Nov

10

HaUshpizin

November 10, 2005 |

Last night Sorelle and I rented HaUshpizin and it was a tremendous film. The story of a Breslov ba’al teshuva, his wife, and some unexpected guests for sukkot, the movie portrays a really sweet aspect of Charedi life that one does not often see in the movies, especially not in Israeli cinema. The director, Giddi Dar, is a secular Israeli and the stars, Shuli and Michal Rand, are real-life ba’alei tshuva. Shuli was a very succesful secular actor in Israeli theater and Michal was also involved in the theater before they adopted the religious lifestyle. One could say that their roles were not much of a stretch considering where they came from, but I’ve heard it said that the hardest acting role is playing oneself and judging by the powerful and charming portrayals in this film these two are damn fine actors. I’m not gonna give a full review as there are hundreds of them on the web. But suffice it to say that we both really enjoyed it.

The difficulty for me in watching such a film occurs because of the very positivity towards faith that the film engenders. The director wishes us to see the faith of the leading couple as a positive force that can and does drive them towards happiness. But faith troubles me. To say that every time something bad happens to us it means that we haven’t prayed or haven’t prayed hard enough, is to say that God is a bureaucrat who requires that you fill out the proper paperwork to get your request fulfilled.

That kind of thinking truly bothers me.

I don’t understand God. And my belief in God does not derive from blind faith or “proof” that one gets from being witness to the majesty of Her works. My hope that there is a creator derives from my humility before the awesomeness of the universe. My conviction that we are not the pinacle of creation. Perhaps we will be. And perhaps when we are, we will become God. But for now, we are still struggling to understand the very basic facts of our existence. I can’t have faith that everything that happens has a reason. But I can accept the idea that I may not be the ultimate intelligence in the universe, capable of understanding and appreciating all that is.

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