(tense music) - These are the stories that move us, the stories that guide us, and the stories that reflect our community, filmed in our neighborhoods and local haunts by those who call the city home.

Atlanta Filmmakers are documenting stories that show the life of our city in a way that we could only imagine.

These are the stories that we tell.

This is "Atlanta on Film."

Welcome back to "Atlanta on Film."

I'm Holly Firfer and today we're gonna get a real review on life in comedy.

But first, let's bear witness to the strength of the Atlanta Jewish community.

Now, although it's been a few years since the COVID-19 pandemic, it's something that we will never forget for generations to come.

When shelter in place rules were established in every city across the country, The Jewish community found themselves splintered.

And for a culture that is very much about being together, they found themselves isolated and distanced.

So let's take a look at how the community supported each other in this film, "Atlanta: the City Too Busy to Wait."

(projector rattling) (film beeping) (gentle music) - Kids are loving Hanukkah.

- Yeah?

You get 'em any good gifts?

- [Adam] I mean, they seem to like 'em.

(both chuckling) (doorbell rings) - Happy Hanukah.

- Happy Hanukkah.

- [Adam] Good to see you.

- [Gabby] Are you ready for candles and latkes?

- We're ready.

- Yes, very ready.

- [Gabby] And a campfire.

- Mm, most important.

- And a campfire.

- How about hot chocolate?

- I can do that, too.

- We haven't been able to see each other that much since this started, but it's the last day of Hanukkah and we get to be here together, and it's pretty strange that this is where we're at right now.

You know, that this has been quite a crazy year.

(gentle music) - Let's see if I can make this look kingly.

Okay, I am good to go.

(bright piano music) ♪ We said the pandemic is ending by yontif ♪ ♪ You'll be back at shul ♪ ♪ We lied ♪ ♪ It seems it's not ending ♪ ♪ And we're all just looking like fools ♪ ♪ Don't be sad ♪ ♪ Remember we made an arrangement when you went away ♪ ♪ Now don't make me mad ♪ ♪ Remember, despite our estrangement, there's a plan ♪ ♪ You'll be back ♪ ♪ You will see ♪ ♪ You'll remember you belong by me ♪ ♪ You'll be back ♪ ♪ Time will tell ♪ ♪ You'll remember that we served you well ♪ ♪ Oceans rise, budgets fall ♪ ♪ We have seen each other through it all ♪ ♪ And when push comes to shove ♪ ♪ I will send a dozen bagels over to remind you of my love ♪ ♪ Da da da da di ♪ ♪ Da da da di da da da da di da di ♪ ♪ You'll be back ♪ (gentle music) - I remember it clearly.

It's March 13th.

One day we were working from our offices, we were planning for a summer that was not too far away, we were still closing out a campaign, all of our organizations were doing what they normally do.

Overnight that all changed - In the past two weeks, the number of cases of COVID-19 outside China has increased 13 fold.

We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be characterized as a pandemic.

- We sat around thinking like, okay, you know, this will be a couple months.

We'll shelter in place, we'll flatten the curve, and we'll all come summertime or the fall, we'll be back to life as usual.

- In terms of when we first learned about COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, was really in mid to late January when we knew that there was a problem in China.

Soon thereafter, it became a problem in the U.S.

Initially, no one, including our CDC, thought it was likely to be a serious problem in the U.S., but we were proven wrong.

- It was a super contagious virus, and when you saw these gigantic hospital complexes being built in Wuhan, that was probably the first time I thought to myself, this is going to spread, and it's likely to spread in communities in the United States and all over the world.

- There are now at least 100 cases of coronavirus in 14 states around the U.S. - Much of our daily lives have been put on hold.

This morning all Americans now trying to navigate what we're kind of calling a new normal.

- It was around that time when we were all trying to figure out, you know, Passover Seder.

It was the first real moment of, you know, Jews are so used to being together and creating a community for themselves, and just the thought of us being isolated gives you every reason in the world to just say, you know what, Passover's just not in the books this year.

(gentle music) (text whooshing) (gentle music continues) - It's a big week ahead.

It's the week of Pesach, and let's get into the spirit.

(family singing in foreign language) - We wanna wish our Jewish viewers a happy Passover.

The celebration of religious freedom begins at sundown and is followed by a traditional dinner known as Seder.

But this year's Passover may be different from others.

- Social distancing is forcing millions of Americans to find new ways to connect.

- Passover was the first, yeah.

We often ask at this moment every year, "Why is this night different from all other nights?"

And I think this year we can add, "Why is this Passover different from all other Passovers?"

- People were making tables at home, but getting on Zoom calls with loved ones from around the country.

- We taught people how can you do Passover so that you're actually connecting with your family?

And people learn to do it.

They set beautiful tables, and their relatives, you know, on the West Coast set a beautiful table, and they learned to connect and we figured out how to use the technology and we've done that with every step.

- All right, well good afternoon, everyone.

I'm delighted to welcome all of you to the first ever Atlanta Unity Seder.

Sorry, the first ever Atlanta Virtual Unity Seder, and it's gonna be different than years past.

One of the things that was incredible about the virtual Atlanta Unity Seder is that people showed up.

And it was in April, right?

It was probably a month into the pandemic, and it was one of the first virtual events.

It was one of the first unifying events in our community.

It was one of the first ways that we were able to, you know, come together as a diverse community.

- They say that, like, technology has advanced by 10 years because of the coronavirus and the fact that people are using video telecommunication way more frequently than before the pandemic.

And there's a lotta parallels between that and the birth of the telephone industry during the Spanish flu pandemic.

We see a huge rise in that technology because people could still communicate and have that interaction, that human interaction that you're lacking during isolation, during quarantine.

- All of us are at home now, hopefully, following instructions alone, or I should say separate but not alone because we're all together, and with the amazing advances in modern technology, we're actually all together.

- There's an intimacy that is developed that we never expected with this move to computers.

Computers have been the least intimate in the past, and now they are a place where we all get to join together in our own sacred holy spaces to create one large community online.

- We join together now the Mincha service with the Ashrei page 120.

- None of us learned how to do this in rabbinical school.

We did not learn how to be a rabbi for TV or how to adapt rituals when people couldn't be together.

Shabbat Shalom, everybody.

How wonderful and beautiful it is that we can be together on this beautiful Shabbat eve.

- Different congregations found ways to Zoom Shabbat, and yet the Orthodox community goes into an additional isolation, being cut off from community and everybody.

They are at home alone, praying alone.

And that's where those rabbis said, "This will be the last moment people can see others in the community, and if they can't come be with us on Saturday, we're gonna bring Shabbat to them."

(equipment clicking) - We come around on Eruv Shabbat just a few hours before Shabbat begins, and people who are not going to be using technology in our community, they're not only going into a physical isolation, they're going into a digital isolation.

And when they go into that digital isolation, at least they know that even though they're more cut off now, they had this big burst of connection right before Shabbat began.

'Cause I know it does it for me, but then again I get to ride around for three hours and see it all happen.

But even just those few moments, I know it makes all the world of difference.

- Shabbat Shalom.

- Good Shabbos.

(rabbi speaking in foreign language) - Good Shabbos.

Good Shabbos.

- [Rabbi] Good Shabbos, Yakob Heller.

- So we're following the rabbis.

We're on like the parade of rabbis, the caravan.

We are following them as they bring joy and welcome Shabbat to the people who belong to their congregation who are unable to be with their rabbis on Shabbat.

