Weekly Unscrolled Torah Portion: Nitzavim
In this comedic monologue, writer and producer Eli Attie, sets the stage with a dialogue between Moses, two paunchy middle aged men and a twenty something. Moses is wearing his dusty threadbare robes, while looking like he’s even older than 120 and like a guy who has just crossed the desert by foot. The others are in suits. The scene begins with them confusing him with Willie Nelson, and goes on with them speaking to him about crisis management and strategic communications. Moses is meeting with them because they had helped Abraham out in the past and he needs their help with the Israelites.
“And again, I appreciate your time. Abraham insisted I sit down with you guys. I know you really helped him out when he had that problem with his kid…But my situation’s different. We had a rough patch as we were nearing the Holy Land, some folks started turning away from the Lord our God, I ended up being the heavy. But we got through it, and I don’t know that I have a P.R. problem at all.”
Eli Attie is a writer and producer whose credits include long stints on the TV shows “The West Wing” and “House,” and more recently, “Pitch” and “Billions.” He’s also a former White House staff member and Democratic speechwriter.