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Involvement in the Soviet Jewry
Movement
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by Louis Rosenblum |
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Projects: Movie Before Our Eyes In the fall of 1966 we set out to create an up-to-date film on the
historic and present day problems of
Jews in the USSR, a film that could be used as a springboard for
public discussion, an educational aid
in schools, or a television feature. Our project was completed the
summer of 1968. The professional
production team — all but one being volunteers — consisted of Mort
Epstein, artistic director;
Art Laufman (head of the Motion Picture Section, NASA Lewis Research
Center), camera
and sound; Ernie Walker, (NASA LeRC), camera. To complete the
roster, I (a non-pro) took on the job of producer. I was able to
enlist the help of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel to provide comments
on Soviet Jewry. Rabbi Heschel, one of the most significant thinkers
of our time and a civil rights activist, was then Professor of
Ethics at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. We filmed Heschel’s section of the movie on location at JTS. Finally, Dorothy Silver, a
distinguished Cleveland actor, lent her voice for the voice-over
sections of the film. The JCFC
provided a grant of funds to cover the cost of film, processing and
travel.
We titled the 13˝-minute, 16mm, color, sound film,
Before Our Eyes,
after Rabbi Heschel’s remark in
the movie, ”Before our eyes a people and a culture are being made to
vanish.” The CCSA rented, or sold outright, copies of the movie. By
far organizations or individuals chose to rent. Between 1968 and
1978, there were about 450 rentals. Several copies were sold: a half
dozen to the South African Jewish
community and a couple each to Jewish organizations in Canada and
England.
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| © 2007 Louis Rosenblum |