FROM WARNING SIGNS TO LIFELINES
THE DNA OF COMPASSION—We know the value of Capt. Dan Willis’ book, Bulletproof Spirit: The First Responders’ Essential Resource for Protecting and Healing Mind and Heart. That’s because his book’s first edition already has helped communities and individuals from coast to coast—and Willis continues to crisscross the nation with talks and educational programs. This second edition expands on several important themes, including spiritual resources as well as new research on brain injuries.
The most refreshing message in Willis’ book—a message that mirrors other experts in this field—is that compassion is not the danger for first responders. In fact, as Willis puts it: Compassion is the very DNA of public service. Problems arise when trauma accumulates on a day-to-day basis and men and women lose their balance. These are complex problems addressed with clearly explained, pragmatic advice by a long-time veteran of public service. This is a valuable book for professionals, so please take a moment to read this timely cover story—and to share it with friends.
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Holidays & Festivals:
Yom Kippur, 5780
Starts Tuesday Evening
What holiday is this?
IT’S YOM KIPPUR IN ISRAEL, of course. Holidays & Festivals columnist Stephanie Fenton has the story about the holiest day in the Jewish year, which generally is a solemn occasion for Jewish families around the world. In Israel, however, many families have begun taking the opportunity of empty roadways to establish an annual kid-friendly festival of bikes. Our story also has a personal reflection from columnist Suzy Farbman.
SUKKOT IS COMING—Just after the Jewish high holidays each year comes the festival of booths, Sukkot. By mid-October, then, communities will see leafy shelters popping up in the back yards of some Jewish families.
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National Coming Out Day
A GOOD DEED YOU CAN DO—This year for the October 11 National Coming Out Day, do a good deed to promote diversity in your family and community. Order one of our six books about gender inclusion.
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Care to see all the holidays? It’s easy to find our annual calendar of global observances—just remember the address InterfaithHolidays.com
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SPEAKING OF RENEWAL …
IN LESS THAN A MINUTE! Our long-time readers know that “renewal” is one of our central themes at ReadTheSpirit magazine. Author and photographer Rodney Curtis took that concept quite literally to heart in this remarkable less-than-a-minute video.
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… AND SPEAKING OF INSPIRING IMAGES
FRONT EDGE PUBLISHING Production Manager Dmitri Barvinok explains the process of selecting and preparing photographs and other images for book publishing.
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Click this movie image to read Ed McNulty’s rave review about a new documentary tracing Fiddler from its Yiddish origins to mainstream stage and screen.
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Faith & Film
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 are:
- ALL ABOUT FIDDLER! This week, Ed McNulty adds three reviews celebrating the long life of Fiddler on the Roof. New for 2019 is Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles, a terrific new documentary that traces the tale all the way back to its roots in Yiddish theater. Then, Ed goes back in time to review the 1939 production of Tevya, which is closer to the original stories of Sholem Aleichem and the play produced for Yiddish-language theater in New York. Today, this Tevya is free to view on YouTube and Ed provides an easy link. Then, Ed moves to 1971 for a full review of the movie-musical version starring Topol. Today, Amazon Prime viewers can enjoy the 1971 musical free of charge.
LINDA RONSTADT: THE SOUND OF MY VOICE—Ed writes, “Those who have enjoyed Ken Burns exquisite PBS series Country Music will love Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman’s rousing tribute to a great singer.” (5 out of 5 stars)
- OFFICIAL SECRETS—This British political thriller is as absorbing as any pulp spy novel, Ed says. (4.5 stars)
- HONEYLAND—Make a point of looking for this remarkable documentary about women trying to survive in a bleak Macedonian village. (5 stars)
- DORA AND THE LOST CITY OF GOLD—It’s definitely over-the-top but families may enjoy the movie version of this spunky young hero. (4 stars)
- GOOD BOYS—It’s a tasteless waste of time, Ed says.
- LUCE—Ed writes, “Julius Onah’s drama offers a very different perspective from the usual social justice film on interracial relations in post-Obama America.” (4 stars)
- ONE CHILD NATION—Ed urges us to see this new documentary, giving it 5 out of 5 stars. The issue was so important and controversial within China that co-directors Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang risked arrest and imprisonment for surreptitiously filming many of their interviews.
DOWNTON ABBEY—Ed gives the long-awaited movie 5 stars and writes, “Julian Fellowes’ beloved characters are back, and thanks to the giant screen, bigger and bolder than ever. Judging by the enthusiastic audience at the advance screening I attended, the film should be a big hit.”
- THE GOLDFINCH—Ed writes, “While watching director John Crowley’s thriller, based on Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel of the same name, I thought of a jigsaw puzzle. One has to discover how to place each seemingly unrelated scene together like the jagged pieces of a puzzle.” (4 stars)
- THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON—Filmmakers created this film specifically for Zack Gottsagen, a Down Syndrome person aspiring to be an actor. Hitherto such persons have usually been peripheral to the main story, but in this film, Zak is the central character. This dramatic, suspenseful adventure story earns 4.5 stars.
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