Thank you to Judith Gigliotti and Peter Decherney for joining me on my podcast. Peter is an author, filmmaker and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania where we met when my class had a film and TV panel for our 30th reunion. May 2024 is my 35th reunion at PENN!
Listen to our discussion about the Jews in Africa: the Abayudaya in Uganda πΊπ¬ and Beta Israel in Ethiopia πͺπΉBoth Peter and Judith have spent years in Africa filming, photographing and helping.
In 2020 with a colleague at Penn, Sosena Solomon, we made a film about the Jewish community in Gondar, Ethiopia. There’s a lot written and films made about Jews, Ethiopians living in Israel, but it was actually hard to find information about the Jews who were still living in Gondar, what was their life like, and so that’s what brought us there and then over a few years led us to make to make a film about it.
The film is really just trying to amplify their stories, and we tell stories about their soccer team, amazing stories, and their circus, which is amazing, about a rabbi who moved to Israel, became a rabbi, and then goes back regularly to still be a rabbi in that community.
The film is on Discovery + and It’s called Dreaming of Jerusalem. But as we showed the film at festivals and synagogues and places, I was surprised by how little people knew about the story. I thought they knew, and if they know anything they know about the airlifts in the 80s and 90s, but not that there’s thousands of years of history before that and there’s still an active community and there’s a lot happening.
There is a benefit of roasting food on skewers, Γ la shish kebab. By cutting meat and vegetables into smaller uniform pieces, the marinade coats more and the food cooks evenly.
The tight relationship between Trump and Netanyahu masks the real debate over Israel churning in the Republican Party, and Israelβs standing among Democrats has never been lower.
Some emphasized the importance of combating antisemitism and protecting Jewish safety, while others called for political engagement and cooperation across party lines.
So here we are, stuck with just a few bad options to consider. And thatβs just the political superposition of undetermined future β alongside it thereβs also the possible β probable? β war with Iran.
At a time when Jewish education is competing for attention in a world dominated by screens, sports, short-form videos and endless streams of content, these easily collectable cards offer a different kind of engagement.
There is little chance that the combination of a weakened Trump and an emboldened Democratic Congress produces similar levels of support for aggressive action against Iran and its proxies, and other policies that a wide spectrum of Israelis see as crucial to their security.
In the diaspora and in Israel, we cannot turn back the clock and undo the harm that was done to us. But we can shape our own future. Israel is strong and resolute. So must we be.
Democrats who were long considered βmoderatesβ or even pro-Israel have been signaling over the course of the last year that they can no longer be relied upon to back a Jewish state under assault by Iran and its terrorist proxies.
The Torah offers a comforting view of a life beyond this life. We arenβt told what it will be exactly β yes, itβs abstract and vague β but we are told itβs waiting for us as it was for Abraham.
Jews in Africa: the Abayudaya in Uganda πΊπ¬ and Beta Israel in Ethiopia πͺπΉ
Lisa Ellen Niver
Thank you to Judith Gigliotti and Peter Decherney for joining me on my podcast. Peter is an author, filmmaker and Professor at the University of Pennsylvania where we met when my class had a film and TV panel for our 30th reunion. May 2024 is my 35th reunion at PENN!
Judith took the author photo for my book, Brave-ish, One Breakup, Six Continents and Feeling Fearless After Fifty, and is an incredible artist and photographer. We met because of ceramics and belong to the same art studio, Members Only LA (MOLA).
Listen to our discussion about the Jews in Africa: the Abayudaya in Uganda πΊπ¬ and Beta Israel in Ethiopia πͺπΉBoth Peter and Judith have spent years in Africa filming, photographing and helping.
Listen or watch our interview on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube or your favorite podcast platform
In 2020 with a colleague at Penn, Sosena Solomon, we made a film about the Jewish community in Gondar, Ethiopia. There’s a lot written and films made about Jews, Ethiopians living in Israel, but it was actually hard to find information about the Jews who were still living in Gondar, what was their life like, and so that’s what brought us there and then over a few years led us to make to make a film about it.
The film is really just trying to amplify their stories, and we tell stories about their soccer team, amazing stories, and their circus, which is amazing, about a rabbi who moved to Israel, became a rabbi, and then goes back regularly to still be a rabbi in that community.
The film is on Discovery + and It’s called Dreaming of Jerusalem. But as we showed the film at festivals and synagogues and places, I was surprised by how little people knew about the story. I thought they knew, and if they know anything they know about the airlifts in the 80s and 90s, but not that there’s thousands of years of history before that and there’s still an active community and there’s a lot happening.
READ THE FULL INTERVIEW ON WE SAID GO TRAVEL
Professor Peter Decherney’s website
Penn Global Documentary Institute
Info aboutΒ Dreaming of Jerusalem
Virtual photography exhibit
Judith Gigliotti website
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