- It is said that the Jews don't keep the Sabbath.

The Sabbath keeps the Jews.

So the rabbi coming out here and doing what he's doing is helping to keep us united like we are.

You know, I mean here we are all dancin' out in the street.

So it's a wonderful thing.

Yeah, - If we can't beat together, bring the celebrating in.

We appreciate our rabbis coming to us, that's for sure.

- Of course it helps.

You wanna see the people you're close to, you know.

It's like instead of Zoom, this is, you know.

- It's a little bit better.

Thank you so much.

- It's live.

- Good Shabbos.

- Good Shabbos.

- The Jewish community has become more creative than I've ever seen.

Every denomination, every group are thinking of ways of connecting that have never been done before.

- We could not stop for a pandemic.

Life does not stop for a pandemic.

And that means funerals.

That means brisses.

That means weddings, bar mitzvahs.

We saw it all.

- We are here to celebrate Haley's bat mitzvah.

(Haley singing in foreign language) (foot stomps) - [Group] Mazel tov!

- Rituals are crucial to maintaining our Jewish identity and who we are really as a Jewish people.

And that I think is really impressive when you go back and look at those milestone events.

- Rituals for the Jewish people have been essentially the same since biblical time.

We use each of these rituals in our life to mark major milestones, whether it's from the very beginning when you're dealing with a brit milah, or you know, for a girl, a baby naming, you know, at the first Torah reading after her birth.

And everything in life is enriched with Jewish tradition.

- These traditions were instituted for the purpose of preserving certain dimensions of our relationship with God and ensuring that Jewish life is personalized and real and integrated.

(gentle music) - To family and to friends who have gathered from near and from far both here in our sanctuary at the temple and so many who are joining us today via Zoom, we feel it is as if you are here with us to remember a truly beautiful and precious soul.

I would say that lifecycle events in general have been in many ways the most emotionally challenging.

(somber music) - When this started, I think beginning towards the end of March and through maybe the first week in April, we were handling roughly three COVID a week on average.

And then thankfully it slowed down and it was once every two weeks, give or take.

And then very sadly, we've had one a day.

- Funerals have been been very difficult because family members can't be there.

So, you know, and when the funeral's COVID related, there's almost nobody there.

You know, in one case it was just me and a camera and nobody else.

- I think it makes it much more difficult for the family.

And I know there are individuals who have passed away from COVID where family members couldn't even visit them while they're in maybe a hospital or facility, which is really tough, right?

So there's that, and then dealing with the fact that they've had the loss, and then now dealing with, well, who can attend the funeral?

And it has to be only a few.

And then there's almost no shiva, at least in person.

- There was one sad situation, one member of our shul where the husband was over at Berman Commons every day, just taking care of his wife and she contracted COVID and passed away.

And it was so weird 'cause we're doing this funeral with, you know, a dozen family members.

Eddie Dressler has the smartphone up there on a tripod so it could be broadcast on Facebook Live.

And you know, as the husband is filling in the earth of the grave, I mean he's crying and you know, normally what would I do?

I'd go over and hug him, I'd give him a hug, give him some support, and because of the pandemic, stay away, you have to stay away.

That is really the horrible thing.

- I've officiated at a couple of funerals, one in particular of an elderly couple who both passed away from COVID within seconds of one another and had a joint funeral, which was heartbreaking and difficult, and also so many people were able to be a part of the celebration of their lives that wouldn't have been able to be there otherwise because of Zoom.

- There's people who have lost loved ones either because of COVID or for other reasons, and again going back to that adaptability, we had Zoom funerals, Zoom shivas, even signups for people to do minyan on people's driveways for shiva.

You know, and that is really the support, I thought, of people coming, being able to include people from outside of the local community that brings people together, too.

(somber music) (bright music) ♪ Mask maker, mask maker, make me a mask ♪ ♪ Any design, please sew it fast ♪ ♪ Mask maker, mask maker, it's the new look ♪ ♪ If only that's all it took ♪ - In the beginning there was a lot of mixed messages about masks.

I think when it became clear that you could still spread this virus even if you didn't have any symptoms, masks became a must.

(gentle music) (sewing machine clacking) - My favorite thing about making masks is giving them to people and seeing people like walk around the neighborhood with my mask on, with the mask that I made on, and keeping people safe.

I'm Isabella and I am 12 years old from Johns Creek, Georgia.

I just wanted to make a mask for myself because I didn't have one, and so that just kinda turned into selling masks, 'cause I had so much fabric from that kit.

- So once Isabella started making masks, she came up with this idea of having a popup and putting out her masks for the neighborhood.

People would just come by and buy five or six masks.

She got a lot of repeat customers.

It's become the modern day lemonade stand, right?

You can't sell food right now.

You can sell masks or things that are needed in the area.

- [Isabella] We have these masks.

What type of mask are you looking for?

- I actually kinda like this one.

- You do?

It has butterflies on the back.

So, how you wear it is you wear one side a day, and then you wear the other side a day, and then you wash it, so you don't have to wash it every single day.

I have learned a little bit about myself.

I've learned that I really like to be outside and that I actually really enjoy doing mitzvahs and it's just made me be more, like, selfless.

Thank you for doing business.

(group giggles) - In Jewish tradition, (speaking in foreign language), saving a life is the highest value.

So this idea about, you know, wearing a mask and following the safety protocols, it's not a question, it's an obligation.

- We're teaching her values that they're gonna carry with them throughout their life, which is, you know, part of who being Jewish is.

She was going to make masks to continue to donate them, but also she decided that she wanted to start selling them.

She came up with how much she wanted to donate and where she wanted to donate.

And that was, I mean that was her.

She picked, you know, the JFCS Kosher Food Pantry and then North Fulton Community Charities 'cause she wanted a Jewish organization and a local organization.

And so she just, and that's what she's been doing with it.

- I'm very proud of myself for being in the Jewish community and really just helping and donating to the food banks.

It makes me really happy.

(gentle music) (somber music) - The Jewish community was hit hard.

It was hit really hard and people were losing jobs, people couldn't afford rent, mortgages, food on the table.

This pandemic hit everybody in ways that we didn't expect and we really had to step up and find ways to help each other out.

- As Federation did, which we've always done, we said to our critical organizations in this community, you focus on what you do.

Take care of our elderly, provide mental health services, provide food security.

And we said, "We'll take care of the fundraising.

We'll communicate the need to our donors.

We'll raise the money and we'll meet this need."

Well that's exactly what we did, and we're continuing to do that now.

- Federation launched that big campaign, you know, within a few days I think it was of COVID, and they were raising millions of dollars they weren't planning to raise necessarily to support the community.

- We were lucky enough to be the recipient of some funds from the Federation.

They allocated some money for us to assist the Jewish community for their needs during COVID.

- The Jewish community supported me because they have helped us out with no interest loans being stretched out, which was very helpful, and also taken care of other utility bills.

They make sure we don't go hungry.

They just look after us, which is wonderful.

- This was the first time in my life where I've actually seen it, you know, firsthand about just how much you can rely upon your fellow Jew in a situation of need.

- On March 13th when we all shut down, that moment we became a different agency.

Every single service area upended.

So for example, our food pantry, which had been this very small food pantry that was mostly serving our individual clients, has now, gosh, I don't know fivefold.

Last year we gave out 17,000 pounds of food.

This year we're gonna give out 250,000 pounds of food.

