The film received ten award nominations, winning seven, including Best Documentary awards at the 2001 Berlin and Chicago film festivals. However, some criticized the film as showing a one-sided view of Orthodox Judaism's response to homosexuality. These include South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein as well as Agudah spokesperson Avi Shafran.
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 rabbis 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.[1] Many people who agreed to be interviewed are shown only in silhouette or with their faces pixelized.[2] The majority of the participants are American Jews, with one British and one Israeli Jew also featured. The film was successful at the box office, grossing over $788,896 on eight screens by its close date.[3]
While a variety of views regarding homosexuality exist within the Orthodox Jewish 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.[4]
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".[5]
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."[6]
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.[2] During the course of the film, David decides to visit the Chabad rabbi to whom he first came out.[7]
Israel is a 58-year-old New Yorker who decided he could not 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 in 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.[8]
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.[9]
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",[10] 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.[8] He is interviewed about the effects of Orthodox attitudes to homosexuality and the reactions of rabbis to gay Jews.[11]
Mark is the English son of a Haredi rabbi. Coming out at 15, he was expelled from seven yeshivas 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.[12] 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.[8]
"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 antidepressants.[13] The film follows her as she attends her first gay pride parade, where she is offended by the anti-orthodox sentiment of its speakers.
Production
Sandi Simcha DuBowski was making videos about the Christian religious right 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.[14] 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.[15] 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.[1]
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.[14] 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 (Hebrew: חֲרֵדִי), which can be interpreted as "one who trembles" in awe of God.[16] The spelling of the word G-d in the film's title reflects practice by Orthodox Jews of avoiding writing a name of God, even in English. 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).
Filmworks IX: Trembling Before G-d is the ninth album of film scores by John Zorn.[17] The album was released on Zorn's label, Tzadik Records, in 2000 and features the music that Zorn wrote and recorded for the documentary Trembling Before G-d. Five of the tracks are pieces from Zorn's Masada songbook.[18]
The Allmusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album four stars noting:
Trembling Before G-D is a high-water mark. Not for John Zorn, because he sets new ones for himself each and every time he releases something, but for other composers, particularly those of film soundtracks. Without the images, Zorn has given us a work of solemn beauty, a work that uses silence and tradition even as it reinvents the places in which they inhabit. Certainly this is his most "accessible" music, whatever that means, but it is also—simultaneously—sacred music, secular music, and American classical music of the highest order.[19]
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.[20] According to Box Office Mojo, it grossed $788,896 at the box office during its release.[3] 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."[21] 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.[22] On Metacritic the film received a score of 66, indicating "Generally favorable reviews".[23]
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.[24][25] The Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Warren Goldstein, described the film as "intellectually shallow," commenting that "its one-sided caricature of Orthodox Judaism does not stimulate meaningful intellectual debate."[26] A rabbi interviewed by DuBowski complained that the film "makes us appear to be narrow and bigoted".[27]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.'"[28] Orthodox clinical psychologist Adam Jessel commented:[29]
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:
Unfortunately, though, "Trembling" seems to have other intents as well. While it never baldly advocates the case for broader societal acceptance of homosexuality or for the abandonment of elements of the Jewish religious tradition, those causes are subtly evident in the stark, simplistic picture the film presents of sincere, conflicted and victimized men and women confronted by a largely stern and stubborn cadre of rabbis. That picture is both incomplete and distorted. For starters, the film refuses to even allow for the possibility that men and women with homosexual predilections might ― with great effort, to be sure ― achieve successful and happy marriages to members of the opposite sex.
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.[31]
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.[33] The total running time for the special features is actually over 2 hours longer than the documentary itself.[13]
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,[15] as well as convening the first Orthodox Mental Health Conference on Homosexuality and training facilitators to show the film to community leaders.[34] Over 2000 principals, educators and school counselors have attended screenings within Israel's religious school system.[35] The film has now been seen by an estimated 8 million people worldwide.[36] Following the success of Trembling before G-d, DuBowski produced a documentary about gay devout Muslims entitled A Jihad for Love.[36]
The subject of homosexuality and Judaism dates back to the Torah. The book of Vayikra (Leviticus) is traditionally regarded as classifying sexual intercourse between males as a to'eivah that can be subject to capital punishment by the current Sanhedrin under halakha.
