We watched Marty Supreme this week. My children were moved and animated by the film, which is loosely based on the real-life story of Marty Reisman, a shoe salesman, and a hustler and a brilliant table-tennis champion in the late1950s . The film captures a certain Jewish angst specific to post-war New York, yet endemic to that post-war identity everywhere. As the director Josh Safdie said, “I do think there is a certain unrest in Jewish culture.”
The enduring image of the film is this tenacious, smart and reckless young man wearing a Magen David chain throughout. He refers to his people and his past a great deal, inviting the viewer to reflect on the Jewish spirit that enthused him, the film and many of us today.
The word am, “people,” occurs nearly 1,500 times throughout the Hebrew Bible, 204 of which appear in the Book of Exodus. These particular parshiot hold the core of our people’s identity and storytelling. On seven occasions, the word ammi, “my people,” is expressed in the famous phrase addressed to Pharaoh, “Shallach et-ammi v’ya’avduni ba-midbar,” “Let my people go, that they may worship Me in the wilderness.”
We become a people through these Egypt narratives and the way we have held onto the story through generations. Yet the people we meet in this parasha are so downtrodden and exhausted they are unable to hear the consoling message of imminent freedom. The film reminded me of the enormous recalibration of Jewish life and existence post-Shoah:
וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר מֹשֶׁ֛ה כֵּ֖ן אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְלֹ֤א שָֽׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה מִקֹּ֣צֶר ר֔וּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָ֖ה קָשָֽׁה׃
“When Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by hard and cruel work.” (6:9)
Kotzer ruach literally means “shortness of breath.” As they were becoming a people, they initially resisted consolation but, as we know, eventually bought into the idea. And so the story continues for us, in every place, in every generation and in every heart.
Please join us for our extraordinary Holocaust Memorial Evening on Wednesday, 28th January. We will be showing the film Dragon, Chaos and Light, followed by a Q&A with the directors. More information here Chaos Dragon and the Light
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