The need came outta nowhere.

- When I see families and the people that are willing to help each other, it is quite beautiful.

It's also wonderful to see how much resilience we as staff people and as an organization have to adjust sometimes by the seat of our pants, but you know, just be flexible enough to figure out what the need is and address it.

- I've always felt that Atlanta has a special Jewish community.

We work well together, we know each other.

The professional leaders are, you know, stay in touch with each other just because it's important and we recognize that importance.

What COVID helped to do was sort of strengthen those bonds, to be able to say how can we help each other?

You saw that through the Federation's COVID campaign.

You saw that through the way programs evolved.

- One of the things I'm most proud of is how quickly our JCC adapted to a new virtual reality.

And you know, when it became clear in late February, early March that we were gonna have to close our facility, the staff was challenged to come up with ways to engage the tens of thousands of people that we always do except in a significantly different way.

And whether that's through book festival, or whether that's through summer camp, or truthfully whether it's through preschool with the teachers still engaging with their kids online.

The JCC really rose to the challenge and continued to impact tens of thousands of people even in the middle of a pandemic.

- The reason that I've made Atlanta home and the reason that I do this work is because we care about each other, because we have an incredible network of people who are willing to do anything to help anyone in this family that we as a community can help.

- The Holocaust survivors are a group of people we serve that I've been the most concerned about because I understand how triggering this pandemic has been.

Here they are being told that they must stay in their homes, they can't go out, they can't see their families, they can't be connected to people, and it's very upsetting.

And so, we have an amazing staff, those who serve the Holocaust community, and they figured out ways to be able to break through that sense of pain, fear, and anguish and reach out and touch those people.

And one of those ways was to do these pop-up concerts.

- We're having a pop-up concert.

Unfortunately due to COVID we have not been able to gather together for six months now.

So if we can't gather together as a community, then let's bring the music to our survivors and the music will always go on and the show will always go on.

♪ I see trees of green ♪ ♪ Red roses, too ♪ ♪ I see them bloom ♪ ♪ For me and you ♪ ♪ And I think to myself ♪ - They have musicians go to the driveways where those people live and they play music and it just brings them out.

They come out onto their patios, onto their front stoop and you can just see their faces light up with joy.

- It's soothing, it's uplifting, it energizes the spirit.

It brings back moments of nostalgia and moments of great joy and it just expresses how a person feels, and it's a very wonderful healing tool.

- I think that this current situation, despite all the hardship, has provided also a beautiful opportunity to see that value of (speaking in foreign language), the responsibility for one another.

- That's Jewish resiliency, right?

That's being able to adapt, being able to create, being able to come together as a community because we are a peoplehood that's based on community.

- I am so happy that you're doing what you're doing, and next time you hopefully will be able to come into my house and bring some sunshine from the outside in and have that egg salad.

(laughs) Maybe more.

(chuckles) So consider it an open invitation.

♪ Oh yeah ♪ - It's interesting the fact that, like, we're sitting around a fire right now and, you know, it makes me think about all the things that didn't get to take place.

- The coronavirus pandemic has forced many camps around the country to cancel their summer 2020 season.

- [Newscaster] An alarming new CDC report about a massive camp outbreak in Georgia is raising concerns.

- [Reporter] And 82% of overnight camps are closed.

- I think about the summers I spent at Camp Barney and you know, I think of a kid being a kid and being at the lake and all the activities and campouts and everything, and we actually went up to camp, and to think in the middle of June when the place should be filled with kids laughing and playing, it was empty.

It was completely empty and it was weird.

(birds chirping) - Today's June 27th.

For the last 58 years on this typical day, June 27th, Camp Barney has been filled with a community of campers and staff having this amazing, culturally Jewish experiential time of their life.

It's all anyone's known over these 58 years, including that first year when people would call themselves charter members of Camp Barney because they were the very first people to be a part of this amazing place.

Every single summer.

- When we pulled kids outta school in March, when we went into pause mode in this country, there were about 5,000 people who had been infected and fewer than a hundred who had died.

Over the summer, obviously the numbers were much larger.

So you had these two competing forces.

It was summer, people could be outside, that was good, that would make it less likely for the virus to spread.

On the other hand, it was still clear that the virus was spreading, more and more people were becoming infected, and gatherings of people in large sort of camps or things like that were likely going to be a source of real risk, to the kids, to the counselors, to everybody involved.

- The decision to close Camp Barney this summer was honestly one of the toughest decisions we had to make throughout this entire process.

Barney has impacted so many people in such a profound way, myself included, having spent 12 years there, both of my kids are there, but you have to juggle what's the right thing to do for the community.

And in the end, ultimately we held off as long as we possibly could, but the stars did not align and it was just not the right thing to do.

And so ultimately that led to the decision not to run Camp Barney this summer.

- Not having campers, not having fees, not having revenue to support our operation is as difficult for Camp Barney as it is for every other business, and has resulted sadly in layoffs, furloughs, in figuring out how to do what we do in a very, very different way.

I know it was the right decision for Camp Barney.

I know in my heart, despite the disappointment, that I feel, that hundreds and thousands of people actually feel everywhere.

I'm certain it was what was best.

- Now those are sleepaway camps.

There's also day camps that were looked at differently that had to do things totally different this year, too.

- Come on!

- Oh!

(children chattering) - [Child] Jailbreak!

- Once we realized that MJCCA day camps was not going to be able to launch as we typically do every summer with 800 kids and tons of different camp offerings, we knew we had to pivot because our community had such a need.

We have working families, kids need to get outside, they need to socialize.

So we pivoted to Summer Days @ the J, and it has been seven weeks of fun and adventures and the kids have been having an incredible time, and it's just, I feel like we have literally given the community exactly what they were looking for.

- Honestly, one of the most important things to us was helping the community get back to their somewhat regular life, whether that meant going back to work or being able to work from home and having some break and having their kids have that social outlet.

It's really critical that we're able to provide that right now.

- That first day of camp, it literally brings tears to my eyes.

I mean the kids are dancing, the staff is dancing, we're singing, everybody stayed in their groups, but they were able to make really incredible friendships and it was just such a special time.

And I'll remember that first day for the rest of my life, and I think that these kids will, too.

- You know, we also saw innovation within the city camps.

They basically revamped their entire program with CDC guidelines and professionals and experts coming in and just to see kids outside and having a good time in the middle of a pandemic was, you know, it shouldn't be a weird thing to see, but it was weird.

- All right guys, it is a hot one today, so please, let's make sure we are drinking lots and lots of water and visiting our misting tents today.

Thank you, guys.

- Can I use this?

- Yeah.

- [Camp Worker] For the helicopter.

- [Camp Worker] All right, guys, let's put those helicopter arms.

Remember, if you're touching someone when your arms are spinning, you're too close.

Good job.

- In the City Camps was founded because when I did research about the marketplace and day camps versus overnight camps, I learned that only 10% of the marketplace goes to overnight camp, but overnight camp is one of the main places that people form a strong Jewish identity.

And so I had a hypothesis of, like, is it possible to recreate the overnight camp magic in a day camp setting?

So, we started the camp in 2012 and we've gone from 65 unique Jewish campers to over 800 Jewish campers in three locations in nine summers.

I have a really bad immune system, a compromised immune system, and so my doctor called me in February and told me never to leave my house again, that if I was to show up at the hospital, there was nothing they could do.

So that was like (gasps) so scary.