Haredi Judaism consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to halakha and traditions, in opposition to modern values and practices. Its members are usually referred to as ultra-Orthodox in English; however, the term "ultra-Orthodox" is considered pejorative by many of its adherents, who prefer terms like strictly Orthodox or Haredi. Haredi Jews regard themselves as the most religiously authentic group of Jews, although other movements of Judaism disagree.
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law with the modern world.
Norman Lamm was an American Modern Orthodox rabbi, scholar, academic administrator, author, and Jewish community leader. He was the Chancellor of Yeshiva University until he announced his retirement on July 1, 2013.
Steven Greenberg is an American rabbi with a rabbinic ordination from the Orthodox rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University (RIETS). He is described as the first openly gay Orthodox-ordained Jewish rabbi, since he publicly disclosed he is gay in an article in the Israeli newspaper Maariv in 1999 and participated in a 2001 documentary film about gay men and women raised in the Orthodox Jewish world.
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.
Keep Not Silent is a 2004 Israeli documentary film directed and produced by Ilil Alexander about three lesbians in Jerusalem. Ilil had just graduated from Tel-Aviv University Film School.
Sandi Simcha DuBowski is an American director and producer, best known for his work on the intersection of LGBT people and their religion, DuBowski directed the 2001 documentary Trembling Before G-d and is the producer of Parvez Sharma's documentary A Jihad for Love (2007).
Criticism of Conservative Judaism is widespread in the Orthodox Jewish community, although the movement also has its critics in Reform Judaism and in other streams of Judaism. While the Conservative movement professes fidelity to Jewish tradition, it considers Halakha to be a dynamic process that needs reinterpreting in modern times. The criticism by Orthodox Jews and traditionalists within the movement itself revolves around the following:
Keshet is a national grassroots organization with offices in Boston, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area that works for the full equality and inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Jews in Jewish life. Led and supported by LGBTQ Jews and straight allies, Keshet offers resources, training, and technical assistance to create inclusive Jewish communities nationwide. Keshet produced the documentary Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School and companion curriculum.
Chaim Dov Keller was an American Haredi rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Telshe Yeshiva in Chicago for six decades. He was also a member of the "Nesius" (Presidium) of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America.
Orthodox Jewish outreach, often referred to as Kiruv or Qiruv, is the collective work or movement of Orthodox Judaism that reaches out to non-observant Jews to encourage belief in God and life according to Jewish law. The process of a Jew becoming more observant of Orthodox Judaism is called teshuva making the "returnee" a baal teshuva. Orthodox Jewish outreach has worked to enhance the rise of the baal teshuva movement.
The first openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender clergy in Judaism were ordained as rabbis and/or cantors in the second half of the 20th century.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) affirming denominations in Judaism are Jewish religious groups that welcome LGBT members and do not consider homosexuality to be a sin. They include both entire Jewish denominations, as well as individual synagogues. Some are composed mainly of non-LGBT members and also have specific programs to welcome LGBT people, while others are composed mainly of LGBT members.
Same-sex marriage in Judaism has been a subject of debate within Jewish denominations. The traditional view among Jews is to regard same-sex relationships as categorically forbidden by the Torah. This remains the current view of Orthodox Judaism.
Bet Mishpachah is a non-denominational Jewish egalitarian worshiping community and congregation that supports a synagogue, located in the Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C., in the United States.
Ron Yosef is the founder of the Israeli organization Hod, which represents Israeli gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews. His organization has played a central role in the recent reevaluation of the role of religious homosexuals in the Israeli Religious Zionist movement.
This is a timeline of LGBT Jewish history, which consists of events at the intersection of Judaism and queer people.
Eshel is a nonprofit organization in the United States and Canada that creates community and acceptance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ+) Jews and their families in Orthodox Jewish communities. Eshel provides education and advocacy, a speaker's bureau, community gatherings, and a social network for individuals and institutions. It was founded in 2010 to provide hope and a future for LGBTQ+ Jews excluded from Orthodox and Torah observant communities.
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