These are the people of our community. They came here in the 1900’s. On July 21st Betty and Joe Sitt, G-d bless them, brought their film to these community members because many were unable to travel to New York to see it at Lincoln Center in October.
The appreciation and happiness that the seniors felt was visible and incredible. While they watched, there was a palpable electricity and excitement in the air. They sat in rapt attention and remained transfixed as they watched the poignant stories of their relatives and other Syrian Jews discussing their childhood experiences and those of their parents, grandparents, siblings, uncles and aunts.
It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop; the seniors were so very engrossed in the movie. At one point, a 104 year old woman yelled, “look, that’s me!” She was excited to see herself in such a monumental film.
Although the movie was about the older members of our community, Sarah Cohen thought it was wonderful for the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those in the film. “It was amazing,” she said. “To know where you’re going you have to know where you came from.” This film tells the kids exactly where they came from.
Molly Rishty agreed that the movie was great, saying it had made her cry and she couldn’t wait for the next one.
Janet and Al Levy both enjoyed it very much. They saw people who they knew in the film, “it was very interesting to hear what they had to say,” she said. It reminded him of his parents experiences when they came to America.
Esther Saka gushed, “I loved it. I felt like I was reliving the stories that my mother used to tell me. I could relate to it a lot. My cousins were in it.”
Everyone seemed to know someone in the movie. Irwin Lezmi enjoyed seeing his cousin Joe Bibi discussing Ahi Ezer. “I saw my grandparents on the list of people coming over,” he said with a poignant smile.
Marilyn Shamie loved it. “They talked about my grandmother,” she said excitedly. Esther and Bobby Saka said it was nice seeing Selim and Sarina Salem, the first caterers and their granddaughter Sarina Roffe, who was a narrator.
The showing was a huge success. A delicious lunch was served. Ohel Yaacob Synagogue generously allows its facilities to be used by the seniors. Everyone is looking forward to the sequel which will be out very soon.