So I was at home for a couple weeks before the chaos started and I had time to really research and think and think we can't have in-person camp 'cause it's too dangerous, so we closed down in-person camp, and then I did more research and realized, no, not only can we do camp, we must do camp 'cause the community really needs us.

And the community needed a safe space for their children to start the reentry process of what their new reality is gonna look like, and because we have always been a place that has taken care of families and children first, I was confident and felt like we could do that.

- All right.

- Let's go to dance/drama just to check in.

- Stars.

- So step one, color the paper black, correct?

- We will paint, not color.

- Okay.

And then?

- We take these sponges and we dip 'em in the colors and dot 'em around both sides.

- When we first started camp, Eileen was consulting with two CDC consultants who gave us a very strict set of guidelines that really formatted and, like, how we made camp.

So we asked that all counselors wear a mask at all times.

And while it's hard for campers to wear a mask all the time because it's really hot and we don't wanna restrict their breathing, we ask that they wear their mask only when they're going inside to use the restroom, or inside if we have to implement our rain plan.

- And these CDC consultants basically told us we are at our lowest risk of running camp because we are outside.

If we were inside, it would be a totally different story.

Like, everybody would be wearing masks at all times, but since we're outside and we're working with little kids, they said this is the lowest risk that we can possibly offer.

And it's lowered by our staff wearing masks at all times.

- We decided we could only do it well at one location and so therefore we picked the Weber School because it has so much square footage internally and externally.

And so, we really felt like we could keep everybody safe.

And then we message to our families that, like, we've always been there for you, you can trust us, and we're on this journey with you, but it's really critical to allow your child to leave their house so that they can resume a normal childhood.

(upbeat rock music) - Miss Shayna, step right up.

Miss Shayna!

(upbeat rock music) - Working with these people here has been like holy work.

Like, I remind my staff all the time, like, what you're doing is a very important holy thing even though you're working in a hundred degrees and it might not feel like it, it's really critical work right now.

- What it showed was a sense of normalcy, that giving kids the sense of being able to forget for a second that they were living through a pandemic and just those few hours of getting to be a kid, that was something this community worked really hard to provide.

(upbeat rock music continues) Something that was so gripping to watch was the protest back in May.

The Black Lives Matter movement was something that brought everybody to attention.

(ominous music) - [Reporter] Demonstrations over the death of George Floyd spread across six continents over the weekend.

Chants of "Black Lives Matter" echoed from thousands of protestors in cities around the world.

- [Reporter] Crowds of protestors in Downtown Atlanta continue to grow.

(protestors and police officers chattering) - As you can see here behind me, a very tense situation.

National Guard troops are here, tear gas has just been deployed.

I can feel it.

Now all of us here can.

- I am taking the very unusual and extreme step of instituting a curfew in our city this evening.

(somber music) - It was a challenging summer, right?

Given the racial tensions and the racial issues that we as a community have to face square on.

And to be doing that in the middle of a pandemic, indeed, it was a very difficult and challenging time.

- I think there was a number of reasons why the Jewish community was so active in the social justice protests of the summertime.

I think in part we had been cooped up.

The notion of being out in public, you know, weather's nice, it's an important issue.

You know, I think that's number one.

Number two, and I think more importantly, look, we have always as a Jewish community felt that anytime another community is threatened, the Jewish community will ultimately be threatened.

And especially in Atlanta, because of the relationship between our Black and Jewish communities, we feel a special affinity for the challenges that the Black community face.

So in that moment, it felt like our responsibility to support the Black community.

- Our tenet is "Justice, justice you shall pursue."

We knew that to be silent would make us complicit.

We just felt it was our duty as Jews of color to stand in solidarity with other communities, to stand in solidarity with African Americans, and go out there and protest, use our feet for our voice.

- As a member of the clergy in Atlanta, I had an obligation to be involved in civil rights.

Standing on the shoulders of giants like the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, having a pulpit in this community comes with a certain obligation.

So, certainly in Atlanta, what I can state is the outpouring of support was grand.

Anytime that I managed to make it to one of the protests, I knew that there were plenty of other Jews who were participating as well.

- We saw this community come out and support the Black community, you know?

Our organizations are thinking differently.

Our Jews of color are a part of the conversations a lot more.

- There has always been a connection and support with the African American community and the Jewish community in Atlanta, and over the summer we saw it again.

And it's always there, but we had an opportunity to see it.

And I think so much of it, from a historical context, understanding oppression, understanding the generational impacts of oppression and systemic racism and all of the things that are part of the Jewish and African American history.

- And when there are times of crises, that's when you get that social unrest.

And it was the same case during the civil rights movement when you had all these injustices happening to the Black community, and the Jewish community has a long history of supporting the Black community starting with Jewish businesses.

Particularly in Atlanta, some of the earliest Jewish businesses integrated their workforce.

And this is talking about even before the civil rights movement, in 1930s, 1940s.

Prior Tire, Lovable Brassiere Company, the first integrated dental practice was owned by the Goldstein family.

They actually opened the first integrated hotels in Atlanta, too, long before the civil rights movement.

Treated Black patients from all over the South, all over the region, including Dr. King's children as well.

- When Martin Luther King won the Nobel Prize, one of the first people to step up to co-chair dinner was Rabbi Rothschild.

- [Jeremy] Rabbi Jacob Rothschild here in Atlanta led the charge in terms of the Jewish community's response to the civil rights movement.

- The city helps to foster this notion of the city too busy to hate, right?

And we embrace it.

And whether it's through the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, or it's through the King Center, or it's through the work of the Black/Jewish Coalition, or the work of our Jewish community, we've always felt a special responsibility to being involved in advocacy issues in Atlanta, but also those that impact the greater United States.

It's why we're so proud of our Georgians.

It's why it's so important to us that John Lewis, you know, be recognized for his advocacy and for his leadership.

- For almost 25 years ago, I participated in a march here for jobs and freedom.

Hundreds and thousand members of the Jewish community marched with us then.

I think it's fitting for me to be here with you today.

- In a year when we lost a true hero of ours in John Lewis, a voice that was there for so many decades, in many ways, we just picked up the ball and kept it rolling.

And that felt good to watch, see, and see that our community was a part of that.

(gentle music) - (speaking in foreign language) This past year has taught us that there are times when the world is not just sick with us, but we are sick with the world.

- As this pandemic wore on and months and months continue, we figured out Passover, Shabbat, Havdalahs, Lag BaOmer, but the idea of not being in a sanctuary, in shul, in a temple for high holidays, that is like missing the Super Bowl in many ways for Jews.

And that is something that I think people were just like, okay, okay, as long as we're back by then.

But we weren't.

(somber music) - How unbelievably unusual this is to be conducting high holidays like this.

- But here we are experiencing the most unusual high holidays in modern history.

- Right now it's just you, wherever you are, and me inside this box.

- These months of coronavirus have been for many of us a retreat into the womb of home, of shelter, of isolation.

- And what I hear is emotional exhaustion and a deep sense of despair.

- Fear assails us.

We tremble and we shake at the problems that are facing us.

- And in response to the questions, "When will it end?"

we have no answers.

- This darkness, this concealment is where new possibilities might be born.

- The pandemic has taken away our ability to sit side by side, but it has not removed our ability to connect soul to soul.

- So let's take a deep breath.

(rabbi inhales and exhales) - Breathe.

- Let go the last fragments of the year 5780, maybe say, "Good riddance."

