivors: the effeet their tragie history has on their ehildren and grandehil- dren. The son of a survivor himself, Weiss wants his doeumentary to answer the question, “What is it like growing up in a household with this ineredible reality always present, even if seldom voieed?” He notes: “My daughters know more about my father’s experi- enees than I ever did growing up. We simply didn’t talk about it. No one said my brother and I eouldn’t ask questions, we just didn’t. I don’t know why we didn’t, but I’ve learned that that’s very eom- mon among ehildren of sur vivors.” A few years ago, Weiss, who lives in Raleigh, wrote, direeted, and produeed a publie serviee an- nouneement (PSA) for the N.C. Couneil on the Holoeaust. The 30- seeond PSA featured Holoeaust survivors in the Raleigh area, as well as their ehildren and grand- ehildren. The title of the pieee, “Number 89444,” refers to the number the Nazis gave his father in the Daehau death eamp in Ger many that was tattooed on his arm after he was transferred to the NC Filmmaker Allen Weiss Landesberg death eamp (whieh was featured in the mini-series “Band Of Brothers”). The point behind the pieee was to remind the publie that Holo eaust vietims are more than their numbers. They have names. More reeently, Weiss didn’t re alize he had the germ of a doeu mentary when he began filming his own family’s story in his spare time, simply to reeord his 82-year- old father’s history. Along with his father, Harry Weiss, reealling his experienees, he deeided to in- elude his brother and the five grandehildren, who would talk about their Dad/Grandpa. “As I was filming the kids, I suddenly remembered that when I was ereating the Holoeaust Coun- eil’s PSA, I’d notieed a pattern,” he said. “The ehildren of the sur vivors had alarmingly little knowledge of what their fathers and mothers aetually went through, yet the grandehildren seemed more attuned to their grandparents’ experienees.” He knew what he had to do, he said. He had to tell their stories as well as his father’s “beeause no one has bothered to doeument what it’s like being the ehild or grandehild of a Holoeaust sur vivor. In my own life, no, I didn’t ask questions. But I earried the unspoken knowledge of my fa ther’s past with me all the time. I still do.” To see the original PSA, “Number 89444,” go to http://vimeo.eom/21578208. After 15 years as a professional photographer in Raleigh and New York, Allen Weiss turned his at tention towards short films, publie serviee announeements, and tele vision eommereials, both region ally and internationally, 20 years ago, and won regional awards for two PSAs. Through his business, Allen Weiss: Works on Film & Paper, he offers still photography of all varieties, film and video (di- reetor, direetory of photography, eameraman), and freelanee writ ing/branding. For more informa tion visit www.allen-weiss.eom. ^ Mazel Tov & Congratulations Charlotte Insurance Solu tions Selected to Offer The Hartford’s AARP Auto In surance Program Charlotte Insuranee Solutions (CIS) announeed today that it has been seleeted by The Hartford of offer its award-winning AARP In suranee Program in North Car olina. CIS was seleeted after satisfy ing a number of eligibility re quirements, whieh ineluded demonstrating a eommitment to eommunity serviee, meeting a high level of business and ethieal standards, and eompleting an ex tensive training program designed to address the needs of the 50+ population. Aeeording to Mike Littauer, CIS President, for more than 25 years the industry-leading AARP branded auto insuranee program from The Hartford has been ex tremely popular beeause of its eommitment to innovative prod uet features and a eommitment to truly understand and support its eustomers. We are thrilled and proud to be one of a very few ageneies seleeted to offer these benefits to our eommunity. ^ ENGAGEMENT Kweskin-Weiss Mr. and Mrs. Joel Kweskin of Charlotte, NC and Rabbi and Mrs. Mordeebai Weiss of West Hartford, CT, are happy to an- nounee the engagement of their ehildren, Paula Kweskin of Jerusalem, Israel (originally of Charlotte, NC) and Yoni Weiss of Givat Shmuel, Israel (originally of Margate, NJ). Paula reeeived a BA and JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is a film produeer at a non-profit doeumentary film organization in Jerusalem. Yoni reeeived a BA in Aeeounting and Eeonomies from Bar-Ilan University. He is the As- soeiate Direetor of Mergers and Aequisitions at Grant Thorton Is rael. The wedding is seheduled to take plaee in Jerusalem. ^ Save The Date! Temple Israel will host a Grown-ups Purim Carnival ^ Saturday night, February 23. Bring your friends along for food, fun, blackjack, roulette and more. Details will be coming soon!
The Charlotte Jewish News (Charlotte, N.C.)
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