The past two Shabbat Services featured Sermons from two of our most esteemed congregants. David Vaida, drawing from his vast knowledge of the law, recaps the history and evolution of laws. Michael Nelson reviews his love for the movies and artfully details how the theme of each movie can be found somewhere in the Torah.
It all started with The Ten Commandments. Not the movie starring Charleton Heston, but the tablets that were carved thousands of years ago and presented to the Israelites by Moses.
These Commandments or Laws were designed to give the “stiff-necked” Hebrews a new perspective on life. No longer a slave population of the Egyptians, the Israelites needed direction and motivation. Not from Cecil B. DeMille or Charleton Heston, but from God and Moses.
And as Michael Nelson sermonizes, throughout the centuries the themes running through the Torah gave life to art and art to life, as countless movies depicting sorrow, joy, triumph and tragedy gave way to a movie industry that has shaped our culture.
In David Vaida’s Sermon, he brought our attention to how laws evolved through the centuries and gave real credibility to the Torah. The old adage of “an eye for an eye” was misunderstood as a brutal way of justice. Michael outlined how many movies were based on this very theme. However, David sheds light on how the early Jews fleshed out this notion and created a system of laws that our society depends on to this day.
Whether it is the practice of justice or just going to the movies, these two very thought-provoking Sermons demonstrate how the Torah remains the source for life, as we know it today.
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