Minnesota JCC

10/24/2026

The films everyone’s talking about 🏆

Sat, Oct 24 · 8:00 PM | The Wedding Entertainer: Official Selection, Tribeca Film Festival. A fallen Hasidic wedding entertainer gets one last shot at redemption in this hilarious, heartfelt comedy, followed by a conversation with cast member Iris Bahr.

Tue, Oct 27 · 5:00 PM | Oxygen: “The best Israeli movie of 2025” (Haaretz). A tense, award-winning drama about a mother’s fracturing commitment to duty when she learns her soldier son wasn’t forced to stay at war.

Tue, Oct 27 · 7:30 PM | The Sea: Israel’s official submission to the 98th Academy Awards. A 12-year-old Palestinian boy sets out alone to see the Mediterranean for the first time in this award-winning, quietly suspenseful drama.

Thu, Oct 29 · 7:30 PM | Mama: The only Israeli film to screen at Cannes 2025. A quietly devastating drama about a live-in housekeeper who returns home after fifteen years to find a life that has moved on without her.

Fri, Oct 30 · 1:00 PM | Beyond the Duplex Planet: Official Selection, SXSW. A tender, gently irreverent portrait of David Greenberger, whose questions to residents of a senior living community became an influential zine about aging. Followed by an intergenerational conversation with community elders.

Fri, Oct 30 · 4:00 PM | The Baddest Speechwriter of All: Winner of the 2026 Sundance Short Film Grand Jury Prize. Screening as part of A Higher Calling, three remarkable documentary shorts about discovering a responsibility larger than yourself.

Streaming Oct 20 – Nov 30 FREE | The Zweiflers: Winner of Best Series at CANNESERIES 2024. A Jewish family’s decision to sell their beloved Frankfurt deli sets off three generations of secrets in this sharp, funny six-episode saga. Watch from home!

🎟️ See locations and get tickets at tcjfilmfest.org!

Presented in partnership with the Israel Center of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation, Rimon’s Jewish Arts Collective, the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, and the Minnesota Polish Medical Society.

10/20/2026

Time is running out! ⏰

Opening Night is TONIGHT, and the first week of the Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival is here. Get your tickets today:

🔷 Tue, Oct 20 · 7:00 PM | NOGA (Opening Night at the Fine Line (): An intimate, music-driven portrait of Israeli alt-pop artist Noga Erez navigating fame, war, and creative partnership at a personal and political crossroads. Midwest Premiere, followed by a post-film toast. Tickets for this event are sold through The Fine Line box office.

🔷 Wed, Oct 21 · 3:00 PM | Duets (Narrative Shorts Program): Six intimate short films about the relationships that shape us and the moments of longing, grief, humor, and unexpected connection that change us. All Minnesota Premieres.

🔷 Wed, Oct 21 · 5:30 PM | Frontier: A gripping historical thriller about a Spanish village that risks everything to help Jewish refugees escape Nazi-occupied France in 1943. Preceded by the short film The Suitcase. Midwest Premiere.

🔷 Wed, Oct 21 · 8:00 PM | Tell Me Everything (Narrative Centerpiece): Israel’s official submission to the 99th Academy Awards. A captivating, deeply moving coming-of-age story about a boy who discovers a painful secret about his father in 1980s Israel.

🔷 Thu, Oct 22 · 1:00 PM | We Met at Grossinger’s: A joyful, affectionate documentary portrait of the legendary Catskills resort that helped shape modern American Jewish comedy. Midwest Premiere.

🔷 Thu, Oct 22 · 3:00 PM FREE | Filmmakers Forum: Minnesota Made: Local filmmakers Margaret Katch, Gail Rosenblum, Mike Owens, Michael Greenberg, and Dale Bluestein share clips, works in progress, and candid insights into what they’re creating now. At the Minnesota JCC Capp Center, St. Paul. Reservations recommended!

Unless noted, these screenings are at Emagine Willow Creek ().

Don’t miss your chance 🎟️ All tickets at tcjfilmfest.org!

10/20/2026

This Thanksgiving, Give Thanks. Give Back. Give Blood. ❤️🩸

The day before Thanksgiving is the perfect time to make a difference! Before gathering around the table with family and friends, take an hour to give a gift that truly matters - the gift of life.

Join the Minnesota JCC and Memorial Blood Centers for our Community Blood Drive!

📅 Wednesday, November 25
⏰ 11 AM–4 PM
📍 Capp Center St. Paul

Your donation could help save lives and give someone else one more reason to be thankful this holiday season.

Appointments encouraged. Walk-ins welcome!

👉 Schedule your appointment: https://www.mbcherohub.club/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/77301

10/20/2026

What is conflict transformation? Join us for a FREE screening + community conversation with Rabbi Jess Minnen this Sunday October 25th, and we will explore that topic together.

Winner of a 2026 Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and an official selection at Hot Docs, DOC NYC, DC/DOX, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, and more, 'Scenes from the Divide' is a short, 30-minute documentary asking one big question:

How do we disagree better?

The film follows a Jewish family facing strife and division as the recent New York City mayoral election between Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa unfolds around them.

Following the screening, Rabbi Jess Minnen will lead a facilitated community conversation using a framework drawn from Pardes’s Mahloket Matters. Rather than a traditional audience Q&A or a single large-group discussion, participants will have opportunities to process the film in smaller conversations, reflect on their own responses, and hear perspectives that may differ from their own.

