The (Almost) Hollywood Hasid
Amazing: A Hasidic man was cast in a Hollywood movie.
More amazing: As Natalie Portman’s husband.
Sublime: He gave it all up.
First he couldn’t hold Natalie Portman’s hand – and now a Williamsburg Hasidic Jew-turned-actor has to give up his chance to hit it big in a Hollywood movie.
Abe Karpen, 25, a married father of three, was cast as Portman’s husband in “New York I Love You,” a film composed of 12 short stories about love in the five boroughs.
“I am backing out of the movie,” said Karpen, a kitchen cabinet salesman. “It’s not acceptable in my community. It’s a lot of pressure I am getting. They [the rabbis] didn’t like the idea of a Hasidic guy playing in Hollywood.
“I have my kids in religious schools and the rabbi called me over yesterday and said in order for me to keep my kids in the school I have to do what they tell me and back out,” Karpen said.
While news of Karpen’s withdrawal sent waves of disappointment through the movie set, the Hasidic community was up in arms over Karpen’s acting gig – forcing him to flee for the weekend, a friend said.
“We are very sorry that this has created a problem for him personally and for the community,” said the film’s executive producer, Jan Korbelin.
“He’s a great ambassador of his faith and it came out of the left field. … This is the last thing this picture should be doing,” Korbelin said. “This film is about love and understanding between different people and communities.”
Just Wednesday, Karpen was strolling along the Fulton Ferry State Park under the Brooklyn Bridge alongside Portman, 26, who sported a dark head-covering and a coat.
“They wanted me to hold her hand, but I said ‘no way,’” said Karpen, who proudly stood his ground. “It’s against our religion. You can’t even hold your wife’s hand on the street.”
Then came the howls of protest about his unorthodox job.
“This is when I woke up and saw that I made a big mistake. My kids mean everything to me and my community where I live means everything to me,” said Karpen, who comes from a prominent Williamsburg, Brooklyn, family.
His longtime friend Levi Okunov said the Karpens had to flee the city for the weekend. “The community wants to kill him,” he said.
Hasidic community activist Isaac Weinberger said Karpen should have known better.
“We don’t watch television. We don’t go to the movies, so to be in a movie is the worst thing. It’s a shame for any Hasid,” he said.
They also don’t roll on Shabbos (lanuage warning).
While many of you reading this will no doubt think he’s a huge jerk for passing up such an opportunity, I think he’s to be commended. He actually has principles.
Still, despite his troubles, Karpen had nothing but kind words for the film and Portman.
“She’s the only one I was willing to work with,” Karpen said. “I was shocked that she’s a Hollywood big shot. We talked in Hebrew. … She wants to become more religious.”
I said principles, not perceptiveness.
About the Author
An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.Filed Under: Uncategorized
This is quite surprising and unfortunate for the community to react in this way. It goes against the teachings of Chassidus. It would be unthinkable to have Rebbe Schneerson advocating the community to kill (or shun) another member of the community. Disagree yes, do everything to bring that person back yes but to make the family flee? That is shameful.
But why is he an actor in the first place?
I don’t get it.
Seemed like a good idea at the time?
Good question. I guess he didn’t think it through.
Why does his “community” get to order him around?
now, how does this reaction and behavior of abe’s community differ from what we keep reading about muslims? and criticize them for that.
i keep kosher and shabbat myself – AND have a great respect for chabbad shluchim where i live, but this is too much.
chevrah (friends?), his community has standards that they choose to live by — and he had free choice to pick community over movies. Others have made different choices in the past. Many a Jew has gone the Hollywood route — to what end? Good children? Generations attached to a past that is glorious? Or a few moments of fame and glory — coupled with the experience of having been used by the public, the producers, etc. with your life all wasted. So abe chose differently. He said, “this is my life, my kids, my community.” He decided his community’s values made sense — and he gave up the Hollywood glitz. Can’t fathom it, Chevrah? Why is it easier to understand someone giving up Chassidus for the tinsel of your lives? Just as some opt out of my community, some of us (myself included who was offered modeling) opt not to leave. And reap the benefits of being part of something much larger than our own little egos.
B’ze’ir An’pin (and I mean ze’ir as in nano), this was a Yoseph Ha’Tzadik – Eshet Potipherra moment.
Good for him! Nicht a Yiddisheh Parnassa. It must be very hard to be a shomer Torah U’Mitzvot and find paying acting jobs which don’t involve either outright prohibition, compromising of principles or even Chilul Hashem just associating professionally with certain people.
What exactly?
