Filmmaker John Curtin’s documentary asks why the Jews, as a small and unremittingly persecuted people, have excelled in so many areas of human activity. Following a brief introduction enumerating notable Jewish thinkers over the centuries and pointing to the large percentage of Jewish Nobel Prize winners, Curtin turns to interviews with figures in a wide variety of fields who offer observations about the causes for Jewish overachievement relative to other groups—among them the late Israeli statesman Shimon Perez, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, author and broadcaster Dr. Ruth Westheimer, novelist Howard Jacobson, chess grandmaster Judit Polgár, architect Daniel Libeskind, psychologist Steven Pinker, and theorist Noam Chomsky. One segment explores Jewish accomplishments in music, while another looks at Israeli innovation in technology, including such areas as drip irrigation and desalination, both of which are essential to prosperity in the arid Middle East. So, what is the answer to the titular question? Many of the commentators, such as Rabbi Reuben Poupko, point to Judaism’s essential quality as a religion of the word that has predicated its very survival on education. Others argue that persecution has made the drive to succeed even more urgent, and that envy of Jewish accomplishment has in turn exacerbated anti-Semitic prejudice. A fascinating film that raises provocative issues, this is recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)
Why the Jews?
(2018) 70 min. DVD: $95: public libraries; $395: colleges & universities. DRA. Tugg. PPR. Volume 34, Issue 5
Why the Jews?
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