‘Why is this night different from all other nights?’
Our Jewish Authors Inspire Us to Celebrate Freedom, Diversity and Compassion
WHEN PASSOVER begins Saturday evening, March 27, millions of Jewish families around the world will host seders, lengthy dinners with traditional symbolic foods, readings, songs and lots of conversation. The seder combines both a detailed remembrance of God leading the people out of slavery in Egypt—and a pointed challenge to those around the table to relate that ancient story to the needs of the world today. Many seder hosts spend weeks preparing for these meals, both the menu and the kinds of questions that will spark discussion among the guests.
Here at Front Edge Publishing, we are proud to showcase the many Jewish authors we publish. Whatever your faith may be, this is an excellent time to order one of these inspiring books to lift your spirits—and your social awareness this spring. Please, read our Cover Story this week that highlights these books as we approach Passover. Then, please, share this story with friends.
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Please, join us on Tuesday, March 23
AS THIS WEEK’s issue of ReadTheSpirit magazine launches, there’s still time to sign up for the free, live launch event for our important new book, Now What? A Guide to the Gifts and Challenges of Aging. Please, visit www.NowWhatBookLaunch.com and register to attend the free March 23 launch event where you’ll meet some of our co-authors in a 45-minute session of news and inspiration.
NOTE: If you are reading this news item after March 23, we plan to place video of the launch event on our Front Edge Publishing YouTube channel.
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Good News from Our Authors
Suzy Farbman: Just a little love story
IN HER GOD-SIGNS COLUMN THIS WEEK, Suzy Farbman writes about a couple who found each other late in life, in part, because of the cancer-care activism of “Doc” Werlin.
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Larry Buxton: ‘File This One Under Gratitude‘
IN HIS LEADING-WITH-SPIRIT VIDEO THIS WEEK, Larry Buxton makes a turn from his usual leadership themes—to remind us all of how much we have to be thankful for in our world today. You’ll be surprised where Larry takes us in this short video. And please, we always hope you will share these stories with friends—and this little story is a gem..
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Ken Whitt: Guess Who Else Steps Out?
LIKE LARRY BUXTON, above, Ken Whitt (author of God Is Just Love) stepped outside his comfort zone this week for a video in which he’s standing in—well, he’s standing in his compost pile. Meet Ken in a new way through this short video and encourage him to create more of these videos. Ken’s family has a whole host of fascinating family-friendly skills from baking bread in an outdoor oven—to making precious topsoil for the garden. It’s all part of the long list of ideas for families that is part of his new book.
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Holidays & Festivals
Passover
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WANT TO SEE ALL THE UPCOMING HOLIDAYS & FESTIVALS?—It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances. Just visit InterfaithHolidays.com
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RECOMMENDING A MOVIE AND A BOOK, this week. Ed McNulty admits, “I am late to the Parton Party,” but he’s making up for lost time. Clicking on this photo takes you to his review of the documentary Unlikely Angel on Netflix. Scroll down to the links below to read his review of a book about Dolly that you may enjoy reading.
Faith & Film
Click this cover image from the March 2021 issue of Visual Parables Journal to learn about this new issue.
ED McNULTY, for decades, has published reviews, magazine articles and books exploring connections between faith and film. Most of his work is freely published. Ed supports his work by selling the Visual Parables Journal, a monthly magazine packed with discussion guides to films. This resource is used coast-to-coast by individuals who love the movies and by educators, clergy and small-group leaders.
Among Ed’s free reviews and columns:
- DOLLY PARTON: HERE I AM—Ed writes, “You don’t have to be a Dolly Parton fan to appreciate Francis Whately’s heart-felt documentary about the singer/song writer. The music alone should make it enjoyable, and the comments of a stage full of friends and admirers will add to your knowledge of the singer.” Related to this documentary film, which is streaming on Netflix right now, Ed also recommends a book about Dolly Parton. Here is his review of Unlikely Angel by Lydia Hamesseley.
- A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION—Ed writes, “The New York Times has been offering a series of short films they call Op-Docs that are very informative and inspiring. The offering for March 6, 2021, features Oscar contender (composer for The United States vs. Billie Holiday) Kris Bowers speaking with his 91-year-old grandfather Horace about the family’s past and the composer’s own musical career.”
- THE DIG—“Director Simon Stone and writer Moira Buffini’s adaptation of John Preston’s fact-based novel deals with classism as well as archaeological excavation, friendship, and romance. Beautifully photographed, it could serve well as family entertainment in that one of the characters is a winsome boy eager to explore the world and who finds a substitute father in the main male character.”
MANGROVE—”Americans have Aaron Sorkin’s social justice film The Trial of the Chicago 7 and now our British cousins have Steve McQueen’s masterful Mangrove, the true story of The Mangrove Nine. Just as Selma led to the passage of major voting legislation by exposing the depth and violence of racism, so the trial of West African-Brits brought about similar exposure and passage of anti-racist legislation in the UK.” The film is streaming now for free on Amazon Prime in the Small Axe series of films.- VIA AMAZON: SEE THE ENTIRE ‘SMALL AXE’ SERIES—Ed also reviews and recommends other films in Steve McQueen’s series of films, which are clustered under the series title Small Axe on Amazon Prime. After Mangrove, Ed’s other Small Axe reviews are Lovers Rock, Red, White and Blue, Alex Wheatle and Education.
- COME BEFORE WINTER—”There have been numerous films about the martyred German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but Kevin Ekvall’s 2017 docudrama gives us an unusual take on him by pairing his story with that of a British team commissioned to broadcast anti-Hitler views and false stories to deceive the enemy.” The film also is streaming on Amazon.
- BOOGIE—”Director/writer Eddie Huang comes up with a new twist for a basketball film—a Chinese-American player. Alfred ‘Boogie’ Chin (Taylor Takahashi) is the player living in Queens, New York.”
BOBBY JO: UNDER THE INFLUENCE—This is a thrilling documentary, well produced by Brent L. Jones, his wife Donna, and a skilled team of local cinematographers. It’s about the real-life hero Bobby Jo Reed, who moved from homeless to helper of hundreds.- BLACK EARTH RISING—”NetflixWriter/director Hugo Blick’s suspenseful eight-part political thriller is set in the aftermath of the horrible Rwandan genocide of the 90s.“
- DARA OF JASENOVAC—”Every year another filmmaker reveals new aspects of the Holocaust. Peter (Predrag) Antonijević’s Oscar-nominated film reveals that a vast number of Serbs also perished with other victims of Nazi hatred. This is the first film set in the Croatian extermination camp Jasenovac.”
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