Forget about killing because I didn’t take the article in the literal sense. But please document where the Lubavitcher Rebbe would never shun a community member if certain lines were crossed.
First acting, then chatting in Hebrew. What next?
1) They certainly were not going to kill him, and if he fled, it was not from fear for his life, but rather from the glares and shunning he would have received.
2) Natalie Portman is Israeli, and when she studied at Hebrew University in the overseas program, I had a friend that knew her. They said she was indeed very pleasant, unassuming, and very Jewish — knew and loved her culture.
So why is it so hard to believe that just because she’s famous she doesn’t want to embrace her own religion? She’s a good Yid, for sure. He is too. He just had to find his priorities.
I love that line.
Every community has standards that it maintains. Otherwise, it’s not a community. Life is about trade offs. In order to maintain the depth of feeling and personal connections that they have, they find it necessary to abstain from a lot of the superficial elements of life. This isn’t for everyone and that’s why we have many types of communities. On the other hand, I think our world would be a bleaker, more shallow place without them in it.
“We don’t watch television. We don’t go to the movies, so to be in a movie is the worst thing. It’s a shame for any Hasid,” he said.
Wow….really? There have to be worse things than being in a film and I’d be very suprised if it said you weren’t allowed to act, in any scripture, it seems they were more up in arms over him acting than what he was being asked to do.
Also; to threaten to kick his kids out of school, it’s an awful thing to do and atleast to me doesn’t serve the benevolent nature of the religion. It seems more like the poor guy was black mailed than him making a choice and it’s a shame to turn down the oppurtunity to have a high profile, good natured ambassador for Chasidic judaism.
I think he meant it’s worst within the subject under discussion. That is, starring in a movie is the worst when you don’t watch movies or TV in the first place. That wasn’t difficult.
There is no “prohibition” to acting itself. Jewish religious communities put on plays and skits all the time. Rather, it’s the circumstances here that make it prohibitive in principle.
Intentionally violating and not ceasing accepted community norms of modesty will often be grounds for one’s children losing their place in a Jewish community’s religious school. It’s not retaliation. It’s a concern of influence from the home on others. Doesn’t bother me.
I see nothing wrong with a threat of disciplinary action in any society when called for. But he himself seems to have come to the realization that he accepted to do something he should have known better not to. Remember, this guy is a cabinet salesman by profession.
I have always been taught that as a general rule, the best way to be a Jewish ambassador is to not to sully one’s reputation in environments and situations unbecoming to the religious Jewish standards one represents. This is one of those cases.
@Shy Guy. You said: “There is no “prohibition” to acting itself. Jewish religious communities put on plays and skits all the time.”
Sure, but this guy seems to be an actor for television . Or was this only a one-time-try-out?
Paragraph 3 of the above article states:
That’s all the article claims.
Very sad to see what indoctrination can do to people.
And you think you’re not indoctrinated? Hah.
Very nice to see what principled beliefs in dignity, modesty and Jewish family life can do to people.
Smoke on your pipe and put that in!
Just to correct a misunderstanding here: He is from Williamsburg! He has absolutely no ties with the following of Rabbi Shneerson who is Habad/ Lubavitch and he is most definitely a Satmar. These two groups despise each other to the point of fist fights at times.The Satmar are extremely fanatic, there are anti Israel posters on their buses and along the street, and the area that they live in (at least until 10 years ago) looks like the pictures from the ghettos in Europe. I can definitely understand why he decided to give up this opportunity. He would most likely have lost everything – family, work, home….
So we were all misled by the first post here that we’re talking about Chabad. Thanks for the correction.
He wasn’t being asked to break any part of halacha, and felt comfortable standing up for his observance. Instead of having a discussion about if this was ok, the community went straight to all out scare tactics. He isn’t a man of principles. A man of principles would stand by what he thought was right. He is just bowing to community pressure because he has no way to keep his family in the community otherwise. He knows that he could use this opportunity for a great kiddush hashem, but instead he is backed into a wall. poor guy, he may be a man of principles, but his “decision” doesn’t prove or disprove that thesis.
First off he deserves a big yasher koach, for such a big kiddush hashem. How many of you could say that you would choose your community over fame and fortune ? How many of you would have picked up and moved and left your life behind to be a movie star?
Second, why do you automatically believe every thing that the rashim say in these papers? What happened to dan l’chaf zchus? Why do you take it literally that his community wanted to kill him ? You’ve never heard a jew exaggerate to make a point!? No one was going to kill him, bvdai! I’m sure that he is very greatful to his community and rabonim for putting pressure on him, and saving him from a huge mistake.
Does any one have an e-mail for him ? I would like to send a yasher koach!