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| Image credit: https://www.nytimes.coml |
Netflix,
if you search hard enough, can be a treasure trove of inspiring real-life
stories.
For
two nights, we've been glued to “Unorthodox,” a four-episode
series about Esty, a young Jewish woman trapped in an arranged
marriage which she tried to escape.
It
was inspired by the memoirs of Deborah Feldman who left her
ultra-conservative Hasidic community in Williamsburg, New York, to
build a new life in Berlin.
Hasid
per Wikipedia means pietist or piety. Hasidists are
ulra-conservative Jews who are extremely devoted to observing the law
and its letter.
The
story was an eye-opener, to say the least---that in this age, a group
of people still adheres to whatever Moses and those after him who
imposed rule-upon-rule-upon-rule on their people.
We
applaud those who observe Mosaic law. But could anyone, really?
This
contemporary Hasidic community thought they were doing just that. As
the story unfolded, we follow an innocent young woman weighed down by
layers of do’s and don’t’s, and rituals and forms:
First,
the arranged marriage. Imagine getting hitched with someone you'd
never met.
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| Image credit: https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life |
Second,
the pressure to procreate. Marital sex without love or pleasure, and for the
mere purpose of producing an heir could be punishing.
Third,
women treated as subordinate to men. Esty practically didn't have a
life---forbidden to sing or play the piano or follow any of her
passions, because “women simply were not allowed to”. But she did
it in secret anyway, and found her voice in Berlin..
In
short, a culture of rules without heart. If we search hard enough,
we'll discover many more tribes or cultures with even more abusive or
stringent demands than these; with women and children mostly at risk.
And
isn't it strange that in our day and age, we still find people stuck
in ways which value rites or forms—-even cruel practices---more
highly than love, compassion and respect.
I
can't judge if this movie's producers were biased. But this we're
sure of:
God
knew we could not follow the law in its entirety. That's why Jesus
came---that grace and truth be ours (John 1:7); and the law be etched
in our own hearts and minds (Hebrews 10:16---not decreed by man, but
with the help of His Word (the bible) and His Spirit in us.
That's
why we can do good, love, be patient and self-controlled, kind,
faithful, gentle; and most of all experience His peace (Galatians
5:22-23)---none of which can be taken away from us despite difficult
situations; and against such, there is no law!
I
pray the real Esty would know this---that freedom is found in Christ
alone, because physical freedom is not freedom at all unless one's soul is saved from sin which in itself is entanglement.
Prayer:
O God, help me to understand that real freedom is found only in
Christ. Help me to understand your Word. Plant it in my heart and
mind, that I may follow and obey you and no longer be trapped by what
others expect of us. Save me and rule over my life from now on. In
Jesus' mighty name.
