NextDOR Movie Reviews

In the Fall of 2020, five students watched Jewish movies. They discussed the quality of the movie, why it is was a Jewish movie, the history and the Jewish values that were covered in the movie. We rated the movies with hearts. The more hearts, the more we liked the movie.

They watched the following movies: 

• The Jazz Singer (1952)
• Fiddler on the Roof
• American Tail
• The Chosen
• Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story
• Wonder
• Finding Dory

Explore the Middot (Jewish values) covered in each movie below.

 

There are a lot of reasons that a movie can be considered Jewish. There is a lot of disagreement on what movies are Jewish and which ones are not. We decided that Jewish movies are ones that might have:

1. Jewish values
2. Shows Jewish traditions
3. Jewish history

The Jazz Singer ©©

Cast: The main characters:
Jerry, played by Danny Thomas, Judy Lane, played by Peggy Lee, David (Jerry's dad) played by Eduard Franz, Mrs. Golding (Jerry's mom) played by Mildred Dunnock, and Uncle Louis, played by Alex Jerry.

Synopsis: Jerry is the next on up in to be a cantor, but Jerry doesn’t want to be cantor, but his dad wants him to be a cantor. Jerry’s dad says Jerry must be a cantor, but Jerry refuses. Can Jerry show his dad that he can be successful in life by singing with Judy Lane.? The lesson is you should be happy for your son, because Jerry was a good singer. Another lesson is should honor your dad. ~Matthew L.

One Jewish value depicted in the film, "The Jazz Singer" is courage. Jerry showed courage when he stood up against all his father did to try to make him be a cantor. Even when his father yelled at him and smacked him on the face, that still didn't stop him from trying to be a singer like he wanted to. Sort of like being stuck on a maze full of dead ends with messages/questions that you have to figure out the answers to in order to find out what you want to be, Jerry follows his heart, even when it is hard, so that he can live the life he feels he should. ~Gavin B.

History of Movie: The Jazz singer is a film that has been made more than once. The first one was the first movie with something called "synchronous sound" and helped lead to the end of silent films. ~Noah D.

I like and don’t like the movie because of these reasons:

• I don’t like the movie because: there was a lot of singing and I don’t like that.
• I can’t really think of reasons that I like it.

I think it’s a Jewish movie because:
In the story there are prayers in Hebrew, also because in the story it is Rosh Hashanah. ~Leo H

(Jazz Singer artwork by Matthew L.)

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)©©©©©

• Fiddler on the Roof took place in a Shtetl
• The Shtetl was in the Pale of Settlements
• There was a pogrom at the wedding.

(See our vocabulary list below.)

I liked that the movie took place a longtime ago. I like the nightmare scene because it was scary. I did not like that the traditions weren’t fair. There are traditions including a matchmaker, havdalah candles, and a mezzuah. ~Noah D.

I like the movie because the I liked the story. I didn’t like the movie because it has a sad ending. The values in the movie included: follow traditions, celebrate Shabbat. Also, they have a mezuzah. ~Leo H.

Pogram artwork by Gavin B.

 

American Tail ©©©©-1/2

Fievel is moving to America and on the way Fievel goes overboard when he wants to look at the fish. Can he find his family or stay alone? The Jewish value is you should look for your family if you are lost because you don’t want to forget them. I would recommend people to watch this movie. ~Matthew L.

I personally thought the movie was good. It had a story of how immigrants came to America.  It had the Jewish value courage.  I would recommend this movie because it may teach people about their family’s story. ~Noah D

A family of mice sailed to America because there is a pogrom in their town. Fievel gets lost on the ship and needs to find his family. Some Jewish values in the movie are: in the beginning of the movie the family celebrates Hanukkah. When Fievel needs help, he always asks someone, and they try to help him. And at the beginning of the movie during Hanukkah Fievel’s family gives each other presents, that's tzedakah. I don't think it's a great movie, but if you like animation and mice then it's a good movie for you. ~Leo H.

