By Robin Dishman
LA JOLLA, California — Sabbath Queen shown Sunday night at the San Diego International Jewish Film Festival documents the life of Amichai Lau-Lavie, the Rabbi and founding spiritual leader of Lab/Shul in NYC. The documentary combines archival footage, 21 years of filming and animation to tell the story of Lau-Lavie’s spiritual journey. Lau-Lavie was born into a dynasty of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis dating back to the 11th century CE.
The movie directed by Sandi Debowski includes interviews with Lau-Lavie’s brother and father, both Orthodox rabbis and their reactions to Lau-Lavie’s personal and spiritual journey away from Orthodox Judaism leading to a G-d optional, everybody friendly, artist-driven pop-up experimental Jewish congregation. It also follows the Lau family’s trip to Poland with concentration camp images and stories.
The film highlights the challenges Judaism faces with intermarriage, embracing the LGBTQI+ community, equality, acceptance of identity and personal choices and Israeli politics. There is also footage of Lau-Lavie’s drag persona: Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross who appears at Purim and communicates spiritual insight stating, “Redemption will only come through transgression.”
This film poses questions that will continue to cause disruption for all religions. The end of the film showed Lau-Lavie’s response to October 7th. For this reviewer it was difficult to watch a Rabbi holding a sign calling Gaza, “occupied territory.”
At the end of the film when Lau-Lavie was asked about the results of his spiritual journey and his efforts to change laws and assumptions he stated, “We will see in one hundred years.”
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Robin Dishman is a freelance writer based in San Diego.