Friends,

A new project has just begun. This will be a documentary video focusing on the motivations and impetuses of Jewish people who were raised in Orthodox Judaism who later stop believing in and observing the religion. It will involve many individuals’ accounts of what led them to make this change in their lives, how it started, what challenges they faced, and in what ways have their lives been changed since.

There are a few purposes for this kind of exposé, primary of which being the almost total lack of understanding, and even exposure, among Orthodox Jewish people about this phenomenon. Not only this, but the proliferation of derogatory, offensive and dismissing attitudes about people who go Off The Derech, perpetuated mostly by rabbis, kiruv activists, and zealots within the global Jewish community.

There will be a very simple and clear message, which is to dispel these many false notions, such as the idea that Jews who go OTD are giving in to some evil desires, or that because these people have suffered some form of abuse or disgruntlement at the hands of other Jews, that this is a reaction in the form of rebellion against rabbis and god. To dispel these misconceptions – and I daresay, lies – I will focus on the varying experiences of many individuals who made these choices for their own betterment, and out of an intellectual honesty, rather than rebellion. Alongside this message is the intent to clearly illustrate the positive aspects of discarding orthodoxy as it exists today, and the legitimate and irreconcilable scientific, sociological and moral challenges to the Torah’s representation of god, our commandments of how to live, and the ideas represented within the Torah as well as the additional scriptures.

Aside from individual accounts, I will illustrate many examples of the specific types of intellectual, philosophical, theological and moral challenges to Judaism that exist, which prompted further investigation by Jewish individuals, leading to a thorough examination of the entire religion, its beliefs, moral standards, and claims of fact, ultimately culminating in an intellectual realization of the nature of Judaism, and its usefulness or lack thereof in their lives.

What I need:

• volunteers to conduct interviews and give a narrative account of their experience
• funding for professional services that will be needed, such as photography and video editing and promotional materials
• any volunteers who can simply provide help with individual tasks needed to be done

I will be putting together a Kickstarter campaign for this one project. One more type of volunteer is someone to work on a budget with me. This will involve doing research and getting some cost estimates for various goods and services.

Stay tuned, and please check this page routinely for updates.

[I will be editing this one document as time goes on to expound and revise details]