Where are the roots of Jewish comedy? What makes a joke Jewish? The Bible has comedy and jokes - not much, but who’s counting? The Talmud and early Rabbinic literature grew a special brand of Jewish humour, as has our experience of Diaspora. Throw in some history, the festival of Purim, struggle, persecution, poverty, Rabbinic … Continue reading The Roots and Branches of Jewish Comedy
UK 2015, 95 mins, PG Director David Evans featuruing Philippe Sands, Nilklas Frank, Horst von Wachter This outstanding documentary about history and guilt from author and human rights lawyer Philippe Sands concerns the two elderly sons of prominent officials in Nazi Germany. Sands interviews Niklas Frank and Horst von Wächter, the sons of Hans Frank … Continue reading My Nazi Legacy
Concert to celebrate 80th birthday of Steve Reich Steve Reich: Different Trains; Clapping Music; City Life; Proverb; Know What is Above You A concert celebrating Steve Reich’s 80th birthday and his remarkable contribution to contemporary classical music. He is one of a handful of composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history. The minimalist works Different Trains and City Life (performed with visuals) both use … Continue reading Concert to celebrate Steve Reich’s 80th Birthday
Hungary, France, Israel, USA 2015, 107 mins, cert 15, subtitled Director László Nemes, featuring Geza Rohrig, Levente Molnar, Urs Rech This devastating and terrifying film by László Nemes is set in the Auschwitz II-Birkenau death camp in 1944. Saul, played by the 48-year-old Hungarian actor Géza Röhrig, is a Jewish prisoner who has been made … Continue reading Son of Saul
The advent of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century sent shock waves through Europe. The emerging Christian confessions had to return to fundamental questions relating to their claims to authority, their understanding of doctrine, and their collective identity. In all of these, their relationship with Jews – both biblical and contemporary – was central. … Continue reading A Relationship Revisited: The Reformation and the Jews
USA 2015, 95 minutes, English Director Lisa Vreeland, featuring Peggy Guggenheim Back by popular demand. This film was sold out last season and as many members did not get in, we have given it a second viewing. This documentary film about the life of the art collector Peggy Guggenheim, is constructed around rediscovered audiotapes from … Continue reading Peggy Guggenheim Art Addict
The Blues of Jewish Eastern Europe – music to make you dance, laugh & cry – come to Saint Stephens’ in a concert on 1st December featuring the London Klezmer Quartet (LKQ), with support from Bristol band Chai for All. The London Klezmer Quartet’s old and new melodies on fiddle, clarinet, accordion and double bass, … Continue reading Jewish Blues – celebration and soul at Saint Stephen’s Church
Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Sephardi/Portuguese origin who laid the groundwork for the 18th-century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe. Spinoza's magnum opus, the posthumous Ethics, in which he opposed Descartes' mind–body dualism, has earned him recognition as one of Western philosophy's … Continue reading A Gentle Introduction to Spinoza: His Life and Times
Wednesday 25th January 2017 at 8.00pm Israel, Germany, UK 2015, 93 mins, English, Hebrew, Farsi (sub-titles) Director Dror Shaul featuring Mali Levi, Michelle Treves, Michelle Treves With Iran threatening to attain nuclear power, anxious Israeli politicians and top brass gather in an underground bunker to debate a response and whether to consider a preemptive … Continue reading Atomic Falafel
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