The Believer

The Believer

Hebrew school, an obligation for a majority of children being raised in a Jewish home; but an absolute bore for children having to attend these laborious classes. I must say myself, it is pretty monotonous when you have a teacher that just talks and talks and talks and talks. But sometimes when the topic is actually intriguing and when the students have an opportunity to debate the topic, the class is automatically heated and exciting. And this may have been the case for young adult, Danny Balint. Danny was a very bright boy, and he saw the other side of things when it came to stories from the Talmud. It started with the story of Abraham sacrificing his son Issac because G-d had commanded him to do so, and he was about to sacrifice his only son. But Danny couldn’t understand the meaning to this Talmudic story, and thought G-d was an evil force so why should he believe the Almighty that wants to harm to His people. Throughout the movie we notice the theme of religion, family, and belief. After this incident and after Danny was a grown adult, I could tell he was really confused; it was Danny vs. Himself. He wore his Talit and kept a Torah in his closet but at the same time he hated the Jews. The meaning of this confusion was a conflict between his beliefs and his heritage. The intolerance he showed not only affected himself, but his surroundings and society as a whole. It was just so amazing how a bright and intelligent young man could make a Talmudic story something it wasn't supposed to be. And then have the audacity to leave his family and Jewish heritage behind, to only be at a constant war with himself.