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cumentary explores the struggle of being gay and Jewish 

If there is such a thing as a kosher way to make a movie, documentarian Sandi DuBowski may have done it. “Trembling Before G-d,” opening today for a week-long run at the Shattuck Theater, is a film about gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews struggling to reconcile their sexuality with their strict religious disciplines. DuBowski made the film in accordance with Talmud teaching. 

The G-d of the title is God, a word too sacred to be tossed about easily in secular print. Interview subjects in the film often lapse into Hebrew when describing their faith, and subtitles are provided to explain. Those subtitles also refuse to spell out G-o-d. 

Vignettes in the film depicting holy rites and celebrations could not be filmed on holy days because it is not permitted to use electricity during rituals, said DuBowski in an interview on KALX radio in Berkeley. So he staged religious ceremonies with willing participants shot in silhouette behind scrims on non-holy days. 

DuBowski’s respect for religious law matches his respect for his subjects, often interviewed in shadow or in silhouette, for whom “outing” would not only be an affront to their privacy but damning in their religion. 

The film is an attempt to create a dialogue regarding the often overlooked or outright ignored homosexual population in Orthodox communities, which expressly forbids homosexual behavior. These people have had to make an existential decision to identify themselves by their sexuality or their faith, and have chosen faith. But because their sexual orientation cannot be ignored, their own religion condemns them. 

It’s a tricky situation. For these Jews who regard the Talmud as the highest law, for whom the religious community is tantamount, they are not able to follow the example of more radical gay and lesbians who choose to escape and overthrow oppressive strictures. Their attempts to live as Torah-abiding Jews and bring up respectable families while harboring their sexuality leads to depression, ostracism and even suicide. 

The film is an ennobling look at a struggle between the sacred and the profane, with a deep respect for both. The subjects, in their various ways, are expressing a need to challenge Divine law so it can be interpreted to acknowledge it’s sinners. 

One of the film’s subjects tells a joke: two rabbi’s are walking down the street — one Orthodox and the other non-Orthodox. They see a man praying while greasing his wagon wheel. The non-Orthodox rabbi laments to God that the man as defaming prayer by doing it in an unclean fashion; the other rabbi praises God by showing him his children bring Him into their lives all the time, even when they are greasing their wagons. 

One of the central and more profound ideas in the film is the question of when are secular activities beneath religious consideration. DuBowski has said he wanted “Trembling” to be both a document and a catalyst for opening homosexual discussions among rabbis and yeshivas (religious schools). The film is a first significant investigation into this heretofore unvoiced population. 

Sexuality, the film suggests, is as mysterious, profound and sacred as Divinity. In a religious lifestyle which guards its secrets, this could hinder attempts to bring homosexuality into an open discussion.  

As one psychologist says in the film, “The more hidden something is, the more holy it is.” DuBowski may have found a way of filming holiness. By photographing religious ceremonies behind scrims and shooting discussions of sexuality in shadow he may have struck upon a method to gently bring the sacred and the sexual onto the same kosher level. 

By Peter Crimmins 

Special to the Daily Planet 

If there is such a thing as a kosher way to make a movie, documentarian Sandi DuBowski may have done it. “Trembling Before G-d,” opening today for a week-long run at the Shattuck Theater, is a film about gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews struggling to reconcile their sexuality with their strict religious disciplines. DuBowski made the film in accordance with Talmud teaching. 

The G-d of the title is God, a word too sacred to be tossed about easily in secular print. Interview subjects in the film often lapse into Hebrew when describing their faith, and subtitles are provided to explain. Those subtitles also refuse to spell out G-o-d. 

Vignettes in the film depicting holy rites and celebrations could not be filmed on holy days because it is not permitted to use electricity during rituals, said DuBowski in an interview on KALX radio in Berkeley. So he staged religious ceremonies with willing participants shot in silhouette behind scrims on non-holy days. 

DuBowski’s respect for religious law matches his respect for his subjects, often interviewed in shadow or in silhouette, for whom “outing” would not only be an affront to their privacy but damning in their religion. 

The film is an attempt to create a dialogue regarding the often overlooked or outright ignored homosexual population in Orthodox communities, which expressly forbids homosexual behavior. These people have had to make an existential decision to identify themselves by their sexuality or their faith, and have chosen faith. But because their sexual orientation cannot be ignored, their own religion condemns them. 

