Movie: Body and Soul
Body & Soul: The State of the Jewish Nation is meant to be an answer to all those in the media who have recently been heard denying that the Jewish people ever had a connection to the Land of Israel, or that there ever was a sovereign Jewish state there in the past.
The documentary is, in sum, a concise and somewhat reduced history of the Jewish people, from around the time of the First Temple up to the present day. It features interviews with such prominent Israeli and Jewish thinkers as MK Einat Wilf, Professor Ruth Wisse, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Professor Alan Dershowitz. Archival footage of the arrival of the Ethiopian Jews and some subtle Ken Burns-ing of historical documents and photographs are laced between the numerous talking heads who narrate the story as the Jews move from exile to exile.
“The campaigns to erase Jewish history are getting stronger, and even though their arguments make no sense, if its repeated enough people will buy it.”
All in all, the hour-long film serves as a crash course on Jewish history for those who might not know it, and while it doesn’t present any new information per se, the film accomplishes its goal of arguing that the Jews do have a historical connection to the land and that many (read: the Palestinian Authority) are actively trying to deny this connection, a point that many at the screening reiterated.
“This film was necessary to make as a way to understand the centrality of Israel to the Jewish identity,” Greenfield told The Jerusalem Post, saying she wanted to clarify the connection and review the legal history of Jewish rights to the land. “The campaigns to erase Jewish history are getting stronger, and even though their arguments make no sense, if its repeated enough people will buy it,” she said, pointing to the statements made by PA President Mahmoud Abbas that “Jesus was a Palestinian.”
Note: We will have a post-screening discussion with producer/director Gloria Greenfield.
65 minutes. See the trailer. This event is free and open to the community thanks to the generous support of the Zionist Organization of America. Please RSVP to ensure we have enough refreshments.
Sponsorship opportunities are welcome.
$125 Builder; $75 Supporter; $36 Friend
Sponsors are invited to join Gloria Greenfield at a reception in a private home at 6:15 PM. For more info, contact ZOANJ@zoa.org or 201-424-1825