The historic Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, FL was awash with a bevy of influential Jewish American women yesterday morning when roughly sixty supporters of the Jewish Women’s Foundation of The Greater Palm Beaches gathered for a fundraiser keynoted by acclaimed filmmaker and documentarian Aviva Kempner. Kempner was in town to speak about her latest project, a biopic of former Sears tycoon Julius Rosenwald, and also to show her support for the Jewish Women’s Foundation causes.
The event, led by JWF Chair Gloria Fine, sought to educate women of The Greater Palm Beaches about the Foundation’s philanthropic work focused on Jewish women and young girls; the organization champions for these causes both locally and abroad. After a warm welcome and a lovely motzei led by Event Chair Joan Daniels, JWF co-chair Edith Gelfand introduced Ms. Kempner and informed the crowd of the filmmaker’s illustrious career and many well-deserved accolades.
In her speech, Kempner praised the courage and dedication of the women of the JWF, and noted the importance of social change—a goal that members of the Foundation take very seriously when discussing the importance of providing women and girls the opportunity to learn that they “have the power to nurture and heal, take hold of opportunities, and be a force for good.”
When discussing the inspiration for her films, Kempner explained that much of the motivation behind creating her illuminating documentaries (such as “Partisans of Vilna”, “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg”, and “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg”) was initiated as a response to the perpetuation of unfavorable stereotypes of Jewish men and women in Hollywood. Be it the “nebbishy, bespectacled Jewish man” or the “ugly, overbearing Jewish mother”, Kempner sought to shatter such generalizations with her work – and shatter them she did. Kempner has received over twelve major awards, such as the 2008 National Endowment for the Arts, and the 2001 Media Arts award form the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, among many others, since the release of her first film in 1986.
To a rapt crowd, Kempner spoke about the importance of supporting Jewish causes, even in a time when the racial climate in America has been more accepting than ever. A large theme of Kempner’s speech was that we must not forget our history – be it the Holocaust, or important Jewish figures who have seem to somehow been forgotten in history textbooks.
In the case of Julius Rosenwald, the subject of her latest film, members of the JWF and supporters of the Foundation watched the twenty minute work in progress of Kempner’s new film, “The Rosenwald Schools”, a working title. In the film, we learn about the noble philanthropic determination of a self-made, wealthy Jewish man from Chicago. Rosenwald used his power as the head of Sears Roebuck & Company in order to change the landscape of primary and secondary education for African-Americans in the South during the height of the Jim Crow era. As of yet, the film is unfinished—donations to complete the film can be made at www.rosenwaldschoolsfilm.org.
Kempner tends to find unlikely Jewish heroes and heroines; be it the baseball player who refused to play America’s favorite pastime on the holiest day of the year, or the brilliant and talented woman who wrote 12,000 scripts while managing to invent the modern day sitcom; a woman so accomplished in the entertainment industry in the 1940’s-1950’s yet so undermined in today’s historical account of Jewish headline-makers.
Kempner’s speech and film were both a treat to enjoy. The JWF as well as Ms. Kempner were strong on their message: the support of Jewish causes has never been more important – and we must not forget our past in order to better facilitate our future.
Ariel Feldman, GWU Hatchet Staff Writer
photo by Edith Gelfand
