This may come as a shock to most of you, but I love the movies! I love how they bring the past, present, and future to life in the most minute detail on a big screen. Did you ever wonder how screenwriters come up with their endless story lines? Does life imitate art or does art imitate life?

What constitutes a great movie? The answer to this may be subjective but one can make the case that you can find all of the underlying themes for different movie genres in the Tanakh. In fact, I submit to you that going to the movies is a religious experience. Do you like movies because of their special effects like “The Transformers” and “Avatar”? Well I would put the parting of the Red Sea, a pillar of fire, making the sun stand still, and the 10 plagues at the top of any special effects. Revenge movies like “Death Wish”, “The Outlaw Josie Wales”, ”The Count of Monte Cristo”, or “Gladiator”?  Sorry, but this theme was previously related in the Torah with the story of the rape of Jacob’s daughter, Dina, and the subsequent revenge murders by her brothers as well as the story of the slaughter of the Midianites that was ordered by Moses. Perhaps your taste runs to Disaster movies where entire civilizations are destroyed such as “War of the Worlds”, “Independence Day”, “Earthquake”, “Pompei”, “Atlantis, The Lost Continent” and even ”Gone With The Wind” ? Nothing new here –I reference Noah and the great flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gemorrah.   How about fantasy movies like “Pinocchio” when he was swallowed by a great whale? Did someone say Jonah? Did anyone see the Jim Carrey movie “Liar, liar” where as a result of his son’s birthday wish, he is unable to tell a lie for 24 hours? I think that the story of Balaam came first. Do you prefer movies about overcoming insurmountable odds like “Braveheart”, “Star Wars”. “The 300”, or “The Last Samurai”? Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Steven Seagal? They don’t hold a candle to the David and Goliath story or to Samson killing 1,000 men with the jawbone of an ass.

The Tanakh is thousands of years old and in that time period, customs have changed, laws have changed, borders have changed, but not the essence of men and women. Not what makes us tick. As Simon and Garfunkel related to us in “The Boxer”, “…after changes upon changes we are more or less the same.” If one were to distill the Tanakh down to its most basic elements, it is really a continuing story about relationships… the power struggles within those relationships and the consequences of those power struggles. And these power struggles form the basis for great movie making. Start with the relationship and power struggle between God and man – remember the scene at the end of Cool Hand Luke when Paul Newman is cornered in a church and asks God , “…what do I do now? I guess I’m pretty tough to deal with, huh? A hard case.” And when George Kennedy’s Dragline character suddenly appears, Luke looks up to heaven and says, “Is that Your answer, Old Man? I guess You’re a hard case, too.” Or how about Lieutenant Dan Taylor in Forrest Gump sitting in the crow’s nest on the shrimp boat in the middle of Hurricane Carmen and screaming to God, “Come on! You call this a storm? It’s time for a showdown! You and me! I’m right here! Come and get me! You’ll never sink this boat!” Do you remember “Lethal Weapon” when Danny Glover despairs that he has been partnered with Mel Gibson? He laments, “God Hates Me” to which Mel Gibson replies, “Hate Him back. It works for me.”

As we watch the gradual degradation of Michael Corleone in “The Godfather” or Anakin Skywalker in “Star Wars”, we are reminded of the degradation of King Saul thousands of years earlier. The story of Cain and Abel and the rift between Jacob and Esau can both serve as the basis of the James Dean movie, “East of Eden”.

The story of David and Bathsheba is a story of lust and infidelity which serves as the underlying theme for movies such as “Fatal Attraction”, and “Dial M for Murder”.

But let us not forget that there are consequences for our actions. Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden of Eden, the death of the Israelites who worshiped the golden calf at the base of Mt. Sinai. And by the way, why was Aaron spared? After all, he fashioned the golden calf. Nepotism, perhaps?   In the movie, “Silverado”, each bad guy suffers the consequence of getting killed by the hero that he mistreated.

The Torah is also filled with hypocrisy and contradictions.

1. Hypocrisy – What does God look like? Is he invisible like The Force in Star Wars? But wait a minute.   In Genesis, we are told that God made man in his own image. Artists through the centuries have depicted God as a bearded, handsome, muscular man (with a full head of hair, I may add.) But maybe they were wrong. Maybe he looks like George Burns in the movie, “Oh God” or Morgan Freeman in the movie, “Bruce Almighty”? And if God made man in his own image, why is man forbidden from looking upon the face of God? In prison movies, new inmates are always warned never to make eye contact with another inmate because it implies a threat and disrespect. Does God feel threatened in the same way?

 

2. Contradiction – The Ten Commandments clearly tell us “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. But in the Tanakh, God has killed –reference the 10^th plague as just one of many such instances.   How many wars depicted in the movies have been fought in the name of God? “Cromwell” starring Richard Harris and “The Kingdom of Heaven” with Orlando Bloom come to mind.   Another commandment says, “Thou shalt Not Covet”, yet throughout the Torah, God covets those who do not worship him – pure jealousy. If man was made in God’s image, God’s actions are clear contradictions of the 10 Commandments.   Man has committed horrific crimes through the centuries. How can God have allowed this to happen? Our sages have explained that it is because God gave man free will. Why did he give us free will which enables bad things to happen? Debi and I raised our children to question everything and not just accept things at face value. Unfortunately, many times they have reached different conclusions than what we hoped for. Is it the same way for God? In the movie, “Jason and the Argonauts”, there are scenes depicting Zeus and Hera playing a board game which places and removes obstacles and challenges for Jason down on earth. Does God relish watching men struggle and overcome?

 

But the Torah is also a continuing story of faith – Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac, Hannah’s willingness to give her child to the service of God if she could become pregnant (with the future prophet, Samuel). Well, faith is a prime theme in the movies. Remember in the movie, “Miracle on 34^th Street” when Fred Gailey says, “Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.”

However, let us not forget that we can also lose faith when bad things happen or when we are afraid. Think of the times in the Old Testament when the Israelites lost faith in God and instead started to pray to idols like the golden calf or Baal. In the movies, we have seen Simba lose faith in “the Lion King” and Gene Hackman’s priest lose faith in “The Poseidon Adventure”.

I would like to conclude with the fact that the Tanakh also includes stories of redemption and the recommitment to God. A perfect example is Samson. Now flash forward to Russell Crowe in “The Quick and the Dead”.

I would like to end with the same question I posed at the beginning of this sermon. Does life imitate art or does art imitate life? What do you think?

May the force be with you…..No, may God be with you.

 

Shabbat Shalom.