The film paints a portrait of a secular man who was drawn to Judaism and Jewish subjects and a businessman who lived an intensely intellectual life.
By HANNAH BROWNSALMAN SCHOCKEN(photo credit: KAN 11)
The new documentarySchocken: On the Edge of Consensus, a portrait of Salman Schocken, a fascinating and unique businessman, publisher and intellectual, will be shown on KAN 11 on November 18 at 9:15 p.m.Schocken may not be as well known as he ought to among younger Israelis, and even those who think they know quite a bit about him may be surprised by some of what they learn from this documentary, which was directed by Noemi Schory. The film paints a portrait of a secular man who was drawn to Judaism and Jewish subjects and a businessman who lived an intensely intellectual life.Jerusalemites may know him as the man who built the Schocken Library, a beautiful research library that was designed by Eric Mendelsohn but which has been eclipsed by another, more famous building on Balfour Street — the Prime Minister’s Residence. The library still houses his collection of 60,000 rare Jewish books, one of the most important Jewish libraries in the world.Schocken was an enormously successful Polish-born German businessman who created dozens of department stores, famous for their sleek design, that earned him a fortune until they were taken over by the Nazis. He also started the publishing company that bears his name in Germany, publishing books of Jewish interest in Hebrew and German. He befriended the writer S.Y. Agnon and gave him funds that allowed him to devote himself exclusively to writing. In addition to Agnon, the company published the works of Franz Kafka, Martin Buber and Franz Rosenzweig, among others. The company also published the writings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. The documentary is especially interesting as it details how he labored to make sure that books in Hebrew were as aesthetically pleasing as those in German.Moving to Israel after the Nazis took control, he bought the newspaper Haaretz, in which his family still owns a stake. He was able to smuggle his book collection to Israel and he opened a publishing company in the US. He spent his later years moving among the US, Israel and Switzerland. According to those interviewed in the film, he never really felt at home anywhere, but always took a great interest in the world around him.
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