Trembling Before G-d
Encyclopedia
Trembling Before G-d is an 2001
American documentary film
about gay
and lesbian
Orthodox Jews
trying to reconcile their sexuality with their faith. It was directed by Sandi Simcha DuBowski
, an American who wanted to compare orthodox attitudes to homosexuality with his own upbringing as a gay Conservative Jew
. The film won several awards, including the Teddy Award
for Best Documentary Film at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival
, as well as Best Documentary at the 2001 Chicago International Film Festival
and the 2003 GLAAD Media Awards
.
Trembling Before G-d was filmed with compact, inconspicuous consumer video equipment and eventually digitally transferred to 35 mm film
. The footage was a mix of interviews shot in the subjects' homes and offices, sequences in the cinéma vérité
style, and even material shot on a sound stage
, using volunteer actors "performing" Jewish rituals in silhouette
, behind a screen. The film is mostly in English, but also has some subtitled Yiddish
and Hebrew
.
The film follows the lives of several gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews and includes interviews with rabbi
s and psychotherapists about Orthodox attitudes towards homosexuality. During the film's six-year production, DuBowski met hundreds of homosexual Jews, but only a handful agreed to be filmed due to fear of being ostracized from their communities. Many people who agreed to be interviewed are shown only in silhouette or with their faces pixelized
. The majority of the participants are American Jews, with one British and one Israeli Jew also featured.
Trembling Before G-d was successful at the box office
, grossing over $
5,500 on a single screen on its first day of release and $788,896 on eight screens by its close date on January 5, 2003. The film received ten award nominations, winning seven. Reception by the Orthodox communities was mixed. Several Orthodox synagogues sponsored showings of the film; no Haredi
Orthodox groups spoke out in favor of the film. Traditionally, Orthodox Judaism has prohibited homosexual conduct, as it was forbidden by the Torah
and Talmud
(see Homosexuality and Judaism
). In the last couple of decades, according to the documentary, positions on homosexuality have become more sympathetic. However, Haredi Judaism, the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, still views homosexuality as a perversion. As a result of the positive responses received from homosexual Orthodox Jews, however, the creators of the film have set up several organizations to teach Orthodox educators and rabbis about homosexuality.
community, Orthodox Judaism generally prohibits homosexual conduct. While there is disagreement about which acts come under core prohibitions, all of Orthodox Judaism puts certain core homosexual acts, including male-male anal sex
, in the category of yehareg ve'al ya'avor, "die rather than transgress" – the small category of Biblically prohibited
acts (including apostasy, murder, idolatry, adultery, and incest) which an Orthodox Jew is obligated under Jewish laws on self-sacrifice
to die rather than commit.
Familiarity with sociological
and biological
studies, as well as personal contact with Jewish homosexuals, has brought some Orthodox leaders to a more sympathetic viewpoint, which views homosexuals as mentally ill rather than rebellious and advocates treatment rather than ostracism or jail. In the 1974 yearbook of the Encyclopedia Judaica, Rabbi Norman Lamm
, a leader in Modern Orthodox Judaism
, urged sympathy and treatment: "Judaism allows for no compromise in its abhorrence of sodomy, but encourages both compassion and efforts at rehabilitation." Lamm compared homosexuals to those who attempt suicide
(also a sin in Jewish law), arguing that in both cases it would be irresponsible to shun or jail the sinner, but equally wrong for society to give "open or even tacit approval".
When Orthodox rabbi Steven Greenberg
publicly announced that he was homosexual, Rabbi Moshe Tendler
, a leading rabbi at the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva University
where Greenberg was ordained as rabbi
, stated "It is very sad that an individual who attended our yeshiva
sunk to the depths of what we consider a depraved society," giving his opinion that Rabbi Greenberg's announcement is "the exact same as if he said, 'I'm an Orthodox Rabbi and I eat ham sandwiches on Yom Kippur
.' What you are is a Reform
Rabbi."
David is an observant Orthodox Jewish doctor from Los Angeles who has spent a decade trying to reconcile his homosexuality with Judaism. He has tried numerous forms of "treatment", from eating figs and praying to wearing a rubber band on his wrist to flick whenever he thinks of men, but to no avail. During the course of the film, David decides to visit the Chabad
rabbi to whom he first came out.
