This
month I want to recommend two cultural opportunities. The Chicago History
Museum recently opened its first exhibit focusing on the history of Jews in
Chicago. The exhibit called, “Shalom Chicago,” tells the story of the arrival
and growth of Chicago’s vibrant Jewish community. The exhibit combines actual
artifacts and contemporary technology. The museum draws upon stories of a few
families to present the differing threads of the story. I was very impressed
with quality of the exhibit and care that went into the presentation of the
material in an engaging manner. I imagine that many of our members have never
visited the Chicago History Museum. This exhibit should provide the
encouragement to discover one of Chicago’s hidden jewels. You can read more about
the exhibit here.
I was surprised to find a current Israeli film on the “On Demand” feature on our cable system. The Flat, HaDira, tells the story of an Israeli man learning more and more about his grandparents’ lives before and after World War II. Following his grandmother’s death he joins the family in cleaning out her apartment. He discovers a previously hidden aspect of their lives. I do not want to give away too much of the plot, so I will just share brief comments from some leading critics.
Roger
Ebert describes it as a “spellbinding documentary about family secrets.” Leba
Hertz of the San Francisco Chronicle writes “The movie feels more like a
thriller and a mystery than a documentary.” Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles
Times writes, “It tells an out-of-the-ordinary personal story and examines
broad historical issues of societal memory and selective amnesia, of what is
hidden between generations and what is revealed.”
I
found the film to be deeply engaging. It tells a moving and unusual story while
raising complex questions. It is in English, Hebrew and German with subtitles
for the non-English sections.
