What’s better than a winter’s afternoon movie? Come together for popcorn, a Jewish movie, and a discussion with your HHS community. What makes a movie Jewish, you ask? In all four of our movies, the characters are Jewish, and trying to work out what Judaism looks like to them and how they relate to it.

On December 7th, we will watch the 1981 classic, The Chosen, based on the 1967 novel of the same name. Two boys in 1944 Brooklyn become friends - one Modern Orthodox, the other Chasidic. They explore issues of community, tradition, the Holocaust, and Zionism at this critical point in Jewish history. After the movie, so will we.

On January 25th, we will watch Nora’s Will, set in the Jewish community of Mexico City. A woman’s death, occurring 5 days before it will be possible to bury her, drags her family and friends together, as they grapple with religious and familial obligations, clashes of values, and their own emotional stress. Which rituals help us? Which hurt?

On February 22nd we will return to the US, but pop forward in time - sort of. “An American Pickle” stars Seth Rogen as an Eastern European Jewish immigrant who gets preserved in a vat of pickles and wakes up a century later in modern-day New York City, attempting to fit in with the assistance of his last remaining descendant (also played by Rogen). A lively discussion about Jewish families, tradition, and how Jewish culture changes, and doesn’t, over time, will follow.

Finally, on March 29th, our film journey will take us to modern Israel and the film “Maktub.” Steve and Chuma , two criminals, are the sole survivors of a terrorist attack at a restaurant in Jerusalem. They decide to change their ways and become better people. While trying to extract themselves from their criminal cohort, they decide to grant the prayers of people who have put their requests in the Western Wall. After the film, we can explore the shape of secular Judaism, the nature of good and evil, and the possibilities of fate playing a hand in our destiny.

All discussions will be led by Prof. Hannah Shell, Director of the Stan Brakhage Center for the Media Arts at CU Boulder, and Samara Schwartz, Director of Lifelong Learning. See you at the movies!