Join us December 25th for Christmas in the Catskills! Take a stroll down Borscht Belt Lane with the screening of the new doc THE CATSKILLS, then stay for a “Grossinger’s” like buffet dinner and much more.

Lex Gillepsie’s THE CATSKILLS is a trove of lost-and-found archival footage and a cast of characters endowed with the gift of gab, The doc journeys into the storied mountain getaway north of New York City that served as refuge for Jewish immigrants fleeing poverty as well as a lavish playground for affluent Jewish families. As bungalow colony proprietors, guests, waiters, comedians, hoteliers, and beauticians share colorful tales of Catskill farms, boarding houses, and luxury resorts, they paint a picture of vibrant American Jewish life and culture in the 20th century.

November 1975, Paris. The appeal hearing of Jewish far-left activist Pierre Goldman is set to begin. Sentenced to life imprisonment for four armed robberies, one of which resulted in the death of two women, Goldman pleads not guilty to the murder charges.

Considered the trial of the century, the massively-covered court proceedings transform Goldman into a romantic figure and a hero of the intellectual left, even as the relationship with his young attorney Georges Kiejman frays. Ever the agitator for his ideals, the elusive and mercurial Goldman throws his own trial into chaos, risking a death sentence. The Goldman Case paints a  portrait of a militant revolutionary, but also of a society torn apart by patterns of racism and injustice that are still virulent today.

“Worthalter rightfully won this year’s best actor award at the Césars for playing Goldman as an irascible iconoclast with a hair-trigger temper who frequently transforms his own murder trial into a stage for bloviating rants — and yet remains sympathetic.”

Presented in association with the Santa Fe Distinguished Lecture Series

Webinar has been recorded

He’s considered the father of modern political Zionism and the spiritual father of the Jewish State; an assimilated Jew whose political activism was believed to be ignited by the Dreyfus Affair. But there’s much more to the story of Theodor Herzl. He was also a playwright and journalist with a sometimes darker side; a secular Jew who influenced others who were more traditional and observant; and a Jewish statesman who solicited support of the German Kaiser, the Pope, and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Join us on for this recorded conversation with Prof. Derek Penslar, Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University and author of Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader (2020; German ed. 2022). Prof. Penslar will shed light and fill in details about this charismatic figure: his early life, the role of the Dreyfus Affair and Herzl’s own personal crises in his transformation from secular Jew to the founder of political Zionism, and the alternatives Herzl considered before advocating for a state in the historic Jewish homeland.

Click “register” to watch the webinar..

Meet Prof. Derek Penslar

Derek Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History and the Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University. He has published a dozen books, most recently Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader (2020; German ed. 2022); and Zionism: An Emotional State (2023). He is currently writing a book titled The War for Palestine, 1947-1949: A Global History. He is a past president of the American Society for Jewish Research, a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and an Honorary Fellow of St. Anne’s College, Oxford.

Named one of last year’s best new operas by OPERA NOW Magazine, THEODOR is the story of Theodor Herzl, the visionary behind the modern State of Israel. Told through the eyes of both the young and elder Herzl, the opera traces his experience with rising antisemitism in Europe to his  recognition of the need for a Jewish State and the founding of the Zionist movement.  Composed by Yonatan Cnaan and directed by Ido Ricklin, the opera masterfully blends music, theater, and stunning visual elements to portray Herzl’s relentless quest for a Jewish belonging.

THEODOR premiered in May 2023 at Tel Aviv’s Israeli Opera House. This visual captivating opera was subsequently filmed and is just beginning its rollout to audiences worldwide.

We will be joined at intermission by the opera’s composer Yonatan Cnaan in a recorded conversation. Cnaan brings together his background in the classical world with his musical theater sensibility to an opera that “leaves you involved emotionally, intellectually and spiritually.”

And don’t miss our live webinar with Prof. Derek Penslar at 11 AM MT, Thursday, Oct. 30. Prof. Penslar is the Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University and author of a dozen books including most recently Theodor Herzl: The Charismatic Leader (2020; German ed. 2022); and Zionism: An Emotional State (2023). For complimentary tickets to Zoom webinar, click here.

Imprisoned by the Soviets, orphaned by the Holocaust, elected Prime Minister, winner of the Nobel Prize yet strongly criticized for his conduct of the first Lebanon War, Menachem Begin was both a pillar of the State of Israel and a controversial leader. His life is a nuanced and complicated canvas that tells the story of key events in the history of modern Israel and its relationship to its Middle East neighbors. With rarely seen archival materials and revealing interviews with those who knew him, Upheaval portrays the life and essence of this complex man who left an indelible mark on Israel and the region.

If you missed our sold-out screening of BELLA! last season, here’s your chance to see it via a special Global Streaming Event starting at 5 PM MT on Oct. 17 and ending at 5 PM MT on Oct. 20.  At 7 PM on October 17, there will be a streamed live Q&A.

Get $1 off on your ticket with this discount code:   GetOutTheVote! (case sensitive),

In 1970, Bella Abzug entered Congress ready for a fight. With her trademark hat and Bronx swagger, the first elected Feminist upended the Washington patriarchy, battling for women’s equality, civil rights, and LGBTQ protections

But, the most recognizable woman in politics also became the target of a Washington establishment resistant to change. With her eyes set on breaking the boys’ club of The US Senate or becoming New York’s first female mayor, Bella battled mounting forces from both the right and the left, and the powers of the Nixon Administration, the CIA, FBI, even The New York Times.

Using never-before-seen home movies, audio diaries, and a vast trove of newly-discovered news footage, BELLA! delves into a colorful and gritty era where one woman sacrificed her own political ambitions for future generations of female leadership.