Photo courtesy of imdb.com
The cover of the film “Legend of Destruction,” directed by Gidi Dar
By Julia Olson
Assistant Editor
Two Cincinnati congregations will be joining synagogues all over the world in screening “Legend of Destruction,” a feature length film about the period leading to the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Congregation Sha’arei Torah and Temple Sholom will be screening the film, which was written, directed, and produced by Israeli director Gidi Dar in 2021. The screenings of the film will mark the days leading up to Tisha B’Av, an annual fast day during which the Jewish people mourn a number of calamities, including the destruction of both Solomon’s Temple by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar and the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans. According to the press release, screenings of Dar’s “Legend of Destruction” in observance of Tisha B’Av “will connect communities across dozens of countries, including a screening in the courtyard of the Tower of David in the Old City of Jerusalem.”
The film uses historical material from the Talmud and accounts written by Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. Voice actors in the film include Oscar Isaac (“Dune,” “Star Wars”), Evangeline Lilly (“Lost,” “Antman”), Elliot Gould (“M.A.S.H.,” the “Ocean’s” films), and Billy Zane (“Titanic”).
The film depicts the time leading up to the destruction of the Second Temple. As described in the press release, during this time Israel underwent “a process of societal erosion and polarization, not dissimilar from those being experienced in many democracies today. Social inequality, corruption and injustice led to secret groups of militant zealots forming in Jerusalem that ultimately resulted in a revolt against the Romans, which rapidly deteriorated into civil war between the groups themselves. This weakened the fabric of Jewish society to the point of its inability to fend off a Roman assault on Jerusalem that led to the destruction of the Temple.”
The film has received four Israeli Academy Awards, and was highly praised by former Prime Minster Naftali Bennet who, during his tenure as PM, urged the Knesset to watch the film.
Congregation Sha’arei Torah will screen the film Tuesday, August 13, at 3:00 p.m., and Temple Sholom will screen it Tuesday, August 13 at 1:00 p.m.