Israel is a 58-year-old New Yorker who decided he couldn't be gay and Orthodox, and turned his back on his religion, though not before his family forced him into electroshock therapy
to try to cure him. Now a tour guide
around the Haredi neighborhoods of New York, the film follows him as he gives a tour, psychoanalyzes himself and decides, on the 25th anniversary of being with his life partner
, to call his 98-year-old father, a rabbi, whom he has not seen in over twenty years.
Michelle is another New Yorker, in her forties, who believed she was the only Hasidic
lesbian in the world and as a consequence allowed herself to be pressured into marriage. However, she got divorced and was subsequently ostracized by her family and community when they discovered she was homosexual. The film shows her visiting her old neighborhood and an Orthodox fair.
Rabbi Steven Greenberg, one of the founding members of the Jerusalem Open House, a gay rights
organization in Israel which provides support to gay Orthodox Jews and their families, who is sometimes called "the world’s first openly gay Orthodox rabbi", discusses parents' reactions to their children coming out
, as well as traditional interpretations of the prohibitions on homosexual acts in the Torah
.
Shlomo Ashkenazy is a gay psychotherapist who has run a confidential support group
for Orthodox gay men for nearly 20 years. He is interviewed about the effects of Orthodox attitudes to homosexuality and the reactions of rabbis to gay Jews.
Mark is the English son of an ultra-Orthodox rabbi. Coming out at 15, he was expelled from seven yeshiva
s for homosexual activity before becoming a drag queen
, and is now dying of AIDS
-related illness. He visits several yeshivas and other religious sites throughout the film. He remains upbeat, at one point saying, "Being a Jew is such a nice present to receive."
"Malka" and "Leah" are two observant Orthodox lesbians who have been together for ten years, which has destroyed Malka's relationship with her family. They speak frankly about their lives in the film and discuss their fears that they may not end up in heaven together. They are shown preparing for Shabbat, and Leah gives advice to a married Hasidic lesbian who is terrified her husband will find out and take away her children.
"Devorah" is a married Hasidic lesbian living in Israel. She only appears in silhouette with an electronically modified voice. She considered her twenty-year-long marriage a lie, and can only cope by taking antidepressant
s. The film follows her as she attends her first gay pride parade
, where she is offended by the anti-Orthodox sentiment of its speakers.
when he began to examine his own upbringing as a gay Conservative Jew
, and began making a personal video diary of his search for homosexuality among the Orthodox Jewish community. On the making of the film, DuBowski said, "I don't think it was until I met people who were kicked out of their families and their Yeshivas, in marriages betraying their spouses, that it became clear why I was doing this film. But then, for me it assumed an enormous level of responsibility to the people I met, to the issue, to the community." He met thousands of people, but only a few agreed to appear in the film, as most were too frightened of being expelled from their community. Even when interviewing those who did agree to appear, DuBowski had to hide his film equipment so their neighbors would not know that they had agreed to take part. As a result, the documentary took six years to complete.
There is no narration, and the film may be considered to be an example of cinéma vérité
. The film is also interspersed with silhouetted tableaus of Jewish religious practices, for example Shabbat
. The language is predominantly English, with passages in Yiddish
and Hebrew
that are subtitled
. Also subtitled are passages with significant amounts of "Yeshivish", Yiddish-influenced technical terms in Judaism
; for example, posek
is translated as "judge on Jewish law", and daven
is translated as "pray".
The title is an allusion to the word Haredi , which can be interpreted as "one who trembles" in awe of God. The spelling of the word G-d in the film's title reflects the Jewish practice of avoiding writing a name of God. By omitting the middle letter, the word is not written in full, thus eliminating the possibility of accidentally destroying the written name of God, which would violate one of the 613 Mitzvot
of Judaism (number 8 on Maimonides' list).
, it grossed $788,896 at the box office during its release. It was very warmly received by critics, one describing it: "With its testimony of anguish and joy, Trembling is a tribute to the human spirit, if not to the institutions that seek to define it." Critical reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes
were 89% positive, the 34th highest rating on the website's Top Movies:Best of Rotten Tomatoes
2001 rankings. On Metacritic
the film received a Metascore of 66 ("Generally favorable reviews").
