Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The upcoming Deathly Hallows movie and the Torah's view of dealing with dilemmas (Chayei Sarah)

With the upcoming release (November 19) of the movie of the first half of Deathly Hallows, I'm planning to step up activity on this blog. (Of course, the best way to prepare for the movie is to buy a copy of Harry Potter and Torah if you haven't already: click here!)

I think that this movie will include the scene where Harry, Ron, and Hermione visit Xenophilius Lovegood, their friend Luna's father. At the door they're greeted rather strangely:

'Would it be OK if we came in?' asked Harry. 'There's something we'd like to ask you.'
'I ... I"m not sure that's advisable,' wispered Xenophilius. He swallowed and cast a quick look around the garden. 'Rather a shock ... my word ... I ... I'm afraid I don't really think I ought to -'
...
His good eye moved again to Harry's scar. He seemed simultaneously terrified and mesmerised... He kept swallowing, his eyes darting between the three of them. Harry had the impression that he was undergoing some painful internal struggle.
We find out later that Xenophilius was in fact in a huge dilemma.

Throughout the story (and movie) we see many other people in dilemmas. The Malfoys are torn between their alliegence to Voldemort and their desire to save Draco. Harry is torn between searching for horcruxes and seeking hallows. Harry is also torn between believing in Dumbeldore and distrusting him.

We see a fascinating teaching in this week's Torah portion about how we deal with dilemmas. The Torah gives us four prototypes of dealing with dilemmas, some successfully and some not. Read all about it in an essay I wrote two years ago:
http://harrypottertorah.blogspot.com/2008/11/shalshelet-dealing-with-temptation-and.html


Enjoy Harry Potter and Torah, and enjoy the new movie when it comes out!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Harry Potter themes in this week's Torah portion (Vayera)

Here are links to one chapter from Harry Potter and Torah and another article in the same style, both of which relate to this week's Torah portion, Vayera (or "Vayeira"):

Mudbloods, Moabites, and Moshiach:
http://harrypottertorah.blogspot.com/2008/11/vayeira-mudbloods-moabites-and-moshiach.html

Shalshelet: Dealing with temptation and uncertainty:
http://harrypottertorah.blogspot.com/2008/11/shalshelet-dealing-with-temptation-and.html

I'll be posting more soon in preparation for the upcoming Harry Potter movie release.