 "Putting faces to a verse" | 2008-05-16 |
| - Reviewed By markofcain |
This moving documentary really merits being seen by everyone, no matter what their religion or sexual orientation. While the issue of being both gay and Jewish doesn't seem like a conflict to those in the liberal denominations, it's a much more complex and anguished issue for those who wish to remain true to both parts of their core identity, living a frum life and being gay. It seems like a dire contradiction in terms to devote your life to a religious tradition that essentially denies who you are, but for the brave individuals who agreed to appear in this film (some of them with false names or appearing in silhouette or with blurred faces), being Orthodox and still gay isn't a contradiction at all.
For too many people, the issue of Judaism and homosexuality is a cut and dried prohibition, one verse in Leviticus. They don't have any real-life experience with it, or think it doesn't exist in their ultra-frum communities. But this documentary puts faces to that one verse, shows the people who are in very real pain and conflict over this. It's easy to condemn or dismiss something when it only exists in theory, something you've read about, not something you suddenly find yourself dealing with in your own family or community. People like Leah, Malka, Michelle, David, Israel, Mark, and Devorah are real people who have been living this double identity for years, struggling to come to terms with their orientation and how to still be frum in spite of it. I think it's quite refreshing how the rabbis who appear in this film, though some of them are quite Orthodox, are speaking from personal experience in dealing with gay people. While the Orthodox hold to the belief that the Torah is 100% the literal word of Hashem, these rabbis are flexible and compassionate enough, within that very conservative framework, to reinterpret the verse to find some sort of realistic solution to this problem. Many people are killing themselves or suffering from depression because there is no support network for frum gays; it's completely unfair to compare not following this one particular mitzvah to deciding to also ignore mitzvot such as kashrut and keeping Shabbos. Halacha is really not set in stone, and an alternative answer can always be found even with an Orthodox approach to reading the text. It's also surprising how some of these long-bearded rabbis are more progressive and understanding than some secular people.
It's unfathomable that anyone, after seeing this film and getting to know these people, could still insist that homosexuality is wrong because it's in the Torah, and that settles that issue. Anyone with a heart would see the pain and frustration in people like Israel, desperate to reunite with his 98 year old dad; Devorah, who is married to a man in spite of being a lesbian; and Mark, who misses the yeshiva world even though he was estranged from it after coming out. One's heart goes out to these people who either have to live double lives or live as openly gay in a world where early heterosexual marriage and large families are considered not only the norm, but the only way to live. Hopefully some halachic solutions will be found for this issue sooner than later, so that the next generation of people like Malka, Michelle, David, and Israel won't have to struggle with being frum gays.
The second disc contains a wealth of extras that really enhance the documentary. Among them are an interview with Rabbi Steve Greenberg (whom I was honored to meet when he spoke at my [Conservative] shul in December '06), an interview with director Sandi Simcha Dubowski, a featurette, 'Trembling on the Road,' the trailer, interviews with five of the prominent rabbis featured in the documentary (and while they're quite Orthodox, they also seem compassionate and open-minded, wanting to find a halachic solution to this issue instead of just telling gay people to live celibate lives or pretend to be straight), a deleted scene, a discussion with people involved in Petach Lev, an Israeli group dealing with these issues, footage of an arcane Medieval ceremony to atone for "sexual sins," and so much more. |
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| "Agree or Disagree A Must See By Questioning Believers" | 2008-01-07 |
| - Reviewed By splisner |
Trembling before G-d is simply an excellant movie that needs to be scene. It is too easy for many to simply blindly respond to the issue quoting the Torah/Hashem/G-d/Rabbis/Scripture etc. with such and such and such and such about homosexuals when you have not known any up close and the suffering they experience by the attitudes of the religious majority. Most people who condemn homosexuality have never met any homosexuals yet alone have tried to get to know them. I know I never did.
The accompanying disc of extra features is almost as compelling viewing as the movie itself so don't miss them.
You may not come away ready to throw out long held biblical beliefs but you will if you come with an open mind interested in grapling with the subject on a religious level leave with greater compassion and understanding, with many new questions and the willingness to search for and open yourself to possible answers.
