Rabbi Gluck’s life captured in touching new film

A new film set to premiere next week offers an intimate glimpse into the life of one of the Jewish community’s most deeply respected and much-loved figures, Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE.

An instantly recognisable leader of Stamford Hill’s strictly Orthodox community, Rabbi Gluck has been one of the country’s foremost champions of interfaith relations for decades. He currently serves as co-chairman of the Arab-Jewish Forum, chairman and founder of the Muslim-Jewish Forum, and is also involved in worldwide conflict mediation through the Next Century Foundation.

In 2013, he was awarded an OBE from the Queen for his services to interfaith understanding, and in 2015, he was appointed as president of Stamford Hill Shomrim, a volunteer neighbourhood watch group.

Rabbi Herschel Gluck with co-directors Winstan Whitter and Elin Moe (Photo: Winstan Whitter & Elin Moe)[Missing Credit]

Now, his life navigating many worlds has been captured in the film How To Get On With Everybody, co-directed by Elin Moe and Winstan Whitter. It will premiere next weekend at Hackney History Festival.

Norway-born Moe, who has lived in London for the best part of three decades, first met Gluck 25 years ago for a story she was writing for a Norwegian newspaper about Orthodox Jewish life in London. She has worked with him on other projects since then, including for the long-running Channel 4 religious exploration series, 4thought.

Neither she nor Whitter are Jewish, but they have got to know the Strictly Orthodox community well, with Moe having lived in Stamford Hill for 10 years, while Whitter grew up there.

Moe told the JC that despite Gluck being well known among the Jewish community, “not as many people know about him in the wider world, but he is worth knowing about.

Winstan Whitter filming Rabbi Herschel Gluck (Photo: Winstan Whitter & Elin Moe)[Missing Credit]

“This film is a way for us to spread his positive example, shining a light on this very inspiring guy living in a corner of north London trying to build bridges between people. It’s a very timely message for the times we’re living in.”

Filming the documentary involved meeting up with Gluck at various moments in his life over the last couple of years.

Moe described the one-hour-long documentary as “an intimate portrait film that is mostly observational in style, showing several different aspects of his world, delving into his family history, early life and motivations, his work in Shomrim and various other outreach work he does in London”.

Some of the film is shot in the North London Muslim Centre and features individuals with whom Gluck has developed deep friendships over the years as part of his interfaith work, many of whom he has invited to the film’s premiere.

Gluck, Moe said, “has a very engaging personality, both playful and sometimes serious. He’s one of life’s true optimists and has been an absolute joy to work with.”

Winstan Whitter making the film about Rabbi Herschel Gluck (Photo: Winstan Whitter & Elin Moe)[Missing Credit]

Following the premiere, Moe and Whitter hope that the film will be shown more widely at other film festivals and picked up by broadcasters.

Rabbi Gluck told the JC that when initially approached by Moe and Whitter he was resistant to taking part due to not having the time to spare but, “they didn’t care about my opposition, and they persisted. And I’m glad they did, because I think it’s a very important and engaging film at this time and, in a way, shatters a lot of myths which have come to prominence over the past decade and especially in the last couple of years.”

How To Get On With Everybody will have its first screening as part of the Hackney History Festival on May 25. Gluck will be present for the film’s premiere and will take part in a Q&A with the film’s directors afterwards.Tickets can be purchased here