Sex in the Holy City

I recently posted about the latest craze sweeping Israel, namely trance (birthday) parties in Israeli nightclubs for children under the age of 10, accompanied by their parents, of course.

What troubles me about this phenomenon is the clear (lack of) values being passed on from parent to child, and the wider implications this has on the continued existence of the Jewish State.

Well, if pre-pubescent trance parties didn't get you worked up, perhaps this story will:

Students present porn flick

Twelfth grade cinema students from the town of Rehovot have selected an unusual subject to stand at the heart of their high school graduation project - the porn world.

The film, titled "Granny Tales," deals with the porn world from the point of view of an ageing porn star, "granny" (portrayed by one of the students). It includes interviews with major players in the Israeli porn industry and feminists, as well as clips depicting female students in provocative outfits.

The more controversial parts of the production include scenes with students performing "dirty dances"; a tied up student wearing tight and revealing clothes who sends seductive glares to the camera; a male student putting his hand down his pants, and then being undressed by two female students; a student examining a vibrator; and two students dressed in lingerie and portrayed as "sex dolls."

To be honest, as much as this film troubles me, I am bothered even more that this film was approved by the students' teacher, parents', school principal, along with the indirect approval of Israel's Ministry of Education:

The teacher who instructed the students in making the movie, Galit Yogev, said the film's contents were granted the approval by the school, and that the students' parents were highly supportive of the production.

The high school principle Edna Levin said she was slightly less convinced that all the scenes in the movie were appropriate, but stressed she believed the movie was humoristic and ironic.

"I did have an argument with the students about one of the scenes, but they insisted, and finally the parent called me up and talked me into allowing it," Levin said...

Dorit Blin, the (Education) ministry's national supervisor over cinema studies in high schools, said the debate regarding the movie is "an example for education and democracy... We teach the children to criticize social dilemmas. How can they learn without creating dilemmas of their own?" she asked

When parents and teachers, as well as both the school's and Education Ministry officials supporting such "educational" initiatives, in the name of democracy of course, is there any wonder as to why the very future of the Jewish State is being called into question?

How can one not be troubled that this class of high school seniors, having nearly completed 14 years in Israel's educational system, has chosen as their class project, to produce a porn film?

Where is the sense of Jewish pride? How about a little Jewish shame?

"The object of the movie is not to offend people, but to get them to be more open… we didn't show anything very provocative, we were mild," Osnat Kishlinsky, one of the film's directors explained.

Are openness and democracy the ultimate values being taught within the classrooms of the State of Israel, and if so, where do Judaism and Jewish values fit in - before or after teaching students how to produce adult movies?

What hope can there be for the continued existence of the Jewish State when the very figures who bear the obligation and responsibility of acting as role models for our youth, namely, parents and teachers, are the very ones who are responsible for the poisoning of the hearts and minds of the children whom they are meant to raise and safeguard?

The Jewish People and Judaism survived the 2,000 year long exile, in large part, due to the centrality of Jewish education, and the great efforts and sacrifices made by generations of Jews to ensure that the Jewish tradition was successfully passed on to their children - and so on and so forth throughout the generations, until today.

How sad is it then, when today we find, in the (Jewish?) State of Israel, the millenia long chain of Jewish tradition in jeopardy of being broken?!?

(Hat Tip: Jameel of The Muqata - who had his own brand of excitement over Chanukah, slightly different from the kind of excitement portrayed in the film)

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