''Punk Jews'' is a 2012 American

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

directed by Jesse Zook Mann and produced by Saul Sudin (husband of

Elke Reva Sudin Elke Reva Sudin (born 1987) is an American painter, illustrator, fashion designer, and lecturer. In 2010, her ''Hipsters and Hassids'' painting series premiered in New York City, comparing and contrasting the Hasidic Jewish and hipster Brooklyn ...

, who appears in the film), Evan Kleinman, and Alexander Emanuele. The film profiles several non-traditional

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...

artists, activists, and groups based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Summary

The film opens with Yishai Romanoff, lead singer of the Hasidic punk band Moshiach Oi!, standing on a rooftop saying, "Here's how you bring light into the world. You get up in the morning, and you scream, 'GOD!'", which he proceeds to demonstrate. The film covers several unconventional Jewish artists, activists, and groups. Subjects include: *Kal Holczler, the founder of Voices for Dignity, addressing

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

in Hasidic communities, of which he was a victim. *Cholent, a weekly gathering of Jews from a variety of religious and cultural backgrounds. *"Amazing Amy" Harlib a.k.a. the Yoga Yenta, an elderly Jewish

contortionist Contortion (sometimes contortionism) is a performance art in which performers called contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility. Contortion acts often accompany acrobatics, circus acts, street performers and other liv ...

and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

ist. *Rapper Yitz Jordan ("

Y-Love Yitz Jordan (born January 5, 1978), better known by his stage name Y-Love, is an American hip hop artist. An Orthodox Jew, Jordan was formerly Hasidic.Jerry Portwood"Y-Love is Ready for Love,"''Out'', May 15, 2012. He is a web developer, activist ...

") and blogger Shais Rishon ("Ma Nishtana"), addressing the prejudice experienced by

African-American Jews African-American Jews are people who are both African Americans, African American and American Jews, Jewish, whether by mixed ancestry or conversion. African-American Jews may be either Who is a Jew?, Jewish from birth or Gerim, converts to Ju ...

in the Orthodox community. *The Sukkos Mob, a group of

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...

revivalists and

street performers Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

Background

Mann and Kleinman conceived of ''Punk Jews'' after being invited to a Cholent gathering at the Millinery Center Synagogue and subsequently becoming regulars. It was there that they were introduced to Jewish counterculture and met many of the film's subjects, as well as co-producer Saul Sudin. The film was funded via

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

, earning $10,721 in donations, and was distributed by Adon Olam Productions and the

National Center for Jewish Film The National Center for Jewish Film is a non-profit motion picture archive, distributor, and resource center. It houses the largest collection of Jewish-themed film and video outside of Israel. Its mission is to collect, restore, preserve, catalogu ...

Release

''Punk Jews'' premiered at the Manhattan

Jewish Community Center A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, ...

on December 11, 2012. It subsequently premiered in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

on April 25, 2013, at the

Jewish Motifs International Film Festival Jewish Motifs International Film Festival () is a major Jewish-themed film festival held annually in Warsaw, Poland. The festival has been held every year since 2004. "The biggest European festival focused on Jewish themes in contemporary cinemat ...

Reception

The film has received mixed reviews, many praising its unique subject matter while critiquing its uneven tone and lack of cohesion. George Robinson of ''

The Jewish Week ''New York Jewish Week'' (formerly ''The Jewish Week'') is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. History In March 2016, ''The Jewish Week'' announced its partners ...

'' called the film "competently crafted" and "suggestive in the best sense", but admitted that it "feels rather precipitous and definitely unfinished", as well as "a bit superficial". Ezra Glinter of ''

The Forward ''The Forward'' (), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ''The New York Times'' reported that Set ...

'' called the film's central idea of a unified Jewish counterculture "fanciful at best", saying "While many of these subjects are interesting separately, and a few might be worthy of full-length documentaries of their own, they don’t cohere as a single film."

References

External links

*
''Punk Jews''
on

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''Punk Jews''
on

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