CONVERSATIONS WITH AUTHORS & FILMMAKERS
Suggested donation: $5 m/$8 nm (except where noted*)
CENTRAL QUEENS Y
67-09 108th Street, Forest Hills NY 11375
(718) 268-5011 x151 or [email protected]
www.cqy.org
LESSONS IN EXILE FROM ONE OF IRAQ’S
LAST JEWS
PRESIDENT TRUMP IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Where Are We Headed?
CYNTHIA KAPLAN SHAMASH
PROF. MARK ROSENBLUM
Monday, March 27, 1:30 p.m.
Monday, May 15, 1:30 p.m.
As we struggle today with the question of political refugees,
Cynthia Kaplan Shamash’s story makes real the personal
experiences and struggles of the refugees themselves. Shamash
was born in Baghdad in 1963. During her childhood, Jewish
men lost jobs and universities did not accept Jewish students;
yet, it was illegal to leave Iraq. When Shamash’s family tried to
escape Iraq, they were captured and jailed for five weeks. When
they were eventually able to flee, they left everything behind,
and they struggled to start over and fit in, in one country after
another.
ORCHESTRA OF EXILES: Bronislaw Huberman and the
One Thousand Jews He Saved from the Holocaust
Holocaust Memorial Day
JOSH ARONSON
Monday, April 24, 1:30 p.m.
A musical celebrity, Bronislaw Huberman toured worldwide and
played for European royalty. But after witnessing the tragedy of
World War I, he committed his phenomenal talent and celebrity
to aid humanity. With the rise of Nazism, Huberman began a
crusade to create the Palestine Symphony, which later became
the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Against nearly impossible
obstacles, Huberman created a world-class orchestra of
exiles, one of the great cultural achievements of the 20th
century. His tireless work ultimately saved nearly one thousand
Jews from the Holocaust. Josh Aronson is an Academy Awardnominated director and a concert pianist.
ISRAEL’S EDGE
The Story of the IDF’s Most Elite Unit – Talpiot
Israel Independence Day
JASON GEWIRTZ
Monday, May 1, 1:30 p.m.
How will Israel keep its strategic edge over an increasingly
dangerous Iran? Israel has been preparing for this day by
creating a secretive IDF unit called Talpiot. Instead of being
trained to fight, the few soldiers selected for Talpiot are taught
how to think. Talpiot is tasked with keeping Israel a generation
ahead of a rapidly strengthening and technologically capable
Iran. Instead of fighting skills, Talpiots are taught advanced
physics, math, and computer science, and they develop secret
weapons, cyber-warfare, and intelligence strategies. The soldiers
of Talpiot are truly unsung heroes behind the scenes. Jason
Gewirtz covers Israeli news for CNBC.
President Trump appears to be steering course for a break
with past American policies in the Middle East, threatening
the Iran nuclear deal and favoring closer relations with Russia.
What are the implications for Israel? Does President Trump’s
administration present a once in a lifetime opportunity for
Netanyahu to formally annex the West Bank? Is a democratic
one-state solution viable while still maintaining a Jewish
homeland? Has a two-state solution been closed out by the
reality of the settlements? Will President Trump pull out of
the Iran nuclear deal? Prof. Mark Rosenblum is Director of the
Ibrahim Student Leadership and Dialogue Middle East Program
with Queens College.
3RD ANNUAL AFTERNOON OF
SHORT ISRAELI FILMS!
Monday, May 22, 12:30 p.m.
Our popular afternoon of short Israeli films is back! Our
headliner is an audience award-winning short film
highlighting the diversity represented by the people of
Jerusalem. Behind their various identities, religions, and
cultures, people reveal what lies beneath the stereotypes most
of us don’t look beyond. Other films focus on a small boy
and his mother who live in no man’s land in Hebron, and a
suspenseful story about two strangers on a train in France.
THE RABBI’S ATHEIST DAUGHTER: Ernestine Rose,
19th Century Jewish Feminist Pioneer
100 Years of Women’s Suffrage in NY!
BONNIE ANDERSON
Monday, June 5, 1:30 p.m.
A radical feminist once more famous than Susan B. Anthony,
Ernestine Rose was a Jewish woman who became one of
the 19th century’s best known feminists and freethinkers.
A rabbi’s daughter, Rose refused an arranged marriage and
left her family and Poland forever at age 17. Immigrating to
New York in 1836, she became a famous orator, speaking
for women’s rights and against slavery. A Jew, an atheist, an
immigrant, and a woman, Rose was written out of history.
On the 100th anniversary of NYS Women’s Suffrage, Bonnie
Anderson returns an extraordinary Jewish woman, one of the
mothers of American feminism, to her rightful place in history.
Bonnie Anderson was Professor of Women’s Studies at CUNY
Graduate Center.
Special Event
CHELSEA GALLERY WALKING TOUR & CAFE*
BESA: THE PROMISE
Film Screening & Discussion with
ProducerJason Williams
Thursday, May 11, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Monday, June 12, 12:30 p.m.
Besa is the story of Muslim Albanians who were guided by
their traditional honor code to save nearly two thousand
Jews from the Holocaust. This tale of courage was nearly
lost forever in the Communist decades after World War II.
Determined to record the bravery and compassion of the
Albanians, a Jewish photographer set out to help Albanian
Rexhep Hoxha find the Jewish man his father sheltered as a
young child, in order to fulfill a wartime oath. When Hoxha
finally finds the man who had been hidden with his family,
an intense personal drama is set in motion. Discussion
follows with producer Jason Williams.
Our extremely popular Chelsea Gallery Walking Tour with art
historian Harry Weil is back! New York is the center of the art
world, and Chelsea art galleries set the tone for what is in style.
Harry will lead us through a selection of galleries, showcasing
painting, sculpture, and installation art. We’ll explore what
makes an artist ‘hot’, looking at both established and emerging
artists. Afterward, we’ll relax together with an optional lunch at
a lovely and affordable restaurant (not included in $15 price).
Space is limited. RSVP required. Van available. *Trip, $15. Van, $6.
INTERFAITH EVENTS
INTERFAITH PASSOVER SEDER*
Thursday, March 30, 7 p.m.
At the Central Queens Y
The Passover Seder is a favorite holiday in many Jewish families,
a feast that combines symbolic foods, songs, and the telling of
the story of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt - a celebration of
freedom for all. Share the Passover Seder customs and a kosher
and halal vegetarian meal with your neighbors! We’ll keep the
Seder short enough to leave plenty of time for discussion. Learn
or help us explain the history behind this very special holiday.
Come taste the bitter and the sweet with us. All are welcome!
INTERFAITH IFTAR DINNER*
Thursday, June 8, 7:30 p.m.
Share music and food with your neighbors at our “Break the
Fast” Ramadan Dinner, while learning about Ramadan and
Tisha B’Av customs and enjoying a kosher and halal vegetarian
Middle Eastern meal.
Space is limited and RSVP is strongly suggested.
*Price and location TBD. Call or email for information: ext. 151 or [email protected]
Space is limited. RSVP required. *$20.
Conversations
with Authors & Filmmakers
CENTRAL QUEENS Y
Another Quality Community Center of the Samuel Field Y
SPRING 2017
Cultural Arts & Jewish Heritage Programs
The Hevesi Speaker Series
Photo credits:
Bonnie Anderson, Carolyn Monastra; Besa, from the film Besa: The Promise; Cynthia Kaplan Shamash, Mark Mittel