For more information please call: 925.485.1049 or email CSJOLibrary@aol.com. Please give 2 weeks notice. |
DVD |
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Interview with an Executioner |
An interview with a death row warden who left his position after having participated in two executions and realizing he didn't believe in the death penalty. This is a good introduction to a discussion of the death penalty, and comes with a brochure put out by Dealth Penalty Focus. 14 minutes. |
Where Neon Goes To Die
NEW |
The story of South Beach's not-too-distant past, when it was a "tropical Yiddishland" where there were Secular Jewish schools and fraternal organizations, eight Jewish radio stations, half a Jewish dozen theaters, reading circles and scores of Jewish folk choruses. Including archival footage and recent interview, the film is a stirring homage to the power of ethnic community. 53 minutes |
Land of the Settlers: A Journey Log
NEW |
A six-CD set by Chaim Yavin, a well-known Israeli journalist who sparked controversy in Israel when the series was first released. The series is extremely critical of Israel’s settlement policy and the channel for which Mr. Yavin is anchor refused to broadcast it. |
| Everything is Illuminated |
The story of a man who travels to Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis. It's funny, warm and emotional, garnering two thumbs up from Siskel and Ebert. 105 minutes. |
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Paper Clips |
The story of how a class of middle school students in Tenneessee using paper clips to understand the magnitude of the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust touch the lives of people all over the world. The documentary has won numerous awards. 84 minutes. |
| Searching for Peace in the Middle East |
Provides diverse viewpoints on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Produced by Foundation for Middle East Peace, it includes interviews with Rabbi Arik Ascherman (Rabbis for Human Rights), Hanan Ashrawi (Palestinian legislator), and other Israelis and Palestinians of diverse backgrounds who point the way to a peaceful settlement. |
| The Believer |
Based on a true story, “The Believer,” winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, explores the motivations of young Jewish man involved in the neo-Nazi movement. Some of the young man’s criticisms of Judaism parallel our own Secular criticisms, yet his connection with Judaism is religious, rather than ethnic. 99 minutes. |
| The Children of Chabannes |
Documents how a small village in Free France sheltered 400 Jewish children. The Emmy-winning documentary includes interviews with both the townspeople and some of the children who survived and deals with both the moral courage of the countrypeople and with the daily lives of the children who weresheltered in an old chateau. 93 minutes. |
| The Hebrew Hammer |
A hilarious spoof of the super-hero genre featuring a woman-crazy private eye who,with the help of the leader of the Kwanzaa Liberation Front, saves Jewish children seduced by bootleg copies of “It’s a Wonderful Life” from abandoning Chanukah. It gets goofier from there. A Comedy Central production, it will most likely be appreciated by younger crowds. R Rated. 85 minutes. |
| Wanderings: A Journey to Connect |
A Jewish travelogue documenting the explorations of a Canadian mother and her teen-age daughter. The two find little-known Jewish connections in Southeast Asia, Iceland, Spain, Holland, the Caribbean and India. 50 minutes. (Also on videotape) |
| Videotape |
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Jakob the Liar
NEW |
Stars Robin Williams in a dramatic story of keeping hope alive in Nazi-occupied Poland. The story is about how a poor Jewish café owner fabricates news bulletins about Allied advances, encouraging optimism in the depressed and impoverished ghetto. 120 minutes. |
Birth of a Community: Jews and the Gold Rush
NEW |
Traces the entrepreneurial Jews who, starting in the 1850s, made their way across country wagon, sailed for months around Cape Horn and hiked through Nicaragua to seek their fortunes in California. The movie explores their lives in California during the Gold Rush through archival photos, re-creations, movie footage and commentary. 42 minutes. |
The Yidishe Gauchos
NEW |
Tells the story of the 19th century Jewish immigrants to the wilderness of the Argentine pampas. With the help of the Jewish Colonization Association, thousands formed farming and ranching cooperatives, and the Jewish Gaucho - cowboy - was born. This lively documentary includes archival footage and contemporary interviews. 28 minutes. |
| Wanderings: A Journey to Connect |
A Jewish travelogue documenting the explorations of a Canadian mother and her teen-age daughter. The two find little-known Jewish connections in Southeast Asia, Iceland, Spain, Holland, the Caribbean and India. 50 minutes. (Also on DVD) |
| The Enchanted Travels of Benjamin of Tudela |
A cartoon account of the travels of Benjamin of Tudela. It’s a useful introduction to study of Jews around the world for primary school aged children. 9 minutes. |
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CD |
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A Beser Velt: A Better World!
NEW |
A beautiful album of twelve secular (and one religious) Yiddish songs by the 85-member professional-quality Yiddish Community Chorus of Boston Workmen's Circle. Included are songs about peace, labor and daily life, including favorites such as "Mayn Rueh Platz" and less well known songs as "Vilna" with the great line, "Vilna sewed the first thread in our freedom flag. |
George and Ruth: Songs and Letters of the Spanish Civil War |
Includes letters between a Jewish man fighting with the Republicans (those were the good guys!) and his wife during the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. The delivery of the actors is not particularly professional, but the CD is redeemed by Tony Saletan’s rendering of some of the most famous – and a few less known – songs of the period. 2 CD set. |
