Question: What do Sacha-Baron Cohen and Rav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv have in common? Answer: They are both Shomer Shabbos. But what separates them is far greater than what unites them. In fact they could very well be on the extreme opposite polar ends of the Tumah/Tahara spectrum. Rav Elyashiv as most people know is a Gadol, a rabbinic figure who is from that generation of Gedolim who are among the last of an era. A man whose every breath is designed to serve God, the Jewish people and to make a Kiddush HaShem. Agree with him or not on various issues, that is the case. Mr. Cohen is not a Gadol. But I am told he is a Shomer Shabbos and Shomer Kashrus Jew... a comedian from London who was raised Orthodox and supposedly remains observant. So, what about it, you ask? Not much except for the fact that Mr. Cohen is responsible for a Chilul Hashem of epic proportion.
His film “Borat” is an unquestionable hit. It has produced a tremendous amount of "buzz" ...and revenue for him and his investors. And it received some “rave” reviews (although not exclusively). I’m told is a tour-de-force, exposing latent anti-Semitism in this country. According to the reviews I’ve read or seen, he is quite successful at exposing a subtle undercurrent of anti-Semitism amongst some typical American citizens. Were that all he did I could perhaps applaud it myself. Although in fact I do not believe it to be true just because he found a few innocent victims to prey upon. Apparently he used a faux anti-Semitic attitude in his character Borat who speaks a heavily accented English, peppered with Hebrew (used as Kazakh, the language of Kazakhstan) to draw out anti-Semitism in his targets. Be that as it may, that is not what is a Chilul HaShem. This film is full of the most vile and disgusting scenes that one could imagine. The sexual situations are amongst the worst ever filmed. And the anti-Semitic diatribes coming out of the Bora character are so crude and disgusting that they transcend the alleged purpose of drawing out the anti-Semitic remarks that they are intended for.
I have written about Chilul HaShem on many occasions. And indeed those incidents merited being labled a Chilul HaShem, whether they were cover-ups by rabbinic figures of sexual misconduct of otherwise observant Jews… or the kind of violence perpetrated by Charedi rioters in Jerusalem protesting a parade. Yes... all a desecration of God’s name.
But I cannot think of a greater Chilul Hashem than this. A Jew who is observant creating a piece of garbage like this transcends even those events in this respect. Because in those other cases those who covered up or those who rioted at least had a side that one could hear… even though I personally disagreed with it. Their arguments centered around noble goals, like protesting public Toevah or protecting the reputations of religious institutions from the fallout. Wrong headed to be sure but at least one could hear the argument. But what Mr. Cohen did is well beyond that. Of course I do not compare the specific hurt to individuals physically or emotionally in the above mentioned events. There is no comparison. Those events are far more serious for those individuals. But in terms of pure Chilul HaShem, the terribly negative images in “Borat” seen by millions of people and attributed to an observant Jew is far greater.
What possible motive could he have? He says exposing anti-Semitism. Personally I think it is purely financial and self aggrandizing. The sheer numbers of people seeing this film and associating observant Judaism with it makes the Chilul HaShem near immeasurable. Mr. Cohen says his motives were altruistic and that these “means” were necessary to expose the latent anti-Semitism of otherwise good and decent people. Maybe. But this is clearly one case where the ends definitely do not justify the means. If the descriptions by various reviewers of some of the scenes are accurate, they are beyond disgusting. And I don’t even think he makes his case about wide spread latent anti-Semitism in this country.
This is all too bad. Mr. Cohen obviously has a lot of talent. In fact I think he is a comic genius of cutting edge humor… along the lines of Andy Kaufman. I have seen him on television in character promoting his film. What I’ve seen is hysterical and really motivated me to want to see that film. But after doing the research… No way! I am embarrassed by it. I am embarrased by him.
