JEWDAR
MOVIES / ADVENTURE Close Encounters of Another Kind
WHAT IF aliens not only exist but are already here on Earth living among us? How that information would be disclosed to the public, and the ensuing social and po- litical ramifications, form the crux of Disclosure Day , one of this summer’s most anticipated blockbusters. It’s the brainchild of Steven Spielberg, who recently told reporters he has “seven solid decades of a vast per-
sonal interest in what lies beyond our atmosphere.” (See: E.T. , Close Encoun- ters of the Third Kind , and War of the Worlds. ) Disclosure Day stars Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, and Colin Firth, with a screenplay by David Koepp, who collaborated with Spielberg in
DISCLOSURE DAY Directed by Steven Spielberg In theatres June 12
writing Jurassic Park andtheabove-mentionedH.G.Wells adaptation. The trailer for this latest cinematic epic is eerie, fantastical, and action-packed, with car chases and UFO spacecraft emerging from storm clouds. Because this is Spielberg’s first feature since 2022’s quasi- autobiographical The Fabelmans —the longest break between films in the 79-year-old’s storied career— expectations are as sky-high as the aliens he’s spent de- cades watching for. Michael Fraiman
NON-FICTION / THEOLOGY Family Feuds
“EACH UNHAPPY FAMILY is unhappy in its own way”—except in Genesis, where it seems families are unhappy in very much the same way, over and over and over again. The first book of the Bible offers readers a rich series of case studies in familial dys- function and parent-child ruptures that replicate themselves across generations. In this new analysis by Stephen Spector,
professor emeritus of English at Stony Brook University and teacher of the Bi- ble to undergraduate and graduate stu- dents for over fifty years, he argues that the dynamics of the earthly plane are mirrored in the heavenly one. Just as the patriarchs and matriarchs were learning how to parent their children, so too was God learning how to parent the Children
GOD AND THE FIRST FAMILIES: PARENTING, TRAUMA, AND HEALING IN THE BOOK OF GENESIS Stephen Spector The Jewish Publication Society June 1
of Israel. Overseeing the Garden of Eden, God begins as a strict disciplinarian who demands obedience; as the biblical timeline progresses, God moves through various parental paradigms of discipline, love, and modes of attachment toward His children. This is a timely read as we look towards the High Holidays, when liturgical imagery of God-as-father is at its height, and when the communal Torah readings about Biblical parental dy- namics are at their most challenging. Zachary Kauffman
52 SUMMER 2026
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