The most important Jewish Western since “The Frisco Child” arrives at a harrowing time within the tradition.
“Weapons & Moses” follows a fed-up Rabbi who arms himself after a White Supremacist assaults his congregation. Nothing is sort of because it seems because the Rabbi makes an attempt to resolve the thriller whereas getting a crash course within the Second Modification.
The movie, starring Mark Feuerstein as Rabbi Mo together with Neal McDonough (“The Final Rodeo“), Christopher Lloyd and Dermot Mulroney, hits theaters nationwide July 18.
The movie’s idea sprang from the 2019 Poway synagogue capturing that killed one worshipper and injured three others. “Weapons & Moses” wrapped manufacturing in late 2022, roughly a yr earlier than the Oct. 7 assaults that killed greater than 1,200 folks and sparked a wave of antisemitism throughout America and elements of the globe.
The movie’s launch date is notable given current headlines.
- Jewish Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence was set ablaze by a pro-Palestinian activist
- Two Jewish residents had been killed in chilly blood by a pro-Palestinian activist in Washington, D.C.
- Peaceable protestors had been set on fireplace by a pro-Palestinian activist in Boulder, Colo.
“In crafting ‘Weapons & Moses,” we aimed to make Rabbi Mo an iconic character, devoted to the proposition that even the least probably amongst us will step up after we want her or him essentially the most,” director Salvador Litvak mentioned in a press launch asserting the movie’s theatrical launch.
“I didn’t develop up round weapons. Like many American Jews, I didn’t contemplate the Second Modification to be essential. As an grownup, nevertheless, I turned an Orthodox Jew – which is to say a visual Jew – and I grew more and more conscious of the hazard to our neighborhood. So, like Rabbi Mo I stepped up and have become a guardian. I hope that our film will encourage others to do the identical and, having hardened our perimeter, I pray we’ll by no means be put to the check.”
Litvak is a part of a gaggle referred to as Magen Am, which trains Jewish folks to guard their congregations and communities. The movie’s tag line is potent: “Might God and Your Glock Shield You.”
“Weapons & Moses” has performed at choose movie festivals earlier this yr. Litvak expanded on the movie’s themes in a March interview with The Occasions of Israel.
“This concept that Jews are in peril, Jews are beneath assault and have to battle again is one thing that we knew would at all times be related…[We] couldn’t have imagined the world that the film could be popping out in … Sadly, it simply makes the film a lot extra related…”
“If we imply it after we say ‘by no means once more,’ we are able to’t simply depend on different folks to guard us.”