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WHY THE JEWS?

CINEMAflix - 40 min
  • DIRECTOR: John Curtin

SHOWTIMES 03/29/2024 (change date):

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Synopsis:

The stunning accomplishments of the Jews raise a question no film has dared ask before. How do they do it? Some of the world’s most prominent thinkers tackle a mystery shrouded in ignorance and prejudice. They tear back the curtain on a taboo and draw a startling link between a people’s achievements and the darkest hours in its history.

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Overall Rating Based on 2 Reviews
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Current Reviews
Creative Genius Sharon Esther La
5 out of 5 stars

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December 31, 2019
In 5 Minutes, Learn 5000 Years of Jewish History By Sharon Esther Lampert www.SharonEstherLampert.com

Jakob Wasi
3 out of 5 stars

A tight, little documentary...

April 11, 2018
Curtin's 'Why the Jews?' is a worthy essay to answer an age-old question. You might expect that the 40-minute film would answer the question self-pityingly or slip into tearfully sentimental; hand wringing of the millennia of discrimination, killings..in sum, the black sheep of humanity. No. The film maker considers over-achievement, honours, and recognition of contrabition of 0,02 per cent of mankind. We see a finger of pray beads of the number of Nobel prize winners; musicians, major writers and philosophers and political leaders. In the last hours of his life, Curtin managed to interview Shimon Peres; articulate and crafty politician, an architect of the Oslo Accords, seconding the assassinated Itzhak Rabin; the long-lived politician, in spite of the sharp shift towards the extreme Right of Israel's landscape, held hopes of a two-state solution between Palestinians and Israeli. A weakness of the film is its fawning over Alan Dershowitz, emeritus professor of Law at Harvard and wily attorney, known for showcase trials. Left unsaid, is Dershowitz's ultra chauvinism as it pertains to Israel, as well as his over the top conservative standpoint, his role of tribune on Fox TV and off the cuff advisor to Donald Trump on the Middle East and the Mueller Russia probe. What is not stressed enough is the obvious historical record that when barriers that kept Jews say in Europe fell in Europe in the late 18 and 19 centuries, they flourished strongly. Modernistaion or the Jewish Enlightenment brought recognition and degrees of toleration and political and civic toleration and freedom. (Other minorities also broke out in prominence but not as worthy of notice.) As the walls of the ghettos fell the Jews flourished especially in North America. An apercu of Tel Aviv and as a haven for persecuted Jews, spurred Israel as a Silicon Valley of innovation in areas of war and peace. It is a heartfelt, bracingly positive evaluation of Jews who flourished strikingly in the last few centuries, despite the Shoah. And yet, many Jewish organisation are not willing to sponsor a showing of 'Why the Jews?' Is it fear of the stirringsof anti Semitism in Trump's America? Or is it the age-old fear that one shouldn't stress immoderately the achievements of Jews, thereby reviving ashes of envy and special interests. Another omission: the role of Jews in sports. (Jewish gangsters needn't apply,thank you very much.) In spite of its warts, 'Why the Jews? has cinematic qualities worth seeing.