AJL Does the Da Vinci Code
We know. We know. The Da Vinci Code is a movie about the Catholic Church and pagan worship of the sacred feminine and all that mysterious jazz. But we thought there might be some Jewish audience with an interest, so we dragged ourselves to the press screening and came back with a review along with the excerpted factoids from our upcoming issue.
You can read it all here, and answer the question we couldn’t quite figure out. Is there a Jewish connection to the underlying issues raised by the film (and novel)? What say ye, people?
There’s the obvious issue of feminine influence in the religious tradition. This film has its sacred feminine. Judaism has Spock taking photos of naked women. But still we thought, there must be more. Conspiracies, secret societies. Why do Christians get to have all the fun, so I’m personally turning to you. What (beyond the ridiculously obvious) connections are there between Dan Brown’s pulp thriller and our own little Jewish world?
There are actually quite a few, eventhough “Jewish” is barely in the book. First off, if I recall (going from memory here) early in the book whilst discussing the number Phi (http://goldennumber.net/) & all it’s exciting appliances, Dan Brown compares Phi to Kaballah, with it’s numeric mystisism. There are also many references to Aramaic and Hebrew. But I must say, the most fascinating, not to mention HUGE revelation as told in the book, is the Star of David. Also known as the Blade and Chalice. The symbol for male (blade) and symbol for female (chalice) entertwine to form….TA- DA! The Star of David! This symbol is a big finding towards the end of the book, making it’s appearance at the famous Rosyln Chapel in Scotland. Anyway…I’m a Jew and I love this book.
Also…..the movie DOES indeed suck.