Sabbath Queen follows Amichai Lau-Lavie’s journey from radical drag queen to influential Rabbi of a God-optional, artist-driven New York synagogue.

The film is the result of 21 years of documenting the life of Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie who is “dynastic heir of 38 generations of Orthodox rabbis including the Chief Rabbis of Israel.” The film demonstrates how Lau-Lavie is “torn between rejecting and embracing his destiny and becomes a drag-queen rebel, a queer bio-dad and the founder of Lab/Shul—an everybody-friendly, God-optional, artist-driven, pop-up experimental congregation.” The film traces Lau-Lavie’s life across both Israel and the United States to highlight the differing cultural, political, and religious contexts that shape Jewish identity in these two locations. Sabbath Queen invites audiences to consider how diaspora, nationalism, and personal identity intersect, and how individuals negotiate belonging in the Jewish community.

This screening offers attendees an opportunity not only to engage with the art of longitudinal documentary filmmaking, but also to reflect on the evolving nature of Jewish identity in the 21st century.