Wolpow Institute co-sponsors Film Festival

In April, the Wolpow Institute is partnering with the French Section of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, and other WWU departments to bring the Tournée French Film Festival to campus. The festival will feature six films which deal with various aspects of the Second World War, and the time periods just before and after the war. It will run for three weeks in April with screenings at 7 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays in the Viking Union Room 552, on the Western Washington University campus.

All films are free and open to the public and will feature brief pre- and post-screening discussions by colleagues from across campus.

More information is available online at https://wp.wwu.edu/raywolpowinstitute/co-sponsored-events/

Three films will be showing at Pickford Film Center with Jewish topics/themes.

Foxtrot, in drama in Hebrew with English subtitles, showing April 20-26.
Michael and Dafna experience gut-wrenching grief when army officials show up at their home to announce the death of their son Jonathan. Michael becomes increasingly frustrated by overzealous mourning relatives and well-meaning army bureaucrats. While his sedated wife rests, Michael spirals into a whirlwind of anger only to experience one of life's unfathomable twists - a twist that can only be rivaled by the surreal military experiences of his son.

Itzhak, a documentary in English, showing May 4-10.
Alison Chernick’s enchanting documentary looks beyond the sublime musician to see the polio survivor whose parents emigrated from Poland to Israel, and the young man who struggled to be taken seriously as a music student when schools saw only his disability. Itzhak himself is funny, irreverent and self-deprecating, and here his life story unspools in conversations with masterful musicians, family and friends, and most endearingly his devoted wife of 50 years, Toby.

RBG -- Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a documentary in English, showing May 11-17.
At the age of 84, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has developed a breathtaking legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. But without a definitive Ginsburg biography, the unique personal journey of this diminutive, quiet warrior’s rise to the nation’s highest court has been largely unknown, even to some of her biggest fans – until now. RBG is a revelatory documentary exploring Ginsburg ‘s exceptional life and career.

More information: www.pickfordfilmcenter.org/category/programs/

In March 2018, we moved in to the new Congregation Beth Israel synagogue at 751 San Juan Boulevard. Here are some videos of our community as we placed mezzuzot on each doorway:

Read about Congregation Beth Israel's Strategic Plan, which will take us into 2020.