"Trembling Before G-d" at TAC Event
Simi Lampert
Issue date: 12/21/09 Section: Features
This is not the first Yeshiva University newspaper article to be written about homosexuality within the Orthodox Jewish community. Harking back to at least 2003, the Torah approach to homosexuality has been discussed as it relates to American politics, art, National Coming Out Day and even the movie "Borat."
Ever since the first article written by an anonymous gay Yeshiva College student was published in "Kol Hamevaser"-and answered with a flood of replies, including another anonymous piece, numerous letters to the editor and pages of online comments-there has been a cry for an official Yeshiva University response. Perhaps it is for this reason that Stern College for Women's student-run Torah Activities Council (TAC) recently decided to screen the movie "Trembling Before G-d" at their Marvelous TAC Videos (MTV) night. Introducing the screening was Rabbi Dr. Aharon Fried, a professor of psychology at Stern, who held a question-answer session following the thought-provoking film.
"Trembling Before G-d" is a documentary by Sandi Simcha DuBowski that was released in 2001 and portrays a selection of Jewish men and women who identify themselves as both Orthodox and gay. Some of them are openly gay, while others remain "in the closet." All of them struggle to reconcile their sexual proclivity with their religious identity.
The aim of the film, according to Fried, and the purpose of showing it in a YU venue, is to "appeal to reason and allow for an open discussion of ideas." If the true purpose of the film is simply to humanize the issue by putting a face to the abstract debate, then it certainly succeeds. The audience cannot help but feel the pain of each person depicted.
The crowd of Stern and YC students who gathered to watch this screening responded with compassion, and, where appropriate, appreciation for the fleeting moments of humor. One philosophy major at Stern who attended the event spoke about her feelings afterward. "This movie really opened my eyes to a small but important section of our Jewish community, and what they have to deal with on a daily basis," she said.
Ever since the first article written by an anonymous gay Yeshiva College student was published in "Kol Hamevaser"-and answered with a flood of replies, including another anonymous piece, numerous letters to the editor and pages of online comments-there has been a cry for an official Yeshiva University response. Perhaps it is for this reason that Stern College for Women's student-run Torah Activities Council (TAC) recently decided to screen the movie "Trembling Before G-d" at their Marvelous TAC Videos (MTV) night. Introducing the screening was Rabbi Dr. Aharon Fried, a professor of psychology at Stern, who held a question-answer session following the thought-provoking film.
"Trembling Before G-d" is a documentary by Sandi Simcha DuBowski that was released in 2001 and portrays a selection of Jewish men and women who identify themselves as both Orthodox and gay. Some of them are openly gay, while others remain "in the closet." All of them struggle to reconcile their sexual proclivity with their religious identity.
The aim of the film, according to Fried, and the purpose of showing it in a YU venue, is to "appeal to reason and allow for an open discussion of ideas." If the true purpose of the film is simply to humanize the issue by putting a face to the abstract debate, then it certainly succeeds. The audience cannot help but feel the pain of each person depicted.
The crowd of Stern and YC students who gathered to watch this screening responded with compassion, and, where appropriate, appreciation for the fleeting moments of humor. One philosophy major at Stern who attended the event spoke about her feelings afterward. "This movie really opened my eyes to a small but important section of our Jewish community, and what they have to deal with on a daily basis," she said.
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Zahava
Zahava
posted 12/24/09 @ 2:34 PM EST
"Trembling Before God" is eight years old and somewhat outdated; it does not include more recent developments, like the formation of majority-gay shuls, the coming out of an Orthodox Rabbi in Haifa (http://failedmessiah. (Continued…)
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