The trailer of the movie "The Muharram" (here 11)
If anyone needed further proof of the importance of public broadcasting, he gets it in "The Muharram: Six Stations for Understanding the Boycott of Baruch Spinoza".
This is a new episode in the "Hebrew" documentary series.
As his name implies, this time he deals with the challenging and groundbreaking philosopher, whose thought is as relevant and kicking as it is profound and complex.
Other broadcasters would have given him a platform only if he had been guilty of murdering Tair Rada, or perhaps if he had agreed to sit on the panel alongside Avi Benyahu and Ayala Frish, but here 11 did not hesitate to produce and broadcast this film, which does not hesitate to treat the audience with full respect.
And who knows, maybe it will also bring ratings - after all, there are also political sides to the story.
The film has many layers, but its starting point is the boycott that was imposed on Spinoza at the time because of his conception of the nature of God and the status of the Holy Scriptures - a boycott that continues to this day, even if only declaratively.
And so, the Jewish community in Amsterdam declared one of the stars of this docu, Prof. Itzik Melamed, who studies the philosopher's legacy, an undesirable personality.
Even being an observant Jew did not help him remove the ostracism from himself.
The project "The Hebrews" is produced by Yair Kedar, and the film itself was directed this time by David Ofek, one of the most senior and prolific documentary makers in Israel.
In a conversation on the occasion of the broadcast this Wednesday, I wonder first of all why the liberal spiritual world is happy to join the abolitionist culture and also BDS, but cries out when ultra-Orthodox maintain the boycott of Spinoza.
This is how Pinoza would look today.
Itamar Mendes-Flor in "The Muharram" (Photo: Kaan 11)
"Spinoza never wrote against the boycott, and I guess if you asked him, he would say that the boycott is justified," says Ofek.
"He would not come and say that he was wronged. He would say that he wrote unacceptable things against a certain community, and his actions left them no choice. In any case, there is absolutely no feeling of anger, bitterness or injustice in his writings."
"Following the film, I was contacted by an Israeli artist who is being boycotted for one reason or another," adds Kader.
"He asked me - why don't you come out against the boycott on me? I didn't really know what to say. He confronted me with the power of this tool - a boycott is a blind, powerful and scary tool. There is something primal and wild about it, and sometimes it is probably justified. Along with After the release of the film, we wanted to curate an exhibition about the boycott in art. When we are revolted by the boycott of Spinoza, because of which we lost this wonderful Jew, and when we are angry at the boycott of Itzik Melamed, does it make us look differently at a boycott that we previously thought was justified?"
Spinoza never hesitated to speak his mind and is considered one of the greatest Jewish heretics in history, if not the greatest, which raises an almost obvious question - what would he have said about the legal reform, and would he have joined the protest against it.
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"Spinoza would say that the boycott against him is justified."
David Ofek (Photo: Natan Dvir)
Ofek says that there was a similar moment in the philosopher's life.
He talks about the story of Johann de Witt, who led the Netherlands for a certain period in the middle of the 17th century and led a spirit of religious tolerance in it, until the masses lynched him and his brother.
Spinoza went to the scene of the murder and put a banner there with the statement "Vile barbarians!".
His landlord imprisoned him in his residence, thus preventing him from becoming another victim of the mob.
"Spinoza didn't sit idly by, but went out into the crowd and said what he had to say," Ofek replies, "so I guess if he were alive today, he would have stood in Kaplan and demonstrated."
"Spinoza serves as a symbol for us - to be true to your beliefs and to freedom of thought," Kedar declares.
"He is an example of the fact that you have to remember the truth, fight and not listen to criticism. He is one of the spiritual fathers of the protest, in an indirect and distant way. He and Marx and a few other conflicted and wonderful Jews."
Besides Prof. Melamed, several other names star in the film.
Above all stands out Dr. Jeremy Vogel, whose charisma illustrates that even a philosophy lecturer can be a rock star. "I didn't know before the filming that Jeremy was such a star, his charisma captured me too," says Ofek. "He is very charismatic and good at being approachable of complex ideas.
He also likes to challenge, in the best sense of the word, and does not take anything for granted, and in this sense he is similar to Spinoza.
The secret of the film is in the casting.