A mouse named Fievel and his family move from Russia to New York after cats attack them and their house is burnt down. During the trip, Fievel ends up in the water and is separated from his family, but ends up making it to New York with help from others. A Jewish value in the movie is to always help others. I would recommend others watch this movie because it shows how Jewish people struggled. ~Josh H.

In the movie the cats are being mean to mice. The mice are scared of the cats. They work together to do something about it. I liked the movie. The characters showed respect to each other. ~Gavin B.

 

American Tail artwork by Noah D.

Noah D.: My favorite movie was American Tail.

If you  want to learn more about Jewish immigration , the class recommends you play the game on  PBS, City of Immigrants—Mission US   

 

The Chosen ©©©©©

Danny is an Orthodox Jew; Reuven is a Zionist. They become friends by getting to know each other. They also played neighborhood baseball. The movie talks a lot about respecting your father. I thought The Chosen was a good movie. ~Matthew L.

The movie takes place around 1940 in New York City. The Chosen is about boys who are very different from one another. The boys names were Danny and Reuven. I liked the movie because it had a lot of exciting parts, but I didn’t like it when Reuven was hit by a baseball. I liked it because it taught me a lot about the orthodox and non-orthodox. ~Noah D.

The move was about two kids who became friends. Their fathers were fighting how to make the State of Israel. So the kids had to stop seeing each other. After Israel became a country, the fathers stopped fighting and the kids became friends again. I learned that Jews and Palestinians were fighting over who gets a state. They had a big war and the Jews won and named it Israel. I liked the movie because it had two Jews who became friends. ~Gavin B.

Josh H.: My favorite movie was The Chosen.

 

Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story (Documentary) ©©©

This movie was a documentary about Jews and Baseball. It was a middle documentary experience. We think there are much better documentaries available to watch. A lot of the movie was in black and white and we didn’t like that. We learned about Hank Greenburg and Sandy Koufax. 

Rabbi Crystal told us that he met Greenburg’s daughter and he got to hold Greenburg’s bat. We thought that was cool.

Jews and Baseball artwork by Leo H.

Matthew L: My favorite movie was Jews and Baseball.

Wonder ©©©©©

My favorite movie was Wonder. ~Leo H.

My favorite movie was Wonder. ~Gavin B.

Finding Dory ©©©

 

Vocabulary:

Pogrom—People who don’t like Jews convince neighbors to go out and destroy their homes and synagogues.

Immigrant—Someone who moves from one country to another

Sheitl—A little village where Jews like in Pale of Settlements

Pale of Settlements—An area that the Russian Empire designated for Jews

Zionist—Someone who fights for the State of Israel

Ellis Island—It was where immigrants went through customs and immigration control

 

Explore the Middot (Jewish values) covered in each movie below.

Jewish Values/Middot	Jazz Singer	Fiddler on the Roof	American Tail	The Chosen	Jews and Baseball	Wonder	Finding Dory
Act with Loving Kindness	Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö		Ö	Ö
Be Content					Ö	Ö
Be Generous	Ö	Ö		Ö		Ö	Ö
Be Grateful		Ö		Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö
Every one is made in G-d's Image						Ö	Ö
Be Sorry and Repent	Ö			Ö		Ö	Ö
Community		Ö				Ö	Ö
Do not Destroy		Ö	Ö
Have Courage	Ö		Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö
Friendship			Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö
Learn from Everyone				Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö
Peace						Ö
Protect Animals		Ö				Ö	Ö
Pursue Justice			Ö			Ö
Use nice language/Avoid hateful speech						Ö	Ö
Visit the sick	Ö			Ö
Welcome Guests	Ö	Ö		Ö			Ö
Respect				Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö
Study Torah	Ö	Ö		Ö	Ö
Connect Generation	Ö	Ö				Ö
Love your neighbor as yourself						Ö
Forgive	Ö			Ö		Ö
Try hard and do your very Best			Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö
Honor Your Parents	Ö	Ö	Ö	Ö		Ö	Ö
Help those in Need		Ö				Ö	Ö