Filmmaker, Accidental Talmudist and longtime “Jewish Journal” contributor Salvador Litvak’s Passover classic, “When Do We Eat?” took a while to amass a following. However, once his community discovered he was at the helm – maybe 10 years after its 2005 release – it really began to live up to its potential.
“The perennial fifth question of the Passover Seder is, ‘When do we eat?’” Litvak, who is also the author of “Let My People Laugh: Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time,” told the Journal. “There’s all these holiday movies… but there was no Passover movie.”
He added, “[Our dream: that] it would become the Jewish, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ the movie that people watch every year.”
The cult classic stars Max Greenfield, Ben Feldman, Shiri Appleby, Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Lerner and Jack Klugman. Litvak directed the film that he co-wrote with his wife and partner, Nina Davidovich Litvak. The latest film “Guns & Moses” is out this summer.
Their second movie was “Saving Lincoln,” but it was meant to be their first. When Steven Spielberg announced he was making “Lincoln,” even though he didn;t make it for a long time, the Litvak’s Lincoln project was put on hold.
They decided to make a move that they could easily shoot: a family dinner movie.
“If you’re an independent filmmaker [and] you want to make a really low budget movie, it should be a horror or a thriller or a comedy, if you’re genuinely funny,” he said. “Do not write a movie where you have 11 people in every scene – it’s extremely challenging.”
When the Litvak’s made “When Do We Eat?” they were connected to Judaism, but not yet Orthodox.
“The movie’s probably a little bit edgier than we would make it today,” he said. “One of the main plot points is that one of the kids doses his dad with a strong hallucinogen at the Passover seder, but also the movie contains wonderful spiritual teachings.
“Max Greenfield plays the boy who’s become religious and his mother [who has] a pretty secular Jewish household is trying to make the home and the seder kosher enough, so the kid will come in his black hat and beard, et cetera.”
When the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival showed “Guns & Moses” last month, they also played, “When Do We Eat?” on its 20th anniversary.
“It was amazing to watch it with an audience 20 years later, and people loved it,” he said. “We’re like cringing – “Are we going to hate this? Are we going to be embarrassed?; – like I said, it’s a little bit edgier than we might’ve made it, but it holds up.”
The Litvak’s dream was for their film to become a perennial holiday favorite. Their “Big Fat Jewish Seder” would be received in the same way as “My Big Fat Jewish Wedding,” one of the most successful independent films of all time.
After being successful on the festival circuit for about a year, “When Do We Eat?” received a theatrical release in April of 2006. Just in time for Passover.
“‘The New York Times’ review dropped first, and if they had said, ‘mediocre, badly directed, not funny,’ that would be on me,” Litvak said. “It’s basically a faith-based movie, but within an irreverent, dysfunctional family comedy, and something, somebody over there got triggered. Same thing at the Washington Post.”
While they had good reviews as well, and Jewish audiences love it, their hopes of it reaching a large audience were dashed.
In 2016, 10 years after the release and four years into growing The Accidental Talmudist audience – listen to the Taste Buds with Deb episode at JewishJournal.com/podcasts for that backstory – , where they share Jewish wisdom, humor and culture, the Litvaks decided to let their community know that they were filmmakers, who made a Passover movie.
They shared the movie’s trailer on The Accidental Talmudist, and hundreds of comments started pouring in: ‘You made that movie, we love that movie, we watch that movie every year.’
“By pure word of mouth and unbeknownst to us, it had become the Jewish ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,” he said. “We just had no idea … I guess we wouldn’t have known if we hadn’t started The Accidental Talmudist.
“Nina likes to say about that story, ‘G-d always knows better than we do what we need,’” Litvak continued. “If we had succeeded, did hundreds of millions of dollars with ‘When Do We Eat?’ and it was ‘My Big Fat Jewish Seder,’ et cetera, [then] we would’ve been pulled into the studio system … and a lot of people [in that world] don’t have time for their kids, so it was such a blessing.”
That being said, since the kids are now out of the house, it would be fine with the Litvaks if “Guns & Moses” becomes a massive hit.
“We could take it,” he said.
When asked about the connection between Judaism and food, Litvak said Shabbos is a great example.
“Every week we make a full stop and have [what] people who are not Jewish would consider a Thanksgiving dinner, so it’s just very much just built in,” he said.
“My mom always used to say there’s two kinds of people: those who get into conversations in the checkout line at the supermarket and those who don’t,” Litvak said. “We are that kind.”
Learn more at SalvadorLitvak.com, AccidentalTalmudist.org, and GunsandMosesMovie.com.Check out Salvador Litvak’s new book, “Let My People Laugh: Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time.”
For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:
Sal-Mon
I learned this one, standing in line at a grocery store to buy some salmon. I got into a conversation with Wolfgang Puck’s sous chef, who shared the best way to make salmon, which I have adapted over the years.
2 tablespoons whole seed mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup (adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon soy sauce (or less, depending on preference)
1 teaspoon – 1 tablespoon fresh ground ginger
4 salmon fillets (~6 ounces each)
- Preheat your oven to 425°F.
- In a small bowl, mix together the whole seed mustard, maple syrup, soy sauce and fresh ground ginger. Adjust the soy sauce to your taste for a less salty or more savory flavor.
- Place your salmon fillets on a baking sheet, slightly greased or lined with parchment paper.
- Generously spoon the mustard-maple mixture over the top of each salmon fillet, ensuring they’re well coated.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15-16 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through (the exact time may vary depending on the thickness of the fillets).
- Turn on the broiler for the last 2 minutes of baking, watching closely to avoid burning. This will create a lovely glaze on the salmon.
- Remove from the oven, serve and enjoy!
Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.
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