Everyone who speaks with us - his connection to Spinoza is personal, not academic.
Jeremy's experience with Spinoza is really not purely intellectual.
When you see him on the screen, you perceive that the subject is in his soul and blood, the energies are real, and he is really boiling."
"There is something remote and distant in Spinoza on the one hand, and on the other hand there is something alive in him that teaches us about our lives," Kedar adds.
"There are people in the film who I see as spinoffs of Spinoza - of course Itzik Melamed, who is banned like him, but also Jeremy Vogel and Itamar Mendes-Flor, a painter who is a distant descendant of Spinoza, and in my opinion, if Spinoza were alive today, this is exactly how he would look" .
rock star
Dr. Jeremy Vogel (photo: Kaan 11)
There is a well-known rule in Hollywood - not to make films where the hero is intellectual or elevated from the people in any way.
What is it like to make a film about a person who is smarter than you?
Ofek:
"Some of the interviewees are also smarter than me. It was a pulsating experience. The days of filming were emotional and exciting. I was like a smart and excited student, plunging into a world of giants from him and getting to touch something sublime. I am much less smart than Spinoza, but there are cinematic tools, and luckily I Better in cinema than Spinoza. Probably."
When making a film like this, one danger is that it won't be accessible.
Another danger, on the other side of the spectrum, is that he will be too flattering and superficial from trying to speak to the general public.
How did you avoid this danger?
potter:
"Basically, there is almost always a danger of falling into the yellow, but not in this case. There are almost no details about Spinoza's personal life. The man deleted all traces of his private correspondence, so there are not many openings to do something sensational. Beyond that, thinking about the audience, we had to find the balance between those who are more knowledgeable and those who are less knowledgeable."
You made many films in the "Hebrews" series.
What surprised you the most this time?
"The degree of relevance. I did not watch it. Previous episodes in the series were not always so relevant.
Of all the episodes in the series, this is perhaps the episode with the most lessons about contemporary reality.
Besides, the making of the film invited all kinds of surprises.
I knew Itzik Melamed once, but we didn't meet for thirty years, until this film, and I met Itamar when I interviewed his father, Prof. Paul Mendes-Flor, for another film." If you could ask Spinoza one question, what would you ask?
Ofek
:
"I would ask about his sexuality. The way he writes about sexuality interests me, and I'm interested in what it says about him. I would ask if he regrets not having children. In gossip conversations of philosophers, when the camera wasn't working, the possibility that he was gay came up in the photos."
Kader:
"I would ask how he calmed down. From the writings a calm spiritual figure emerges, but I don't know if we can conclude anything about his personality from that. I wonder what temperament Baruch Spinoza had."
The most relevant episode in the "Hebrews" series.
Yair Keder (Photo: Zohar Gor Aryeh)
Back to the starting point, the film's inn cannot be ignored.
"Other broadcasters told us that it is only for the benevolent sect, because it is a high and intellectual culture," says Kader.
"Here, 11 are the only ones who will make such a film here. It will not bring them the most viewers, but it is part of their broad mandate. It is important to clarify that this is also the case in other countries - I have a friend in Europe who told me that he is unable to get a film about Kant up there for similar reasons." .
"Before the television premiere, we had pre-premiere screenings, and the theaters were always full," adds Ofek.
"In talking to the audience after the screening, we would say that this is the corporation's production, and before we would finish the sentence, the audience would burst into unusually strong applause. There are people who are looking for such content, and they are full of gratitude here."
applause.
Baruch Spinoza (Photo: Creative Commons)
And those who are curious about the continuation, will be happy to hear that soon we will see two more episodes in the "Hebrews" series, which will also deal with non-Israeli Jewish intellectuals.
The first of them, about Karl Marx, will be screened at the upcoming Dokaviv festival.
The other one, about Sigmund Freud, is still in the works.
Both of course will be here 11.
I tell Kader that I read not long ago that Freud is another victim of the culture of cancellation in American academia.
"On the contrary, there is a return to the revival of the practice of it," he replies.
"Fifty years of attempts to assassinate Freud have completely failed."
"The Banned One: Six Stations for Understanding the Spinoza Boycott" will be broadcast on Khan 11 on Wednesday 4/19 at 9:15 p.m.
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Baruch Spinoza
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