Armed Rabbi Embraces Second Amendment in ‘Guns & Moses’

The biggest Jewish Western since “The Frisco Kid” arrives at a harrowing time in the culture.

“Guns & Moses” follows a fed-up Rabbi who arms himself after a White Supremacist attacks his congregation. Nothing is quite as it appears as the Rabbi attempts to solve the mystery while getting a crash course in the Second Amendment.

The film, starring Mark Feuerstein as Rabbi Mo along with Neal McDonough (“The Last Rodeo“), Christopher Lloyd and Dermot Mulroney, hits theaters nationwide July 18. 

The film’s concept sprang from the 2019 Poway synagogue shooting that killed one worshipper and injured three others. “Guns & Moses” wrapped production in late 2022, roughly a year before the Oct. 7 attacks that killed more than 1,200 people and sparked a wave of antisemitism across America and parts of the globe.

The film’s release date is notable given recent headlines.

• Jewish Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s home was set ablaze by a pro-Palestinian activist
• Two Jewish citizens were killed in cold blood by a pro-Palestinian activist in Washington, D.C.
• Peaceful protestors were set on fire by a pro-Palestinian activist in Boulder, Colo.

“In crafting ‘Guns & Moses,” we aimed to make Rabbi Mo an iconic character, dedicated to the proposition that even the least likely among us will step up when we need him or her the most,” director  Salvador Litvak said in a press release announcing the film’s theatrical release.

“I did not grow up around guns. Like many American Jews, I didn’t consider the Second Amendment to be very important. As an adult, however, I became an Orthodox Jew – which is to say a visible Jew – and I grew increasingly aware of the danger to our community. So, like Rabbi Mo I stepped up and became a guardian. I hope that our movie will inspire others to do the same and, having hardened our perimeter, I pray we’ll never be put to the test.”

Litvak is part of a group called Magen Am, which trains Jewish people to protect their congregations and communities. The film’s tag line is potent: “May God and Your Glock Protect You.”

“Guns & Moses” has played at select film festivals earlier this year. Litvak expanded on the film’s themes in a March interview with The Times of Israel.

“This idea that Jews are in danger, Jews are under attack and need to fight back is something that we knew would always be relevant…[We] could not have imagined the world that the movie would be coming out in … Sadly, it just makes the movie so much more relevant…”

“If we mean it when we say ‘never again,’ we can’t just rely on other people to protect us.”

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