, described the film as "intellectually shallow," commenting that "its one-sided caricature of Orthodox Judaism does not stimulate meaningful intellectual debate." A rabbi interviewed by DuBowski complained that the film "makes us appear to be narrow and bigoted". Arthur A. Goldberg
, co-director of the Jewish ex-gay
organization JONAH
, wrote a letter to the editor of The Jerusalem Post
lamenting the "film's biased and faulty assumption that same-sex attraction
and behavior is irreversible" and that "opposing points of view were, in the reviewer's words, left 'lying on DuBowski's cutting room floor.'" Orthodox clinical psychologist Adam Jessel commented that, "the film poignantly captures the torment of those torn between their religious beliefs and their same-sex attractions (SSA). One cannot help but feel compassion for DuBowski's interviewees who desperately miss the lifestyle, community and close family ties of the Orthodox world. Unfortunately, DuBowski's film goes further. Implicit in the film is the message that homosexuality is desirable, and that the interviewees' only struggle is having their choices accepted and validated by the community."
No Haredi Orthodox group spoke out in favor of Trembling Before G-d. Rabbi Avi Shafran
, the spokesperson for Agudath Israel of America
, one of the largest Haredi organizations, criticized the film with an article titled "Dissembling Before G-d". In his response, he holds that gay people can be cured through therapy, and that the movie is meant to promote homosexuality:
DuBowski maintains that there is no agenda to Trembling Before G-d "beyond alleviating an immense amount of pain that people are going through", and that Judaism is lovingly portrayed. Indeed, several audience members at screenings asked afterwards how they could convert.
With a seed grant from Steven Spielberg
, the creators of the film have set up the Trembling Before G-d Orthodox Education Project, to teach Orthodox educators and rabbis about homosexuality, as well as convening the first Orthodox Mental Health
Conference on Homosexuality and training facilitators to show the film to community leaders. Over 2000 principals, educators and school counselors have attended screenings within Israel's religious school
system. The film has now been seen by an estimated 8 million people worldwide. Following the success of Trembling before G-d, DuBowski produced a documentary about gay devout Muslims entitled A Jihad for Love.
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
American documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
Orthodox Jews
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
trying to reconcile their sexuality with their faith. It was directed by Sandi Simcha DuBowski
Sandi Simcha DuBowski
Sandi Simcha DuBowski is an American director and producer. Best known for his work on homosexuality and religion, DuBowski directed the 2001 documentary Trembling Before G-d and is the producer of Parvez Sharma's documentary A Jihad for Love .-Personal life:DuBowski was born in Brooklyn in 1970...
, an American who wanted to compare orthodox attitudes to homosexuality with his own upbringing as a gay Conservative Jew
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
. The film won several awards, including the Teddy Award
Teddy Award
The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival . Here, an "independent jury" implies that its members are not officially selected by the committee of the Berlinale...
for Best Documentary Film at the 2001 Berlin Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
, as well as Best Documentary at the 2001 Chicago International Film Festival
Chicago International Film Festival
The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America....
and the 2003 GLAAD Media Awards
GLAAD Media Awards
The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives...
.
Trembling Before G-d was filmed with compact, inconspicuous consumer video equipment and eventually digitally transferred to 35 mm film
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
. The footage was a mix of interviews shot in the subjects' homes and offices, sequences in the cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
style, and even material shot on a sound stage
Sound stage
In common usage, a sound stage is a soundproof, hangar-like structure, building, or room, used for the production of theatrical filmmaking and television production, usually located on a secure movie studio property.-Overview:...
, using volunteer actors "performing" Jewish rituals in silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
, behind a screen. The film is mostly in English, but also has some subtitled Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
and Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
.
The film follows the lives of several gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews and includes interviews with rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
s and psychotherapists about Orthodox attitudes towards homosexuality. During the film's six-year production, DuBowski met hundreds of homosexual Jews, but only a handful agreed to be filmed due to fear of being ostracized from their communities. Many people who agreed to be interviewed are shown only in silhouette or with their faces pixelized
Pixelization
Pixelization is a video- and image-editing technique in which an image is blurred by displaying part or all of it at a markedly lower resolution. It is primarily used for censorship...
. The majority of the participants are American Jews, with one British and one Israeli Jew also featured.
Trembling Before G-d was successful at the box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
, grossing over $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
5,500 on a single screen on its first day of release and $788,896 on eight screens by its close date on January 5, 2003. The film received ten award nominations, winning seven. Reception by the Orthodox communities was mixed. Several Orthodox synagogues sponsored showings of the film; no Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
Orthodox groups spoke out in favor of the film. Traditionally, Orthodox Judaism has prohibited homosexual conduct, as it was forbidden by the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
(see Homosexuality and Judaism
Homosexuality and Judaism
The subject of homosexuality in Judaism dates back to the Torah, in the books of Bereshit and Vayiqra. Bereshit treats the destruction of the cities of Sedom and Amorrah by God...
