Strictures

AM Psalm 55 • PM Psalm 138, 139:1-17(18-23)
Deut. 29:2-15 • 2 Cor. 9:1-15 • Luke 18:15-30

If you are a Netflix subscriber, I hope you have discovered the Israeli series, Shtisel. It is a poignant story about a family of Orthodox Jews living in modern-day Jerusalem. Primarily a character study, it is subtle and understated with an economy of language (with subtitles), but it will make you laugh, cry, cringe, and wonder at its tenderness.

For me, the theme is what happens when we inject too much religion into our faith, inhibiting what should be a natural, joyful, relationship with God. It is no wonder that Jesus railed against the rule-bound Pharisees.

Emblematic of the way our religion can constrict us is a scene involving one of the main characters, Akiva Shtisel, an aspiring young artist, and Elisheva, a fellow female artist. Much of the series is devoted to finding a match for Akiva, a passionate and handsome young man who suffers most from the strictures of his orthodox community and his overbearing and severe father, Rabbi Shulem Shtisel. Just when a relationship is about to bloom for Akiva, the punctilious demands of Jewish law interfere, causing the blossom to fade away. Although he is the most likely candidate of the family to cut the binds, he cannot quite liberate himself. (I want to emphasize here that all faiths are susceptible to smothering doctrine, not just Orthodox Judaism, right?)

The scene develops tenderly one morning as the young artists work in the basement of the home of Elishiva’s parents. It is obvious that they have feelings for one another, and Elishiva suddenly suggests that they simultaneously paint each other’s portrait. Akiva agrees. The scene unfolds silently, save for the sound of charcoal on canvass as each artist gazes at their subject. Love builds and builds with each stroke of charcoal. Suddenly, however, the spell is broken as Akiva frantically reaches for the top of his head, searching. He has forgotten his tefillin, a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. It is worn above the forehead during weekday morning prayers. Akiva, visibly upset, tells Elisheva that he has never forgotten them before and that he must leave immediately to fetch them. The scene is drained as he rushes from the beautiful countryside studio, leaving his companion to sadly watch him go.

In our passage today from Luke, the Pharisees ask Jesus when the kingdom of God is coming. He answers them, “For in fact the kingdom of God is among you.” The kingdom is now, for Jesus is living among them. This same Jesus, who challenges so much of the strict codes of the Pharisees and declares in Mark that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” is among them. And we, on this side of the Resurrection, know that he is among us today. The gifts of the kingdom are available now. May we not let them pass by. May we let God be God, and, as we say at St. Paul’s, “celebrate His infinite grace.”

Written by Grimsley Graham

...who needs to be continually reminded “to let go and let God.”