Social Hall & Meeting Room

Saturday Night at the Jewish Silent Movies
July 31, 4:30 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Please join us for a fun, informative, and delicious evening.
We’ll hear about Jewish film from Sharon Rivo, enjoy Chinese food,
and watch a Jewish silent film accompanied on piano by our own Rob Humphreville.

Saturday, July 31
4:30-5:00 p.m. Registration

5:05-5:50 p.m. Talk on Jewish film
Sharon Pucker Rivo will provide a brief overview of the National Center for Jewish Film’s (NCJF) collection of early image of Jews on the silver screen including the screening of some rare film clips. The Center’s unique collection throws light on the attitudes toward Jews found in early American cinema as well as providing a remarkable insight into American film history. It contains significant but rarely seen works by some of America’s most important early filmmakers – Edwin S. Porter, D.W. Griffith, Mack Sennett, and the unfairly neglected Edward Sloman.

Sharon is co-founder and Executive Director of the NCJF and Adjunct Professor of Near Eastern and Jewish Studies, Brandeis. She has worked in the field of film archiving and Jewish film for over thirty years. Recognized nationally and internationally as an authority, she has been an invited lecturer at hundreds of venues.

6:00-7:15 p.m. Dinner: Chinese food catered by Bamboo, Bedford
Buffet menu includes scallion pancakes, vegetarian egg rolls, chicken with vegetables, General Gau chicken, beef with broccoli, vegetarian delight with tofu, vegetarian dish with tofu especially for vegans, vegetarian lo mein, brown and white rice, dessert, and drinks. The cost: $18.00 adults, $8.00 children under 12. Please return your check and the enclosed reservation form to Temple Isaiah, 55 Lincoln Street, Lexington MA 02421 by July 23; and please write “July Yom Shabbat” on the memo line of your check.

7:20-7:30 p.m. Remarks by Rob Humphreville on the art of a silent movie pianist
Rob has been the accompanist for all Saturday morning services, High Holiday services, and other special occasions at the Temple since 1998. Equally at home with both popular and classical music, he especially likes accompanying silent movies and has been singled out by the Boston Globe several times for his inventive improvisations.

7:30-7:40 p.m. Introduction to His People by Sharon Rivo

7:40-9:10 p.m. Silent Film: His People, USA 1925,
91 minutes, Restored by NCJF
Description: The two sons of a poor Russian-Jewish pushcart peddler on New York's Lower East Side are causing their father grief. Morris, a selfish, ambitious student, wants to become a lawyer, and in doing so tries to hide his background from his friends. Sammy gets a job to help pay his brother's college education. To his father's horror, he becomes a prizefighter and plans to marry an Irish girl. As Morris and Sammy stray from traditions cherished by their parents, each generation learns to accept change to preserve the family as a source of love and respect.

Director Edward Sloman's images of New York's Lower East Side in the 1920s are so evocative that the viewer can almost hear the hustle and bustle of that thriving neighborhood.

9:15 - 9:35 p.m. Question and Answer Session with Sharon Rivo

9:40 p.m. Havdalah