L.A. Jewish Film Fest Screening, JNF-USA Golf Tournament, New ChaiVillage Director

The Los Angeles Jewish Film Fest held a screening of “Three Minutes – A Lengthening,” a film about a Jewish community in Poland before the Holocaust, on Aug. 16.

The community event at the Laemmle Royal drew more than 150 attendees. 

“Everyone was moved by the film,” L.A. Jewish Film Festival Executive Director Hilary Helstein said. “We had so many partners it was great.” 

Attendees included Noah Waxman from the Dutch Consulate General in New York, and partners included American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, Chai Center, Holocaust Museum LA and Shabbat Tent. 

A post-screening Q-and-A featured filmmaker Bianca Stigter and author Glenn Kurtz, who wrote the book, “Three Minutes in Poland,” which inspired the film.

Stigter, the filmmaker, is from the Netherlands and is married to her producer, Steve McQueen, the Oscar-winning Director of “12 Years a Slave.”

Supporters of Israel came together this month for the Jewish National Fund-USA’s (JNF-USA) David Frank Memorial Golf Classic, presented by Advanced Nutrients.

 The sold-out tournament – formerly known as the LA Golf Classic —was held Aug. 1 at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades and organized in memory of the late David Frank, an active and engaged member of JNF-USA and the Los Angeles Jewish community.

The event featured guest speaker, Lt. Col. (Res.) Tiran Attia, founder of JNF-USA’s Special in Uniform program. Attia shared how philanthropic dollars are enabling young Israelis with cognitive disabilities to serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

Supporters of the innovative Special in Uniform program include Los Angeles cannabis entrepreneur and philanthropist Michael Straumietis, founder of the tournament’s title sponsor. Straumietis –who goes by “BigMike” – fell in love with the program while in Israel and has become a major donor for the program.

 “I’ve always been driven to help others achieve what may seem at first like an impossible feat, and I am a huge advocate of inclusion,” Straumietis said. “Jewish National Fund-USA’s mission is extremely close to my heart, and it is so meaningful to have Advanced Nutrients sponsor this incredible annual golf classic for the second year in a row.”

Proceeds from the event benefited JNF-USA’s One Billion Dollar Roadmap for the Next Decade, which has raised more than $941 million in support of development in Israel’s Negev and Galilee regions.

Jeanette Macht was named executive director of ChaiVillageLA.

“We are delighted to welcome Jeanette to serve in this position,” ChaiVillageLA Board President Georgia Mercer said. “She brings with her an extraordinary diversity of skills and experience, including a deep commitment to older adults, all of which are so closely aligned with the Village’s mission and goals.”

Macht’s credentials include master’s degrees in both social work and Jewish communal service, as well as a law degree. Most recently, she worked as a care manager and aging life care specialist for Senior Support Solutions in Lexington, MA during which she provided compassionate care management services to older adults.  In addition, Macht was very involved in her temple, Shir Tikvah, where she served on the board in various capacities including two years as temple president.

 “I am honored to have been chosen for this position with ChaiVillageLA,” Macht said. “I look forward to partnering with its dedicated members as we build upon the excellent programming and services while we continue to grow the country’s first synagogue-based Village.”

A bold partnership of two Reform synagogues — Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills and Temple Isaiah—ChaiVillageLA is the first synagogue-based “Village” in the country. Its goal is to challenge members to rethink their paradigms of aging and empower them to use their accumulated experience, talents, wisdom and optimism to build a community of respect, support, caring and joy.