Wise Aging is offering the opportunity to see Never in my Wildest Dreams, a film that features the life and work of long-time Temple Micah member, Evelyn (“Evi”) Torton Beck, who is a child Holocaust survivor, and a frequent presenter at Lunch & Learn.
This film follows her on return visits to Vienna, Austria, where she was born, and from here she and her family were able to flee just in time. It is also where she was bestowed an honorary doctorate for lifetime achievement for work against antisemitism and homophobia, as well as all other “isms” that divide us. The themes of the film are deeply relevant today: the terror of living under a fascist regime determined to be rid of you and your “people”, the powerful impact of forced immigration, loss, and displacement even into old age; the role of language, activism and creativity; the healing power of art and its ability to create community.
The film includes clips from her visit to the Austrian Museum of History, engagements with activists at a climate change protest (Grannies against the Right), visual artists and musicians, as well as her Honorary Doctorate ceremony. It also offers beautifully crafted footage of Evi’s offerings of Sacred Circle Dance.
In the film, she talks openly about her personal life as well as her intellectual history. Never in My Wildest Dreams is fluid in form and often funny, even as it opens difficult subjects. The film is 60 minutes long and has English subtitles.
Evi will introduce the film and stay for a Q&A following the screening. Light snacks will be provided.
This event is open to all ages, and membership at Temple Micah is not required to attend. To join us, please register in advance.
Evelyn (“Evi”) Torton Beck, is a child survivor of the Holocaust, a scholar, teacher, activist, and Professor Emerita from the University of Maryland- College Park. She holds Ph.D.s in both Comparative Literature (1972) and Clinical Psychology (2004). In 2021 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Vienna, Austria from The University for Music and Performing Arts for her life’s work in the creation of interdisciplinary Women’s and Gender Studies and her continuing fight against anti-Semitism, homophobia, agism, and all other “isms” that divide us.
Evi Beck is also a founder of Jewish Women’s Studies, Lesbian Studies, Psychology of Women, and Feminist Transformations of Knowledge. Her writings include ground-breaking works, such as Kafka and the Yiddish Theater: Its Impact on his Work (1972) and the by-now classic, Nice Jewish Girls: A Lesbian Anthology (1982/1987), the first book that dared to bring these two identities together. In 2026 she presented her comparative study of Franz Kafka and Frida Kahlo at the University of Oxford-England. She is also a writer of poetry and a painter.
Although she has retired from university teaching and clinical psychology, Evi continues to work with The Fielding Graduate University in projects such as “Creative Longevity and Wisdom” and “Somatics and Phenomenology”; she is an internationally known teacher and choreographer of Sacred Circle Dance and has published essays about her research in this dance practice, which is central to her spiritual life and which she offers regularly at Temple Micah. Learn more at evibeck.com.