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'My Father My Lord' knocks zealous piety

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By Mina Hochberg | amNewYork movie critic

Despite its stoic, melancholy tone, "My Father My Lord" clearly has a sharp bone to pick with strict Orthodox Judaism, or at least the rigorous abiding of it.

Menahem Eidelman (Elan Griff), several years short of Bar Mitzvah age, is the son of a respected rabbi (Assi Dayan) in a neighborhood of Jerusalem. When Menahem shows the smallest signs of straying from the Torah's commandments, specifically those that conflict with boyhood instincts like card-collecting and concern for the well-being of animals, Rabbi Eidelman sternly lays down the letter of the law.

Menahem's doting mother (Sharon Hacochen Bar), a nurturing presence, demurs to the patriarch, who is loving but possibly destructive as he administers Torah passages where plain, fatherly language might be more suitable.

The rabbi's uncompromising piety ultimately leads to a tragic, ruinous end for his family. Directed by David Volach, who was an ultra-Orthodox Jew through his mid-20s, "My Father My Lord" is a bit facile in its implications. But the moving tale makes up for this shortcoming through its patient, empathic portrayal of a foreign mode of living.