This film is from the West Yorkshire Archive Service collection and was made by Jewish tailor and amateur filmmaker, Alec Baron. The film gives a brief history of the Jewish persecution and then strongly encourages and persuades the Jewish audience to teach their children the Jewish traditions and rituals.  Alec's family were Russian Jews who escaped the troubles and set up a tailoring business in Leeds. Alec developed a keen interest in film and theatre and set up the first film society...

This film is from the West Yorkshire Archive Service collection and was made by Jewish tailor and amateur filmmaker, Alec Baron. The film gives a brief history of the Jewish persecution and then strongly encourages and persuades the Jewish audience to teach their children the Jewish traditions and rituals.  Alec's family were Russian Jews who escaped the troubles and set up a tailoring business in Leeds. Alec developed a keen interest in film and theatre and set up the first film society outside of London. His films capture family life and social events as well as educational and promotional style films made to encourage people to keep the Jewish way of life. Title-The History of the Jews A hand opens a book and turns some of the pages. Each page gives a brief piece of information about the persecution of the Jews in Egypt, Spain, and Russia; there is a flame effect after each turn of the page. Title-And yet. Title-The Jewish Nation. Title-Goes On. There is a roomful of men wearing prayer shawls and kippahs on their heads and reading from prayer books. Title-From year to year The camera pans across the men and boys of all ages. Title-From generation to generation Three older men take two covered Torahs from the Ark. Title-From century to century Two of the men walk around with the Torah and one of the men is kissed on the sleeve by another man. Then they put the Torahs back into the Ark. Title-Handed down There is a lingering shot of the items being replaced. Title-From Father to son There is a shot of a boy, his father and a rabbi reading from the Torah. Then there is a close up of a pair of feet slowly walking up steps, and when the camera pulls back, it is what appears to be a very old rabbi walking up to his pulpit. Title-Our children must know There are shots of a man wrapping a prayer shawl around himself and kissing it. Title-The custom Close up shot of a hand tapping a piece of cloth off another piece of cloth. Title-The ceremony There is a close up shot of a man's face; he is praying and rocking back and forth. There is also a brief shot of a candle and of a man kissing the covered Torahs. Title-The ritual There is a sequence of brief shots of fingers touching an item and then kissing the fingers and of one of the rabbis holding the Torahs. Title-of the Jewish Faith After each intertitle there is a shot of the `old' rabbi preaching to the congregation. Title-Binding the race together. Title-Of later years Title-There has been a tendency Brief shot of a hand lighting two candles, a shot of some men walking up the steps of a stone building and a crowd gathered outside a theatre. Title-To forget There is a sequence of shots of a car and driver pulling up outside a synagogue. A man and woman get out and she checks her face in her compact; they walk into the building. Some men are outside talking and smoking and there is a shot of some of them looking at a paper and reading a Torah the wrong way around. There are also shots of a man wrapping a prayer shawl around his and kissing it. Title-Our great heritage Few shots of items from the temple, a man praying and some writing on the wall. Title-And the remedy A crowd of school boys run towards the camera and into a building.  Shots of the Rabbi again. Title-WE MUST TEACH OUR A teacher stands at the top of a class full of boys and girls and teaches them Hebrew letters. There is a cut to another class with older boys being taught the Hebrew alphabet and following that, a long sequence showing the boys wrapping the Tefillins around their arms and heads. One boy stands beside the teacher who helps him to put it on correctly. Another boy goes up to the teacher with his prayer shawl and reads from the Torah. There are more shots of the preaching Rabbi. Title-We must teach our children. Title-We must teach them the customs. Title-Teach them the faith. Title-CHILDREN Title-Teach them the ritual Title-Teach them the heritage Title-Talmud Torah. Title-Talmud Torah Title-Teaching Torah Title-Teaching the Law There are quick shots of several temples from different angles. Title-Talmud Torah Title-TALMUD TORAH Shots of young boys walking up the steps to the school Title-TALMUD Followed by huge crowd of children running towards it. Title-TORAH Title-TALMUD Title-TORAH More shots of the children. Title-TALMUD TORAH Title-The End