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An Amazing Journey

Amos Lassen | Little Rock, Arkansas | 12/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Spark Among the Ashes: A Bar Mitzvah in Poland"

An Amazing Journey

Amos Lassen

There is something about the Holocaust that is part of our very consciousness. The darkest period of the history of the world both repels and fascinates us to the point that we constantly seem to want to know more about it. Poland, before World War II, had one of the largest Jewish populations in Europe and now there are only a handful of Jews left. We can just imagine the excitement when 22 years ago an American Jewish boy decided to make his Bar Mitzvah in Cracow instead of at his local American synagogue. First Run Features is now releasing the film of the events and it is a moving yet charming look at a world that is very foreign to most. Here is a documentary that brims with honesty, compassion and warmth with a story that will warm the coldest heart while providing humor and poignancy.
Directed by Oren Rudensky and narrated by Eli Wallach, the story mesmerizes. This is the story of a female rabbi and the controversy over tradition and modernity as she and her young friend, Eric Strom and his family travel to Poland so that Eric had perform the rite of passage that most Jewish men do, the Bar Mitzvah. This was something so rare that the New York Times wrote about it on the first page under the headline, "Jews of Cracow Await Bar Mitzvah Boy". It was drama steeped in humanity as Eric was at the core of this event which commanded attention all over the world. The few Jews of Cracow were eager and apprehensive as they were to watch the first Bar Mitzvah since the War. The small community that survived the horrors of war is seen as a young boy becomes a "man" in the eyes of Jewish law.
Not an easy film to watch, I found the experience to be cleansing and rewarding. The idea that that the Jews of Poland are no more is alarming but the fact that a thirteen year old boy could bring what was left of them together is an amazing thought. Amid the controversy of the issue, there is a great deal to be learned about the natures of humanity and tolerance in this beautiful little film.
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