c. 1999 Religion News Service
JERUSALEM _”The Prince of Egypt”may be just a movie, but DreamWorks’ animated version of the Biblical Exodus story is getting a thumbs up from Israeli educators, who hope to utilize the film as a teaching tool.
The movie, which opened in Israel in late February in time for the festive Purim holiday, colorfully depicts the ancient Hebrews’ escape from slavery in Egypt and the start of their 40-year journey to the Land of Israel. The English and dubbed Hebrew versions have been playing to sold-out houses.
Teachers, who note that the public’s interest in Bible-related subjects has been on the wane in recent years, believe the Hollywood flick could have real educational value.”Although I don’t think that anyone should go to a … movie to learn the Bible, the movie can definitely stimulate children to ask questions,”said Serah Beizer, a Jerusalem-based expert in Jewish education.
Because all Jewish children in Israel study the Bible in school, Beizer said, they come to the movie with a solid foundation.”My own children, who have gone to religious schools, have known Bible stories since nursery school.”Even for secular Israelis,”she added,”the Bible is part of our cultural tradition.” Thanks to this grounding,”Prince”has the potential to be educational, Beizer said.”Kids watch the movie and say how it differs from the actual story. It’s another source of information, and I think that’s great.” Jeffrey Woolf, a lecturer in Talmud _ Judaism’s codified oral law _ at Bar-Ilan University, said he believes the movie can provide some common ground for the country’s secular majority and its religious minority. The religious-secular rift that has existed since Israel was founded in 1948 has grown steadily in recent years, sparking a culture war that shows no signs of abating.
Sitting in a local movie theater, where he just viewed”Prince”with his family, Woolf said,”Especially now in Israel, when there is so much cynicism and alienation, the Book of Exodus reminds us of our shared past. This movie can make a powerful contribution to strengthening and reviving our sense of collective memory. It doesn’t matter if you’re religious or secular. According to Jewish tradition, we all came out of Egypt together.” Melech Franford, a self-described modern-Hasidic Jew who has brought two of his children to the movie, also gives it high marks.”I enjoyed it immensely, and I think it’s a great idea to put stories like this on film. It’s one thing for children to study the Torah stories; it’s another to see them on a big screen, visualized and alive.” Sixteen-year-old Rivka Noam, an Orthodox teen-ager, says it was”exciting”to see her favorite Bible epic at the local mall.”I’ve known the story of Moses forever, since I was a little kid,”said the teen-ager.”It was beautiful to see in pictures what I’d always imagined.”
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