- So may this new year, 5781, help us to find our way back to each other and back to God.

- May the new year bring new life, new energy, new blessing for all of us, for all of mankind.

- This 5781 we remember when all else vanished, our Judaism and our community endured - May this year with all of its blessings begin.

- Amen.

- We sat and watched high holiday services on our back deck outside, you know, listening to the sermons, listening and standing and sitting and praying in our home, which we had never done before.

- Yom Kippur, scene one, take two, lots of time.

(clapperboard snaps) - We made the difficult decision to hold our services virtually, thereby keeping the community all together as one.

Our prime considerations were wanting to be able to provide everyone equal access to the liturgy and the experience of the holy days.

We didn't wanna divide our congregation into some who are in person and some who are virtual.

We also wanted to make sure that we could keep our community safe, and that we could provide the opportunities for those to connect with their tradition with each other and with God.

- I couldn't imagine after 50 years as a rabbi, I couldn't imagine what the holidays would be like.

But I have to tell you the experience, because I took part in some of the services, was unbelievable.

And when I saw the numbers of people that actually were tuned in, in the thousands, I thought to myself, this isn't so bad.

Maybe we can learn a lot from this and adjust to a new way of communicating.

- I think the Jewish community was extremely insightful in recognizing that in order to flatten the curve and slow the progression of this infection, that having virtual services was critical.

- Thanks to the creativity of our team, our high holidays didn't just stop with the main services and our family service.

We were even able to turn Temple Sinai into an in-person experience where people were able to stay in their cars and drive through the Temple Sinai parking lot, interacting with five different stations.

One station where they would be handed a bag of some goodies, another station where with dissolving paper they could write their sins on a piece of paper and toss that paper into a kiddie pool filled with water, thereby fulfilling the ritual of Tashlich.

As well, we had Rabbi Ron standing there in the center playing guitar and music as cars were driving by.

There were over a hundred cars that came through.

But each of those individuals were able to interact with us and wish us a happy new year, a good year ahead.

We were able to see each other and be seen by each other and that was pretty important.

- [Interviewer] Is this the strangest Rosh Hashanah you've ever experienced?

- I mean, there's never been a Rosh Hashanah like it before.

I mean, how could I, of course it's the strangest.

But it's like been really beautiful in a lotta ways, and really hard in a lot of ways.

- My role during that, by the way, was that I was tasked with sounding the shofar.

I was the last station.

Then they come here for this.

(shofar bellowing) So as cars would pull up, I'd stand further back with a shofar in hand would chat with people for a moment, and depending on the car.

Some of them, the people in the car would shout out the calls.

Sometimes they would just wanna talk and I would just sound the shofar.

But either way, it was so nice to be able to enable our congregants to fulfill the mitzvah of hearing shofar in person, and also to just be able to look in those cars and give a virtual hug and a big wave.

- You know, the creativity, I think, of all of the synagogues, the ideas, the generation, the learning of how to create a holy space that would typically be in the sanctuary in your home was something totally new for us.

(gentle music) - Put 'em in the pews was the brainchild of one of our congregants who thought, "Oh, you know how at all the sports games there's faces galore, at the Braves games, we could do that for high holidays."

We could actually get our congregants to submit their faces and their pictures and line the pews so that I as the rabbi didn't have to just look at a sea of blank empty chairs during services.

There was a moment on air of Rosh Hashanah where I looked over and just to see these faces smiling back at me, really encouraging, really loving and sincere, I actually felt something beautiful and profound and a connection.

- Jews have become very good at having to reinvent themselves when they have to.

So yes, I think this pandemic has shown the genius of Jewish resilience.

You know, we figure out a way to make it.

We're gonna have to do it different.

You know, Judaism continued to survive.

Even after the temple was destroyed, we created the synagogue.

We survived because of creativity, because of resilience.

And I think this pandemic has shown that part of ourselves once again.

Do I want this to be the new normal?

Absolutely not.

You know, you look at all these empty pews here and this is not what we're supposed to be.

We're supposed to be davening together, hearing each other's voices.

We will be back one day.

- And we probably filmed three or four different synagogues for their high holidays, and I just got to say, after editing all those videos, you know, I probably sat through 30 or 40 different Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah services.

(Gabby laughs) So, I'm pretty much exempt, I hope, for the next 30 or 40 years.

- [Adam] Yeah, you're good.

- You're good.

- You never have to go back to services again.

- No, I hope not.

But we also saw with, like, the Orthodox community, 'cause obviously they couldn't do the Zoom or do the streaming that they did signups, and they did basically social distance services at a very minimum capacity, what they're used to, and for that community, you know, it seemed to have worked very well.

- The core of Jewish life, the core of our relationship with God is defined on these holy days of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur.

And whether we had just a minyan, or a thousand people, it's critical that we preserve that core bond, that core connection in a traditional sense, in a way that takes place in the holy environment of a synagogue, of a sanctuary, reading the Torah, physically hearing the shofar, and so on.

That's the core of, I think the soul of why it wasn't a question that we were gonna hold services as long as it was safe.

You know, the traditional saying of our rabbis that (speaking in foreign language), that all Jews are guarantors, we're responsible for each other, this year for those that couldn't be at synagogue because of age or health factors or their choosing, we who were in synagogue carried that responsibility to accomplish what the high holidays accomplished for the rest of the Jewish people.

- It's incredible to think that of the 35-plus synagogues that we had in Atlanta across the denominational spectrum, if you needed or wanted to attend a service over the holidays, there was an opportunity for you.

I mean, our community really stands out in that sense by providing a myriad of ways, not just for the actual services, but the experience of the holidays.

And I think that's something that we have to remember and are fortunate to be able to remember, that we found ways to be inclusive, that our congregations found ways to be inclusive of what our community needs are.

(gentle music) - One of the primary messages of Hanukkah is the power of light over darkness.

We have been living this message for the past nine months as we have been innovating and finding creative ways to bring light to a sometimes dark and challenging world.

Tonight's Hanukkah celebration is just one example of this.

Who would've thought that Hanukkah could be celebrated with a drive-in Hanukkah theater?

- This started when we talked before Passover, you know.

And Passover in many ways is a story of a journey, and that really started this journey.

And here we are at Hanukkah, which in many ways symbolizes, you know, hope.

- The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization use for the Moderna vaccine last night.

(cameras clicking) (Netanyahu speaking in foreign language) - The vaccine was announced a couple days ago.

So, you know, that's a little bit of light.

And especially during Hanukkah, you know.

I don't know if that's symbolic or not, but it's pretty nice that, you know, on, I think it was the fourth or fifth day of Hanukkah, they announced that the FDA had approved the vaccines and they're being delivered now.

So, you know, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

- I think the vaccine is a really wondrous achievement.

I mean, people have referred to it as the moonshot of medicine, and some scientists have sort of bristled at that thinking that's overstating it, but if you think about it, I mean, to have two vaccines for this disease in under a year is a pretty remarkable thing.

I mean, it's taken 40 years and we still don't have a vaccine for HIV/AIDS, just to give some context here.

And I think that the vaccines will have a tremendous impact ultimately on really bringing down the trajectory of this disease.

- Well, I hope this pandemic is behind us and it stops.

I'm very hopeful that the creativity within the community is not gonna stop, and we're gonna continue to see the community stand up for each other and be there for each other.

And at the end of the day, we're all in this together.

And I think, you know, we've seen that more than anything within the Jewish community.

