Are People Loving 'Loving Leah'?

Hi, I just wanted to say that I really loved this movie. I know nothing of the Jewish culture but I have always been fascinated by different religions. It was an interesting concept the brother marring his brother's widow. It really makes me curious as to the Jewish culture. But, more than that Leah and Jake's characters were wonderful and it really was a love story movie! Whether or not she change her Hasidic lifestyle to a less conservative view it was still a great and eye opening movie! I can't wait to buy it. -tiffany

A perspective from a Chassidic woman. (Lubavitch)
It was a practice which protected women in the olden days. It gave a widow a chance to be taken care of and an opportunity to remarry without any difficulty. It is a practice that was only done if the brother did not have kids. It is uncommon for a marriage like that to take place today when love and attraction are key components.
BTW I saw parts of the film and it is not true to the lifestyle of the Lubavitch community. I wish they would've had a Lubavitcher to consult with. I guess most of the viewers would not know the difference, though. For the most part people like to put all chassidim into one category & generalize, when in fact, they are so different. In particular, the Lubavitch Chassidim.

You've probably heard this by now, but I'm about 99% sure that Yibum (Levirate Marriage) is no longer practiced and has been completely disallowed by the rabbis. Where necessary, everyone does chalitza (shoe-spitting).

I say 99% because I'm also pretty sure that somewhere out there is some small group of complete whack-a-doodles who are doing it. Probably hanging out with the Neturei Karta people, too.

My understanding is that the otherwise prohibited marriage to your brother's wife (even his widow, natch) was allowed to give the dead brother a chance to continue his line - a child from that union was counted as if it had been born to the dead brother.

But that continuation is sort of dependent on the living brother's having pure intent regarding the sister-in-law/wife; and we're at a place now spiritually that the rabbi's had serious doubts whether anyone could maintain that kind of purity and not just be all excited to be doing something otherwise forbidden.

So... "And does anyone really engage in Levirate marriage anymore?"

No.

--FD

Dvarim 25: 5-10 says that if a man dies without having children, his brother is required to marry his widow or to complete the ritual of halitza to negate the requirement. Rabbis in the Ashkenazi tradition tend to favor the negation ritual, whereas in many Sephardi communities the marriage is encouraged. For further information see: Donin (294-5) and Dobrinsky (64-68, 394-9).

Dobrinsky, Herbert. A Treasury of Sephardic Laws and Customs. New York: Yeshiva University Press, 1986.

Donin, Hayim Halevy. To Be A Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life.
New York: Basic Books, 1972.

I did research on Sephardic film maker Moshe Mizrachi's film "I Love You, Rosa," based on his grandmother and her refusal to complete the halitzah ceremony.

Leah and her family were hardly Chassidic. They were charedi. Leah was too "modern" to be Chassidic.

It was a beautiful movie. Hallelujah there are still some moral values out there! How beautiful when Leah lit candles in Jewish tradition. i loved it! What made the doc fall in love with her was her love of God and her timidity. Who knew guys are still attracted to that sort of thing. Also it didn't hurt that she was a great cook and smart.
I and my husband of 26 years loved the movie.

I really enjoyed "Loving Leah". While some things in the movie that dealt with Leah's religion or her appearance may have troubled those more intimately familiar with the traditions and mores of Hassidic Judaism, I felt that to a non-Jew like myself, it was quite informative and a lovely romantic story. I learned about things like the Halizah ceremony the couple almost went through and what a Hamsa is. I have enjoyed Hallmark movies in the past, and I will continue to watch them.

Levirate marriage (Yibbum, in Hebrew) is a biblical commandment. Yes, it was practiced in ancient Israel (and in other ancient Near-Eastern civilizations). But no, it is NEVER practiced among contemporary Orthodox Jews, and hasn't been practiced for a millennium, especially among Ashkenazi Jews. Even back in Talmudic times (ca. 500 C.E.) the practice was deemed objectionable by many.

While Yibbum is no longer practiced, by biblical law the widowed woman is still bound to her husband's surviving brother if the couple never had children. In order to sever those bounds (without Yibbum), the widow and her brother-in-law must perform the 'Chalitza' ceremony. It is that ceremony which is practiced in ALL such cases among contemporary Orthodox Jews.

Apparently, the filmmakers chose to ignore this very important reality in favor of a fictionalized version of Hasidic Judasim in order to raise the intrigue and gain viewers. The premise is indeed intriguing; it doesn't take a very astute filmmaker to know this. But it's a cheap misuse of a rare, ancient, and, by now, only theoretical practice.

Does anybody now the song that was playing when jake was making breakfast for leah.

Corny? Sure! Trite? Maybe but I LOVED this movie.
I live in Los Angeles in a very Orthodox area & as a Christian, know very little about the customs.
But there was something so real. & honest & "loving" about this movie that I "rooted" for these two to make a go of it. LAUREN AMBROSE is a fabulous actress & made so much of 6 FEET UNDER work & this ADAM KAUFAMN guy is gorgeous & a fine actor as well, And ANYTHING that has the inimitable, MERCEDES RUEHL in it is definitely worth watching! I'm going to buy the DVD I loved it that much!

I too loved this movie! It is rare these days to see a relationship evolve from friendship in a very sweet way. Both Lauren Ambrose (who was luminous in her role) and Adam Kaufman (super cute!) were perfectly cast. I too had never seen either before and agree that both were very good. I recorded it, have re-watched it once, and will probably buy the dvd. I would love to see a "Loving Leah" Two made, but only with the original cast.

The young lady Lauren Ambrose played the role with a little know fact, is that she is not Jewish, as most have not noted here in the comments, thus can she act, you bet'um. Show me one movie since the 30's that has everything right down to the lighting of the candles, come on you want a movie or do you want a documentary? My wife and I have watch it about four times now. It’s clean, it has light moments and yea I’m an old guy, but it brought smiles to my face and lots of memories.