Catalog Search Results
Summary
One cannot explore Jesus and his Jewish influences without understanding the life and works of Flavius Josephus, the ancient Jewish author who was a witness to the period during and after the life of Jesus. Here, learn how his fascinating historical writings complement what the Gospel authors relate..
22) Supergirl
Summary
Naomi seems like a typical 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl, but watching her lift almost three times her bodyweight tells a different story. SUPERGIRL tells an empowering story about one girl who is coming of age while testing the limits of strength and endurance -- both inside and out.. Nominated for the Best Documentary at the Cleveland International Film Festival. Nominated in the New Jersey Films Competition at the Montclair Film Festival (MFF)....
Summary
Following the death of Herod the Great, there began a period of direct Roman administration of Judea under prefects, the most famous of whom was Pontius Pilate, who would later oversee the trial of Jesus. Learn the historical backstory of both this figure and another contemporary of Jesus, Herod Antipas..
24) Anarchy in Judea
Summary
In the first half of this lecture, examine the growing anarchy that led to the First Jewish Revolt against Rome—including the rise of others who, like Jesus, claimed to be the messiah. Then, follow the story (as related by Josephus) of the trial and execution of Jesus’s brother, James the Just..
Summary
Join Professor Magness as she shares some of her own research into Jesus, comparing and contrasting his apocalyptic beliefs with those of the Qumran sect associated with the Dead Sea Scrolls. As you’ll discover, one cannot understand Jesus’s exorcisms and healings without understanding the notion of apocalyptic purity..
Summary
How (and why) did the First Temple Period end? First, examine the reign of King Josiah, whose popular religious reforms reasserted the importance of Jerusalem’s Temple. Then, investigate the Temple’s traumatic destruction—and its relationship to Gospel accounts about the destruction of the Second Temple..
Summary
Close out this insightful course with a pointed consideration of how selected passages from the Gospels can be better understood within their Jewish context. The three passages you explore involve the concept of Hell, Jesus’s cleansing of the Temple, and John’s account of Jesus’s healing of a blind man..
Summary
Follow the turbulent story of the Maccabean Revolt after the outlawing of Judaism under Antiochus IV. Then, examine how the Book of Daniel (written around the time of the revolt) dealt with the concept of “desolating sacrilege,” and how this is repeated in Jesus's own prophesies about the destruction of the Temple..
Summary
What was Jewish life like after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 A.D.? How did the religion survive this trauma? With insights from various historical sources, chart the rise of Rabbinic Judaism—the literature of Jewish sages who portray Jesus as an illegitimate child and magician..
Summary
After the end of the Babylonian exile in 539 B.C., returning exiles began to reestablish themselves in Jerusalem under Ezra and Nehemiah. This return would lead to a dramatic schism between Jews and Samaritans—one which, as you’ll learn, would influence encounters with Samaritans in Jesus’s own time..
32) Kings Point
Summary
2013 Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary Short Subject, KINGS POINT tracks the stories of five residents of a retirement community in Florida who arrived decades ago with their health intact and spouses by their sides. Now that they and their community, comprised primarily of widowed women, face advanced age and mortality, paradise demands a higher price.. Through candid interviews the film exposes the dynamic interplay of their desire for...
33) Kosher Love
Summary
What happens when a rabbinical matchmaker, a Hasidic couple and a single person explore the precise meaning of humanity's most powerful word? Using downright silliness, KOSHER LOVE reveals that we're all the same in our search for love.. “... A fascinatingly quirky, thought-provoking examination of the meaning of love." - Flare
Summary
Victor "Young" Perez , tells the astonishing, harrowing and incredible true story of a Tunisian Jewish boxer, who became the World Flyweight Champion in 1931 and 1932. His romance with the French-Italian actress Mireille Balin increased his fame. But because of his Jewish heritage, Perez was arrested in Paris on September 21, 1943 and transported to Auschwitz. Whilst there he was forced to participate in boxing matches for the amusement of the Nazis....
Summary
A look into the complex and contradictory personality of Yossef Nachmani, the man largely responsible for the first Zionist settlements in the Galilee. As director of the Jewish National Fund office in the Galilee, Nachmani acquired as much land from Arabs as possible to establish Jewish settlements upon it. The film focuses on events in Tiberius, Nachmani's hometown, a mixed community where Arabs and Jews coexisted harmoniously. Nachmani left behind...
Summary
Four generations of a Jewish immigrant family create Russ and Daughters, a Lower East Side lox and herring emporium that survives and thrives. Produced to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the store, this documentary features an extensive interview with two of the original daughters for whom the store was named, now 100 and 92 years old, and interviews with prominent enthusiasts of the store including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg,...
37) Bonjour! Shalom!
Summary
A small municipality in Montreal finds two very different cultures living side by side: Hassidic Jews and their mostly French-speaking neighbors. Intent on preserving their religious traditions, the Hassidim meet outsiders with a kind of protective wall. Misunderstanding the Hassidic way of life, many of the French residents respond to their neighbors with a mixture of mistrust, frustration and curiosity. Faced with a growing transformation of their...
38) My Nose
Summary
This personal documentary reveals the complexities of a single woman living in a beauty-obsessed world with her original yet imperfect nose. It's a tale that anyone who has ever obsessed over their own "imperfection" will easily relate to. MY NOSE explores filmmaker Gayle Kirschenbaum's mother's preoccupation with her nose, the intricacies of the mother/daughter relationship, and asks what drives people into the plastic surgeon's office. Will she...
Summary
Narrated by Martha Teichner, the film follows the trajectory of Jewish American life from the earliest arrivals in the mid-17th century through the impact of the Nazi regime in World War II, the creation of Israel, and the new challenges of 21st century assimilation.. Explore the personal stories many faced as they migrated to America, whether for economic opportunity or to escape persecution.
40) Bonhoeffer
Summary
As a young pastor, Bonhoeffer helped to organise the Confessing Church, Germany's only true organised challenge to the Nazi state. A prolific writer and acclaimed preacher, Bonhoeffer came to New York on a teaching fellowship and taught Sunday school in the famed Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. When Bonhoeffer returned to Germany in 1932 he brought with him a new awareness of racial prejudice and became one of the first clear voices to challenge...
