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Aviva Kempner, a graduate of Detroit's Cass Tech High School and the University Michigan, recalls in her younger years hearing about Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg skipping a game in the heat of the pennant race in 1934 because it was Yom Kippur, a day of atonement and the holiest of Jewish holidays.
Instead, Greenberg showed up on Sept. 18, 1934, to the Detroit synagogue, Shaarey Zedek, and entered to applause and a standing ovation. That moment became folklore not only in Detroit, but in Jewish communities nationwide.
Kempner, who eventually moved to Washington, D.C., and became a filmmaker, went on to produce an award-winning documentary in 1998 titled "The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg." Some of the interviewees include the late Sen. Carl Levin, the late actor Walter Matthau, retired Michigan Congressman Sander Levin and Arn Tellem, a sports agent who is now vice chairman of the Detroit Pistons.
Now, 90 years later Kempner is commemorating that moment at the synagogue with a digital remastering of the film that is being rereleased in theaters around the country, starting Friday in Metro Detroit at the Emagine Royal Oak. Kempner will introduce the film there and participate in a Q&A next Saturday at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and Sunday at noon. It's s also the 25th anniversary of the film.
In addition to the release, Kempner will appear this Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a discussion about Greenberg at Shaarey Zedek, which is now in Southfield at 27375 Belle Road. There's a $10 cover.
Filmmaker Aviva Kempner
Revenue from the rerelease, Kempner said, will help pay for the music played in the film from such artists as Benny Goodman and the Andrew Sisters. She says it took her 13 years to raise the funds to initially make the film in the first place.
"I'm so proud of the film because it's about Detroit," said Kempner who went to D.C. to attend law school 50 years ago and never moved back. "You can take the girl out of Detroit but you can't take the Detroit out of the girl."
Kempner, who originally set out to become lawyer, turned to fillmmaking instead.
"I want to thank the D.C. bar for flunking me," she says.
She said Greenberg, a New York native, made his stance in Detroit on Yom Kippur by not playing "at the height of domestic antisemitism. Hank wanted to honor his parents."
"He was my father's idol," Kempner said, explaining that on the way to synagogue on the high holidays her father "would always tell the story about what Hank did" by skipping the game on Yom Kippur.
Greenberg played 12 of his 13 major league seasons for Detroit, starting in 1930. He took a hiatus to join the U.S. Army in 1941 during World War II and served 47 months before returning to baseball in 1945.
Greenberg, who was known as "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus" and "the Hebrew Hammer," was a four-time All-Star and was named the American League Most Valuable Player in 1935 and 1940. He had a batting average of over .300 in eight seasons, and won two World Series championships with the Tigers in 1935 and 1945. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1956 and died in 1986 at age 75.
As the film shows he was subjected to antisemitic taunts from fans during games.
"It was not only the fans but the opposing teams, and the Yankees were the worst," Kempner said."It was poltically incorrect times back then."