Just see it! |
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| "Powerful!!!!" | 2007-08-30 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3B87UZLPCF0HW |
| I do believe this wonderful documentary has shaken the Jewish community, and I am glad. People in this world need to open their eyes to gays and lesbian and transgender individuals that are not just going go away silently in the night. Director Sandi Simcha DuBowski examines the hidden lives of gay and lesbian Orthodox and Hasidic Jews. His revelations are compelling and the DVD's extras -- including a separate interview with Steve Greenberg, the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi -- are even more fascinating. |
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 "Can We Agree This World Is Not Flat?" | 2007-02-12 |
| - Reviewed By deglesia2 |
Trembling Before G-d is a sad story of gay and lesbian people who are the victims of the traditions in which they have been raised. The film gives us glimpses of gay and lesbian individuals, struggling to be accepted into a heterosexual world where traditional marriage and reproduction is considered the highest esteem, even though they know they are not ever going to share this same goal. While I was watching this film, I kept asking myself why are these people giving so much credibility to those holding so much ignornace? There once was a time many thought the world was flat, but we now know better! God is love and men and women, who are not inclined to reproduce, have been given a special gift and have much to teach others about ending the trouble with normal. While marriage, land ownership and reproduction are the three pillars of family values which fuel selfish traditions, around the world, gay people need look no further than inside themselves for an answer!
While this movie is primarily focussed on the struggle of Orthodox Jews, concerning the issue of homosexualty, the film is for anyone who has thought about acceptance, by others, in light of their sexuality. It's the type of film which makes you feel deeply for the hurt and struggle of the characters. |
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 ""Hear O Israel"" | 2007-01-16 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3Q1GB17EH17UD |
"TREMBLING BEFORE G-D"
"Hear O Israel"
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
One of the outstanding and most meaningful documentaries I have ever seen, Sandi Dubowski's "Trembling Before G-d" (New Yorker Films) stands in a class all it's own. It is a provocative look into the lives of gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews who struggle to reconcile their sexual orientation with their firm and devout religious beliefs. The film sheds light on a group of people who were not eager to be photographed but felt that they had an important story to tell.
Orthodox Judaism has a strict code for homosexuals; in fact it prohibits their way of life. Those that are gay and lesbian are forced into living hidden lives and this is why we see so few faces in this film.; If they were to be found out, they would not only face ostracism but very certainly would be asked to leave their religion. Most of the people in the film are not willing to give up their strong religious beliefs and therefore choose to live a life of hiding and silence. Several of those that appear in the film do so in silhouette or with faces obscured. But there is also Mark, who is openly gay and the son of a rabbi who was shipped to Israel because his parents mistakenly believed that there are no gay men there. (Little did they know that Israel is rapidly becoming an oasis for freedom for gays in the area). We also meet Michelle (a divorced woman) who is firmly convinced that she is the only Hassidic lesbian in Brooklyn and "Leah" and "Malka", a lesbian couple who observant the Judaic laws and deal with non-supportive parents. David from Los Angeles, has been battling his inner demons as he wants to remain an observant Jew but cannot reconcile what the rabbis tell him with the way he is. For ten years he underwent various "cures" and instructions to attempt to subvert his attraction to his own sex. There is also Israel from Brooklyn who underwent shock therapy in the 50's and wants to reunite with his centenarian father whom he has not seen for more than two decades.
For over five years, Dubowski followed these people's lives traveling form America to Israel and back again in order to get the material he needed and wanted for his film. Because of the nature of the secrecy of those that participated in the film it was impossible to get a complete picture because in many cases the parents were unwilling to participate. But no matter, what we have is enormous and heartbreaking as well as uplifting. Even with the admonitions of the religion, the people we meet here continue to live religious lives.
"Trembling" is an extraordinary documentation of what we know so little about. The Bible, according to one of the interviewees is abundantly clear on the matter and it is quoted as "They shall be put to death". It hurts so much to see the people longing for acceptance and not finding it and yet maintaining and continuing their religious way of life. What is especially interesting is that specificities about religion and sexual orientation disappear into the larger universal theme of family and acceptance. The subjects want their religion but they also want to find a place where their religion will accept the way they live.
