Since word has circulated that Beau Biden’s widow, Hallie, is dating her late husband’s brother, Hunter, the Internet has been abuzz with discussions of Levirate marriage. Well, the Oscars announced the wrong winner and Donald Trump is president. Stranger things are happening constantly these days than a mainstream discussion of a fairly obscure Biblical law.

Actually, not that obscure. Valentine’s Day may be past, but there’s always time for a Rom-Com, and may we here at Jewcy recommend Hallmark’s Loving Leah.

For those of you who don’t know, Levirate marriage in Judaism is the practice of a man marrying his brother’s widow; it’s a duty that has to do with giving her children and passing on the deceased’s line. It’s not practiced anymore; and in some communities they still use a simple ceremony the would-be betrothed undergo to liberate themselves from the obligation.

But what if someone refused to perform the ceremony? And instead decided to live in a platonic marriage with someone in whom he has nothing in common? And he was dating someone else? And he found himself gradually growing more attracted to his “wife?” What a shakeup that would be!

Yes, honest-to-HaShem, this is the premise of a 2009 film about a secular Jew who
“inherits” his brother’s Hasidic widow. It was written by P’nenah Goldstein, originally a play, and miracle of miracles, made it to the small screen. And it has everyone— Susie Essman! Ricki Lake as a rabbi! Pre-comeback Natasha Lyonne!

The star is Lauren Ambrose, who caused a storm of controversy when she was cast in Funny Girl on Broadway a few years ago, as being too gentile. In fact, the production was cancelled altogether. Maybe the producers didn’t see her turn in this film as Leah, as Hasidic woman who marries a stranger so that she can pursue her dreams of going to college.

Listen, it’s a Hallmark movie. It’s cheesy and unrealistic. But it’s a relatively sensitive portrayal of Orthodox Judaism, and a sweet story. And Adam Kaufman is easy on the eyes.

And wouldn’t you know it? THE ENTIRE FILM IS ON YOUTUBE.

You’re welcome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qN7Q6Ya8DM8

Images via Hallmark Movies

The post ‘Loving Leah’ Is Your Favorite Hallmark Movie appeared first on Jewcy.

Ever wondered what happened to the campers of Wet Hot American Summer? Well, they grew up and moved to New York to meet-cute in independent bookshops and fall into fraught-but-ultimately-happy romcom relationships, duh.

So it goes in They Came Together, the new film from Wet Hot collaborators David Wain and Michael Showalter, starring Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler. It’s basically a frame-by-frame satire of every romantic comedy trope ever, from the hero’s nebbish best friend to the heroine whose only flaw is being a adorkable klutz.

Anyway, interesting tidbit: EW just posted this little teaser vid in which Poehler’s character describes “the typical romantic-comedy leading man” as “vaguely but not overtly Jewish.” (To which Bill Hader’s character responds, “You’re right! Just Jewish enough.”)

So we put it to you, dear readers! Is the ideal leading man vaguely Jewish? So far we’re thinking yes: we’re counting Harry Burns (Billy Crystal) from When Harry Met Sally, Josh (Paul Rudd) from Clueless, Peter (Jason Segel) from Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera)  from Juno, Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) from Knocked Up, and Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) from 500 Days of Summer. Who have we missed?

The post Is the Ideal Rom-Com Leading Man “Vaguely” Jewish? appeared first on Jewcy.

Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party might have been the surprise winner of yesterday’s Israeli election, netting exactly half of the 120 Knesset seats and demonstrating a leftward shift in the country’s political narrative. But the real winner is Lapid, who in his former life as a television personality played the role of the Hugh Grant-esque leading man in the 1994 classic Israeli rom-com, Shirat HaSirena:

The post Watch: Israeli Political Darling Yair Lapid Stars in a Nineties Romantic Comedy appeared first on Jewcy.