Loving Leah

Loving Leah is a television film that aired on CBS as a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie on January 25, 2009. The film is directed by Jeff Bleckner and stars Adam Kaufman as a non-observant Jewish bachelor who feels compelled to marry his rabbi brother's widow, Leah (Lauren Ambrose), to honor him via the ancient Jewish law of yibbum (levirate marriage).[1]

Loving Leah
Written byP'nenah Goldstein
Directed byJeff Bleckner
StarringLauren Ambrose
Adam Kaufman
Susie Essman
Ricki Lake
Theme music composerJeff Beal
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducerMichael Besman
EditorGeoffrey Rowland
Running time98 minutes
Production companyHallmark Hall of Fame
Release
Original releaseJanuary 25, 2009 (2009-01-25)

Loving Leah began as a play by P'nenah Goldstein and was brought to Hallmark by Ricki Lake, who appears in a minor role in the film. Goldstein also wrote the screenplay and "saw it in a way like Moonstruck or Crossing Delancey." To prepare for her role, lead actress Lauren Ambrose spent time with women of the close-knit Hasidic community.[2]

Plot

Jake Lever (Adam Kaufman) is a successful cardiologist living in the upscale Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. When he dozes off at the hospital where he works, he dreams that his brother, Benjamin, tells him that they are okay. Jake is confused and is baffled after receiving a phone call later that day from his mother informing him that his brother, who was an ultra-Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, has died suddenly. He feels guilty for not having kept in touch with his brother for several years. After Ben's funeral held in Brooklyn, Jake finds out that because his brother's wife Leah (Lauren Ambrose) has been left without children, they must perform a ceremony called halizah to release them both from the religious obligation to conduct a levirate marriage.

Jake and Leah agree, but Jake changes his mind after seeing that Leah is wearing a necklace with exactly the same hamsa that his brother gave him. Dating from before Benjamin left home for college, the amulet reminds Jake of how much he loved his big brother. He pulls Leah aside and tells her that he doesn't want to deny his brother's existence, which is what he believes the halizah vow requires of him. After deciding that she wants to leave her mother's home, become independent, and start college, Leah agrees to Jake's alternate offer to marry him and move with him to Washington but maintain a platonic relationship. Jake is constantly busy with work at the hospital, his girlfriend Carol has little patience for his new "wife" and Leah adjusts to finding her way around a new city. As Leah becomes more liberal in her religious outlook, Jake finds himself drawn back into his Jewish roots. Eventually, true love arises, and the two find that the greatest gift Benjamin has left them is each other.

Cast

See also

References
  1. "Loving Leah Is an Unorthodox Hallmark Movie". ReelzChannel. Archived from the original on 2009-01-27. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  2. Lauren Ambrose plays Hasidic role in 'Loving Leah' on good faith Cristina Kinon. Daily News (New York). January 23rd 2009.
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