{"id":20827,"date":"2014-12-21T13:33:15","date_gmt":"2014-12-21T19:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=20827"},"modified":"2014-12-22T02:05:18","modified_gmt":"2014-12-22T08:05:18","slug":"after-gods-kings-10-ways-to-get-your-exodus-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/after-gods-kings-10-ways-to-get-your-exodus-on\/","title":{"rendered":"After \u2018Gods &#038; Kings,\u2019 10 ways to get your Exodus on"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By MARSHALL WEISS<\/p>\n<p>(Dayton Jewish Observer) &#8212; If Ridley Scott\u2019s \u201cExodus: Gods and Kings\u201d left you feeling stood up at the Tabernacle, you\u2019re not alone. Rottentomatoes.com indicates that 72 percent of mainstream media critics have panned this CGI leviathan of a film.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20914\" style=\"width: 235px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a title=\"Director Ridley Scott\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20914\" class=\"wp-image-20914 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore1-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore1-768x1024.jpg 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 225px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 225\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20914\" class=\"wp-image-20914 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore1-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore1-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Ridley_Scott_by_Gage_Skidmore1-768x1024.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-20914\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Director Ridley Scott (Photo by Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Whether something seemed missing or you did feel a connection to this latest cinematic biblical epic, here are 10 ways to get your Exodus on \u2014 either as an antidote or to get a better sense of what director Scott might have been after.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Maimonides on miracles<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom Moses to Moses, there has been no one like Moses,\u201d we are told in Jewish tradition. Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides), the great medieval Jewish philosopher and physician, is the author of the Mishnah Torah, a key guide to\u00a0Jewish law. In his Commentary to the Mishnah, Maimonides writes that the splitting of the Red Sea was \u201cprogrammed in\u201d to nature. Exodus director Scott goes in this direction with his depiction of the opening of the Red Sea as the result of a tsunami.<\/p>\n<p>In Maimonides\u2019 view, there is no contradiction between science and Jewish religious belief. An excellent starting point to learn more about Maimonides is the 2008 book Maimonides by Sherwin B. Nuland. For those up for a deeper exploration, read the 2013 Maimonides: Life and Thought by Moshe Halbertal.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Angels in our midst<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>One of the more startling aspects of Exodus: Gods and Kings isn\u2019t the scope of the battle scenes or plagues, but a mouthy 11-year-old boy (Isaac Andrews) who shows up as God\u2019s spokesman at the Burning Bush after Moses is clobbered over the head in a rock slide.<\/p>\n<p>Together, they bicker, argue, talk strategy, and lose their patience with each other.<\/p>\n<p>The boy comes and goes with God\u2019s messages throughout the movie.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s pretty clear that Scott doesn\u2019t present the boy as God himself, since Moses refers to him as a messenger, and he\u2019s listed in the credits as Malak.<\/p>\n<p>In Hebrew, the malak means angel or messenger. The Torah\u2019s Exodus narrative at the Burning Bush begins when \u201can angel (malak) of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire out of a bush.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the text indicates that when Moses turns aside to look, God himself then communicates directly with Moses. The Torah later describes God and Moses talking \u201cface to face,\u201d with no intermediaries.<\/p>\n<p>Could it be that Scott, an atheist, uses an 11-year-old boy to express the immature nature of Israel\u2019s still evolving God?<\/p>\n<p>In any case, the presence of angels or messengers of God in human form are replete in the Bible: from the three visitors Abraham hosts to the being who wrestles with Jacob, and the angel who tells Samson\u2019s parents of his coming birth.