Dear Readers,
Another holiday, another opportunity to express our thanks to you with an old Jewish YouTube video.
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Paul Gluck, professor at Temple University and former executive producer of Channel 13 Eyewitness News, offers some behind-the-scenes insight:
It was the first night of Hanukkah, 1979,and high atop Baltimore’s Television Hill, in the WJZ-TV studios, producers wanted to do a LIVE talkback with a Rabbi and his family to explain the significance and history of this ancient Hebrew celebration.
Rabbi Bradley Bleefeld of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation agreed to explain the story behind the traditional lighting of the menorah , accompanied by his wife and two sons, while the comely Talmudic tableau was to be captured ,LIVE, by EYEWITNESS NEWS camera person Carol Kummer and technician Carmine Lisciandrello.
In the studio, legendary, Baltimore Anchorman Jerry Turner was paired with the fast and funny newsman,Richard Sher, on this infamous night. Producer Nanette Wilson was in the control room, navigating through EYEWITNESS NEWS AT 6pm, which was Maryland’s most watched news program.
It was a relatively quite news day…until… Well … keep an eye on the little guy on the right side of the frame and enjoy!!!!
The first night of Chanukah in 1979 was Friday, Dec. 14. In the live interview, Rabbi Bleefeld made note of two special occurences that Chanukah: Baltimore Hebrew Congregation’s 150th anniversary and the Iran hostage crisis.
"We as a Jewish community share in a concern for the hostages being held in Iran," said Bleefeld that night. "They too are suffering under a contemporary form of religious tyranny."
Check out Paul’s Kinescope HD blog — an amazing repository of old TV clips — and follow him on Twitter.
Happy Chanukah 🙂
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