Movie review: ‘Praying with Lior’
November 26th, 2007
‘Movies that seek to inspire are often dull and don’t keep your attention. So what a pleasure to find something different in ‘Praying with Lior.”
From Tikkun, a review of an independent documentary film about Lior Liebling, a teenager with Down syndrome who has a “spiritual sensitivity that both amazes and inspires everyone who meets him.”
The film is unsentimental and doesn’t pretend that Down syndrome is some wonderful state of being to be sought out. It portrays the pain, frustration, and disappointments that face Lior and his family. But it also raises questions in the minds of all those who, before seeing this film, were sure that abortion was the only possible response to a prenatal test that predicted a Down syndrome baby.
Precisely because it avoids all this kind of preaching, the film becomes a powerful voice not only for disability rights (which in principle every progressive supports), but also for a greater spiritual attentiveness to all that can be learned from the Otherly-abled.
From the film’s website:
In a society that literally “worships” perfection and same-ness, individuals with physical and cognitive disabilities are dismissed and discriminated against everywhere. In the place where they should receive the most welcome and derive the most comfort — their faith communities — parents of children with special needs often hear “your child shouldn’t be here.”
Our goal for this film and outreach campaign is to create a sea change in the way we as a society value each individual. Lior’s story presents a dramatic opportunity to demonstrate the contribution that every individual can make, no matter how “special.”
While society may view inclusion as the right or nice thing to do, Lior’s example shows us that his presence actually enhances everyone else’s religious experience. Lior’s Bar Mitzvah is wonderful for him, but really, as one synagogue member says, “it’s for us.”
Related links:
- Variety review
- Earlier story from the Philadelphia Inquirer
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on Monday, November 26th, 2007 at 10:29 am and is filed under Down syndrome, documentary, families, movies, public attitudes.
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November 26th, 2007 at 5:57 pm
This film seems very fascinating and refreshing. At first, when I read about it on this blog, I thought it would be a recount of the generosity and charity of the synagogue, as if including a boy with Down syndrome in a religious service is going above and beyond not only societal morality but Judaic morality as well. However, upon closer examination it appears that inclusion can create a symbiotic relationship between the disabled and the nondisabled, even in an environment where the cognitively disabled were often thought of as useless.