UMaine to receive Judaica collection

ORONO – What can we learn about Judaic life from TV’s Homer Simpson?

Plenty, says Laura Lindenfeld, a University of Maine instructor in film and media criticism.

Several episodes of “The Simpsons” that deal with Jewish family customs are included in an extensive collection of videotaped movies, television programs and documentaries being acquired by the University of Maine in June.

The extensive 200-title collection of videos on Jewish life, history, culture and humor is the result of a grant application Lindenfeld submitted last spring to the Charles Revson Foundation in New York.

The $12,500 acquisition is expected to strengthen Judaic studies on campus and provide a rich cultural resource for the public statewide.

The Jewish Heritage Video Collection will be housed at the university’s Fogler Library and used in existing interdisciplinary classes or special topic courses. It also will be available through Maine’s Info Net interlibrary network to organizations and individuals, from Kittery to Fort Kent, Lindenfeld said.

The Revson Foundation and the Jewish Media Fund usually donate two collections a year to universities or Jewish-education organizations. Most states have a collection at major universities or Jewish centers, but as many as 15 states have none. The collection requires a $2,500 match from the institutions selected to receive the films. The match in this case came from the Minsky Judaic Studies Fund, supported by the families of Norman and Renee Minsky and Leonard Minsky of Bangor.

The collection of films – some humorous, some serious and some tragic – includes titles like “Annie Hall,” “Shalom Sesame,” “A Rug Rats’ Passover,” “Europa, Europa,” “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Yentl” and “Exodus,” plus television programs that involve some aspect of Judaism. They range from work by journalist Bill Moyers, Mel Brooks and Woody Allen to Jack Benny, Sid Caesar and Jerry Seinfeld reruns.