Being descended from a prestigious rabbinical lineage is an honor but a lot of pressure. What happens if you’re gay?
A new documentary, “Sabbath Queen,” playing in theaters in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, traces the conflicting feelings over 21 years of Amichai Lau-Lavie, who is descended from 38 generations of rabbis.
Among the more famous was his father’s brother, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who served as chief Ashkenazic rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003. Lau-Lavie’s grandfather, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau, died with his congregation during the Holocaust in the gas chambers of Treblinka.
The film explores the complications of this legacy and how his family is uncomfortable with his path but attempts to accept him. Lau-Lavie arrives in New York in the 1990s as a young gay man, appearing around the city in drag as “Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross,” the frosted-wigged widow of six Hasidic rabbis. He declares: “Artists are the new rabbis.”
Lau-Lavie pursues several creative spiritual endeavors in the following years, but then decides to become a rabbi himself, studying in the Conservative tradition of Judaism.
Later he becomes a father. What does this new style of family mean, in his personal life, to his parents and to Judaism in general? Is he a rebel? Is he making his religion more relatable to contemporary Jews?
Ultimately, Lau-Lavie fulfilled his grandfather’s final wish: That his family remain Jewish and maintain its unbroken rabbinic lineage.
The documentary’s director, Sandi DuBowski, will be available for post-screening Q&A sessions on select dates.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: “Sabbath Queen,” a documentary about Amichai Lau-Lavie
WHEN/WHERE:
- Feb. 4-6, Savor Cinema, 503 SE Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale
- Feb. 7-10, Cinema Paradiso, 2008 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood
- Feb. 9, Coral Gables Art Cinema, 260 Aragon Ave.
COST:
- At Savor Cinema and Cinema Paradiso, tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for seniors and $9 for matinees.
- At Coral Gables Art Cinema, cost is $15.75 for adults and $14 for students, seniors, and military.
INFORMATION: sabbathqueen.com