- If there's a theme song of the Jewish people for this, I think it's "Hine Ma Tov."

(rabbi singing in foreign language) How wonderful it is just for Jewish people to be together in each other's presence.

- We build community for times like this.

Like, if we didn't have a community now, imagine how, like, even more isolating this would feel.

- Some of the things that we're learning, that we're taking away from this experience is to value what's really important.

We just take for granted that we have these blessings, and being able to spend this much time with family and spending this much time with the children and realizing the relationships that are truly important.

- It allows for all of us to take a step back and appreciate what we have, appreciate our families, appreciate our larger communities, and reexamine our priorities.

- The Jewish people have a history of resiliency, It is a part of our culture, of our history, of how we founded the state of Israel.

So, like, we're resilient people.

And we also are people who want to support others in a time of need.

- People are collaborating differently, people are sharing ideas.

So yes, there are bright spots in this, and it just shows the resilience, the creativity, and the commitment of this incredible Atlanta Jewish community that we share.

- Atlanta is a resilient city, right?

You know, everybody said Atlanta, a city too busy to hate.

But what we found was really a city too busy to wait.

- "The city too busy to hate" is an important moniker and brand for the city.

Just as the seal for the city is that of a phoenix, right?

The mythical bird that rises from the ashes.

So, if you take those two concepts together, right, the phoenix and the term, "The city too busy to hate," what it shows is that we are resilient, right?

We can move beyond the tragedies that we have faced.

We can embrace our future and not have the past dictate who we are going forward.

- I think we're gonna look back at this time and be very proud of how we stood together as a community, as individuals.

We were there for each other.

We really brought change into our lives, into the world around us.

We actually made the world a better place.

- We feel that there are doors that are opened at every turn, even in the darkest moments.

There's a door that is opened and it's our strength, our courage, and what God has given us that allows us to walk through it.

We just have to have our eyes open.

(triumphant music) (gentle music) - I'm joined now by Gabrielle Spatt, one of the filmmakers of the film "Atlanta, the City Too Busy to Wait."

So first of all, tell us a little bit about the film.

- Sure, so, you know, the film was created at the start of COVID, and we felt that there was a story to tell.

How was the Jewish community responding to what was happening?

Trying to find creative ways to engage children, trying to find ways to keep people coming back for services and celebrate the holidays together and keep day camps and overnight camps going.

We just happened to tell the story of the community that we live in, which makes it special.

- Did you set out to make a positive film?

Because during COVID-19, so many people lost their lives.

Tragically everybody knows somebody or has a loved one who may not have made it through the pandemic.

This film didn't focus on that.

This film focused on the positive things that came from such a tragic situation in our history.

Did you know you were gonna do that all along?

Or as you were filming it, you saw the resilience, the connection, the community, the laughter, the joy, the creativity, and then you thought, "Huh, this is a different film."

- Yeah, so usually taking a film takes a lot of planning, right?

Putting a film together, raising monies.

We didn't have time for that.

We saw things happening.

We grabbed a camera and we were filming.

- So you didn't know what you were gonna get.

- We didn't know what we were gonna get.

And to your point, right, we saw afterwards what was happening.

(gentle music) We saw the community coming together, we saw the creative ideas, and we were able to tell that story.

Yes, there were negatives, right?

We touch on a few of those in the opening scene where we talk about, you know, the number of people, the lives that had been lost, and of course acknowledging, you know, that.

We interviewed Dressler Funeral Homes, right, the Jewish funeral home in town, and hearing his stories really brought that tough piece to the film of how do you have a funeral?

How do you celebrate somebody?

How do you honor somebody when you can't be together?

And so, while the majority of the film is celebratory, is exciting, you know, is a story of resilience and community and support, we definitely touched on a few of those tougher topics.

- And when you have two co-filmmakers, it's not just you driving the bus, it's not just two, you know, one of those people driving the bus, it's a collaborative effort, what are some of the challenges or the benefits of having three minds working on one film?

- Yeah, so I have to say, we've all been very good friends for a number of years.

We are all still very, very good friends.

- (chuckles) Good to know.

- You know, we celebrate holidays and simchas, and family stuff together, just like we did in the film.

And so, I think we all really respected each other and what we bring to the table, right, and our strengths.

We also have the ability to have candid, open, honest conversations and say, you know, "Yeah, I like that, but..." and to really give that true, authentic feedback to make the best project possible.

- Well, just like your film, your community, the three of you coming together and working together, produced a beautiful movie.

- Thank you.

- So thank you so much for being here, Gabrielle.

We appreciate you and your time today.

- Thank you.

(projector rattling) - Our next film features a familiar face to many in the Atlanta community.

Comedian Jerry Farber has been bringing laughter to so many for decades, but life hasn't been a barrel of laughs for Jerry himself as he has faced ups and downs during his long storied career.

Filmmaker Leanna Adams takes us backstage where we not only peek behind the curtain of his performances, but we get a glimpse of his real life as he gets raw, honest, and personal.

This is "Jerry-Atric."

(projector rattling) (film beeping) - And I walk off the stage and the emcee runs out to the microphone and goes, "Ladies and gentlemen, how about another hand for Jerry Farborough?"

(host and audience laugh) - Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, y'all give up for Mr. Jerry Farber!

Let's go!

(audience applauding) - You know him, you love him, you can't live without him.

Atlanta's sweetheart, Jerry Farber.

(audience cheers) - Thank you, to the Reagan state, everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you.

- There are certain people who, from an entertainment perspective, I would argue are Atlanta icons, and Jerry Farber is one of those people.

- You know, your act has been described as outrageous, lewd, crude, mostly unnatural.

- Anybody who thinks my show is lewd or obscene has never seen a real good comedy show.

- It's like being on a tight rope.

You never know what he's going to do.

- There are two things we've gotta eliminate.

We must stop prejudice and racism, number one.

Number two, we've got to stop the flow of South Americans coming into this country.

That's a joke, by the way.

He asked for just a shtick.

- A shtick.

- So I learned how to wrestle when I was about 15, I got a scholarship to North Carolina, and I lost one match.

And I'm proud of this.

One match in four years.

I was 155, 155 pounds.

Lost one match to a kid from Tennessee.

And she was good.

This girl, (audience laughs) she, the girl, look, she was like 6'5", 250.

She was a cheerleader.

(audience laughs) - My association with Jerry goes back about 32 years, which is fortunate 'cause that's about the average age of his jokes.

- He has done the same show, basically the same show, for as long as I've known him.

- Like, I only lost one match the first three years to a kid from Auburn.

And she was good.

This girl, (audience laughs) I'm not kidding, this girl.

- I've enjoyed his same jokes over and over and over.

- And she was tough.

She was, I think you had her on your show last week.

- She was big.

- She was about 6'5", 270.

- Jerry still does mainly, you know, a lot of adult humor.

That means all of his jokes are at least 21 years old.

- I've done this 50 years and I'm tired.

Look at me.

I'm 41 years old.

(audience laughs) Was lying on the sofa last night and my wife said, "You wanna go upstairs and make love?"

I said, "I can't do both.

I'm not kiddin'."

(audience laughs) You know what I mean?

You've been to my house.

I got eight steps.

(audience laughs) Those eight steps.

And I was like, look, 'cause you know we do it here, or go up and watch "Sound of Music" or somethin'.

♪ The hills are alive ♪ But I'm not.

I'm not that much (indistinct).

My people are Jews, their people before them were Jews.

