Story of Leah, With a Twist
By Gabrielle Birkner
In a new television movie, Hasidic Brooklyn gets the Hollywood treatment.
“Loving Leah,” filmed on location in New York, centers on a young widow whose life is forever changed by an obscure biblical law that requires her to wed her brother-in-law. Ultra-Orthodox Leah (Lauren Ambrose) and her secular brother-in-law, Jake (Adam Kaufman), agree to take part in a halitza, a ceremony that allows couples in their situation to avoid marriage; the halitza is still performed in some observant Jewish circles.
But onscreen, there’s a twist. After they agree to the halitza, Jake offers to marry Leah as a way to honor his late brother, whose decision to become an Orthodox Jew had long complicated the two men’s fraternal relationship. Leah accepts the proposal, and an unlikely love story ensues.
P’nenah Goldstein, author of the stage and TV versions of “Loving Leah,” said the ancient law provided “a great hook” for bringing together two people who live and worship in disparate worlds. The play was performed in St. Louis at the New Jewish Theatre during the theater’s 2002 season. It was subsequently optioned for television.
The movie version, which premieres this month on CBS, has a cast that includes Jewish actresses Susie Essman as Leah’s formidable mother, Malka; Natasha Lyonne as Leah’s sister, Esther, and Ricki Lake as Rabbi Gerry.
Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes Ruehl plays Jake’s mother.
As Leah, Ambrose, who is not Jewish, “embraced the character,” Goldstein told the Forward. “She was very careful about what Leah, as an Orthodox Jewish woman, would and would not do.”
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I saw this and loved it - I so miss movies about religious people who are Jewish and this was one.
1/27/09 "Loving Leah" is heartwarming, enjoyed the movie tremendously. Now, is Adam Kaufman Jewish?, He looks Jewish, extremely handsome, a good actor. Please answer..
1/27/09 Re: Loving Leah, beautifully done. Internet has no information on Adam Kaufman, (except his acting), his birthdate, and place of birth are not posted on the internet, remains aloof. But will there be a sequel to "Loving Leah" with the same cast. All the actors were excellent, Lauren Ambrose did an excellent job portraying an Orthodox woman, and Adam Kaufman - excellent.... The entire cast excelled.... And Adam Kaufman, looks Jewish, one wonders if he is.
Natasha Lyonne, deserves, a Golden Globe,& an, Oscar.Natasha: your the best. Capt. Marsh.
A Hollywood love story about a Jewish man and a Jewish woman? I never thought I'd live to see the day! Perhaps we can give some of the thanks to Barack and Michelle, who showed that intermarriage need not me the romantic idea.
1. the story has about as much credibility as the Hanzel & Gretel or the seventh Batman movie. 2. For some perverse reason, Hollywood takes some perverse pleasure in dressing up third-rate actresses in loose-fitting, drab clothes and turning them into "instant-frummies"; they're then cast in some ridiculous plot which manages to pervert some aspect of Jewish family law, offend those who take their religion seriously, and make the Haredi community look like a bunch of chicken-cooking bumpkins. 3. A botched "Chalitza" ceremony leading to some sort of titillating "playing-house" relationship among two otherwise healthy young adults with their hormones raging in HD-TV madness is just the thing to drive an audience to Larry King or Seinfeld reruns
I'm sure this would be interesting to watch. Unsettling maybe. But it's interesting to watch another person or people's perspective of your life, played out on screen.
It was kinda cute and no more ridiculous than a Sholom Aleichem story; and with the same kind of poking fun at our traditions. It wasn't a morality play, it was a love story!
Susie Essman went on "The View" and trash-talked Chabad women, promoting the most grotesque and insulting stereotypes of religious Jews. This is what she learned from making this movie. And "The Forward" which brags about being "Jewish newspaper! Speaking for all Jews" endorses this dreck? "The Forward" is a "Jewish newspaper" because it always rips Orthodox Jews, in all situations. Please give me a break. You are worse than anti-Semites.
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