<\/p>\n<p>Find out what Judaism says about angels in the 2000 book \u201cA Gathering of Angels: Angels in Jewish Life and Literature\u201d by Morris B. Margolies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. I want my mummy<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20909\" style=\"width: 189px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20909\" class=\"wp-image-20909 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II-179x300.jpg\" alt=\"Mummy_of_Ramesses_II\" width=\"179\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II-179x300.jpg 179w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II-613x1024.jpg 613w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II.jpg 1283w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 179px) 100vw, 179px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 179px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 179\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20909\" class=\"wp-image-20909 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II-179x300.jpg\" alt=\"Mummy_of_Ramesses_II\" width=\"179\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II-179x300.jpg 179w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II-613x1024.jpg 613w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Mummy_of_Ramesses_II.jpg 1283w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 179px) 100vw, 179px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-20909\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mummy of Ramses II, the pharaoh most commonly associated with the Exodus narrative. (The Cairo Museum\/Wikipedia Commons)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Seeing Egyptian mummies viscerally shows ancient Egypt\u2019s cultural and religious obsession with death and its priority of the afterlife over this life. The Torah of the Israelites places as its highest value a moral life of obedience to God\u2019s Covenant, in this world.<\/p>\n<p>Google \u201cMummy of Ramses II,\u201d the pharaoh most commonly associated with the Exodus narrative, now part of the Cairo Museum collection, and look him in the eye.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Read Moses: A Life<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In 1998, Jonathan Kirsch pulled together a kind of Reader\u2019s Digest condensed version of the Moses narrative found in the Torah, Midrash (rabbinic commentaries and narratives about biblical personalities), and other faith traditions.<\/p>\n<p>Midrash relates that before his calling to free the Israelites, Moses was a noted Egyptian general. DeMille\u2019s 1956 \u201cThe Ten Commandments\u201d draws on this backstory as does Scott\u2019s new film.<\/p>\n<p>In media interviews, Christian Bale, the Moses of \u201cExodus: Gods and Kings,\u201d said Kirsch\u2019s book was his go-to source for character development.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Michelangelo\u2019s manly Moses<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_20910\" style=\"width: 167px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a title=\"Michaelangelo's Moses\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20910\" class=\"wp-image-20910 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo-157x300.jpg\" alt=\"MichelangeloMo\" width=\"157\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo-157x300.jpg 157w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo-536x1024.jpg 536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo.jpg 703w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 157px) 100vw, 157px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 157px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 157\/300;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20910\" class=\"wp-image-20910 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo-157x300.jpg\" alt=\"MichelangeloMo\" width=\"157\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo-157x300.jpg 157w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo-536x1024.jpg 536w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/MichelangeloMo.jpg 703w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 157px) 100vw, 157px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-20910\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Michelangelo\u2019s sculpture of Moses shaped the Western concept of Moses\u2019 appearance until Charlton Heston came along. (Wikipedia Commons)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>If Bale\u2019s extreme self-doubt and nervousness as Moses didn\u2019t do it for you, Google \u201cMichelangelo\u2019s Moses\u201d to see the self-assured, manly image of the lawgiver that shaped the Western concept of Moses\u2019 appearance until Charlton Heston came along.<\/p>\n<p>Heston may have even gotten the part because of his resemblance to the 16th-century sculpture for the tomb of Pope Julius II.<\/p>\n<p>Michelangelo\u2019s Moses sports biceps that are well-defined even by today\u2019s standards, no doubt from carrying two stone tablets that are tucked under one of Moses\u2019 brawny arms in the sculpture.<\/p>\n<p>Less inspiring are the horns atop this Moses\u2019 head, the result of the mistranslation of the Hebrew word \u201cKaren\u201d \u2014 emitting rays of light \u2014 in the Latin translation used by the Catholic Church in those days.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6. Handel\u2019s \u2018Israel in Egypt\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After the remarkable display of Ridley Scott\u2019s Red Sea tsunami turning back on Pharaoh\u2019s charioteers, we see the Israelites safe on the opposite shore, quietly sitting around like they\u2019re at a turnpike rest stop. Where\u2019s the celebration? The awe?<\/p>\n<p>Be of good courage. When Prince George of Hanover, Germany was made king of England in 1710, he brought with him his court composer, George Frideric Handel, who would become Britain\u2019s rock star in his day.<\/p>\n<p>Handel presented the premiere of his oratorio \u201cIsrael in Egypt\u201d at London King\u2019s Theatre in the Haymarket on April 4, 1739.