Spotlight on CLAL
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Life And Death Of God In The 21st Century:
Acclaimed Films Explore our Notions of God, and of Religion and Violence
-- Free Screenings at the Aspen Institute
By Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs
Challenging our ideas about the sacred and religion’s place in the world today, two short documentaries will be screened in the Paepcke Auditorium at the Aspen Institute. The screenings will be free and open to the public. The first, Time for a New God, shown on August 3, presents religion as a “giant tool box,” at a time when nothing is simply what it appears. Filmed along the beaches, sites and sounds of New York’s Coney Island, and featuring Rabbi Irwin Kula, distinguished public television host and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, it offers fresh thinking about faith, spirituality and the sacredness of everyday life. At a time when we are “masters of our universe,” Time for a New God asks: What kind of God do we need?
The second, Freaks Like Me, will be shown on August 4. It was filmed at the 2004 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Barcelona, the pre-eminent interreligious forum in which over 8,000 participants representing a diversity of religious traditions gathered to explore how religion, often a cause of terrorism, can be a catalyst for building a better world. Featuring CLAL Vice President Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, a leader in interfaith dialogue and noted Parliament speaker, the film examines the tension between faith and violence and looks at how “the faithful” see themselves and other devouts. Through conversations with swamis, imams, priests, monks, yogis, and rabbis, Freaks Like Me asks us to look at the traditions we love, our fears of other religious communities, and our many understandings of violence, justice, faith, and doubt.
Doors will open at 10:00 am for screenings that will take place at 10:15 am on August 3rd and 4th. Following each of the screenings, Rabbi Kula and Rabbi Hirschfield will lead discussions about the issues generated by the films.
The Paepcke Auditorium is located at the Aspen Meadows Resort, “Home of the Aspen Institute.” The Paepcke Auditorium parking lot is located at the end of Third Street (take Main Street to Third Street and turn right).
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