It’s a tricky situation. For these Jews who regard the Talmud as the highest law, for whom the religious community is tantamount, they are not able to follow the example of more radical gay and lesbians who choose to escape and overthrow oppressive strictures. Their attempts to live as Torah-abiding Jews and bring up respectable families while harboring their sexuality leads to depression, ostracism and even suicide. 

The film is an ennobling look at a struggle between the sacred and the profane, with a deep respect for both. The subjects, in their various ways, are expressing a need to challenge Divine law so it can be interpreted to acknowledge it’s sinners. 

One of the film’s subjects tells a joke: two rabbi’s are walking down the street — one Orthodox and the other non-Orthodox. They see a man praying while greasing his wagon wheel. The non-Orthodox rabbi laments to God that the man as defaming prayer by doing it in an unclean fashion; the other rabbi praises God by showing him his children bring Him into their lives all the time, even when they are greasing their wagons. 

One of the central and more profound ideas in the film is the question of when are secular activities beneath religious consideration. DuBowski has said he wanted “Trembling” to be both a document and a catalyst for opening homosexual discussions among rabbis and yeshivas (religious schools). The film is a first significant investigation into this heretofore unvoiced population. 

Sexuality, the film suggests, is as mysterious, profound and sacred as Divinity. In a religious lifestyle which guards its secrets, this could hinder attempts to bring homosexuality into an open discussion.  

As one psychologist says in the film, “The more hidden something is, the more holy it is.” DuBowski may have found a way of filming holiness. By photographing religious ceremonies behind scrims and shooting discussions of sexuality in shadow he may have struck upon a method to gently bring the sacred and the sexual onto the same kosher level. 

By Peter Crimmins 

Special to the Daily Planet 

If there is such a thing as a kosher way to make a movie, documentarian Sandi DuBowski may have done it. “Trembling Before G-d,” opening today for a week-long run at the Shattuck Theater, is a film about gay and lesbian Orthodox Jews struggling to reconcile their sexuality with their strict religious disciplines. DuBowski made the film in accordance with Talmud teaching. 

The G-d of the title is God, a word too sacred to be tossed about easily in secular print. Interview subjects in the film often lapse into Hebrew when describing their faith, and subtitles are provided to explain. Those subtitles also refuse to spell out G-o-d. 

Vignettes in the film depicting holy rites and celebrations could not be filmed on holy days because it is not permitted to use electricity during rituals, said DuBowski in an interview on KALX radio in Berkeley. So he staged religious ceremonies with willing participants shot in silhouette behind scrims on non-holy days. 

DuBowski’s respect for religious law matches his respect for his subjects, often interviewed in shadow or in silhouette, for whom “outing” would not only be an affront to their privacy but damning in their religion. 

The film is an attempt to create a dialogue regarding the often overlooked or outright ignored homosexual population in Orthodox communities, which expressly forbids homosexual behavior. These people have had to make an existential decision to identify themselves by their sexuality or their faith, and have chosen faith. But because their sexual orientation cannot be ignored, their own religion condemns them. 

It’s a tricky situation. For these Jews who regard the Talmud as the highest law, for whom the religious community is tantamount, they are not able to follow the example of more radical gay and lesbians who choose to escape and overthrow oppressive strictures. Their attempts to live as Torah-abiding Jews and bring up respectable families while harboring their sexuality leads to depression, ostracism and even suicide. 

The film is an ennobling look at a struggle between the sacred and the profane, with a deep respect for both. The subjects, in their various ways, are expressing a need to challenge Divine law so it can be interpreted to acknowledge it’s sinners. 

One of the film’s subjects tells a joke: two rabbi’s are walking down the street — one Orthodox and the other non-Orthodox. They see a man praying while greasing his wagon wheel. The non-Orthodox rabbi laments to God that the man as defaming prayer by doing it in an unclean fashion; the other rabbi praises God by showing him his children bring Him into their lives all the time, even when they are greasing their wagons. 

One of the central and more profound ideas in the film is the question of when are secular activities beneath religious consideration. DuBowski has said he wanted “Trembling” to be both a document and a catalyst for opening homosexual discussions among rabbis and yeshivas (religious schools). The film is a first significant investigation into this heretofore unvoiced population. 

Sexuality, the film suggests, is as mysterious, profound and sacred as Divinity. In a religious lifestyle which guards its secrets, this could hinder attempts to bring homosexuality into an open discussion.  

As one psychologist says in the film, “The more hidden something is, the more holy it is.” DuBowski may have found a way of filming holiness. By photographing religious ceremonies behind scrims and shooting discussions of sexuality in shadow he may have struck upon a method to gently bring the sacred and the sexual onto the same kosher level.