Reaching a consensus on how to categorize a work in the creative arts as “Jewish” has always been complicated, but we make references all the time to Jewish music, Jewish art, Jewish humor, Jewish literature, etc. The New Jersey Jewish Film festival is taking place these next few weeks at the Metrowest JCC in West Orange and this year CBI is a community sponsor. The JCC promotes the NJ Jewish Film Festival as presenting a wide range of exceptional films of “Jewish interest” (i.e. films with Jewish themes, or content and/or films made by Jewish and Israeli filmmakers).
CBI is specifically a co-sponsor for the film Come Closer on March 25 at 7:00 p.m., with access to discounted tickets for CBI members for this showing. The film tells the story of Eden, when her beloved younger brother suddenly dies, and she is drawn into an obsessive relationship with the girlfriend he kept secret. This first feature by Tom Nesher won Best Picture and three other Ophir Awards (Israel’s Oscars) and the Viewpoints Award at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, among other accolades. (As an added bonus, a pre-recorded Q&A with director/writer Tom Nesher will follow the film.) I’m curious to see the film and how I relate to it from my perspective as a Jewish American middle-aged woman.
When I think about what is probably the most well-known “Jewish” show ever produced, meant to epitomize the Jewish experience from the “old Country,” of course it’s Fiddler on the Roof! It’s been 60 years since the adaptation of the Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem’s original story (although with some alterations), set to a wonderful score by composer Jerry Bock, with lyricist Sheldon Harnick, premiered as a show on Broadway in 1964. The film adaptation, directed by Norman Jewison with the musical score adapted by John Williams, released in 1971, was the highest grossing film of that year, and Pauline Kael, a critic for The New Yorker, called Fiddler “the most powerful movie musical ever made.”
Like the Broadway production, the film also received numerous awards including three Oscars and also a Golden Globe Award for best picture. The actor Topol, in the lead role of Tevye, won a Golden Globe for best actor in a motion picture (comedy or musical). This film is already a classic and has earned its place in the tapestry of the Jewish experience as well as in the American experience.
While the films being shown in this year’s NJ Jewish Film festival might not end up being classics, it will be interesting and hopefully worthwhile to see these films! It is certainly important to support the creation of “Jewish Arts” and to be able to bring it right here to our Greater Metrowest community! I’ll see you at the movies!
Cantor Lorna Wallach
