Are we allowed to drive a car to synagogue services on Shabbat? If my father is Jewish and my mother is Christian, what am I? Can an uncircumcised man be Jewish?
Seven rabbis (left to right): Joshua Spinner, Irith Shillor, Daniel Katz, Julien-Chaim Soussan, Jonah Sievers, Avichai Apel, Gábor Lengyl
© Jewish Museum Berlin, photos: Thomas Valentin Harb
The new special exhibition, “The Whole Truth… everything you always wanted to know about Jews,” deals with common as well as uncommon questions about Judaism. We put some of these questions to seven rabbis and filmed their responses. All of them serve in Germany and represent a wide spectrum of religious belief: orthodox, liberal, conservative, progressive.
Inspired by research done on a number of Internet forums with names like “Ask the Rabbi,” “Askmoses,” and “Dear Rabbi,” in which rabbis from all over the world answer questions on how to handle religious law in everyday life, we organized the shooting of this film at a studio in Berlin-Wedding: with kosher catering, a chair, two cameras, and our seven interview partners.
Set for shooting the film
© Jewish Museum Berlin, photos: Thomas Valentin Harb
There was much laughter along with answers also to questions that we hadn’t asked. We learned for instance that many rabbis use facebook to connect with and advise their congregants. And that one can go a long way, when hosting guests who eat kosher, with a simple unpeeled banana and a glass of tea.
The film-installation “Ask the Rabbi” will be shown in its own room as part of the special exhibition. You can see it starting tomorrow, 22 March 2013, at the Jewish Museum Berlin.
Martina Lüdicke, Curator of the Exhibition “The Whole Truth”
The Whole truth is that the concept for this exhibit is not only wrongheaded but disgusting. Why don’t you have the museum goers measure the Jew’s nose or feel if he has horns. I can’t believe that a Jewish museum would do something like this, especially in Germany.