Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) will kick off with a multi-day, free “drop-in” screening of the film Spiritual Audacity: The Abraham Heschel Story, a new documentary by the widely acclaimed filmmaker Martin Doblmeier released for just in time for Jewish American Heritage Month.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel was one of the most remarkable and inspiring figures of the American 20th Century. He was a mentor to Martin Luther King, Jr and the entire Civil Rights Movement, a leading critic of the Vietnam War, a champion for Soviet Jews and a pioneer in the work of interfaith dialogue.

The film combines archival photographs and rarely seen footage, as well as interviews with Civil Rights leaders Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Young, Pulitzer-prize winning historian Taylor Branch, public theologian Cornel West, Jewish Theological Seminary Chancellor Arnold Eisen, daughter Susannah Heschel and others. Also featured is artist Marc Chagall’s depiction of the Hebrew prophets, and Ilya’s Schor’s paintings and woodcuts of Hasidic life.

*This event is run by the National Museum of American Jewish History