News Release
March 2004

Moravian College to host film and panel discussion on Inquisition of 1492

A story of two Jewish sisters who flee Spain in hopes of safety and religious freedom

(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) – In partnership with the Allentown Jewish Community Center, Moravian College will host the film “Secret Passage” as part of the 2004 Jewish and Israeli Film Series, on Sunday, March 21 at 1:30 p.m. in Prosser Auditorium, located in Haupert Union Building.

This 2001 film will be followed by a panel discussion with Rabbi Seth Frisch, Jewish Chaplain, Moravian College; Naomi Gal, Comenius professor of language and Literature, Moravian College, Sandra Bardsley, assistant professor of history, Moravian College, and Rev. Otto Dreydoppel, assistant professor of church history, Moravian Theological Seminary.

The film tells the story of two Jewish sisters, Isabel and Clara, who flee Spain for Holland after the Inquisition of 1492. When Clara’s husband is killed helping other Jews escape the Inquisition, the sisters flee again, to Venice. There, Isabel negotiates their final escape with the Turks, who agree to give the family safe passage to Turkey if Isabel uncovers and hands over the secrets of Venetian glass-making. To this end, she and Clara infiltrate Venetian Society, but Isabel’s plans go awry when the romantic and headstrong Clara falls in love with a mercenary Venetian nobleman.

For ticket information, call the Jewish Community Center at 610-435-3571. Tickets are $9 for adults, $7 for Jewish Community Center members, $5 for students, and free for students from Moravian, Muhlenberg, Lehigh, Lafayette, and Cedar Crest (LVAIC). A complete listing of the Jewish and Israeli Film Series 2004 is on the web at: http://www.allentownjcc.org.

The Office of the President, the Office of Institutional Diversity, and the Chaplain’s Office of Moravian College are co-sponsoring this program.