Big Tent Judaism

Passover Here, There, and Everywhere

If people didn’t know that it was the “season of Passover,” they now know it - thanks, in large part, to the various Passover in the Aisles programs, fostered by the Jewish Outreach Institute. When we conceived of the program and contextualized it in our model for Public Space Judaism, we knew that people would resonate with the model - once they overcame the concerns over introducing Judaism in so many public arenas. Perhaps the grocery store is one of the least threatening of public spaces and yet it is so much a part of our routine lives, especially in anticipation of a week-long celebration of religious freedom. Maybe that is why the idea caught on so quickly in the Greater Washington, DC area - the seat of American democracy. The Washington Post certainly thought so. We thank our various “partners” in the DC area who took the idea and ran with it, making sure that it reflected their local community and culture. May this be a season of liberation for us all.

The War at Home: Bar Mitzvah Battleground

Not a very nice title for a popular TV series, but those who have children, especially burgeoning adolescents (mine are much older) understand the position taken by the producers of this engaging series called “The War at Home.” In a twist of unexpected plot turns, a recent episode focused on the desire of the young protagonist in the series to celebrate a bar mitzvah. After all, this is what his friends are doing. But - and here comes the rub - his family doesn’t belong to a synagogue. This is no surprise, since his interfaith parents (really practitioners more of American civil religion than any one religion, be it Judaism or Christianity) are like the majority of interfaith families in North America in that they don’t belong to a synagogue.

So they take him to the local rabbi and lo and behold the rabbi is happy to accommodate - as long as the kid is willing to submit himself to the three-year requirement of study and preparation. That would make him about 16. And the last thing that a 16 year old wants is a bar mitzvah, especially when everyone else is 13. So the storyline ends with a predictable ending. There will be no bar mitzvah.
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The New Ten Commandments?

As a child, the way I knew that it was Passover had nothing to do with stocking up on matzah or getting rid of chametz (leavened bread). It had to do with watching Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments, which has aired this time of year, every year, ever since I can remember. My parents let me stay up until 11:30pm (even on a school night) so that I could catch the ever-thrilling splitting-of-the-sea scene. So what makes this year different from all other years?

Well, at first glance, nothing. The Ten Commandments will still air during Passover, on Saturday, April 15th. But it’s no longer the only Passover-themed motion picture entertainment — there is some serious Passover proliferation out there! One example is the new movie that opens today called When Do We Eat, which caricatures a dysfunctional Jewish family at their annual Passover seder.

But the monumental addition is the creation of a new version of The Ten Commandments. Yes, like Freaky Friday and The Manchurian Candidate, The Ten Commandments got a makeover. The remake, a production by RHI Entertainment, premieres on ABC this Monday and Tuesday evening, April 10th and 11th from 9 to 11pm. Though I haven’t seen it, there’s apparently a gory scene at the golden calf site, so parents might want to preview it first. Click here to preview the sea-splitting scene…it will be interesting to see how the rest of the new version compares to the classic.