"My Father, My Lord" with Assi Dayan (2007)

Rabbi Eidelman (Assi Dayan) is a strict biblical scholar. He believes; much like the Bible thumping Baptist Preachers of yore; that everything in the Bible is there for a purpose, and therefor to stray from its teachings is to invite ruination.

His wife, the aptly named Esther, played by Sharon Bar, is more open to ideas outside of her husband’s strict fundamentalist religious interpretations of life. She believes in other things as well. This puts her at odds with her husband, but at the same time forges a bond between herself and her soon, Menahem, played by Illan Grof, who is about 8 years old.

Menahem cannot do anything to please his father. Full of natural curiosity for a boy his age, everything he does invites new criticism from the Rabbi. When the family takes a vacation as a way to escape the rut they have fallen into, the boy’s natural inquisitiveness at the seashore serves to renew the animosity between the father and son, drawing his mother into the fray as well.

What happens after that serves as a testament to the words in Proverbs 11:29 which says, “He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.”

This is a very poignant film with an important message for everyone about tolerance and the philosophy of live and let live. And, in these troubled  times it is a message well received.

Saudi Arabia to Cool Relations with U.S.

The following is the text from a news article which appeared on the internet today. The illustration is from my collection of political cartoons, and this one dates back to about 1974. How many more decades will we allow ourselves to be ridiculed by the same miscreants who funded the events of September 11^th?

DOHA (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief has said the kingdom will make a "major shift" in relations with the United States in protest at its perceived inaction over the Syria war and its overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday.

Prince Bandar bin Sultan told European diplomats that Washington had failed to act effectively on the Syria crisis and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, was growing closer to Tehran, and had failed to back Saudi support for Bahrain when it crushed an anti-government revolt in 2011, the source said.