Collegiate Times

Squires Student Center’s Colonial Hall smelt of bagels, grits and cheese blintzes on Sunday as people enjoyed lively conversation before the viewing of “Live and Become,” an emotional film about a young Ethiopian’s escape to Israel during “Operation Moses” by pretending to be Jewish.

Following the film, Zion Enessz, a native Ethiopian who had helped with the making of the film, gave an account about his personal experience with “Operation Moses.”

This was just the first of four events that make up the Second Annual Jewish Film Festival put on this week by Hillel, a Jewish student organization on campus.

“The Jewish Film Festival is an opportunity to share Judaism of all kinds with both Jews and non-Jews alike,” said Talya Mazor, Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow for Hillel. “We aim to show a variety of films that presents the full spectrum of Jewish life.”

On Monday night, both “The Tribe” and “When do We Eat?” were shown in Colonial Hall at 7 p.m. with a Passover food-tasting afterwards.

“The Tribe” follows the history of the Barbie Doll and the history of the Jewish faith. “When Do We Eat?” is a comedy about a dysfunctional Jewish family sitting down for Passover Seder.

Tonight is the showing of “The Tollbooth,” also in Colonial Hall at 7 p.m. This film tells the story of a college student struggling with her Jewish identity as the grandchild of Holocaust survivors. Following the film there will be a cookie and punch reception.

The film festival ends on Thursday with the showing of the internationally-acclaimed Israeli film “Yossi and Jagger” in the Donaldson Brown Graduate Life Center. Hillel has teamed up with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Alliance to sponsor this film about the struggle for acceptance of two homosexual officers in the Israeli Army. There will be a dessert reception following this film.

“In general, each film was picked because of its application to the students of Virginia Tech,” said Hillel’s program chair Susan Furst. “There’s a lot to learn from and even more to enjoy about these films.”

Susan Kurtz, the adviser and director of Hillel, emphasizes that these films are not restricted to just Jewish students. “The whole reason (for a film festival) is to really explain and highlight Jewish culture and customs,” Kurtz said. “It’s not just for Jewish students, it’s for everybody.”

Hillel originally decided to put on a film festival because, in the past, their events educating people about Jewish culture had been mainly focused on the Holocaust, and they wanted to do something more positive, Kurtz said.

“I hope that (people) will not only enjoy themselves but learn from these movies and gain understanding and appreciation of the Jewish people,” Mazor said.