Filmmaker Marries Hollywood to Tikkun Olam

By Uri Finty on JTA | Tweet

NEW YORK (JTA) — What was Elisabeth Moss, star of the AMC hit series “Mad Men” and an avowed Scientologist, doing hanging out with a Lubavitcher Jew?

They were making a movie together to promote “tikkun olam,” the Jewish value of repairing the world.

Filmmaker Marc Erlbaum with actress Jennifer Love Hewitt during the filming of “Cafe,” May 2009. (Courtesy of Nationlight Productions)

The product of their work, “A Buddy Story” — a romantic drama about a singer-songwriter who finds love on a weeklong trip with his neighbor — is expected to make it to the silver screen next  year.

It’s just one of several films that Marc Erlbaum, an Orthodox “ba’al teshuvah,” or returnee to the faith, is making with Hollywood stars to promote positive messages to movie audiences.

“I am a religious person,” Erlbaum told JTA. “I very much believe in tikkun olam and the core Jewish values of hope, self-sacrifice and mutual helpfulness.”

Aside from Moss, actors Jennifer Love Hewitt, Will Ferrell and Jamie Kennedy are involved in film projects at Erlbaum’s production company, Nationlight Productions.

Read the full article on JTA HERE.