This week marked not only my 11 month milestone but it was also the last movie night for the summer. In Duisburg throughout the year we've been hosting monthly events for Jewish young adults. One event I've been hosting bi-monthly is our Jewish film night or "Kino Abend". This event was passed down to me by my predecessor Amira, who never fails to help me choose the latest title.
We've done all kinds of movies ranging from "Kaddisch fur einen Freund" or Kaddish for a friend, a story about a young Palestine refugee who moves into an apartment below a Jewish old man in Germany and the friendship that they develop.
Perhaps the most thought provoking event was our movie night and discussion about the "Hannah Arendt" movie. She was a famous Jewish German historian/philosopher who wrote about the "banality of evil" in reference to Nazis during WWII.
This movie was inspired in fact by a course I took in university where we read Arendt's most well-known work, Eichmann in Jerusalem . Nonetheless I was wholly surprised and inspired by the conversation over this topic. I expected a serious discussion that would bring up lots of difficult stories about the war and growing up in Germany. Instead people challenged themselves to think about in what ways the "banality of evil" is still at play today. We talked about what issues today are we as Jewish, Europeans and in my case an American are passively allowing to go unchallenged.
Next we watched a documentary called "The Flat" or "Die Wohnung". Continuing with the Jewish/German theme this Israeli film was about a Jewish family who immigrated to Israel before the war. When their grandparents died in the present day, the family found that their grandparents had kept in close contact with a prominent Nazi family in Germany.
Lastly this week we watched "Keeping the Faith". I thought it was time for something a little more upbeat to defray some of the tension that's been so present lately. It was a wonderful romantic comedy to end a great year of events for Young Jews In the Duisburg Area.
Though it was my last event for the summer, it wont exactly be my last time in Duisburg. I guess its now time for an official announcement:
After a wonderful first year I have (as of last week) officially signed my contract and booked my flight to extend for a second year as a JDC Jewish Service Corps Fellow! I'll be home in the US for just under a month in August/September and then back to Berlin!
I wanted to thank JDC Germany, JDC Entwine and all of the wonderful friends and colleagues that made this year such a success. Special thanks to Anja for her unwavering support, trust and friendship. To Tanya for all of the exciting projects and flexibility while working together throughout the year.
No need to make this more long-winded than it needs to be but I couldn't be more excited for the continuation of this opportunity to live and work with the German Jewish community. As this year comes to a close, I'm so happy to be able to say that its really only the start of round two!
We've done all kinds of movies ranging from "Kaddisch fur einen Freund" or Kaddish for a friend, a story about a young Palestine refugee who moves into an apartment below a Jewish old man in Germany and the friendship that they develop.
Perhaps the most thought provoking event was our movie night and discussion about the "Hannah Arendt" movie. She was a famous Jewish German historian/philosopher who wrote about the "banality of evil" in reference to Nazis during WWII.
This movie was inspired in fact by a course I took in university where we read Arendt's most well-known work, Eichmann in Jerusalem . Nonetheless I was wholly surprised and inspired by the conversation over this topic. I expected a serious discussion that would bring up lots of difficult stories about the war and growing up in Germany. Instead people challenged themselves to think about in what ways the "banality of evil" is still at play today. We talked about what issues today are we as Jewish, Europeans and in my case an American are passively allowing to go unchallenged.
Next we watched a documentary called "The Flat" or "Die Wohnung". Continuing with the Jewish/German theme this Israeli film was about a Jewish family who immigrated to Israel before the war. When their grandparents died in the present day, the family found that their grandparents had kept in close contact with a prominent Nazi family in Germany.
Though it was my last event for the summer, it wont exactly be my last time in Duisburg. I guess its now time for an official announcement:
After a wonderful first year I have (as of last week) officially signed my contract and booked my flight to extend for a second year as a JDC Jewish Service Corps Fellow! I'll be home in the US for just under a month in August/September and then back to Berlin!
I wanted to thank JDC Germany, JDC Entwine and all of the wonderful friends and colleagues that made this year such a success. Special thanks to Anja for her unwavering support, trust and friendship. To Tanya for all of the exciting projects and flexibility while working together throughout the year.
No need to make this more long-winded than it needs to be but I couldn't be more excited for the continuation of this opportunity to live and work with the German Jewish community. As this year comes to a close, I'm so happy to be able to say that its really only the start of round two!
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