). In the last couple of decades, according to the documentary, positions on homosexuality have become more sympathetic. However, Haredi Judaism, the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, still views homosexuality as a perversion. As a result of the positive responses received from homosexual Orthodox Jews, however, the creators of the film have set up several organizations to teach Orthodox educators and rabbis about homosexuality.
Background
While a variety of views regarding homosexuality exist within the Orthodox JewishOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
community, Orthodox Judaism generally prohibits homosexual conduct. While there is disagreement about which acts come under core prohibitions, all of Orthodox Judaism puts certain core homosexual acts, including male-male anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
, in the category of yehareg ve'al ya'avor, "die rather than transgress" – the small category of Biblically prohibited
The Bible and homosexuality
There are a number of direct references to homosexuality in the Bible.In Mosaic law, male homosexuality is identified as an "abomination".In the New Testament, Paul of Tarsus condemns arsenokoitēs, a term related to male homosexuality that is open to much interpretation; it could mean male...
acts (including apostasy, murder, idolatry, adultery, and incest) which an Orthodox Jew is obligated under Jewish laws on self-sacrifice
Self-sacrifice under Jewish Law
Although rare, there are instances within Jewish law that mandate a Jew to sacrifice his or her own life rather than violate a religious prohibition. One of these prohibitions is that no life should be taken, including one's own...
to die rather than commit.
Familiarity with sociological
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
and biological
Biology and sexual orientation
Biology and sexual orientation is the subject of research into the role of biology in the development of human sexual orientation. No simple, single cause for sexual orientation has been conclusively demonstrated, but research suggests that it is by a combination of genetic, hormonal, and...
studies, as well as personal contact with Jewish homosexuals, has brought some Orthodox leaders to a more sympathetic viewpoint, which views homosexuals as mentally ill rather than rebellious and advocates treatment rather than ostracism or jail. In the 1974 yearbook of the Encyclopedia Judaica, Rabbi Norman Lamm
Norman Lamm
Norman Lamm is a major American Modern Orthodox rabbi, scholar, author and Jewish communal leader. He is presently the Chancellor of Yeshiva University....
, a leader in Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
, urged sympathy and treatment: "Judaism allows for no compromise in its abhorrence of sodomy, but encourages both compassion and efforts at rehabilitation." Lamm compared homosexuals to those who attempt suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
(also a sin in Jewish law), arguing that in both cases it would be irresponsible to shun or jail the sinner, but equally wrong for society to give "open or even tacit approval".
When Orthodox rabbi Steven Greenberg
Steven Greenberg (rabbi)
Steven Greenberg is an American rabbi. He is generally described as the first openly gay Orthodox Jewish rabbi. His being an Orthodox rabbi is disputed by some Orthodox Jews since he publicly disclosed he was gay in an article in the Israeli newspaper Maariv in 1999 and participated in the 2001...
publicly announced that he was homosexual, Rabbi Moshe Tendler
Moshe David Tendler
Moshe David Tendler is the rabbi of The Community Synagogue of Monsey. He is a senior Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University's RIETS and the Rabbi Isaac and Bella Tendler Professor of Jewish Medical Ethics and Professor of Biology at Yeshiva College. He has a Ph.D...
, a leading rabbi at the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
where Greenberg was ordained as rabbi
Semicha
, also , or is derived from a Hebrew word which means to "rely on" or "to be authorized". It generally refers to the ordination of a rabbi within Judaism. In this sense it is the "transmission" of rabbinic authority to give advice or judgment in Jewish law...
, stated "It is very sad that an individual who attended our yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
sunk to the depths of what we consider a depraved society," giving his opinion that Rabbi Greenberg's announcement is "the exact same as if he said, 'I'm an Orthodox Rabbi and I eat ham sandwiches on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
.' What you are is a Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
Rabbi."
Synopsis
Trembling Before G-d interviews and follows several gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews, many only seen in silhouette, and also interviews several rabbis and psychologists regarding their views on homosexuality in Orthodox Judaism. The film repeatedly returns to several characters:David is an observant Orthodox Jewish doctor from Los Angeles who has spent a decade trying to reconcile his homosexuality with Judaism. He has tried numerous forms of "treatment", from eating figs and praying to wearing a rubber band on his wrist to flick whenever he thinks of men, but to no avail. During the course of the film, David decides to visit the Chabad
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
rabbi to whom he first came out.
