American Moses
By Stephen Witt
"American Moses" follows the visionary wanderings of a haphazard group of Upstate New York Jews, who follow their hearts and desires in search of self and a new Promised Land. More Huck Finn than Jack Kerouac, this folk tale offers up a reflection of America in the early 21st century.
After a small, upstate New York synagogue burns to the ground its devastated members wonder what is next. Their Rabbi vows to rebuild, but Southie Lewis, a secular Jew of modest means, offers to lead them, like Moses through the wilderness, to the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas — the fastest growing city in the U.S. — in hopes of finding a new Promised Land.
