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Salvador Litvak

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Salvador Litvak
Salvador Litvak in Los Angeles in 2017
Born1965
Santiago, Chile
Other namesAccidental Talmudist
Occupation(s)Director, screenwriter, producer
Years active1994–present
SpouseNina Davidovich Litvak

Salvador Alejandro Litvak is a Chilean-American filmmaker, author and social media influencer.[1] He has written and directed two theatrically released feature films, When Do We Eat? (2006) and Saving Lincoln (2013).[2] As the Accidental Talmudist, Litvak shares Jewish wisdom with over one million followers on his Facebook page and hosts AT Daily, a Talmud study show on Facebook Live and YouTube.[3] His first book, "Let My People Laugh: The Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time!" was released by Skyhorse Publishing in November, 2024. [4]

Early life and education

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Litvak was born in Santiago, Chile in 1965 and came to the United States at the age of five. He grew up in Riverdale and New City, New York.[5] He majored in English at Harvard, where he rowed on the heavyweight crew team.[6] He then moved on to NYU Law School, earned his Juris Doctor degree, and passed the New York State Bar Exam.[7] Between moving to the US and graduating from law school, Litvak went by an anglicized version of his middle name, Alex.[5]

Litvak stated in an Instagram reel that he was relatively secular in his youth, but reconnected with his Judaism after a period spiritual seeking and his grandmother’s passing.[8]

While attending law school, Litvak mounted a series of multimedia performance art pieces in Greenwich Village.[9] After finishing law school, he took a job as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at Skadden Arps while continuing his writing.[5] After two years, he left the practice of law to enroll in the graduate Directors' Program at the UCLA School of Theater, Film & Television, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree.[2]

Career

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Litvak formed a production company, Pictures From the Fringe.[10] With his wife Nina Davidovich, Litvak wrote When Do We Eat?, a comedic Passover film about a dysfunctional Jewish family celebrating "the world's fastest seder."[11] Litvak directed the film and partnered with executive producer Horatio Kemeny to make When Do We Eat? independently. The film's ensemble cast includes Lesley Ann Warren, Michael Lerner, Max Greenfield, Shiri Appleby, Ben Feldman and Jack Klugman in his final film role.[2] When Do We Eat? was released theatrically by THINKFilm in 34 cities in 2006.

Litvak followed it up with Saving Lincoln in 2013, based on the true story of Abraham Lincoln and his self-appointed bodyguard, Ward Hill Lamon.[12] Saving Lincoln features a visual style invented by Litvak named CineCollage, in which live action elements are inserted into 3D environments composited from vintage photographs.[13] Litvak raised post-production funds on Kickstarter.[14] He contributed an essay to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library's book Gettysburg Replies.[15]

In 2012, Litvak finished reading the entire Talmud after participating in the 7.5 year Daf Yomi cycle.[16] Wanting to share the wisdom he learned, Litvak started a blog[17] and a Facebook page called Accidental Talmudist.[2] Together with his wife Nina, Litvak shares Jewish wisdom, faith, culture, history and music with over a million followers.[2][18][19][20] Litvak also edits the Table For Five column for The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles in which in five writers comment on a verse from the weekly Torah portion.[21] In 2019, Litvak partnered with the Jewish Journal to launch The Accidental Talmudist Podcast.[22]

Litvak teaches AT Daily, a livestreaming Talmud class on Facebook and YouTube.[23]

In December 2022 principal photography wrapped on action-thriller Guns & Moses, directed by Litvak and featuring Mark Feuerstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney, Christopher Lloyd and Alona Tal.[24] Guns & Moses is the story of a beloved small-town rabbi who becomes an unlikely gunslinger after his community is violently attacked. The film is due to be released in 2024.[25]

Salvador Litvak is an active member of Magen Am USA, a security organization that trains Jews to become fully licensed armed guards for their synagogues.[26] His extensive firearm training and knowledge of gun safety lent authenticity to the range scenes in Guns & Moses. Litvak said. “The cliché in movies is that when a civilian learns to wield a gun, there’s a 30-second montage of him shooting cans off a fence, and suddenly he’s an expert gunman. We made sure that the firearm use was accurate.”[27]

Litvak tells classic Jewish jokes on Instagram and TikTok. After his videos started going viral, Litvak signed a book deal with Skyhorse Publishing. His first book "Let My People Laugh, The Greatest Jewish Jokes of All Time!" was released on November 27, 2024.[4]

References

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  1. ^ "Salvador Litvak – Jewish Independent". July 21, 2017. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e Gocs, Danny (June 6, 2014). "Roller Coaster Ride for Jewish Filmmaker". The Australian Jewish News. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  3. ^ "🛎️ AT Daily!". Accidental Talmudist. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Harrison, Donald H. (November 20, 2024). "Chuckling Over a New Anthology of Jewish Humor". San Diego Jewish World. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Litvak, Salvador (May 4, 2016). "Can You Spot The Latino?". Hevria. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  6. ^ "Harvard-Yale: The Last Race | Sports | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  7. ^ "An Accidental Journey". Jewish Independent. July 21, 2017.
  8. ^ Litvak, Salvador (February 15, 2024). "📜 My Origin Tale! 😊". Instagram.com.
  9. ^ "Salvador Litvak and Adam Ferguson from Modern Day Philosophers with Daniel Lobell". www.stitcher.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  10. ^ "Katie Chats: Salvador Alex Litvak, Director (Pictures From the Fringe), Saving Lincoln, 03/12 - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  11. ^ "A soup of many flavors". Burbank Leader. April 12, 2006. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  12. ^ "Filmmaker blends vintage photos with green screen to make drama". Los Angeles Times. February 20, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  13. ^ "In His Own Words: Writer-Director Salvador Litvak Shares a Scene From His Micro-budget CineCollage Film, 'Saving Lincoln'". IndieWire. February 12, 2013. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  14. ^ "Saving Lincoln – film release!". Kickstarter. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  15. ^ Foundation, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (April 1, 2015). Gettysburg Replies: The World Responds to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4930-1766-9.
  16. ^ Gold, Rabbi Yoel (November 1, 2017). "The Accidental Talmudist". Ami Magazine. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  17. ^ "Accidental Talmudist". Accidental Talmudist. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  18. ^ Fishman, Yehudis (June 5, 2017). "A Remarkable Man Comes to Boulder". Boulder Jewish News. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  19. ^ "Accidental Talmudist comes to Downtown Disney to blow his shofar (ram's horn) ahead of Rosh Hashana". Orange County Register. September 19, 2017. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  20. ^ "'Positivity Bias' Strikes a Deep Chord With International Audiences - First printing quickly sold out; requests coming in for translations". www.chabad.org. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  21. ^ "table for five Archives". Jewish Journal. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  22. ^ Litvak, Salvador (August 13, 2019). "Stephen Tobolowsky: My Adventures with God". Jewish Journal. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
  23. ^ "🛎️ AT Daily!". Accidental Talmudist. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  24. ^ Reul, Katie (December 14, 2022). "Mark Feuerstein, Neal McDonough, Dermot Mulroney, Christopher Lloyd Starring in 'Guns & Moses' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  25. ^ Lobell, Kylie Ora (June 20, 2024). "'Guns and Moses': The Heroic Hasid". Jewish Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  26. ^ Lobell, Kylie Ora (October 29, 2023). "Magen Am Offering Protection, Safety Tips to LA's Jewish Community". Jewish Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
  27. ^ Lobell, Kylie Ora (June 20, 2024). "'Guns and Moses': The Heroic Hasid". Jewish Journal. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
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