We learn from the film that Orthodoxy is dogma that requires the banning of homosexuals at best and physical reeducation at worst. The dilemma of Orthodox life and the refusal to deny one's sexuality and the fear of expulsion if discovered is the overriding motif of the film. I cannot imagine having to live a life like this--living n fear of discovery and dreading the results. "Trembling" beautifully captures this crisis. Instead of an out and out indictment against Orthodoxy, the director allows both sides to have their say and their some moments that we see that are heartbreaking.
But there is optimism. Openly gay Orthodox rabbi, Steve Greenberg argues that religion is an adaptable institution and he feels that this too will happen with time. Judaism is a religion that is responsive to the human condition and if it does not respond then it is not the same religion of which the Torah (the Pentateuch) writes. But time is passing and we see no changes. We can only hope.
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 "Sensitive Orthodox Jew" | 2006-09-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: AZ5FPYP07TI9G |
| Being an orthodox Jew I had many feelings while watching this film. The strongest feeling was a feeling of frustration about the way orthodox Jewish people were being represented. Having personaly spoken to R. Feldman many times I was surprised that when he said the orthodox position on homosexuality (there is no room to debate what that position is) he said it with little empathy to the plight of this person struggeling with his nature. Latter I learned that this was one excerpt from a 45 minute interview. Selectively choosing negative and non-sensitive clips about orthodox Jews is not much of a documentary then it is political propaganda that we are so used to. |
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| "An amazing film: extraordinary, sublime" | 2006-07-23 |
| - Reviewed By grasshopper_gypsy |
This movie really moved me.
I'm a Catholic in my mid-30's who has never married nor taken any other vow. My life is an ongoing struggle (not always successful) to maintain affective integrity and chastity while celibate. A struggle to be staunch.
So I really identified with the all the people in this film. All of them are faith haunted. Their tradition prescribes- and proscribes- certain types of sexual behavior. Adhering to that ethic can be excruciating. Some reject it, yet others embrace it. The rebellion and embrace both fascinate and move me. Their struggles, revolts and submissions all put paid (in my febrile little mind, anyway) to the ridiculously rigid paradigm with which our dominant contemporary discourse tends to address sexuality and faith. It doesn't have to be either/or. In fact it never is.
As one of them, a HIV positive Hasidic (?) kid, says near the end of the film [and I paraphrase from memory, using goyim lingo]: being sexual isn't a curse, it's a tenderness, a mercy from Hashem (God). And being a Jew [having faith] is the greatest mercy of all.
Amen. Watch this film. |
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| "Irrestible force (flesh) meets an immovable object (religion)" | 2006-07-22 |
| - Reviewed By damian1494 |
There are two aspects of people - the clay and the spirit. At its heart, Trembling is about the tensions that arise when the spiritual side of humans (and the adherents of faith) and the clay that we are made of conflict.
Can a gay person live a live of celibacy in order to not conflict with religious teachings? Can a gay person force him or herself to change so that a heterosexual marriage can work for them?
Can a religion with thousands of years of tradition change to accommodate people who want to be more than casual, and not entirely welcome, participants?
Can rabbis, people who care both about religion AND the Jewish people simply accept what they see as an immoral lifestyle because they want to see all people accepted into the larger community? What can be sacrificed for the sake if inclusiveness and what must remain intact for a religion to maintain its internal consistency?
I would like to describe one incident in the film. A young gay Jewish man of deep faith asks a very respected rabbi what he should do in order to stop being gay. The answer is that he must listen to the spiritual side and ignore the physical and psychological needs of companionship.
The man goes home and really tries to live the life of a good, heterosexual, Jew. The results were years of pain and loneliness. Ten years later the man returns and asks the Rabbi whether he must persevere. The rabbi said no - a shocking answer to all of us watching this film. The rabbi's reasoning goes to the crux of this issue - as a human he cannot tell another person that he must give up on happiness and companionship. This is a profound message. The rabbi does not condone or excuse homosexual behavior - his counseling now is less religions and more personal.
