'Sacred Sperm' film exposes ultra-orthodox Jewish taboos

NY Times ^ | 2/6/2015 | Ami Bentov

[NetAddicted]

Like so many parents, Ori Gruder was grappling with how to talk to his 10-year-old son about sex. Being a member of Israel's ultra-Orthodox religious community, which tends to keep discussions of sexuality to a whisper, made the task even more difficult.

So Gruder created "Sacred Sperm," an hour-long documentary in which he tries to tackle the hard questions he can expect from his son. The film presents an intimate, informative and at times awkward look at the insular religious community and its approach to sexuality, fleshing out deeply entrenched taboos in the conservative society.

"What is it about that little sperm that looks like a tadpole and has everyone so hot and bothered?" Gruder ponders in his narration of the film.

Gruder, a 44-year-old father of six who once worked for MTV Europe and didn't become religious until age 30, gives the viewer a rare peek into private ultra-Orthodox lives, taking the camera into his own home, into ritual baths and circumcision ceremonies, to the religious school system and more.

The film already has been shown in Jerusalem, London and California and is touring the U.S. festival circuit, including Atlanta on Feb. 15.

[Old Sarge]

Why do I hear a Monty Python tune?

[Candor7]

Show support for Israel , Free USA-Israel Flag Pin:

Click this Link to Free USA-Israel Flag Pin

Share it with everybody:

[http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageNavigator/HLM_Flag_Pin.html]

*********************************************************

Show support for Israel , Free Canada-Israel Flag Pin:

Click this Link to Free Canada-Israel Flag Pin

Share it with everybody: [http://www.ifcj.ca/site/PageNavigator/flagPin.html]

[tanknetter]

Yup ....

Every sperm is sacred, every sperm is great
When a sperm is wasted, God gets quite itrate ... ;-)

[Old Sarge]

Every sperm is useful, every sperm is good,
Every sperm is needed in your neighborhood!

[SWAMPSNIPER]

I walked barefoot in snow one time, but I draw the line at rolling around naked in it.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

[WayneS]

Monty Python has already been there and done that.

[WayneS]

Every Sperm is Sacred - by Monty Pythin

There are Jews in the world there are Buddhists
There are Hindus and Mormons, and then
There are those that follow Mohammed, but
I’ve never been one of them

I’m a Roman Catholic
And have been since before I was born
And the one thing they say about Catholics is
They’ll take you as soon as you’re warm

You don’t have to be a six-footer
You don’t have to have a great brain
You don’t have to have any clothes on you’re
A Catholic the moment Dad came

Because every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate

Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate

Let the heathen spill theirs
On the dusty ground
God shall make them pay for
Each sperm that can’t be found

Every sperm is wanted
Every sperm is good
Every sperm is needed
In your neighborhood

Hindu, Taoist, Mormon
Spill theirs just anywhere
But God loves those who treat their
Semen with more care

Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate

Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is good
Every sperm is needed
In your neighborhood

Every sperm is useful
Every sperm is fine
God needs everybody’s
Mine and mine and mine

Let the pagan spill theirs
Over mountain, hill, and plain
God shall strike them down for
Each sperm that’s spilt in vain

Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is good
Every sperm is needed
In your neighborhood

Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
If a sperm is wasted
God gets quite irate

[rbg81]

Why does this smell like a hit piece? Next thing you know, Obama will be comparing the Hassadim to ISIS.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Don’t feel bad, my Jewish friends.

I once heard a Jesuit Catholic Priest give an eerily similar talk.

[Resettozero]

Just a reminder that whole-hearted support for Israel and Judah, as I do, is not synonymous with supporting the current religion of Judaism with its traditions of the elders.

[Candor7]

I support the freedom of Jews to worship however they want
and you can remind someone else of your splitting of hairs
on the matter.

The wholesale support of Israel and Judah in your case is so
minimal and conditional as to be non-existant.

So go eff yourself, royally.

[Resettozero]

I support the freedom of Jews to worship however they want and you can remind someone else of your splitting of hairs on the matter.

The wholesale support of Israel and Judah in your case is so minimal and conditional as to be non-existant.

So go eff yourself, royally.

That's fairly tough talk from someone who doesn't what he is saying or the mind of the FReeper he is posting to.

It's a great deal more than "splitting of hairs". Many Christians whole-heartedly support Israel and Judah and many of us pray constantly for the peace of Jerusalem.

Yours is an ignorant response and misrepresents what I said and what I think about Israel and its people.

[mikey_hates_everything]

“The Meaning of Life” and the song was about Irish Catholics. Never would have mixed that group up with ultra-Orthodox Jews.

[T-Bone Texan]

"...Many Christians whole-heartedly support Israel and Judah and many of us pray constantly for the peace of Jerusalem..."

I agree wholeheartedly, and I will continue to do so even if I went to Israel and the Hasids spit on me, which is something they do.

I am able to separate my love of Israel from the freaky-deeky extremists who hate me because I am not like them.

[Candor7]

I have laid down the burden under which you labor. Good luck with it.

[Sooth2222]

"Gruder, a 44-year-old father of six"

Taboos or not, Mr. and Mrs. Gruder seem to have mastered the basic technique better than the average US liberal (straight, or GLBT) couple.

[Resettozero]

I have laid down the burden under which you labor. Good luck with it.

Please explain what you mean. What burden? Thanks for any sincere reply.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

THE MEANING OF LIFE

Every sperm is sacred...