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No. 30: 12 Angry Men

Talmudic interpretations of the law

by
Liel Leibovitz
December 07, 2011
(Imdb.com)
(Imdb.com)

1957, dir. Sidney Lumet. None of the angry men have names, but their passion for debating the intricacies of the law has a distinct Talmudic feeling. This is particularly true for Juror No. 11, whose speech about the majesty of the American justice system is the movie’s key scene; he was played by George Voskovec, a Jew who fled Czechoslovakia in 1939, lending additional weight to the film’s message of decency overcoming bigotry and narrow-mindedness.

Liel Leibovitz is editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and a host of its weekly culture podcast Unorthodox and daily Talmud podcast Take One. He is the editor of Zionism: The Tablet Guide.