Billy Crystal Plays A Rabbi Who Feels ‘Like A Foreskin’ In This Extremely Jewish Sex Comedy

Billy Crystal Image by Getty Images

By Jenny Singer January 15, 2019

In the beginning, the Torah says the earth was “tohu vavohu” — a phrase that translates to something like “chaos and futility.”

Billy Crystal appearing as a Rabbi in a sex comedy starring a mostly Jewish cast plus the star of “Fifty Shades Of Grey” must be the opposite of tohu vavohu. The Jewish pop culture community saw that this was good. And it was evening, and it was morning, the seventh day (of February.)

That’s when we’ll be treated to “Untogether,” a movie by British Jewish filmmaker Emma Forrest, which follows two sisters through their dysfunctional relationships with men. Jemima Kirke (Jessa on “Girls”) plays alongside her real-life younger sister Lola Kirke (of “Mistress America” and “Mozart In The Jungle.”) Both actresses are Jewish. Lola Kirke’s character, a massage therapist, find herself ministering to a Rabbi, who just so happens to be Billy Crystal, who helps her explore Judaism.

Oh, don’t worry — Jennifer Grey is there, too.

Us, celebrating this movie:

via GIPHY

Would a rabbi describe himself as feeling “like a foreskin” after a full-body massage? Honestly, probably some would!

The Jewishness goes on.

First, Scott Caan is somehow involved. Second, the elder Kirke’s movie love interest is played by Jamie Dornan (of “Fifty Shades” fame, not ours,) while the younger’s lover is played by Ben Mendelsohn.

Mendehlson, who is Jewish, is the ex-husband of Emma Forrest, who wrote and directed “Untogether.” Forrest, who is making her directorial debut in “Untogether,” is an explosive writer who has been equally open and proud about her Judaism and her mental health struggles, as if there is any combination that could make us delight in a person more.

So to recap: we got Kirke & Kirke, we got Caan, we got Mendehlson and Forrest, we got Jennifer Grey, we got Billy Crystal as a rabbi, and we got some weird sex stuff. Go ahead, tell us we’re not living in a Jewish Golden Age. Spanish Middle Ages, eat your heart out.

“Untogether” will hit theaters on February 8.

Jenny Singer is the deputy lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny

Jenny Singer is a freelance writer with pieces in Vox, the Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, Teen Vogue, and more. She was previously a staff writer at Glamour and the Forward, and she’s currently getting an MFA in nonfiction writing at the University of Iowa.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO