Category Archives: Drama

As I write this review, the world is in chaos. There is civil war in Syria, ISIS is spreading terror throughout the world, the governments of Libya and Yemen are in a downward spiral, Iraq is fighting a war against jihadists, Iran is on the verge of becoming a nuclear threshold state, and the United States is no longer viewed by its historic allies as a nation that can be trusted.

A few years ago, I would never have dreamed of such a doomsday scenario. But, lo and behold, it is here and we are living the impossible dream. I share this with the reader because so much of what is happening today is alluded to in the opening minutes of the political thriller Body of Lies, a prescient story of men caught in the web of secret intelligence communities that will stop at nothing to achieve their aims.

I learned something new about the way terrorists operate from Body of Lies. Ed Hoffman, a CIA supervisor, observes that terrorists generally avoid taking advantage of technology. They do not use cell phones and computers to transmit information; they prefer to speak face to face with people and through written messages that can be destroyed easily. In the final analysis, what counts is intelligence provided by humans in the field, not necessarily computer generated information. Roger Ferris is Ed Hoffman’s man in the field, who provides him with all kinds of useful data about the bad guys. He sees things up close, subjectively, while Ed sees things from a distance, objectively.

The story opens as Ferris is searching for Al-Saleem, an Al Quaida terrorist who is orchestrating a series of suicide bombings across England and Europe. Ferris’ travels take him to a number of middle-eastern countries, including Jordan where he forms an uneasy alliance with Hani Salaam, the head of Jordanian intelligence.

Amidst many clandestine attacks and counterattacks, Ferris comes up with a plan to make contact with Al-Saleem, through staging a terrorist attack that will encourage Al-Saleem to be in touch with the terrorist entity that caused the attack. In order to do this, Ferris sets up a straw man, Omar Sadiki, an innocent architect, for whom he creates a computer profile that makes it appear as if Sadiki were the head of a terrorist cell.

The ruse works but with tragic consequences. The more Ferris labors to get valuable information that can save innocent lives, the more moral compromises he has to make in the short run; and many innocent people die in the service of the long term goal of eradicating terrorists. Ed Hoffman reminds Ferris more than once that in the world of terrorism and counterterrorism, no one is innocent. Located thousands of miles away from the morally abhorrent actions, he looks at the big picture, making decisions based only upon dispassionate calculations. For Ferris, however, every decision is personal.

Jewish tradition is mindful of the distinction between experiencing things first-hand and experiencing them from a distance. While viewing a situation from the balcony, we miss seeing the total picture. We need to be on the ground floor as well to see the complex reality.

The Sages who composed the text of the Hagadah, the text that is read at the Passover Seder, encouraged simulated first-hand experiences at the Seder table when Jews yearly recount the Egyptian slavery experience. The Seder meal is filled with tangible reminders of bondage. We are to eat simple unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The Hagadah explicitly tells us to experience the evening as if you personally went out of Egypt. It should not be a mere recital of words; rather the Seder should be a visceral reimagining of the Exodus experience.

Body of Lies reminds us that to understand the complexity of the fragmented world around us, we need to see events from two perspectives, that of the outsider and insider. Only then can we appreciate the wisdom it takes to make good decisions in a morally confusing universe.

Purchase this movie from Amazon.com.

Hospitality is a big deal in Jewish law and lore. Abraham is the model of the gracious host. In the midst of a painful recuperation from circumcision, he waited outside of his tent on a hot day to welcome any passing strangers to his home where he provided them with lodging and a sumptuous feast. The Midrash says that he even interrupted his prayer to God to take care of guests. Hospitality to strangers plays a key role in the intense and violent war film Lone Survivor.

In Afghanistan, a four-man cohort of Navy SEALS, consisting of Michael Murphy, Marcus Luttrell, Matthew Axelson, and Danny Dietz, is tasked with capturing or killing a Taliban leader responsible for the deaths of over twenty Marines. The SEALS are inserted into a mountainous region and proceed to their rendezvous point. But there is a problem. They are discovered by an elderly shepherd and two young goat herders.

The men evaluate their options, which include killing the shepherds and thus preserving their mission or releasing them and aborting the mission, knowing it has been compromised. A brief but heated discussion ensues. Luttrell argues to release them: “Under the rules of engagement, we can’t touch them,” to which Axelson responds: “I understand. And I don’t care. I care about you. I care about you. I care about you.” Finally, they decide to release them and abort the mission; but, soon after, Taliban forces ambush them with terrible consequences.

Although the SEALS inflict many casualties, they are outnumbered. Moreover, because of technical problems, they cannot contact their home base to arrange an extraction, making their situation even more desperate. One by one, they succumb to injuries, but Luttrell finds temporary refuge in a local Pashton village. One of the villagers, rejecting the brutality of the Taliban, takes Luttrell into his home and sends a messenger to a nearby American air base to report Luttrell’s location. In the interim, the Taliban arrive preparing to execute Luttrell; but the villagers intervene, preventing them from killing him. What saves Luttrell’s life is the moral code of the local Afghan population, which prides itself on protecting the stranger once he enters their home.

Jewish tradition has much to say about how we should treat the stranger and how we bear responsibility for his safety. The residents of Sodom were the polar opposites of Abraham. Instead of warmly welcoming the stranger, they did everything they could to take advantage of him. The Talmud states that if the guest bed was too short, they would cut off the stranger’s legs. If the bed was too long, they would stretch him so that his body would fit. This evil approach to hospitality led to the destruction of the Sodom.

Another Biblical source relating to our treatment of the stranger is the law of the eglah arufah, the decapitated calf, which was slaughtered when an unidentified corpse was discovered outside the city limits. If that happened, the elders of the city had to convene a meeting to determine whose responsibility it should have been to take care of this stranger. There is an element of communal guilt for permitting someone to go unprotected from the city. Therefore, an atoning ritual was performed on behalf of the closest city to which the body was found. Again, the recurrent theme is to take care of the vulnerable stranger.

Lone Survivor is a riveting movie about a group of courageous soldiers who made a decision to put their lives on the line to preserve morality in a war where the enemy had no such scruples. Thankfully, Marcus Luttrell survived to tell the story, which not only depicts the brutality of war, but portrays the uncommon kindness of people who, despite potential harm, stepped forward to help the defenseless stranger.

Purchase this movie from Amazon.com.