I'm very proud of my heritage.

My people came to this country many generations ago from a place called Scarsdale, New York, and settled right here in America.

Being also Jewish in a little Southern town, that wasn't the easiest.

Just enough Jews to know there were other Jews besides you.

And I'm proud, I got beat up.

I am Jewish and I got beat up every day of my young life.

They called me a Jew.

A guy came and said, "There's a Jew."

And that was my rabbi.

My own rabbi called me a Jew.

(audience laughs) When a rabbi calls a Jew a Jew, it's time to tighten up.

You know what I mean?

(audience laughs) I knew when I was 12 that I wanted to perform.

I knew it.

I wasn't loud about it 'cause my parents couldn't stand the idea.

My family had parties.

I'd be in the bed, but I'd love that they were laughing.

It was optimistic.

So that was the beginning of me wanting to be in that room or evoke the laughter.

And then when I started to become a teenager with big ears and a big nose, very unattractive, never could date the pretty girls, I've worked harder at developing personality to have people laugh.

So laughter's important.

I think we all agree with that.

That's why we love babies when they smile.

Nothing like it.

I think it's as simple as a clean diaper.

Helps me.

I'm 76.

I love a clean diaper.

(chuckles) Okay, so I came to Atlanta, 1960, to sell women's sportswear.

But I always wanted to play the piano and tell jokes.

And I got so tired of waking up in places like Valdosta.

I hated to be in Valdosta and wake up and go up to say, "Mr. Schwartz, it's great to be back in Valdosta."

It was never that good to be in Valdosta.

I got a job playing the piano at the Clermont Hotel, playing in the Jungle Club.

I was playing the piano there.

I was the king of the piano players, strip clubs.

- So you went into comedy so you wouldn't have to lie anymore?

- Comedy came as a byproduct of playing music for 10 years and not playing anything that really had any, you know, I was playing other people's music.

I was doing copy songs and everything, and it was very boring.

(bright piano music) ♪ Oh gosh, oh no, oh, oh, oh yeah ♪ (indistinct) - [Audience] Woo!

- I have had two Jerry Farbers.

The second one was really outstanding, and we became the first no smoking club in America.

Really proud of it.

It's written up in the "Encyclopedia Britannica."

- How have most people reacted to it?

- Most people are terrific about it.

Some few call me names.

I mean, a litany of names, unbelievable names, because all I was trying to do was clean up the space.

Put me outta business in like a week.

- [Interviewer] So what are you workin' on?

- Well, we're gonna open a new club in town in the end of November.

I've told you about it, called Johnny and Jerry's Headliners.

We're creating a musical play.

It's gonna be like a theater for nightclub people.

- Jerry and I built a club, it was called Headliners in Buckhead.

And it was a very successful nine-month club.

(chuckles) That's it.

Nine months.

- Perform, I think laughter is truly God's greatest gift to humans because we can lose our money, so many have.

Matter of fact, Enron, I had 10,000 shares of Enron, but I'm lucky, I sold 'em, got into Global Crossing, which is really good.

(audience laughs) It's lookin' good now.

Back into Eastern Airlines.

I put it all into Eastern Airlines.

(audience laughs) Come and fly.

- I think Jerry owes everybody in Atlanta at least a hundred dollars.

- And this will be pretty easy.

How many of you here have not lent Jerry money?

(audience laughs) Watch Jerry.

Watch the hands.

(laughs) - You know, money's not been something he's ever managed very well.

So, gambling's part of that.

- It was really, really hard for Jerry.

He spent a lotta money.

It was awful.

- I gambled a lot.

Gambled on every sporting event known to man.

I paid a price for it.

I was an addicted gambler.

Quit 25 years ago, but lost a lot of money and learned a lot from it.

Is that I'm a loser.

- He doesn't hide the fact that he can't afford to do it.

He just, he just can't stop.

I mean, I call it the Diner Club because he picks up the check and then you gotta loan him money (chuckles) to pay it off, which is absurd.

- I think I had $10,000 on a game one time to get even.

I did, it was the '68 Super Bowl, which meant if I lost, I was gonna owe $22,000.

It was the New York Jets against Minnesota.

I had the Jets and won.

It was the worst thing that ever happened.

When you have some blood in the game, you pay a price for it and you learn.

But I was in a movie one night with a date and everybody in line, I owed them money.

And how startlingly ugly it was.

This is Jerry Farber, who was adored by many people and invited to all nice parties and that I was such a slug.

It was this sluggish, it was hard to deal with.

I just said, forget this.

This is not me.

- Well, he's learned how not to gamble, but he's not ever learned how to manage money.

- I lost friends, some you may meet, some you know, they stayed friends, but some disengaged spiritually, you could tell.

- After, you know, 20 years and after many loans, it's annoying that he can't get over it.

Is it because he wants to keep a public persona?

I don't understand the need to be, I mean, who picks up all the checks for all the people?

Who does that?

- I went to a Gambler's Anonymous once.

Friends said, "Well go, it'll help you not gamble anymore."

So I went there and the guy that runs it said, "I'll lay you eight to one that you don't come back again."

- Someone was laughing so hard about Jerry's jokes and came up to me and hugged me and said, "I cannot believe how you must laugh all the time being with Jerry."

And I said, "Really?

I know him as a person."

- There's no one who can fight dirtier than Jerry.

- [Disgruntled Audience Member] You ever fucking put your fucking finger in my face!

- Get the fuck- - You fuckin' touch me.

- Leanna, the funniest thing.

I wish you were filming Saturday.

I got into a fist fight, real, and I lost and I had to have surgery.

I broke my wrist when I got knocked down on the cement in front of the club.

For real, we had a highly irregular drunk.

And I had to kick him outta the club and he had spent a lotta money.

Had no idea we'd get to that.

But actually it was pretty much fun when it was happening.

It was really bad.

I had a scuffle with this human and I shouldn't have.

She had to be 95 years old.

And she said somethin' about politics and I didn't like it and I hit her, but the worst thing was she was in a wheelchair.

I'm an idiot.

- We got into a fight, right as Headliners was closing, actually.

He came to the house and was mean and yelling and I actually called the police.

And the Decatur Police came and made him leave the property.

So we didn't speak for, maybe five, six years.

Lookin' back now, it was really, really silly.

- But this is what's made the end part of my life really worth living again.

This little boy named Joshua (audience applauding) that my wife and I co-produced.

He's 21 months.

and Joshua is a wonderful name.

We wanted to pick a biblical name.

It's from the Old Testament, it's a Hebrew word, it means he who pees and poops often.

Constant, is constantly peeing and pooping.

(audience laughs) And it's the blessing of my life, is my child.

I don't know if he adds any years to my life, but he's given a lot more life to the years.

- Out of all of my 76-year-old dads, top 10.

- You know what they do?

They make you get outside of your selfish side.

All our little worries and tribulation.

Now there's another life here, and we wanna do better by them than we did for ourselves.

Want him to study hard, I want him to expand, I want him to reach out.

But I really love, I hug him.

I squeeze him till the stuff comes out of his nose.

I squeeze him 'cause I want him to know love.

These children, I think, need us to love them, nurture.

I think the world reflects a lot of young people don't feel loved, and therefore have nothing to lose by being crazy.

I was holding him last night, he's so adorable.

I was crying, thanking God, how blessed could I be at this late age to have this baby?

And I was crying and I went, God, I whispered in his ear, "I coulda had a Porsche."

