A Serious Man was a great portrayal of Judaism and how the religion affects the lives of those that practice it. The film did a great job of incorporating Hebrew throughout certain scenes to show how integral it is in the religion and the Jewish culture. It proved that Judaism is not just a religion but also a culture that makes Jews unique. Throughout the film, it broadcasted how interconnected most Jews are and their willingness to help each other out. A Serious Man showcased how religion can still be prevalent in ones life. Clearly the movie was not all about Judaism, but it did showcase how core religion is in a Jews life even if they are not overly religious.
In the beginning of the movie, they provided a little prologue that is assumed to be a folklore. It shows a Jewish man and his wife in their house. The man had invited over an old friend, Reb Groshkover, for soup but the wife says that he died three years ago and must be a dybbuk. A dybbuk is said to be an evil spirit that possesses the body of a dead person according to Jewish mythology (About Religion). She later on confronts Groshkover and he laughs it off. The wife ends up stabbing him with an ice pick in the chest and she just leaves their house bleeding. While the folklore was not very relevant to the actual movie, it showed that Judaism is just like any religion and culture in that it has its own mythology and fables. In addition, it proved how integrated Hebrew and Yiddish is in their everyday conversations since dybbuk is a Yiddish word.
Throughout A Serious Man, Larry Gopnik has a serious of terrible events happen to him that steered him to turn to his religion for advice and solace. Within the first half hour of the movie, he finds out that his wife has fallen in love with another man and wants to get a divorce. She specifically wants to get a get so that she can remarry under the faith with Sy Ableman. A get is a legal document that terminated under Jewish law even if they already got a civil divorce. The couple remains together and married if the woman does not obtain a get, which would make her next marriage an adulterous one under Jewish law (Judaism 101). This shows how integral Judaism is in a Jew’s life even though they are not actually practicing the religion. Marriage is sacred to them but realize that sometimes divorces must happen so it is better for a couple to separate than be together in a loveless marriage (Judaism 101). This is very different to Catholicism where once you get a divorce, you cannot remarry under the Catholic Church.
Later on in the film, we see that Larry’s son, Danny, is in Hebrew school for his Bar Mitzvah. This is a Jewish tradition that involves a synagogue ceremony to celebrate manhood or womanhood if it is a Bat Mitzvah. The name comes from Hebrew where Bar means son and Bat stands for daughter. Mitzvah in Hebrew means commandments. It occurs when he or she turns 13 years old and obtains the obligation to fulfill the commandments in the Torah, Jewish bible (Chabad.org). It is a huge milestone is a Jew’s life that requires a lot of preparation since the young man or woman must learn to read Hebrew and understand what it truly means to be a Jew. They can now have a part in the synagogue. A huge party follows most Bar/Bat Mitzvahs for friends and family. While it was not shown in the movie, it is a big part of the event.
Another key part of Judaism featured in A Serious Man was the role of a rabbi. After Judith asked Larry for a divorce, he turned to his faith. He visited two different rabbis to understand why all these terrible things were happening to him. He went to see two of the junior rabbis in his synagogue since the senior rabbi was never available to see him. Both were not able to help him or provide him consolidation. Danny does end up talking to the senior rabbi, Marshak, after his Bar Mitzvah since it is part of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah tradition. He does not give any spiritual advice and just ends up reciting a song and returning the cassette player to Danny while instructing him to be good. Rabbis are the spiritual leaders in the Jewish community and faith. They must be well educated in the Jewish law and help those in the community who have questions in that matter (Judaism 101). Most people confuse them as priests such as in Christianity but in reality they have different roles and qualifications.
In the movie, it is mentioned on multiple occasions that Arthur, Larry’s brother, goes to the Hillel House for singles mixers. Hillel is big in the Jewish community especially for college students and can be seen in many campuses such as Tulane University, Florida State University, and the University of Florida. It is a way for Jews to continue practicing their religion and bond with other Jews. At Franklin and Marshall College, Alanna Skydell said, “Hillel was more than an inviting space to see friends and celebrate Shabbat; it fostered my leadership skills and passion for creating Jewish programming for others,” (Hillel International). In other worlds, it is a place to unite and enrich the community. Normally these places create activities to get the community to join together in their faith. The movie did not go into detail what exactly Arthur did at the Hillel House but we do know it was a way to connect with others in his Jewish community.
