Adapting Jewish Literature: Yentl and A Tale of Love and Darkness with Fania Oz-Salzberger, Ruby Namdar and Rokhl Kafrissen

Adapting Jewish Literature: Yentl and A Tale of Love and Darkness with Fania Oz-Salzberger, Ruby Namdar and Rokhl Kafrissen

Fania Oz-Salzberger, Ruby Namdar and Rokhl Kafrissen join in conversation about what it means to adapt Jewish literature for the big screen.

While many Jewish filmmakers choose to write their own material and draft their own stories, others turn to interpretation. This program compares two films that share biographical features, Yentl and A Tale of Love and Darkness. Though released decades apart, both were directed by acclaimed actresses making their directorial debuts, Barbara Streisand and Natalie Portman respectively. These women notably adapted literary works written by men and their star power was critical to getting these films made.

Historian Fania Oz-Salzberger shares personal insights about her father, acclaimed Israeli writer Amos Oz, and his autobiographical novel A Tale of Love and Darkness and author and educator Ruby Namdar considers the film and the legacy of the memoir. Critic and playwright Rokhl Kafrissen explores Yentl, based on a play and short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

This program is a collaboration between Moment Magazine and REWIND: The Shenson Retrospective Film Series, a project of Stanford’s Taube Center for Jewish Studies. Both movies can be watched on Amazon Prime.

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The Holocaust in Latin America: A Conversation with Ilan Stavans and Andrés Spokoiny

The Holocaust and Antisemitism in Latin America: A Conversation with Ilan Stavans and Andrés Spokoiny

Much attention is focused on anti-Semitism in Europe and the United States, but many Latin American countries also have a troubled history with their Jewish communities. Learn about the continent’s checkered past when it comes to the Holocaust and Nazis as well as recent manifestations of anti-Semitism with Mexican American writer and scholar Ilan Stavans, author of The Seventh Heaven: Travels Through Jewish Latin America and Andrés Spokoiny, president and CEO of the Jewish Funders Network, who grew up in Argentina.

This program is part of a Moment series on anti-Semitism supported by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation.

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The State of Democracy 2021: A Conversation with David Brooks and Robert Siegel

Now that we are almost halfway through the Biden Administration’s first 100 days, what is the current state of our democracy? Will Democrats and Republicans be able to put their differences aside and work together? What is the fallout from January 6th? Can Americans come back together again? New York Times columnist David Brooks is in conversation with Robert Siegel, Moment special literary contributor and former senior host of NPR’s All Things Considered. The State of Democracy is a Moment series hosted by Robert Siegel.

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