This event is free, but advance reservations are encouraged to guarantee seating.

🎬 Scenes from the Divide
🗓️ This Sunday, Oct 25 • 4:00 PM
📍 Minnesota JCC Capp Center
✨ FREE • Minnesota Premiere

🎟️ Reserve your seat at tcjff.eventive.org/Schedule/scenes-from-the-divide-6aa36c5a9d9fac6cbca76645

Minnesota JCC Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies

10/19/2026

New group starting soon! Mussar for Parents is a space for parents of young kids to slow down, connect with other parents, and explore what it means to raise a family with intention.
Enjoy a warm drink and nosh while you learn more about this opportunity to grow, learn, and connect with other parents. For parents of children 0–12.

🗓 Oct. 20
🕰 8:30-9:30 a.m.
📍 JCC Sabes Center

Learn more here: jfcsmn.org/event/mussar-for-parents/

10/19/2026

Meet A Mensch Monday!

Meet Sarah Speltz, a group fitness instructor who started as a substitute three years ago and now teaches three classes a week. She keeps showing up and looks forward to J workouts.

Sarah loves the people who navigate traffic and busy schedules to join her classes, then play along with her silly playlists and goofy choreography. On one hard day, she says, they may have healed her.

Last summer, Sarah chaperoned 20 French students in France through a historic heat wave. In her 20s, she quit her job, sold her Rochester house, and moved to Boston without knowing anyone. She stayed 13 years!

A high school English teacher, she wishes she could slow time to grade essays and be in two places at once. This year, she is cheering on her nieces, nephews, and seniors.

10/19/2026

THIS THURSDAY ‼️

A heartbroken writer moves in with his Jewish grandparents and finds more wisdom than he bargained for. 💛📚

Bookends is a warmhearted q***r rom-com about family, love, and starting over, and writer/star Noam Ash is joining us in person to talk all about it after the film!

🗓️ Thu, Oct 22 • 7:00 PM
📍 Emagine Willow Creek
🥂 Post-film cocktails & conversation
🎟️ Get tickets at tcjfilmfest.org


In Partnership with J-Pride

10/19/2026

🚨 Low ticket alert! 🚨

These screenings are filling up fast. 🎟️ Tickets at tcjfilmfest.org

Wed, Oct 21 · 5:30 PM | Frontier: A gripping historical thriller about a Spanish village that risks everything to help Jewish refugees escape Nazi-occupied France in 1943. Preceded by the short film The Suitcase. Midwest Premiere.

Thu, Oct 22 · 1:00 PM | We Met at Grossinger’s: A joyful, affectionate documentary portrait of the legendary Catskills resort that helped shape modern American Jewish comedy. Midwest Premiere.

Sun, Oct 25 · 1:30 PM | My Underground Mother: A daughter uncovers her late mother’s hidden history as a Holocaust-era forced-labor-camp survivor. Midwest Premiere. Filmmaker Marisa Fox joins us in person!

Fri, Oct 30 · 4:00 PM | A Higher Calling: Three remarkable documentary shorts, all answering one question: what happens when you discover a responsibility larger than yourself? All Minnesota Premieres, followed by a conversation with The ASSET co-producer Dr. Emily Rose, in person.

Sun, Nov 1 · 6:00 PM | Just an Illusion (Closing Night): A funny, bittersweet coming-of-age story of a boy growing up in an Algerian Jewish household in 1985 Paris. Midwest Premiere, followed by a Closing Night toast with cocktails and dessert.

These screenings are at Emagine Willow Creek.

Don’t miss your chance!

Emagine North

The 32nd annual Twin Cities Jewish Film Festival returns this October 20 - November 1, 2026. We can’t wait to gather again for 13 unforgettable days of stories and events that inspire, awaken, and connect us. The full festival lineup is here, and tickets are on sale now.

10/19/2026

The perfect Halloween night, if you ask us. ⤵️

🎬 Misery (Rob Reiner Tribute)
🗓️ Sat, Oct 31 (Halloween!) • 7:30 PM
📍 Emagine Willow Creek
🎟️ Tickets at tcjfilmfest.org | $12 GA/$8 Student

This Saturday, October 31st, spend the night with one of the most terrifying fans in movie history.

Kathy Bates gives her Academy Award-winning performance as Annie Wilkes, a devoted fan whose devotion turns dangerous, in Rob Reiner’s classic psychological thriller, 'Misery.'

Part of our Rob Reiner tribute series, we celebrate the legacy of a filmmaker who gave us some of the most beloved films of a generation. You may know him for his timeless rom-coms, but Misery showcases an entirely different side of the director.

"Reiner deftly balances the horrific with the humorous, drawing out an incredible, agonizing tension that keeps you glued to the screen." —The Washington Post (Rita Kempley), 1990

Get tickets: https://tcjff.eventive.org/Schedule/misery-a-rob-reiner-tribute-screening-6aa36ed162325e51d1e1e762

10/16/2026

As another busy week comes to a close, Shabbat reminds us to slow down, enjoy the little moments and appreciate the people who bring joy and meaning to our lives. 💙

Whether you're gathering around the table, spending time with loved ones or simply enjoying a quiet moment to yourself, we hope this Shabbat brings you peace, connection and a little extra sweetness.

From all of us at the Minnesota JCC, Shabbat Shalom!