JUNE 29 • 2023 | 49

life and history. When they walk 
through a Jewish neighborhood 
and Jewish men wearing yar-
mulkes call Casey a monster, for 
example, he yells back, telling 
them to mind their own business.
In a very poignant moment in 
the film, Casey and Samuel are 
walking arm-in-arm down a Los 
Angeles street. On Casey’s back 
is the swastika, and on her arm 
is a Holocaust survivor.
Tiger Within grapples with two 
important questions: How do 
we forgive, and how do we keep 
ourselves from hating? Samuel 
made a promise to his wife, also 
a Holocaust survivor, that he 
would never hate again. Instead 
of leaving Casey to fend for her-
self, he invites her to stay at his 
humble apartment. Slowly, both 
break down their walls and find 
healing in one another.
Still, Casey struggles. She 
leaves Samuel to live on the 
streets again, working as a sex 
worker in a massage parlor. 
Finally, as she had the first 
time, she has enough of her 
old life and returns to Samuel’s 
apartment. He teaches her 
that the only way forward is to 
“embrace the tiger” within, an 
old Chinese saying for learning 
how to embrace our fear and our 
demons.
Yet he gives her an ultima-
tum: In order to stay, she must 
remove the swastika from her 
jacket and re-enroll in school. 
Casey sprays black paint over 

the swastika to cover it, and 
the pair travel to Cleveland to 
receive permission from Casey’s 
mother — her legal guardian 
— for her to enroll in school in 
Los Angeles. Her mother agrees, 
and Casey and Samuel return to 
California.
“I never had a chance to teach 
my daughters how to be a lady,
” 
we hear Samuel say.
As Casey makes connec-
tions in school and even finds 
a boyfriend (Samuel takes 
her dress shopping for her 
first date), Samuel’s situa-
tion isn’t so fortunate. While 
attending synagogue, he spies 
a trio of white supremacists 
spray-painting a swastika on 
the synagogue wall.
He stands up to them and 
threatens to call security, but 
before anyone can hear his cries, 
Samuel is beaten to within an 
inch of his life. Casey rushes to 
the hospital, where she manages 
to have one last conversation 
with Samuel. The next day, he 
passes away from his injuries.
While the characters embody 
standard stereotypes — a mis-
guided teenager with Nazi influ-
ences and an elderly Holocaust 
survivor — Tiger Within is a 
heartwarming tale of courage, 
acceptance and forgiveness.
Not everyone has a chance to 
pick their families, but in this 
case, Samuel and Casey find one 
another at just the right time. 

In the film, Samuel discovers 
Casey sleeping in a cemetery. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF MENEMSHA FILMS

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