A 90-minute film, A Life Apart: Hasidism in America, is the first in-depth documentary about a distinctive, traditional Eastern European religious community. In an historic migration after World War II, Hasidism found it most vital center in America. Both challenging and embracing American values, Hasidim seek those things which many Americans find most precious: family, community, and a close relationship to God. Integrating critical and analytical scholarship with a portrait of the daily life, beliefs, and history of contemporary Hasidic Jews in New York City, the film focuses on the conflicts, burdens, and rewards of the Hasidic way of life.  

Illuminating...lucid...revealing...surprisingly tender.  - Janet Maslin, New York Times

Light refreshments will be served.  

B'nai Havurah member Dick Reinish, a retired lawyer, moved to Denver from Chicago in 2011 with his wife Barbara. He became interested in Olli, Osher Institute of Lifelong Learning, when Barbara was Director of Northwestern University’s Olli program.