Israel is a 58-year-old New Yorker who decided he couldn't be gay and Orthodox, and turned his back on his religion, though not before his family forced him into electroshock therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy , formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect. Its mode of action is unknown...
to try to cure him. Now a tour guide
Tour guide
A tour guide provides assistance, information and cultural, historical and contemporary heritage interpretation to people on organized tours, individual clients, educational establishments, at religious and historical sites, museums, and at venues of other significant interest...
around the Haredi neighborhoods of New York, the film follows him as he gives a tour, psychoanalyzes himself and decides, on the 25th anniversary of being with his life partner
Life partner
A life partner is a romantic or otherwise very close friend for life. The partners can be of the same or opposite sexes, married or unmarried, and monogamous or polyamorous....
, to call his 98-year-old father, a rabbi, whom he has not seen in over twenty years.
Michelle is another New Yorker, in her forties, who believed she was the only Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
lesbian in the world and as a consequence allowed herself to be pressured into marriage. However, she got divorced and was subsequently ostracized by her family and community when they discovered she was homosexual. The film shows her visiting her old neighborhood and an Orthodox fair.
Rabbi Steven Greenberg, one of the founding members of the Jerusalem Open House, a gay rights
LGBT social movements
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender social movements share inter-related goals of social acceptance of sexual and gender minorities. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their allies have a long history of campaigning for what is generally called LGBT rights, also called gay...
organization in Israel which provides support to gay Orthodox Jews and their families, who is sometimes called "the world’s first openly gay Orthodox rabbi", discusses parents' reactions to their children coming out
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
, as well as traditional interpretations of the prohibitions on homosexual acts in the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
.
Shlomo Ashkenazy is a gay psychotherapist who has run a confidential support group
Support group
In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic...
for Orthodox gay men for nearly 20 years. He is interviewed about the effects of Orthodox attitudes to homosexuality and the reactions of rabbis to gay Jews.
Mark is the English son of an ultra-Orthodox rabbi. Coming out at 15, he was expelled from seven yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s for homosexual activity before becoming a drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
, and is now dying of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
-related illness. He visits several yeshivas and other religious sites throughout the film. He remains upbeat, at one point saying, "Being a Jew is such a nice present to receive."
"Malka" and "Leah" are two observant Orthodox lesbians who have been together for ten years, which has destroyed Malka's relationship with her family. They speak frankly about their lives in the film and discuss their fears that they may not end up in heaven together. They are shown preparing for Shabbat, and Leah gives advice to a married Hasidic lesbian who is terrified her husband will find out and take away her children.
"Devorah" is a married Hasidic lesbian living in Israel. She only appears in silhouette with an electronically modified voice. She considered her twenty-year-long marriage a lie, and can only cope by taking antidepressant
Antidepressant
An antidepressant is a psychiatric medication used to alleviate mood disorders, such as major depression and dysthymia and anxiety disorders such as social anxiety disorder. According to Gelder, Mayou &*Geddes people with a depressive illness will experience a therapeutic effect to their mood;...
s. The film follows her as she attends her first gay pride parade
Gay pride parade
Pride parades for the LGBT community are events celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture. The events also at times serve as demonstrations for legal rights such as same-sex marriage...
, where she is offended by the anti-Orthodox sentiment of its speakers.
Production
Sandi Simcha DuBowski was making videos about the Christian religious rightChristian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
when he began to examine his own upbringing as a gay Conservative Jew
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
, and began making a personal video diary of his search for homosexuality among the Orthodox Jewish community. On the making of the film, DuBowski said, "I don't think it was until I met people who were kicked out of their families and their Yeshivas, in marriages betraying their spouses, that it became clear why I was doing this film. But then, for me it assumed an enormous level of responsibility to the people I met, to the issue, to the community." He met thousands of people, but only a few agreed to appear in the film, as most were too frightened of being expelled from their community. Even when interviewing those who did agree to appear, DuBowski had to hide his film equipment so their neighbors would not know that they had agreed to take part. As a result, the documentary took six years to complete.
There is no narration, and the film may be considered to be an example of cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité
Cinéma vérité is a style of documentary filmmaking, combining naturalistic techniques with stylized cinematic devices of editing and camerawork, staged set-ups, and the use of the camera to provoke subjects. It is also known for taking a provocative stance toward its topics.There are subtle yet...