(audience laughs) What have I done?

What have I done?

- Some of the things that torture Jerry, his temper and et cetera, just seemed to fade away with Josh.

And Josh is able to deal with him.

He, you know, understands his father's weaknesses and his strengths and manages to play to them.

- He said, "Dad, I wanna know what you were like as a young man, how you were with girls."

And I said, "Josh, this is the deal.

Your mom was a girl at one time.

She was a teenager and then a young woman.

And the women that you will be with, they're not just something to use any more than you are."

It's taken me a long time to learn we're not things to be used for fun.

You know, we're flesh and blood.

Just like you, you have feelings.

Sex without love is empty.

But as this gentleman told me, (audience laughs) as an empty experience goes... (audience laughs) You know what I mean.

I mean, it's better than a root canal.

(audience laughs) Isn't it?

What's better?

I mean, if the good Lord comes to Earth and she says, "Jerry, you gotta have empty sex or a root canal..." (audience laughs) Done some nice things, you know, partly driven to try to balance karma.

And then it became beyond doing it for that reason to get even, but to just give.

- Ever since I've known Jerry, he has done charity work.

That is his mainstay.

- I didn't have air conditioning in that house.

It broke a long time ago, in my home?

It was cool enough for me, but my kid complained one night.

He was maybe eight years old, so I took him to the shelter.

I said, "I want you to see something."

He never complained about anything again, nothing.

Everybody I take there gets involved.

It's hard not to, or turn you back on it.

You know what I mean?

Even if you just go look at somebody and shake hands, they love that.

They just like to feel that they're still a part of we humans.

- But his devotion to this place and to us and to what we do is unmatched by anyone.

So, he's a gift to us as he is to so many people he helps.

- When I hear myself too serious, I get real nervous, so I'll tell a joke.

That's what we do, you know?

'Cause I think jokes are more useful in the worst of times.

It's easy to laugh when we're young, healthy, happy, and making money, and you can write a check for a thousand.

But to get somebody that's dying, and they know they're dying, they're leaving their world, their family, and they still can, you get them away from that for a moment, that makes all this worthwhile.

(dramatic piano music) (Jerry vocalizing) Ow!

- Jerry Farber actually got me my start at standup comedy.

- Jerry was the first person that let me get on stage at his show.

- I was getting back from Afghanistan with the military and I was freakin' out and I didn't really have any friends in Atlanta, and I have felt so welcome here.

He's really helped me sort of transition what started as a hobby into a career.

- He's been an incredible guide, an amazing mentor.

He's taken me on road with him.

I just can't thank him enough for all that he's done.

- Jerry and I do shows all over the country.

We make a nice living.

- I'm leaving to do three more shows at a comedy club in Greenville, South Carolina.

- Everyone has anxiety right before you do a show.

Jerry will take it to an extreme.

Backstage in the green room, he'll peer out to see the audience, and then he'll worry, "Oh, they're not gonna like me.

Johnny, what am I gonna do?

Maybe you should open."

Just pacing and nervous.

(hands clap) The minute he hits the stage, then he turns into Jerry and it's all fine, but he does it every time.

Other than that, he's like being on the road with your granddad.

But a hip granddad, you know.

(chuckles) - My people are either in hospitals or have been cremated and their ashes.

I see 'em at Piedmont Park.

I walk into Apres Diem at night, I'm like in the Invisible Man.

It's not that they're disregarding me, they don't even see me.

When I go out on stage, I'm representing old times.

We're not dead.

And don't treat us that way.

If you live long enough, you'll be one of them like me.

You know, we care, we love, we have passion, we have dreams.

But it is sort of the benign arrogance of young people.

And it'll only get more intense as I get older if I keep doin' this, which I definitely plan to do.

- Jerry, like you said, he's a legend here in the Atlanta, and even Georgia markets, right?

He just didn't break through to be a national guy.

But he's had a great life, he has his home.

You know, he's successful.

And I think he reached a comfort level where he was making money at the club, he didn't have to travel.

I think he was happy right there.

- Ya know, I hope you don't have to gamble to learn something, you don't have to do all that, but it's beautiful.

To be alive is beautiful.

To be conscious is beautiful.

Nothing quite like it.

We're a memory the next moment.

And then it's like waves in the ocean.

Just continuous waves forever.

I hope my wave is still way out in the ocean, you know what I mean?

Not close to shore.

That would be sweet.

But the reality it's probably gettin' close to the shore.

- I hope to hell we could keep doing this for the next 10 or 15 years.

Jerry is the only Jerry Farber.

(audience laughs) - We are joined now by Leanna Adams, filmmaker of the beautiful film, and funny, "Jerry-Atric," about a very well-known comic within the industry, but not by a lot of people.

So first of all, tell us a little bit about the film.

- Well, the film is about Jerry Farber, who at the time was 77 when we made the film.

And he's just locally renowned in Atlanta and Georgia and beyond, but right, he never got into that famous, famous echelon of comics.

And so the film is really about his rise into comedy, and then life as a comic, struggles included, and then his life as a parent and continuing working comic.

- Let's talk a little bit about disarming people.

He will say things, he will go there telling the jokes that make people uncomfortable.

You laugh in an uncomfortable way.

You may find it a little funny, but it seems like people then go, "Oh, I get it."

- Mm.

This is the great thing about comedy, right?

I mean, if you can make someone laugh, maybe they'll go home and think.

It's a gift that he has, and it's so fun to see it in action because people do get a little uncomfortable (chuckles) about what he's saying, and sometimes he has to say, "I'm joking, I'm joking.

That was a joke."

- How did you meet Jerry in the first place?

- I was in a standup comedy class, and he just was the host of this club, this person I've never met before, and have you met Jerry?

- I have.

- I mean, he looks in your eyes and you know him already.

It's crazy.

And I'm a little bit, I'm an introverted performer, but he just came to me and spoke to me like a person.

And I just, I didn't feel the age at all.

And I felt like I had a lot to learn from him.

I liked that.

- Now, you talked about his gambling addiction, he talked about it.

He owed a lot of people money.

So, how were you able to balance that with his humor and show the real Jerry Farber and not just, "Hey, look it, he's funny, he's famous," but that you can also say, "But you know what, there was a lot going on."

You really got us inside of him, - Right, and well, my partner on this really was Neil Logan Butler, who is my editor, and when we sat Jerry down the first time, we said, "We wanna tell the whole story.

We wanna make you a full person in this documentary.

Who should we talk to?"

And he said, really, "If you want the good, the bad, and the ugly, talk to these friends, especially this friend."

And he was right.

I mean, people were ready to tell on him.

And I think it's just because of how open he is in his life.

These are the friends that are still there.

They've been there with him through the hardships and they're still around.

But Jerry wanted people to know these things because there's learning from that.

So yeah, I mean, it's hard to hear the things, that this fight happened or these choices were made, but in the end, you wanna tell a story that's meaningful, that people could learn from.

- Well, watching this movie, if you didn't know him, now you feel like you know him and you love him.

So, thank you for that.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you so much.

Thank you for having me.

(film beeps) (film projector rattling) - What's so amazing is that Jerry is still performing and making people laugh today.

Well, that'll do it for this episode of "Atlanta on Film."

We hope you've enjoyed your time with us.

I'm Holly Firfer and we look forward to seeing you again next time.

(tense music) (dramatic music) - [Announcer] WABE.

(singers vocalize)