Rabbi

2020, 90 minutes

A film following the journey of a trickster Rabbi

Rabbi follows the 13-year evolution of Amichai Lau-Lavie from drag queen to rabbinical student to 21st century spiritual innovator. His cousin is the Chief Rabbi of Israel, his uncle is the former Chief Rabbi, and he descends from 37 generations of rabbis back to King David. At first, Lau-Lavie rejects the call to become a rabbi, claiming, "Artists are the new rabbis." He launches Storahtelling, a Jewish ritual theater, and creates and performs a drag character, Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross, a Hasidic rabbi's wife. Over time, he puts aside Hadassah's wig and mask and we see him go through an extraordinary transformation. Lau-Lavie enters Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) to become a rabbi, the first in 37 generations in his family who will take on the role of rabbi outside Orthodoxy. We watch as he slowly embraces the ancient role of rabbi on his own terms, weaving together his explorations in a wide range of worlds – trickster, gay, counterculture, skeptic and seeker.

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