"The Faces of Israel: A Discussion of Marriage, State and Religion"

Went to Temple Concord to see this movie tonight, made by Amy Beth Oppenheimer, who came for the evening.  But instead of the traditional Q&A after the film, she has developed a presentation that involves watching a few segments of the movie and then she leads a discussion.  It was very interesting, and she was very articulate, and I learned a lot.  But at the end, I felt quite dissatisfied.  Partly because I actually wanted to see the movie.  Also, I ended up feeling like she wasn't very respectful of the audience.  She told us that she's given this presentation about 100 times, so she knows exactly how the audience will respond at each point.  She doesn't show us hardly any of the movie, but she makes a point of telling us that even secular Jews in Israel don't think Reform Jews are authentic Jews.  Why even tell us that?  It made me really upset.  Not only because its offensive for any Jew to tell another Jew they don't count.  But especially because the Jews in Israel seem happy to take Reform Jewish money, and let us plants trees for them, and repair their torahs, etc.  As if this wasn't enough, she also insisting on making a point about the need for the Chief Rabbinate, even after audience members noted that the Chief Rabbinate doesn't think we count as Jews, and also pointed out that they don't respect women's right to worship.  I'm glad I went, and I bought the movie to be supportive and so that I can watch in its entirety, but I felt like it could have been a lot better and a lot more satisfying evening.