. The film is also interspersed with silhouetted tableaus of Jewish religious practices, for example Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
. The language is predominantly English, with passages in Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
and Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
that are subtitled
Subtitle (captioning)
Subtitles are textual versions of the dialog in films and television programs, usually displayed at the bottom of the screen. They can either be a form of written translation of a dialog in a foreign language, or a written rendering of the dialog in the same language, with or without added...
. Also subtitled are passages with significant amounts of "Yeshivish", Yiddish-influenced technical terms in Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
; for example, posek
Posek
Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....
is translated as "judge on Jewish law", and daven
Jewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
is translated as "pray".
The title is an allusion to the word Haredi , which can be interpreted as "one who trembles" in awe of God. The spelling of the word G-d in the film's title reflects the Jewish practice of avoiding writing a name of God. By omitting the middle letter, the word is not written in full, thus eliminating the possibility of accidentally destroying the written name of God, which would violate one of the 613 Mitzvot
613 mitzvot
The 613 commandments is a numbering of the statements and principles of law, ethics, and spiritual practice contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses...
of Judaism (number 8 on Maimonides' list).
Critical
Trembling Before G-d was put out on general release on October 21, 2001 in New York City, where it broke Film Forum's opening day box office records, grossing more than $5,500 on the first day of release. According to Box Office MojoBox Office Mojo
Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. Brandon Gray started the site in 1999. In 2002, Gray partnered with Sean Saulsbury and they grew the site to nearly two million readers when, in July 2008, the company was purchased by Amazon.com through...
, it grossed $788,896 at the box office during its release. It was very warmly received by critics, one describing it: "With its testimony of anguish and joy, Trembling is a tribute to the human spirit, if not to the institutions that seek to define it." Critical reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
were 89% positive, the 34th highest rating on the website's Top Movies:Best of Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
2001 rankings. On Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
the film received a Metascore of 66 ("Generally favorable reviews").
Religious
Trembling Before G-d has had a wide impact especially within the Orthodox Jewish world, where the reception has been mixed. Several Orthodox synagogues sponsored showings of the film all over the world, including in Israel. The Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Warren GoldsteinWarren Goldstein
Rabbi Warren Goldstein is the Chief Rabbi of South Africa since 2005. Born in Pretoria, he currently lives in Johannesburg. He is the first Chief Rabbi of South Africa who was born in South Africa and the youngest person ever to be appointed to that post, at age 32.-Education:The Chief Rabbi...
, described the film as "intellectually shallow," commenting that "its one-sided caricature of Orthodox Judaism does not stimulate meaningful intellectual debate." A rabbi interviewed by DuBowski complained that the film "makes us appear to be narrow and bigoted". Arthur A. Goldberg
Arthur A. Goldberg
Arthur Abba Goldberg is an American attorney, businessman and leader in the ex-gay movement. He is the former Executive Secretary of the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality , co-founder and co-director of Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing , president of Positive...
, co-director of the Jewish ex-gay
Ex-gay
The ex-gay movement consists of people and organizations that seek to get people to refrain from entering or pursuing same-sex relationships, to eliminate homosexual desires, to develop heterosexual desires, or to enter into a heterosexual relationship...
organization JONAH
Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality
Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing , formerly Jews Offering New Alternatives to Homosexuality, is a non-profit organization which is "dedicated to educating the world-wide Jewish community about the social, cultural and emotional factors which lead to same-sex sexual attractions...
, wrote a letter to the editor of The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
lamenting the "film's biased and faulty assumption that same-sex attraction
Same-sex attraction
Same-sex attraction is a term occasionally used instead of the more common term homosexuality to refer to a person's feelings of sexual attraction toward members of the same gender identity....
and behavior is irreversible" and that "opposing points of view were, in the reviewer's words, left 'lying on DuBowski's cutting room floor.'" Orthodox clinical psychologist Adam Jessel commented that, "the film poignantly captures the torment of those torn between their religious beliefs and their same-sex attractions (SSA). One cannot help but feel compassion for DuBowski's interviewees who desperately miss the lifestyle, community and close family ties of the Orthodox world. Unfortunately, DuBowski's film goes further. Implicit in the film is the message that homosexuality is desirable, and that the interviewees' only struggle is having their choices accepted and validated by the community."
