Kosher Movies: A Million Miiles Away

When I was growing up in Mt. Vernon, New York, in the 1950s, the hope of many Jewish parents at that time, including my own, was that their son would be a doctor or a lawyer. My mother felt that if that didn’t work out, I could be a teacher and make a decent living.

Even though I was a mediocre high school student, I thought being a physician was still possible. Therefore, in college I took a chemistry class intended for pre-med students to see if I had the skill to be pre-med major. It was clear to me in a very short time that medicine was not going to be my career path, and so I moved into different academic directions. This was unlike Jose Hernandez, who persists in his career dream no matter what the obstacles. Jose is the protagonist of A Million Miles Away. He begins life as a farm worker but aspires to become an engineer and an astronaut. It is seemingly an  impossible dream, but he perseveres against overwhelming odds to make his dream a reality.

Here is the backstory. Jose’s parents are migrant workers picking grapes in California in the late 1960s. In 1969, Jose watches the moon landings on TV and aspires to become an astronaut. The dream possesses him into adulthood where he attends the University of the Pacific pursuing a degree in engineering. After college, he is hired at a research lab working to protect the United States from incoming nuclear ballistic missiles.

Because of his Latino appearance, he is assumed to be a janitor, not a bonafide member of the lab staff. He is even given menial tasks, such as copying thousands of documents.Throughout his employment at the lab, he applies to NASA but is rejected six times. Meanwhile, he has married Adela, a supportive and loving wife, and has five children. Nevertheless, in spite of demanding assignments at work and the challenge of raising a large family, Jose perseveres and over time proves his value to the company’s research program. Ultimately, his persistence in the face of many obstacles pays off and Jose is selected as a Mission Specialist on an upcoming launch.

Judaism places a high value on the virtue of perseverance. The patriarch Jacob endured many physical and emotional challenges and did not give up his faith. He was persecuted by his brother Esau, tricked by his father-in-law Laban, suffered the parental horror of knowing that his daughter Dinah was raped, and grieved over his favorite son Joseph for 22 years thinking he was dead. Perseverance for Jacob proved to be a gateway to holiness and positivity.

Rabbi Yisrael Rutman explains the mindset of those, like Jose, who persist: “Perseverance is anchored in hope; and hope is rooted in the belief that things will get better. This is essentially a religious belief, since there is no reason, logically speaking, why things should not continue to get worse. That is the secret of perseverance. It demonstrates an underlying hope, an inner belief that God is good and He rules the world. Therefore, ultimately things must turn out for the best.”

Rabbi Rutman sees perseverance as a defining characteristic of the Jewish people: “The history of the Jewish people itself is a record of awesome perseverance, the nation never giving up on its divine mission despite two thousand years of exile and persecution. Today, we are witness to some of the fruits of that attitude of the undefeated. Whatever our troubles, the return of the Jewish people to our homeland, once thought to be an impossibility, has become an astonishing reality. To bring that return to its full climax, to a national restoration in peace and harmony, will require yet additional measures of perseverance. We shall not fail.”

Jose Hernandez embodies this trait of perseverance. No matter what the barrier, he is determined to overcome it. By doing so, he becomes a role model for us all.