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Judaism

The Golem – Savior or Destroyer?

February 1, 2019 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

“When a man tries to play God, the darkness awakens.”

Based in Jewish folklore, The Golem is a tale of looking for a savior, but finding instead destruction. Set in seventeenth century Lithuania, a Jewish village is under attack by local Gentiles who blame the Jews for a plague that is killing people. How should the community respond? Through repentance and prayer? By fighting back?

The central character in the film is Hanna (Hani Furstenberg), a woman who we first see listening to the rabbi from the cellar of the synagogue (since she isn’t allowed to study with the men). We learn that she is there not out of devotion, but because she has emotionally shut down for the last seven years since the death of her son. Her husband Benjamin (Ishai Golan) sneaks books to her about the Jewish mystical teachings of Kabbalah. There she has found the secret process to create a golem, thought to be a being that will protect the Jewish community. While the men of the community have set about a time of prayer, Hanna creates a golem.

The golem she has created is the form of a child—about the age of her dead son. That becomes a problem because she begins to see the child as her own child. After all, she brought it into the world. It liberates her from her mourning and her fear. The two are linked. They feel each other’s injuries. The golem can sense Hanna’s anger. When the Gentiles attack, the golem is vicious and powerful, saving the village. But the thing about golems is that they are really heartless monsters. This one is no exception. Eventually nearly the whole village is destroyed with great carnage.

The story of the golem is much more than the law of unintended consequences. It focuses on the way we can mistake what we do for what God is doing. The whole idea behind a golem is to create something that will do what we believe God would have done. In this case, to protect the Jewish community. Although it soon becomes clear to us (if not to most of the characters in the film) that protection is not its real purpose—violence is its purpose. From Hanna’s (and for a while the village’s) perspective, the golem is something with a divine power. It is, after all, animated by sacred words.

There is much in our own world that could well be viewed as golems. When we believe that God wills bigger weapons and mutually assured destruction, we have created a modern golem. Although it may seem that when Hanna creates her golem, she is acting in faith, in reality, it is a statement of doubt in God’s care for God’s people. We would do well to consider the many ways we have created and trusted in the golems of the world. And we would also do well to consider what that says about our faith.

Photos courtesy Epic Pictures

Filed Under: DVD, Film, Reviews, VOD Tagged With: folklore, Judaism, Kabbalah, monster

The Wedding Plan – Do You Believe In Miracles?

May 19, 2017 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

“I have a hall. I have a dress. The apartment is almost ready. It’s a small task to God to find me a groom by the end of Hanukkah.”

The Israeli romantic comedy The Wedding Plan is all about faith—especially believing in miracles. Michal (Noa Koler) is 32 and wants the stability and respect that comes with marriage. But when her fiancé breaks off the engagement a month before the wedding, Michal decides to go ahead with her plans, counting on God to provide the man who will be the love of her life in time for the event.

She has spent ten years with matchmakers and figures that she has had 490 hour dates with 123 men. Yet there is no one that seems to be for her. But because she believes God is good and will be good for her, she sets off with this plan to have a wedding even if she doesn’t yet know who the groom will be. With two matchmakers setting up dates for her, she continues to meet men. Some might be willing to marry her, but it isn’t just being married she wants.  She wants love.

It is of note that Michal is in the Hassidic branch of Judaism. She wants a Hassidic husband, but the ones she meets often have their own quirks. (E.g., one will not look at her during the date because he says, “If I never look at another woman, my wife will be the most beautiful woman in the world.”) At one point she flies to the Ukraine to visit the tomb of Reb Nachmann (a 18th/19th Century Hasidic spiritual leader). There she meets a secular musician who teaches her how to find joy, but would he be a husband for her?

Early on, she is sure this will work out, even though her friends and family think the whole idea is crazy. As the date draws nearer, her faith begins to waiver, but others bolster her up with their own faith that a miracle will happen.

It is not coincidental that the wedding is planned for the last night of Hanukkah. That festival is itself a story of a miracle—of God providing what was needed in an impossible situation. For Michal this whole plan is an act of faith. However, others may not see it as such. When her family brings in a rabbi to talk to her about it, he cautions her against counting on miracles, which can be a sign of irresponsibility. He also questions what would happen to her faith if the plan were to fail. Is Michal truly stepping out in faith, or is she setting up God to carry the blame for her unhappiness? Can she assume that God’s will is going to prevail in this scenario she has created?

How do miracles fit in with concepts of faith? Certainly pastors (and others) are asked to pray for miracles from time to time. The Bible tells stories of miracles and churches often encourage people to expect miracles in their lives. But do we ask for those things without believing they will ever happen? Do miracles often not come because we didn’t really believe in them when we asked? Is the presence or absence of miracles in our lives because of our faith?

Oh, I haven’t mentioned whether this has a fairytale ending or if perhaps Michal discovers something about herself that makes that fairytale unimportant. Will a miracle happen? If so, will it be the miracle she wanted?

Photos courtesy of Roadside Attractions

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: Faith, Hanukkah, Israel, Judaism, Miracles, Noa Koler, Rama Burshtein, romantic comedy

Germans & Jews: Can They Live Together?

June 10, 2016 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

“What did his grandfather do?”

Does it seem odd that the fastest growing Jewish community in Europe is found in Berlin? When filmmaker Tal Recanati (a Jewish American) traveled to Germany and found a vibrant Jewish community that has grown in the seventy years since the Holocaust, she thought there was a story here that needed to be discovered. Germans & Jews is the personal stories of both Jewish and non-Jewish people living in Germany reflecting on the commonalities and differences they face.

germanjewishvoicesnewspapers

The film includes a brief history of the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust, but for the most part, it is made up of individual interviews of mostly young adults who are two generations separated from those events. A few of the Jews are from families that returned to Germany right after World War II, others have come from Israel or Russia in more recent years. The gentile Germans have had an education that includes much information about the Holocaust as a way of dealing with their national past. With seventy years having passed, can these two groups coexist in their nation? Is seventy years long enough for such deep wounds to heal and trust to be established? Must new generations carry the guilt of their grandparents (regardless of their ancestors’ actual participation or non-participation)? Can there be reconciliation between peoples who have such a violent and oppressive history?

germanjewsdinner

As an American watching the film, I felt a bit like an outsider. To be sure, the Holocaust is a part of our cultural awareness—but often just as a point in history that continues to have influences in world affairs. But for those we meet in the film, the Holocaust is an ongoing part of their culture whether or not they are Jewish. As more Jews move into Germany (although they still make up only 0.2% of the population) the relationship between Jew and non-Jew will continue to be a growing phenomenon. The key question is to what extent can these peoples find reconciliation and begin to live not just side by side, but actually be in community together? That is the question that seems to be central not just to the film, but may also be a question that the whole world needs to consider in the many ways national, religious, and cultural divides occur.

Photos courtesy of First Run Features

 

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: documentary, Germany, guilt, Holocaust, Janina Quint, Judaism, reconciliation, Tal Recanati

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