No Haredi Orthodox group spoke out in favor of Trembling Before G-d. Rabbi Avi Shafran
Avi Shafran
Abraham Shafran is a Haredi rabbi who serves as the Director of Public Affairs for Agudath Israel of America and who is Editor-at-Large of Ami . Agudath Israel was established to meet the needs and viewpoint of many Haredi Jews, while Ami, launched on November 24, 2010, promises to serve a broader...
, the spokesperson for Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America , is a Haredi Jewish communal organization in the United States loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel.-Functions:...
, one of the largest Haredi organizations, criticized the film with an article titled "Dissembling Before G-d". In his response, he holds that gay people can be cured through therapy, and that the movie is meant to promote homosexuality:
DuBowski maintains that there is no agenda to Trembling Before G-d "beyond alleviating an immense amount of pain that people are going through", and that Judaism is lovingly portrayed. Indeed, several audience members at screenings asked afterwards how they could convert.
Accolades
| Year | Group | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Washington Jewish Film Festival | Audience Award ― Special Mention | Won |
| Sundance Film Festival Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new... |
Grand Jury Prize | Nominated | |
| Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival The Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival is an annual film festival in Seattle which first took place in 1996. It is part of Three Dollar Bill Cinema, a nonprofit organization which promotes queer cinema. The 15th Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival took place October 15–24, 2010.-References:* * *... |
Audience Award ― Favorite Documentary | Won | |
| L.A. Outfest Outfest Outfest is an LGBT-oriented film showcase and festival in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1982 as the "Gay and Lesbian Media Festival and Conference", the name was changed to Outfest in 1994.-Programs:... |
Grand Jury Award ― Outstanding Documentary Feature | Won | |
| Chicago International Film Festival Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America.... |
Gold Plaque | Won | |
| Berlin International Film Festival Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978... |
Don Quixote Award ― Special Mention | Won | |
| Teddy Teddy Award The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival . Here, an "independent jury" implies that its members are not officially selected by the committee of the Berlinale... ― Best Film |
|||
| 2002 | Glitter Awards | Best Documentary voted by the U.S. Gay Press | Won |
| Independent Spirit Awards Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit... |
Truer Than Fiction Award | Nominated | |
| 2003 | GLAAD Media Awards GLAAD Media Awards The GLAAD Media Award is an accolade bestowed by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to recognize and honor various branches of the media for their outstanding representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives... |
Outstanding Documentary | Won |
| 2004 | Satellite Awards Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Best Documentary DVD | Nominated |
Legacy
The DVD was released in 2003 and contains many extra features, such as extensive interviews with DuBowski and Rabbi Steven Greenberg. There is also a mini-documentary about reactions to the film around the world and what happened to the people who were featured in the documentary. The total running time for the special features is actually over 2 hours longer than the documentary itself.With a seed grant from Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
, the creators of the film have set up the Trembling Before G-d Orthodox Education Project, to teach Orthodox educators and rabbis about homosexuality, as well as convening the first Orthodox Mental Health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
Conference on Homosexuality and training facilitators to show the film to community leaders. Over 2000 principals, educators and school counselors have attended screenings within Israel's religious school
Education in Israel
Education in Israel refers to the comprehensive education system of Israel. Expenditure on education accounts for approximately 10% of GDP, and most schools are subsidized by the state.-Educational tracks:...
system. The film has now been seen by an estimated 8 million people worldwide. Following the success of Trembling before G-d, DuBowski produced a documentary about gay devout Muslims entitled A Jihad for Love.
See also
- Keep Not SilentKeep Not SilentKeep Not Silent is a documentary film by Israeli director Ilil Alexander about three lesbians in Jerusalem. It won the Israeli Academy Award for best documentary in 2004 as well as 8 international awards including two audience awards in Berlin and Italy.Lesbianism is generally viewed as forbidden...
(2002 documentary) - Say AmenSay AmenSay Amen is a personal documentary film by David Deri, an Orthodox Jew, who reveals his homosexuality to his parents and siblings. The documentary is named one of the best five documentaries of the year 2005 by Israeli Film Academy and appeared in many film festivals, including HOTDOCS-Toronto,...
(2005) a documentary about a gay man coming out to his Orthodox family - And Thou Shalt LoveAnd Thou Shalt LoveAnd Thou Shalt Love is an Israeli short film. It was directed by Chaim Elbaum. The film examines the difficulties of being both an Orthodox Jew and gay. The story is based on Elbaum's experiences with being gay....
(2008) an IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i short film that examines the difficulties of being both an Orthodox Jew and gayGayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....