20 Things You Didn't Know About A Serious Man
16. ''All The Hope Within You Dies''
Following Danny's near-miss of a Bar Mitzvah ceremony, the young Gopnik is sent to the famed Rabbi Marshak for spiritual advice. Given how the boy is stoned and the Rabbi has been set up as an aloof traditionalist, hilarity is bound to ensue.
The encounter is amusing as expected, but not due to the age difference or presence of marijuana in the mix. Seemingly unaware of the boy's current state, the spiritual leader gives Danny his transistor radio and he misquotes ''Somebody to Love'' by Jefferson Airplane, a 1967 song that Danny was listening to when it was confiscated by his teacher.
The song (and more so the Rabbi's misquote of it) is apt as it shows unexpected common ground between the elderly teacher and young Gopnik son, and as a thematic bonus highlights Larry's ever-increasing despair due to his current situation.