<\/p>\n<p>In this work for orchestra, chorus, and soloists, Handel sculpts in music the plagues and the crossing of the Red Sea.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t have the patience to listen to a full baroque oratorio, take in the rousing final number, Miriam\u2019s song at the sea \u2014 Sing ye to the Lord \u2014 with soprano soloist and chorus.<\/p>\n<p><strong>7. Watch the original<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Original 1923 &quot;The Ten Commandments&quot; by Cecil B. DeMille\" href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1923Ten.jpg\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-20911 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1923Ten-300x176.jpg\" alt=\"1923Ten\" width=\"300\" height=\"176\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1923Ten-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1923Ten-1024x602.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/176;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-20911\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1923Ten-300x176.jpg\" alt=\"1923Ten\" width=\"300\" height=\"176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1923Ten-300x176.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/1923Ten-1024x602.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a>Cecil B. DeMille\u2019s 1956 \u201cThe Ten Commandments\u201d is not the original; that was the director\u2019s remake of his 1923 \u201cThe Ten Commandments,\u201d the silent version that ushered in the genre of the biblical movie epic.<br \/>\nIt\u2019s hard to describe how wildly successful and celebrated this film was in its day.<\/p>\n<p>DeMille made his 1923 version in two parts: a 40-minute prologue of the Exodus story culminating with the Golden Calf scene at Mount Sinai, and a contemporary jazz-era morality tale of how a man who breaks the Ten Commandments is then broken.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s worth the 40 minutes to at least screen the Exodus prologue, parts of which were filmed in an early version of Technicolor.<\/p>\n<p>For exterior shots of the Exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea, DeMille hired 250 Orthodox Jews from Los Angeles \u2014 mostly new immigrants from Eastern Europe who couldn\u2019t speak English \u2014 along with 2,000-plus extras for three weeks of filming at the Nipomo Dunes at Guadalupe, Calif. At the location\u2019s camp city, DeMille provided the Jewish extras with kosher meals and even a synagogue.<\/p>\n<p>In DeMille\u2019s autobiography he wrote, \u201cWe believed rightly that, both in appearance and in their deep feeling of the significance of the Exodus, they would give the best possible performance as the Children of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>8. Contemplate Schoenberg\u2019s opera if you dare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Scaling the Mount Sinai of intellect in the arts, Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg first abandoned Judaism in 1898 at the age of 28 but returned to his faith with the rise of Nazism in 1933.<\/p>\n<p>His challenging, never completed German opera \u201cMoses und Aron\u201d grew out of a play he wrote in 1926-27 about the spread of anti-Semitism. The focus of the opera is conflict between Moses and Aaron over how to worship God, who is without image and \u201cunknowable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moses rails against Aaron, who provides the Israelites with the Golden Calf, a concrete object for their worship. Schoenberg finished two of the opera\u2019s planned three acts. The work, rarely performed, had its premiere in 1957, six years after the composer\u2019s death.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9. Pick up Biblical Archaeology Review<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>To dig into findings from the ancient world as they relate to our knowledge of biblical text, start with Biblical Archaeology Review (<a href=\"http:\/\/biblicalarchaeology.org\/\">biblicalarchaeology.org<\/a>), the bimonthly magazine of the Biblical Archaeology Society.<\/p>\n<p>Its editor, Hershel Shanks, founded the society in 1973 as a nonprofit, nondenominational institution. The publication presents findings of major scholars in an accessible format for a general readership.<\/p>\n<p><strong>10. Read the original<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As the Jewish world continues its annual cycle of reading the Torah in synagogue, Jan. 10 marks the beginning of Shemot, The Book of Exodus.<\/p>\n<p>This is the perfect opportunity to read the original text, a section at a time, follow the commentaries on the Torah text in the margins, and hear what local rabbis have to say about the narrative.<\/p>\n<p>All movements of Judaism have eblasts with commentary on the Torah portion of the week as well. Sign up for one or many.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"After%20%E2%80%98Gods%20%26%20Kings%2C%E2%80%99%2010%20ways%20to%20get%20your%20Exodus%20on\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6539,8790,8795,8788,6538],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20827"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20827\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20916,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20827\/revisions\/20916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}