Cinematic visions of Tel Aviv will be the focus of the 2009 Israel Film Festival, which kicks off at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sunday, March 1. The UW Hillel Foundation and the <a href="http://jewishstudies.wisc.edu/">Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies</a> announced the film festival, which will be held at the Chazen Museum of Art, 800 University Ave., from March 1-5. There will be two films every evening; one will be shown at 6:30 p.m. and another at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are free and <a href="http://www.uwhillel.org/IFF">available online</a>. The festival will feature 10 films that highlight different modern Israeli identities and the multifaceted vibrant culture of Tel Aviv as an emblem of modern Israel. The festival was coordinated by Miri Talmon-Bohm, Schusterman Visiting Professor in the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies and the Center for Jewish Studies and an expert on Israeli cinema and culture. She is currently teaching courses in Hebrew literature and Israeli film at UW-Madison. The festival is being co-sponsored by the Legacy Heritage Fund, the Multicultural Council, the Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies at UW-Madison, the LGBT Campus Center, AEPi and the Ettinger family fund. Here is the schedule of screenings, with a theme listed for each night: <ul> <li>Sunday, March 1 (Women and Ethnicity): At 6:30 p.m., "Noodle," a touching comic drama directed by Ayeley Menahami will be shown, followed at 8:30 p.m. by "Yana's Friends," a romantic comedy about Russian immigrants.</li> <li>Monday, March 2 (Contemporary Life in Tel Aviv): At 6:30 p.m., "Wisdom of the Pretzel," an adaptation of the best-selling Israeli novel will be shown, followed at 8:30 p.m. by "Jellyfish," a story of three Tel Aviv women whose intersecting stories offer a portrait of modern Israeli life.</li> <li>Tuesday, March 3 (Scenes in Tel Aviv): At 6:30 p.m., "Stefan Braun," telling a story of a society furrier and the man he loved, will be shown, followed at 8:30 p.m. by "The Bubble," an examination of young Israeli life.</li> <li>Wednesday, March 4 (The Quest for Identity): At 6:30 p.m., "Out for Love ... Be Back Shortly," an Israeli classic which garnered 13 international awards, will be shown, followed at 8:30 p.m. by "Jerusalem Right, Tel Aviv Left," which examines the sacred and the secular in Israeli life.</li> <li>Thursday, March 5 (Golden Days, Nostalgic Nights): At 6:30 p.m., "The Policeman Azulai," a lyrical comedy which won a Golden Globe Award in 1972, will be shown, followed at 8:30 p.m. by "Over the Ocean," about a family's decision over whether to stay in Israel or emigrate to Canada. </li> </ul> For more information about any of these events, contact UW Hillel at info@uwhillel.org or 608-256-8361. Cinematic visions of Tel Aviv will be the focus of the 2009 Israel Film Festival, which kicks off at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sunday, March 1. Israel Film Festival presented at UW-Madison 16360 2009-03-06T00:00:00-06:00 2009-02-26T16:03:00-06:00

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In researching the relationship between Judaism and Enlightenment thought, <a href="http://history.wisc.edu/people/faculty/sorkin.htm">David Sorkin</a> found significant misunderstanding about the relationship between the Enlightenment and religion in general. His findings, which he discusses in his book <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8818.html">The Religious Enlightenment: Protestants, Jews and Catholics from London to Vienna</a> (Princeton University Press, 2008), resonate with contemporary issues. <div id="story_image_1019" class="inline-content photo right" style="width: 160px;"> <img src="http://www.news.wisc.edu/story_images/0000/1019/sorkin-book-cover.gif" alt="Cover of Sorkin’s book" />   </div> "The prevalent dichotomy in politics between supposedly 'believing' conservatives and 'secular' or 'godless' liberals is based on the presumption that the Enlightenment was a secular phenomenon and dividing point. That's a historical mistake that we need to correct," says Sorkin, a professor of <a href="http://history.wisc.edu/">history</a> and Frances and Laurence Weinstein Professor of Jewish Studies. Countries in 17th century Europe struggled to create order despite religiously divided populations, significant religious minorities and sovereigns with different religions from the population. The Religious Enlightenment argues that shared ideas such as "natural religion" — an accessible morality based in common foundations of belief — created tolerance and collaboration across religious, cultural and political boundaries. Sorkin's use of what he calls "second rank figures" illuminates the contributions of figures who bridged these political and philosophical gaps, many of whom lost prominence over time because of a misguided emphasis on secularity. Sorkin came to UW-Madison in 1992 with the aim of creating a certificate program and, eventually, a major in Jewish studies. The program reached both goals by 2001. Far from inhabiting some arcane corner of academia, Sorkin seeks to reinforce connections between his area of study and the larger world, whether placing Jewish history within the larger context of European societies or drawing lessons from the Enlightenment that resonate today. "One of the things I feel most proud of is that, in addition to training Ph.D.s to European Jewish history itself, I have a lot of other students who do European history and do a prelim in European Jewish history, " says Sorkin. "That adds to their understanding. One of my goals is to integrate European Jewish history with European history at both the undergraduate and graduate levels." This commitment to interdisciplinary connection served Sorkin well during his time as both a senior fellow and, later, director of the Institute for Research in the Humanities, which he calls "one of the jewels of UW-Madison." In some ways, the institute has nurtured the type of intellectual discourse that Sorkin describes in his book as a "republic of letters" — correspondence among religious, political and philosophical figures at many levels of public and private life. Still, he laments the decline of reasoned discourse in the greater sphere. "I think part of the problem is that we now live in an era of experts, and political issues are kind of left to the experts — social scientists, economists and the issues just aren't discussed in broader philosophical terms as much. Those aren't the people who get listened to." He notes that many current leaders in the "evangelical right" have moved from rallying around polarizing issues like abortion to broader issues like poverty, equality and the environment. In this way, perhaps, these leaders echo the themes of commonality and shared concern that Sorkin describes in his book... but it's still a careful mix. "I would like to see more of a bridge between philosophy and theology in politics, sure," he says. "At the same time, I still have to say that I'm a champion of the separation of church and state." In researching the relationship between Judaism and Enlightenment thought, David Sorkin found significant misunderstanding about the relationship between the Enlightenment and religion in general. Author examines relationship between Enlightenment, religion 16088 2008-12-18T09:22:00-06:00

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left Portion of cover of Sorkin's book

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