I want to be clear that this documentary does not overtly press an agenda - it is not one long argument for changing Judiasm. It is simply about real people asking profound and very personal questions. It would have been easy to edit a few words here and there in this documentary to push an agenda. After all, we are all being bombarded constantly by news programs that are less about informing us and more about trying to push an agenda. I walked away from this documentary believing again that it is possible for a person to transcend his own beliefs and to use film to inform society. |
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| "Powerful, Moving Documentary" | 2006-05-31 |
| - Reviewed By cmm |
Trembling Before G-d is a documentary about the lives of gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews. Orthodox Judaism believes in following all the laws of Torah (plus all the rabbinic interpretations laid out through the years) literally, including the ones about same sex relations being an abomination. In addition, Orthodox and particularly Hassidic Jews grow up in a very insulated community where nearly all emphasis is on marrying and having children. This leads to agony for those who cannot deny their essential selves but who cannot toss away their religious beliefs either.
The documentary has a good spectrum of subjects, from the man who left all together (but still clearly has a wistful ambivalence about some of the traditional practices) to the man who seems to have made some peace with himself as a practicing Jewish gay man--until he returns to an old rabbinic mentor and is confronted again by the lack of acceptance. I think my favorites were the two frum women in Florida, making their homey Shabbat preparations and counseling a friend who is a married and unhappy lesbian. At one point a brief painfully polite phone call from one of the women's parents has a devastating effect, and I completely identified with her reaction, having been in much the same position. Much of the movie moved me to tears but there were signs of hope in the shifting of viewpoints even among some of the rabbis who are the sources of counsel for future struggling youth. I hope their voices gain strength and are heard. Even among the most Orthodox, living a life that is a lie or god forbid, suicide, are greater sins and this is beginning to be recognized by some.
Even if one is not Jewish but interested in gay and lesbian issues (or not gay/lesbian but interested in Jewish issues) this is a documentary well worth seeing. If you are both, it is not to be missed. |
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| "Documentary as Tikkun Olam" | 2004-09-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3NUZFDS9PV5XN |
No one has yet commented on the groundbreaking aspects of this film as a contribution to the documentary genre. Perhaps the subject matter was so compelling that people forgot that its rhetorical and structural elements were not invented ab nihilo, but are part of a very long and esteemed tradition. This film added extensively to the tradition that believes documentaries can change the world, not just bear witness to it.
I would also hope that viewers realize that this is not the last or only film on this topic, but one of the first, and that a flawed film is better by far than no film at all. It didn't have a Hollywood Ending especially for the individuals it portrayed who hoped it might be a catalyst for such an outcome - especially David. It may not satisfy everyone because it wasn't "fair and balanced", because it didn't attempt to be encyclopedic, because it couldn't hope to be unbiased except with respect to the empathy and sincerity it treated the people who appeared in it. There is no shanda (shame) in having a point of view. Yet how can you offer your work as Tikkun Olam when a community doesn't think there's anything in their life on the issue of sexuality and sexual identity that needs repairing? The isolated negative reactions of the conservative voices in the film and beyond are predictable because someone outside of their recognized authority structure is setting the agenda, exposing a neglected and painful issue, and they are forced to react. What is truly amazing is how the orthodox community's curiosity and sense of support for viewing the film and discussing it overcame their natural reticence and shame, and their leaders' sense that the time had come to make this very private issue a topic of public debate.
What is interesting is that it sought to give a voice to the individuals whose lives were as indelibly bound up in Jewish identity as they were without advocates, if not discreet acceptance, within that community. The true duress ("ones") was not what nature gave them to be - gays or lesbians - but how their families and communities of origin abandoned them, and in so doing, took away from themselves a part of G-d's creation.
I found the DVD's supplementary materials, especially the "road show" segment and the interviews with the rabbis to be extremely riveting. The rabbis were able in large part to tell personal stories of their experience with homosexuality in their communities and personal lives in a way that went beyond halachic and religious posturing. |
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