Sometimes it seems that hardly a day can go by without the subject of Fundamentalist Christians and their efforts to deny any rights to gay and lesbian citizens being in the news. Especially in this day and age, the controversy seems to dominate the news. Although Christian voices seem to be the loudest and their opinions readily available to anyone who shoves a microphone in front of one of them, little is said about homosexuality from the perspective of the Jewish faith. Considering many of the biblical quotes singled out by those Fundamentalists come from the Old Testament, it’s curious as to why that is.

In Trembling Before G-d, Sandi Simcha Dubowski has crafted a documentary about those gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews who have found themselves estranged from their families after revealing themselves and being true to who they are.  The basic tenets of their religion don’t allow for their existence, and they find themselves in quite a difficult position.

The stories are interesting. Many of those who consent to be interviewed still want their faces hidden from the camera. The pain is evident, as in general, they are shunned from their friends and family if they come out.  Both women and men end up in arranged marriages that look good on the outside but are anything but under the surface.  These people, both the ones who showed their faces and the ones who remain hidden, all speak of the struggle within.  They fought their true identity for years and made it clear that if there was any way possible for them to “choose” not to be gay, they would have done it.

The Orthodox Rabbis who appear in the film do not see it that way.  They don’t approve of what they see as a lifestyle choice, but at the same time, they don’t want to see these people cast out of the community.  As stated before, many of them tried to have conventional heterosexual lives, and there are spouses and children in the mix as well.  The Rabbis struggle with helping these people, not wanting to cast them out, and knowing the struggle they went through with their identity as well.

The most powerful statement, though, comes from one struggling man named David.  He struggles through the years with his identity, trying to live a “normal” Orthodox life, visiting with numerous Rabbis and counselors in an attempt to figure out what to do about his sexual orientation.  He finally makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and to see the first Rabbi he was taught by in an attempt to come to terms with his place in the Orthodox Jewish world.

I found Trembling Before G-d to be fascinating.  When I talk with my gay and lesbian friends, most of the context is with the way they are treated by Fundamentalist Christians. This brought another perspective to light.  Although to some degree the religious beliefs are the same, there seems to be less of the vitriol that permeates the arguments and protests of the religious right.  There’s also a mixture of responses to the situation.

However, the mixture of people who were willing to show their faces and those who felt the need to hide in the shadows speaks to the stigma that is attached to being a homosexual in the Orthodox Jewish community.  Some felt the need to show themselves and put a face to the issue, while others are not quite ready for that step, and may never be.

There is a second disc with bonus material, which I found to be just as interesting as the film itself.  Six years in the making, there was plenty of research and material to cover as Dubowski struggled to present the subject matter in a sensitive but revealing manner.  It’s worth taking the time to watch it, especially some of the extended interviews.

I had never given much thought to the implications of being gay and Jewish before Trembling Before G-d, but it clearly is interesting subject matter.  There didn’t seem to be one way the community dealt with the situation, and the varying perspectives and situations are presented in a sensitive and sympathetic manner.  It’s definitely something people should see.



BONUS MATERIAL: 

• Featurette: Trembling on the Road: A Look at the Life-Changing Movement of the Film Around the World
• Director’s Short Film – Tomboychik
• Interview with the Director Sandi Simcha Dubowski
• Behind the Silhouettes
• More with Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the First Openly Gay Orthodox Rabbi
• Mark: The Musical
• Conversation with Editor/Creative Collaborator Susan Korda
• Deleted Scene: Sara and Her Kids
• Petach Lev: The Trembling Israeli Education Project
• Shlomo on Donahue
• What is the Atonement Ceremony for Sexual Sins?
• Theatrical Trailer