Do you remember eating mouth-watering pastries for breakfast, enjoying an overly full lunch and dinner, partaking in a slew of sports and hearing headline entertainers, all in one day? That’s a typical list of activities for resorts in the Catskills, where in recent bygone days, multigenerational Jewish families vacationed during secular and Jewish holidays alike.
One of the major league Borscht Belt hotels was Kutsher’s, featured in the documentary film, Welcome to Kutsher’s: The Last Catskills Resort, to be screened at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 at Temple Sinai of Roslyn (snow date Jan. 16).
Winner of the Best Documentary Audience Award at the 2012 Miami Jewish Film Festival, this film is sure to delight you as you laugh along with Freddie Roman, watch Wilt Chamberlain both play ball and work as a bellhop, and wonder in amazement as Andy Kaufman wrestles a female Kutcher’s guest.
Generous quantities of food, varied activities for all age groups, stellar entertainment and sports were part of the Catskills experience, as this film reveals. Directors Caroline Laskow and Ian Rosenberg portray a witty parting glance at this last of the Jewish family-owned resorts in upstate New York.
Through interviews with the Kutsher’s family members, the film demonstrates how the hotel was both an institution and a family business.
A post-film, group discussion about attendees’ fond memories of Catskills resorts visits will round out the evening, and as characteristic of the good old days in the Catskill, there will be plenty of refreshments!. Temple Sinai’s Adult Education Committee is sponsoring the evening.
Don’t miss this entertaining program. Suggested contribution: $5 Members; $10 Non-members. All are welcome.
Temple Sinai of Roslyn is located at 425 Roslyn Rd. For more information, contact Ethel Liebeskind at 516-621-6800 or visit the website at www.mysinai.org.
–Temple Sinai Roslyn
