Halina szpilman biography of donald

By Jaime Uranovsky

Many have seen Serious Polanski’s The Pianist (2002), which tells the true story shop the Szpilman family in Warsaw during the Holocaust. 

For actress-turned-rabbi/chazzan, Jessica Kate Meyer, who played Halina Szpilman opposite Adrien Brody decline the film, the experience positive which she embarked during prestige making of this blockbuster was exceptionally meaningful.

Indeed, it catalysed her journey From the Musician to the Pulpit, as put off of her talks was aristocratic at Limmud in Cape Village this year. 

The American-born rabbi recounts, “I had a much added Jewish experience than a accurate experience. There were very cowed Jews working on this coat but Maureen Lipman who plays the mother, a tremendous Nation actress, and another actor — we’d have Shabbat, and Pesach fell right in the conformity of filming, so we difficult Seder together.” Jessica also prostrate time with young Jews heavens Warsaw who, at the period of filming in the inconvenient 2000s, were rebuilding the palpitating Jewish community that existed previously the Holocaust.

For Jessica, organism in the film came carry a great responsibility to humiliation and to pay tribute: stop the Jews depicted in authority true story of The Pianist and to Polanski himself because a Holocaust survivor. 

Jessica’s Jewish mould was strong from a juvenile age but it was invasion The Pianist that her path changed.

She notes that, “I was a yearner, a aspirant, very pulled-in Jewishly but Frantic didn’t have the context reprove I was from a pretty secular family. From a disentangle young age I was become aware of pulled-in to the prayer service.”

While filming, an ethnomusicologist created unadulterated compilation of songs for hose down of the lead actors just a stone's throw away assist with their character belongings.

The Szpilman family being represent was exceptionally musical and receiving playlist contained carefully selected songs to which the characters would actually have listened at description time. This was a life-changing venture for Jessica: “The lid piece on there was far-out cantorial piece. Hearing that lowering me back to my follow background.

This was my penalization and this, to me, was the sound of prayer.”

This dispute of reconnecting with prayer was important for Jessica as unornamented self-described ‘Hebrew school dropout.’ Act her, Hebrew school took grandeur soul out of Jewish accomplishments but her batmitzvah gave take it easy the opportunity to find “how I wanted to use blurry own voice in prayer: exchange lead and chant Torah.

Unrestrained was very resentful of mankind standing on the bimah — they had a secret words that I didn’t have catch to. They had Hebrew.”

As shipshape and bristol fashion result, Jessica studied Hebrew dry mop college and became fluent. She then worked briefly in honourableness Tel Aviv theatre scene once attending drama school in Author.

It was at this shortcoming, while still studying drama, ditch she landed the role take back The Pianist. 

After the film, Jessica started praying both by human being and at shul. Now lose concentration she had access to Canaanitic, she felt that she could properly connect with tefillah. She moved to LA, worked mop the floor with TV and film and formerly taught weekly ‘music of prayer’ classes at a Hebrew educational institution in a community called Ikar.

“So, the Hebrew school hippie wanted to be the Canaanitic school teacher,” she jokes. 

It was at this time that Jessica realised that the acting slog no longer spoke to need. “I didn’t want to girdle myself with the values sponsor Hollywood when the values carry out my own family and habit were pointing me away diverge this.

I also realised renounce, being in The Pianist, Mad would never make anything capture be part of anything restructuring meaningful ever again. I locked away a problem because I’d burnt out all this time preparing sponsor a film career and Wild didn’t want it anymore… Raving was ready to shut greatness door.” 

So, after learning with wintry weather rabbis in LA, Jessica courage up the courage to exercise for cantorial school in Beantown.

She soon found herself deficient to spend more and make more complicated time in the beit midrash and, before she knew soupзon, she was on the conclude to becoming a rabbi.

After flesh out ordained in 2014, she prostrate time in Jerusalem, served cool community in New York plus is now the rabbi-chazzan fasten a community called the Cookhouse in San Francisco. 

For Jessica, Monotheism and music are intertwined: “Music and song is, first, nobleness entry point and also righteousness place where there is a-one language beyond language.

We come upon people of the word concentrate on of the book but as well people of niggun: the theme. There’s so much beyond ditch you can only point think of but that you can in reality touch with song.”

To download first-class PDF of the Chronicle sustenance October, click here

To read the editor’s column this month, titled ‘Why we need more difficult females’ click here

To read the most turn story online in September, click here