Comments on Live from the Washington Jewish Film Festival - It's the WJFFblog: "Out of Faith": Two Filmmakers Debate Intermarriag...

To Whom It May Concern: In the last week, I ...

2006-12-10T21:18:00.000-05:00

To Whom It May Concern:

In the last week, I had the privilege of seeing "Out of Faith" at the Washington Jewish Film Festival. And, after reading the negative comments posted by one observer , I feel compelled to respond. Because I am the son of two Holocaust survivors who was raised in a relatively non-jewish community in the midwest, I have been confronted with the issue of interfaith relationships and marriage during my entire life. Thus, from my perspective, "Out of Faith" is an important film that I believe should be seen by anyone that that is Jewish , single & is considering the challenges of meeting a jewish mate.

A suggestion that this film (by one observer in this blog) is entirely about the Holocaust and offers nothing "new" is simply not the case . Rather, the film does an incredible job in identifying the relationship that exists between the Holocaust survivor(s) and the legacy and responsiblity passed onto the 2nd and 3rd generations of these survivors . In other words, every Jewish family (religious or not very religious) that has been touched by the Holocaust is affected positively and negatively by their past. The net effect manifests itself in the relationships that we seek . And ,thus , in my opinion, the film's ability to accurately couple the legacy of the holocaust with the challenge of meeting a Jewish mate is one of many strengths of the film .

Another important reason to see this film is that the film reinforces the importance of the 2nd and 3rd generations in carrying the message of their parents/ grandparents . That is , in our world today , we are experiencing more and more anti-semitism . And , because most survivors are in their late 70s & 80s , it is the duty of all affected by the Holocaust to learn from these survivors in the hopes that we can educate and influence others .

In summary, I was deeply moved by "Out of Faith", and strongly recommend this film to anyone who places an emphasis on a jewish future.

Thank you,

Alex Kor

I saw this film and found it very touching, and hi...

2006-12-10T09:25:00.000-05:00

I saw this film and found it very touching, and hit on a key point, that of growing intermarriage affecting the Jewish community. The intermarriage issue affects more than just one generation, and this highlights the difference among generations: the youngest generation didn't seem to care much about the intermarriage issue, their parents (in this case) weren't happy about it but took the "what can we do" attitude, and the grandparents (in this case Holocaust survivors) were very much affected, seeing the current generation doing what Hitler set out to do -- ultimately make Jews virtually non-existent. It was good to see a group meeting at a Holocaust survivors' convention at which some parents do in fact take the intermarriage situation seriously, although others simply felt that love is the overriding factor.

The film also gave us insight to the Holocaust, and emphasized again the importance of teaching and reminding the current generation, so those who died simply because they were Jewish will not be forgotten, and to work toward preventing this from happening again.

I wish those involved with the film much success in their next step -- that of making the film and educational materials available to a wide audience, particularly of the current generation and their parents. I intend to buy a copy for my impressionable young-adult niece and nephew with the hope that it will have an impact on them and their future decisions and direction.

Not to be melodramatic, but I think the surprise ending to the film left virtually not a dry eye in the house.

What I liked about the comments of the previous bl...

2006-12-10T01:44:00.000-05:00

What I liked about the comments of the previous blogger, lkoenick, is
that his confusion reflects Leah's ambivalence so perfectly.

Leah's experience of Judaism is, primarily, her experience of the
Holocaust. That's why the movie is intensely Holocaust-centered: It's
documenting--accurately, proportionately--what Leah's spiritual life is, what her Judaic identity looks like.

Her experience of Judaism AFTER the Holocaust is scant: she admits
this. No prayers, no synagogue. The blogger is frustrated with Leah
and her ambivalence about Judaism, but he doesn't feel comfortable
stating that plainly. That's understandable. It doesn't feel good to criticize someone who has been through the Holocaust.

But if lkoenick believes "it is a great mistake to couple
intermarriage issues with survivors' issues at this late date," then he needs to be accurate, and say that he believes the "great mistake" is Leah's, not the filmmakers'.

It was a beautiful movie, and an intelligent, balanced one. If one
wants to take issue with the factuality of the statements in it, one has to do better than "most Jews" or "a large percentage" or "nearly conclusively." Use real numbers, real studies. Give your sources.

One more thing: It interested me that lkoenick complains that (1)
there was too much Holocaust stuff but (2) not enough "necessary
background of what preparation [Leah] must have gone through to
revisit" the camps. In fact, the filmmakers got the proportions just
right. The visit is what mattered. The preparation: That was
internal. The medium of film shows what is visible, not what is
invisible.

This was written before i read both of your commen...

2006-12-07T21:21:00.000-05:00

This was written before i read both of your comments. while they addressed some of my concerns, they were not present in the movie

I saw the movie, Out of Faith, on Dec.6 at the District of Columbia JCC and the more I think about it the disappointed I am. In order not to make this as long as I would like, I will summarize the objections and problems.

1. This was false advertising. It was billed as being about intermarriage but it was almost entirely about the Holocaust and particularly one person’s experiences in it. I should say that I heard several persons as we were leaving saying the same thing.
2. As a Holocaust movie, it was nothing at all new. It is certainly not news that persons who were at the camps have many issues and justly so.
3. It is a great mistake to couple intermarriage issues with survivors’ issues at this late date. Most of the intermarriages now are taking place between persons who don’t have a living Leah in their family and likely not in their memory. I am not saying don’t remember but that time is past or is passing very quickly.
4. The explicit statements in the movie and by the panel that intermarriage is bad is a subject that could have better used explaining. The statistics on intermarriage show nearly conclusively that most Jews don’t agree. In fact, recent studies in some places with serious outreach show a large percentage of children of intermarried couples identify themselves as Jewish.
5. Personally, I firmly believe Judaism has so much to offer it can compete effectively. The hand wringing about intermarriage seems to tacitly admit that this isn’t so.
6. A move addressing the issues of why it is deemed to be important that the children consider themselves Jewish would be difficult to make but much more important to those who are involved in interreligous relationships.
7. Nowhere in the movie is there any exploration of what it means to be Jewish as defined by Leah, a woman who doesn’t go to a synagogue, doesn’t light candles on Shabbos and can’t even say the Kaddish without help. Please understand this is not being critical of her; her experiences and the results are not challengeable by anyone. But what kind of Jewish existence is she espousing? There was no consideration of this at all.
8. Leah’s sudden appearance in the movie at the camps was without any of the necessary background of what preparation she must have gone through to revisit them or how she prepared herself or any number of other issues that were not present. Moreover, that part of the film was unnecessarily way too long.
9. Actually I suspected what the movie was going to be as soon as I saw it was made in Skokie.
10. I brought a non-Jewish woman I expect to marry soon to this movie hoping there would be insights into realistic issues. We were both really disappointed.