What it means to be Jewish today

SECULAR JEW Matthew is about to marry his nonJewish partner. But he wakes up transformed — into a Chasidic rabbi complete with flowing beard.

This is the starting point for a play on Radio 4 next week, MetaphorMoses written by playwright Gary Ogin who has immersed himself in Judaism to write it.

“It’s based on a short story I wrote when I was

16, inspired by Kafka, obviously,” he says.

“Essentially it’s about what it means to be Jewish today.”

Elliot Levey Ogin, who grew up in Liverpool and went to King David High School, but now lives in London, says this is his most Jewish play to date of the seven he has written for the BBC. Back in 1999 he directed a documentary The Worst Jewish Football Team in the World about a team of boys in Manchester whose constant defeats don’t get them down — even when their sponsor, a local optician, offers them free eye tests.

Researching MetaphorMoses made him realise that “even though I am Jewish I didn’t know very much about Jewish history. My education didn’t cover it. “

Writing for radio he’s aware that “You have to paint the picture. You have to be careful that you’re not explaining too much. It’s difficult when you’re dealing with something like putting on tefillin.” The play includes elements in Yiddish, and the actors, including Elliot Levey as Matthew, have worked with Barry Davis, a leading Yiddish expert, to make sure they are saying it correctly.

Ogin also talked to rabbis from various denominations and read many books about Jewish history, philosophy and religion. He also went to Limmud, and even placed an advert in the JC asking for people to help his research.

He hopes that the radio performance will just be the beginning for this play. “Eventually, I have the ambition of developing it into a stage play.”

MetaphorMoses is on Radio 4 at 2.15pm on August 1