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July 23, 2004/Av 5 5764, Vol. 56, No. 44
Ruach member hosts 'Fahrenheit' screening
JENNIFER GOLDBERG
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 Moviegoers relax at Coffee Plantation in Scottsdale after viewing a free showing of "Fahrenheit 9/11." From left, Steve Klemow, Judy Christensen, Chris Brown, Halina Reed and Clay Johnson. Photo by Jennifer Goldberg |
Steve Klemow, husband of Rabbi Ayla Grafstein of Ruach Hamidbar-Spirit of the Desert, purchased a theater's worth of tickets for the film so that anyone who wanted to could watch "Fahrenheit" and see what director Michael Moore had to say.
"I saw the movie a couple weeks ago and was very moved by it," Klemow says. "I wanted my friends to come and see it, and I extended an invitation out."
Approximately 150 people took Klemow up on his offer.
The spirited crowd alternately laughed and gasped during the film, which covers a wide range of political topics including the business history of the Bush family, military recruitment, the Patriot Act and the Iraqi war.
At one point, a disagreement between two members of the audience escalated to shouting and chair-kicking. Theater security diffused the situation.
After the film, a portion of the audience attended a post-film discussion at Coffee Plantation.
Randy Hurwitz, who attended the film, says he heard about the showing because he is friends with Klemow and Grafstein. He says, "I think (the film) gets people to think and hopefully open up discussion. Some of it was very eye-opening. I think some of it is somewhat slanted."
Hurwitz's son Jeff Hill, a former Marine, says he didn't like some of the ways "Fahrenheit" portrayed the military, but "it opened up my eyes, and I've got questions that I want to research."
College student and Ruach Hamidbar member Halina Reed says that seeing the film is "a really great way to get people to start being more conscious about their voting."
Although Klemow was pleased with the turnout, he says "I feel that if 10 people came or 200 came, I wanted friends to come and see the movie. It wasn't a matter of numbers ... It was the fact that this movie is a movie that should be seen and judged."