What is a retired immigration lawyer doing in the northern Galilee, traipsing around trails and talking about Holocaust survivors? If it's Ethan Bensinger, he's researching for his blog, and promoting his new film.
Eytan (Ethan) Bensinger was born into a good Yekkishe (German Jewish) family in a small town in Israel. At the age of 6, he learned what it means to be an immigrant when his family moved to America. It wasn't easy. Perhaps that's why he grew up and became an immigration lawyer, though he says, "I always wanted to be a journalist."
After a satisfying 30-year career, Eytan retired, and developed new passions.
Bensinger was interviewed on the latest episode of Arutz Sheva - Israel National Radio's Life Lessons podcast. To download the show click here.
From those 30 stories, an idea developed to create a film. Bensinger called the film "Refuge: Stories of the Self Help Home."
The film serves as a witness to "... in depth stories about struggle, about separation of family, about loss, about rebirth in America," Bensinger explains. "Hearing it from others whose lives brought them to the four corners of the world, and who on coming to America were really able to make something of their lives, it was very heartwarming for me and very educational." Bensinger adds that the film contains historical documents, background information, plus the in depth interviews with six residents of the SelfHelp Home.
"We've been selected for a number of film festivals that are coming up, including the Louisville Film Festival, the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival. We're very, very proud."
Eytan's blog can be seen at www.sightseeinginisrael.com, and details of his film can be obtained at http://storiesofselfhelp-film.
Judy Simon, the host of Life Lessons, explores the lives of fascinating people from all walks of life and follows their stories of lessons learned along the way. The Life Lessons podcast airs every Thursday from 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Israel time on Israel National Radio. For mp3 archives click here.