- Mabul (The Flood): (Sunday, July 31, 6:30 pm at the Roda Theatre, Berkeley Rep) On a tumbledown collective farm on Israel's coast, the Rosko family struggles to keep up appearances while hiding their sins, small and large, from one another. Teacher Miri (Ronit Elkabetz) is having an affair; husband Gidi is surreptitiously unemployed; and late-blooming son Yoni pacifies class bullies by selling them completed homework assignments. When his autistic brother suddenly rejoins the household, tensions mount, secrets emerge and Yoni's bar mitzvah reading--about Noah and the flood--takes on deeper meanings in this exquisite drama nominated for six Israeli Academy Awards.
- Standing Silent: (Monday, August 1, 2:00 pm at the Roda Theatre, Berkeley Rep) Standing Silent profiles the heroic efforts of Phil Jacobs, a reporter for the Baltimore Jewish Times, as he relentlessly pursues sexual predators, including prominent rabbis and community leaders, in Baltimore's insular Orthodox Jewish community. However, rather than being celebrated for his efforts, Jacobs, an observant Jew, instead faces ostracism from a community more intent on shielding itself from external scrutiny than on protecting its young people from abuse.
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Rabbi Menachem Creditor
Congregation Netivot Shalom || Bay Area Masorti || ShefaNetwork
