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November 14, 2025 - 24 Cheshvan 5786
Dear Friends, The Federal government may have reopened, but Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it’s often a hard time for families facing food insecurity. We’re collecting nonperishable food and personal items for an emergency food drive, so if you haven’t already contributed, please do so. Blue bags are set up in the social hall and you can place your items in them. Please see below for more details and thanks for your participation! A couple of weeks ago, I hadn't seen the hugely successful film "Bad Shabbos" at all. Since then, I have seen it twice. Knowing the premise a bit as I did, with an unfortunate demise coloring a family's attempts at celebrating Shabbat, I was surprised at my response to the film. Both times. Usually, when the characters of a film are, shall we say, not quite paragons of ethics, getting into and enjoying it become incredibly difficult for me. Not this time. "Bad Shabbos" had me roaring and guffawing throughout both viewings. So, what gives? What is it about this movie that has struck a chord - and a funny bone - with so many people? I think there are a few things at play here: The first is the characters. While there is a very fine line between being authentic and being a stereotype or caricature, for me, these folks all seemed real, like someone you know. The bringing together of Jewish and non-Jewish families via the relationship of their children, the wanting to make a great first impression, the balancing of tradition with an open and blended world - all of these speak to the moment we are in as American Jews. As such, the film felt to me like a comedic period piece, like a snapshot of New York Jewish life in the 2020s. The second, and most important, but obviously related element is that it was just silly. While the characters and backdrop felt real and recognizable, the situation was clearly farcical, offering us countless opportunities to suspend our disbelief and just laugh. In a post-October 7th world, with the intensity of our mere existence, being Jewish and living Jewish lives unfortunately doesn't always feel so joyful or fun. "Bad Shabbos" gave us an absurdly delineated space and time to laugh - at the film and these characters, sure, but especially at ourselves. And I think, perhaps more than any other time I can recall, we really, truly needed this. To smile and to laugh, to experience joyful and humorous Judaism, most especially in theaters and other communal settings, is not just good for us, collectively and individually, but even more so, I would argue, is completely necessary. To be Jewish, and to be a human being, is to find balance - between responding to what keeps us up at night on the one hand, and experiencing the love, warmth, humor, and joy that life and the world has to offer us on the other. "Bad Shabbos" reminded us that being Jewish is just as much about the latter as it is the former. The beginning of this week's Parasha, Chayei Sarah, says: "Sarah's lifetime - the span of Sarah's life - came to one hundred and twenty years." The Hebrew syntax is interesting, as the sentence includes four different variants of the word for "years" (Shanah twice, plus Shanim and Sh'nei). Rashi says the word is repeated to indicate that "they were all equally good," that Sarah lived a full and beautiful life. Parts of our years may be happy, sad, challenging, painful, wonderful, and difficult. But when we live our lives in a way that seeks meaning and purpose, balanced with enjoyment, celebration, and revelry, then we are living the fullest lives we can. And there is nothing more Jewish than that! Hoping your Shabbos is a good one! Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi Joshua Strom
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