Judaism is a very unique religion as seen in A Serious Man. It can be considered a religion but also an ethnicity. As seen on page 83 of A Concise Introduction to World Religions, Judaism can also be an ethnicity since “the tradition is far more often inherited than chosen.” The Gopnick family was a perfect example of this. They did not actually participate in the religious aspects of it besides when Larry goes to talk to the rabbis. They were a part of the cultural aspect of Judaism. The Gopnick family are ethnic Jews but not necessarily religious Jews. Judaism is still religious considering many people still convert to it. While North America has mostly religious Jews, Israel actually has the highest proportion of religious Jews and has the highest amount of Jews. A key aspect of Judaism that religious Jews follow was seen in the video The Jewish Path by explaining how, “Judaism requires action called Mitzvot or commandments.” Clearly this part is not followed by most cultural/ethnic Jews. Since culture encompasses religion and practices such as eating, dressing, and speaking, this explains why there can exist both cultural Jews and religious Jews. Many cultural Jews like the Gopnick will speak and eat certain foods seen in Judaism such as challahs, latkes, and matzo ball soup, yet not actually practice the religious aspect of it. They still practice all the traditional aspects of it such as celebrating Passover, Yom Kippur, and Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. This explains why Danny got a Bar Mitzvah when he turned 13 years old. Cultural Jews place more emphasis on the actual practices over belief unlike religious Jews.
As mentioned earlier, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs are a huge milestone for the Jewish youth population to celebrate children entering adulthood. This is very similar to the American tradition of Sweet 16’s and the Hispanic tradition of Quinceñeros. Sweet 16’s and Quinceñeros may be for girls but all three celebrate adulthood. Each culture has a different age for adulthood. Jews reach maturity first in their culture just as the child becomes a teen at age 13. All three celebrations include a party with the girl or boy, in the case of Bar Mitzvah, dressed very nicely. Bar/Bat Mitzvahs just have a religious twist to the usual adulthood celebration. In the Jewish culture and religion, the child must participate in the ceremony in the synagogue and read from the Torah among his friends and family. The child is expected to understand his faith and read/write Hebrew. Sweet 16’s and Quinceñeros may celebrate a girl turning into a woman but Bar/Bat Mitzvahs actually celebrate when someone is
old enough to be an active member in their temple and follow the Torah’s commandments. To Jews, the party is not the most important part of the Bar/Bat Mitzvah, which is why it was not part of the film and why Larry is so proud and moved of Danny during his Bar Mitzvah.
Throughout the movie, it was seen that the Gopnick’s and most of the people around them were Jews. They even used a lot of Hebrew and Yiddish in their everyday vocabulary. This shows how integral the language is to the religion and culture, which confirms that Judaism is both an ethnicity and a religion. The characters would use words such as glib (smooth-talking), Kiddush (sanctification), Shabbat (day of rest), and hashem (God) throughout A Serious Man. Another words seen were shul (synagogue), goy (non-Jew), olam ha-ba (afterlife), chuppah (canopy during Jewish wedding), and shivas (week-long mourning period). While some of these words had religious connotations, most of them were words that could be used in normal conversation. This is similar to any time a group of people are bilingual and start to interchange languages during conversation. Hispanics tend to mix Spanish and English to form Spanglish. Although, this is not seen in many religions since some religions do not have a language attached to it like Christianity. It is a natural occurrence that is very big in the Judaism religion and culture. It can also be seen in Islam where Arabic is core to both the religious and ethnic aspect of Islam.
The main character of A Serious Man, Larry Gopnick, may not have been an overly religious Jew but Judaism still had a huge impact in his life. Jewish traditions and customs were constantly mentioned to show that he might not be a religious Jew but he was still an ethic Jew. After all his hardships, Larry did turn to his faith to find strength. The movie did a great portrayal of how interconnected the religion and culture are for Jews. The culture embodies every aspect of their life and makes them a tight knit community. Jews can rely on each other for anything. Tradition to them is integral to their identity. Mimi Nudell even said in the movie, “we’re Jews. We’ve got that well of tradition to draw on, to help us understand.” She even proceeded to say, “when we’re puzzled, we have all the stories that have been handed down from the people who had the same problems.” Mimi was basically explaining just how close they are as a community whether it be in the religious or cultural aspect of it. Traditions are what keep Judaism around and makes it different from other religions such as Islam and Christianity even though they all have the same God. While other monotheistic religions have their share of traditions too, all of them have certain characteristics of it that distinguishes them from the rest. A Serious Man was a great example of how potent a religion can be for a person and their culture. It can even change someone’s life.