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We recommend the following upcoming events in Santa Fe:
A. “The Spy Behind Home Plate” – Opening at the Screen – July 28th
Aviva Kempner’s The Spy Behind Home Plate is the first feature-length documentary to tell the real story of Morris “Moe” Berg, the enigmatic and brilliant Jewish baseball player turned spy. Berg caught and fielded in the major leagues during baseball’s Golden Age in the 1920s and 1930s. But very few people know that Berg also worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), spying in Europe and playing a prominent role in America’s efforts to undermine the German atomic bomb program during WWII.
The Spy Behind Home Plate reveals the life of this unknown Jewish hero through rare historical footage and photographs as well as revealing interviews with an All-Star roster of celebrities and other individuals from the worlds of sports, spycraft, and history. Berg may have had only a .243 batting average during his 15-year major league career, but it was the stats he collected for the OSS that made him a most valuable player to his country during World War II.
See the trailer here.
You may have read the biography, “The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg” by Nicholas Dawidoff (1994).
B. Friends of Hebrew University talks at the Efroymson’s – July 10:
Music and Faith: A Christian and Jewish Perspective on Music’s Role in Liturgy and Theology
Featuring Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty:
Dr. Yossi Maurey, Chair, Musicology Department and Medieval Sacred Music Expert
Dr. Assaf Shelleg, Senior Lecturer, Musicology Department, and Jewish and Israeli Art Music Expert
Thursday, July 10 | 4:00 PM
Wine and Cheese Reception
This is a Free event. Space is limited; RSVP by clicking here.
C. Deborah LIpstadt speaking on August 4 – as part of the “United Against Anti-Semitism” statewide Federation program.
In a special event for New Mexico, Deborah Lipstadt will speak on “Antisemitism: Here and Now” on August 4 in Santa Fe at the James A. Little Theater at 4 pm. There will be a VIP reception for her at 3 pm before the talk. She is being invited by the Santa Fe Distinguished Lecture Series and the Santa Fe Jewish Film Festival with support from the Jewish Federation of New Mexico.
Her new book on Antisemitism, published earlier this year, sold out immediately and went into a second printing on the second week after its release. In addition to the American edition, it is now being published in England, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Israel.
Lipstadt came to national attention in 2016 with the movie Denial in which she was played by Rachel Weisz, a movie about her international court case with David Irving, a Holocaust denier in England. Lipstadt had long fought Holocaust deniers, and in this court case she was able to prove the falsehoods of those who denied it happened. After a successful in in theaters, Denial can now be seen on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and other streaming services. Her TED talk abut the trial has received 1.2 million views.
Prof. Deborah Lipstadt has held the Presidential appointment to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and represented President George W. Bush at the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. She is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. Her books include The Eichmann Trial, Denial: Holocaust History on Trial (a National Jewish Book Award-winner), Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, and Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust, 1933-1945.
Purchase your tickets: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4253757 .
D. “Left Vs. Right: The Battle for Israel’s Soul” – J.J. Goldberg and Jonathan Tobin – August 25, Temple Beth Shalom
What impact will the Trump administration have on US-Israel relations? Is partition into two states the only way to ensure Israel’s survival, or will it lead to increasing bloodshed and possibly endanger Israel’s survival? Goldberg and Tobin debate these critical issues. Free and open to the public.
2. Yasher koach to Robby Geller for his letter in the New Mexican:
Who gets to decide what is anti-Semitism? Jul 5, 2019
The real question should be is why they get to decide what is anti-Semitic. Whites can no longer define which comments are racist, straights can no longer delineate what is considered hurtful by the gay community and sexual harassment against women can no longer be determined by men.
These congresswomen should be defined by how their comments affect the majority of Jews who hear them. Despite being “educated” by their Jewish constituents and lawmakers, these most recent comments regarding the Holocaust and their previous comments have been rebuked by almost every major Jewish organization. Since they are not the ones most impacted, they should not be the ones who determine whether their comments are considered anti-Semitic.
SFMEW is a beneficiary of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico.