Ushpizin
by Giddi Dar
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Actor: Avraham Abutboul, Ilan Ganani, Michal Bat-Sheva Rand, Shaul Mizrahi, Shuli RandDirector: Giddi Dar
Brand: NEW Line Home Video
Writer: Shuli Rand
Cinematographer: Amit Yasur
Producer: Giddi Dar
Editor: Isaac Sehayek
Editor: Nadav Harel
Producer: Gadi Levy
Producer: Rafi Bukai
Producer: Shlomit Smadja
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Hebrew (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-04-04
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: New Line Home Video
DVD Reviews of Ushpizin
DVD Review: As a Breslov Hasid myself, I found the film refreshing and authentic
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the few films that portray Haredi Jews (Hasidic, actually -- there is a difference, and I'll get to that in a minute) in a sensitive, positive way. Perhaps that is because it was filmed on location in the Mea Shearim district of Jerusalem, and was made by real Orthodox Jews, in collaboration with secular filmmakers, giving it a level of authenticity that Hollywood "outsiders" have never achieved in their films about religious Jews. It won several awards in Israel, and they are well-deserved. But because it is an Israeli film (Hebrew with subtitles), it assumes a certain level of cultural knowledge that, judging from some of the reviews here, the average non-Jew does not have. (This is NOT a put-down. I imagine that if I were to watch a similar film about Christians, there would be plenty of cues I would fail to pick up. We all need a tour guide sometimes.)
Plenty of reviewers here have already summarized the plot, analyzed the acting, directing, etc., so I'm going to add something different to the discussion, namely, some cultural background for the uninitiated. Although all Orthodox Jews may look alike to outsiders, there are, in fact, major differences among the various groups. The first major division is between Hasidim -- the mystical branch -- and Haredim, the non-mystical branch. Although some people use the word "Haredi" as a generic for "Ultra-Orthodox" (a media buzzword I hate), the Hasidim do not generally call themselves Haredim. The word "Haredi" doesn't even appear in the film, but the name of Moshe and Mali's specific Hasidic group -- Breslov -- does. Several times. This is an important cultural detail. The kind of simple praying to God from the heart that you see in the film is a specificially Breslov practice, called in Hebrew "hisboddidus," from the verb "hisbaded" which mean "to make yourself be alone," that is, in solitude. Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, founder of the Breslov branch of Hasidic Judaism in the late 1700s, encouraged his followers to spend at least an hour per day alone with God, praying in one's own language (In addition to the liturgical synagogue prayers.)
So when Malli tells Moshe to "go pray" in the film, it is not just generic prayer, it is this specific practice of talking out loud to God -- even screaming out one's needs and frustration at the top of one's lungs -- as Moshe does. Knowing this helps the scene make more sense. We should also note here that the part of this scene where he sees a truckload of Jews dancing through the streets is also Breslov, although from a specific subgroup. They would be followers of the late Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser, who taught his followers to chant a certain Hebrew mantra, the "Na Nach Nachma," in the streets -- a familiar sight in Israel. (You don't hear the mantra in the film, but it is written all over the truck.) So when Moshe looks and sees them joyfully dancing but then turns away, we know the depths of his sorrow.
Similarly, the scene where Moshe runs off into the woods and begs God to help him not to be angry is also very Breslov. Rebbe Nachman taught that hisboddidus should ideally be done in a field or forest, because, he said, God's creation will join in the prayers. (He was very fond of Perek Shirah, a classical text about how each thing in creation sings a special song to God.] The vast majority of Orthodox Jews do not pray alone in the woods like that, and historically Breslovers have been considered odd -- if not crazy -- to do so. In fact, Breslovers in general are considered somewhat strange, even by other Orthodox - and you get a hint of this in the scene where the philanthropist randomly chooses a number on a list to give away the money -- and sort of rolls his eyes when he sees the luck has fallen to a Breslover.
About the fur hat: The streimel (as it is called) is a traditional hat, specifically Hasidic (non-Hasidic Orthodox do not wear it)worn on Sabbaths and holidays. One is not (as some negative reviewers here have wrongly assumed) REQUIRED to wear it -- but having a nice streimel is a status symbol, rather like having a new Ferrari -- only Moshe's is a rather beat-up second hand one, like, I suppose, a used VW Bug. The purpose of that scene is to A) reinforce that Moshe is poor and B) emphasize the materialistic outlook of the two secular guests, who see only dollar signs. We also understand, in the later scene where the guests make a ruckus outside the sukkah booth, that by wearing Moshe's streimel in such a way, they are mocking him and his religion.
Now for the sukkah booth and the esrog (lemon-like fruit, translated "citron" in the subtitles.) There is a general principle in Judaism that you cannot fulfill a mitzvah (commandment) with stolen money or property. This is why, when Moshe discovers that the owner of the sukkah had not really abandoned it, Moshe feels he must track the owner down, get his forgiveness, and be absolved of any wrongdoing. Otherwise, the stolen sukkah will pollute his efforts to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot (The "Feast of Booths" - see Leviticus 23:42). As for the esrog, this is the "fruit of goodly trees" that, along with a palm spike, willows and myrtles, make up the "Four Species" mentioned in Leviticus 23:40, that are waved in the six directions on the Festival of Sukkot.
Moshe buys the very best esrog he can find (and there is a certain humor in seeing the etrog-sellers examine each fruit with a jeweler's loup!) because of an ancient belief that a beautiful esrog is a segulah (charm, amulet, blessing) for having a son (which he and his wife Malli very much want, they are childless.) Now, you might consider this superstitious, and maybe it is -- but I would ask you to look at all the non-Jewish customs that are also "superstitious" and put this in the same cultural context - as two people of simple faith hoping for a miracle. For the purpose of the plot, the esrog is very important. It becomes the ultimate test for Moshe when his two secular guests mistakenly cut it up for a salad, thinking it is an ordinary lemon (I literally gasped at that scene.)
It's not just about the money for the esrog, that was already spent in any case. It's about them possibly destroying the blessing for a child. And this is the moment where Moshe runs off into the woods, begging God that "I don't want to be angry." Because by now we know that Moshe was not always religious, and in his former secular life he had been a very violent man. Throughout the film there are references to controlling anger. So this is about Moshe seeing his greatest hope dashed to the ground -- the last straw in a series of difficult tests, a test that almost causes him to lose his temper and backslide into old behaviors. (There is also a reference in this film to the biblical Abraham and Sarah, which evokes the Jewish teaching that Abraham had to pass ten tests before Sarah conceived a child -- that's not in the Bible, but it's a well-known story among religious Jews.)
As for the guests themselves, there is much symbolism there, too.
Traditionally, "Ushpizin" refers to the "Seven Shepherds" -- Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David -- who symbolically come to the sukkah (one each night) on the seven nights of the festival. But there is also a teaching that the Prophet Elijah comes down in disguise and can be anyone -- even an escaped convict -- to test one's faith. And of course, people invite ordinary guests to the sukkah as well. But underlying it all is the idea that every guest should be treated as if he or she might be a saint in disguise (which, my Christian friends, is the Jewish origin of your own teaching about entertaining angels unawares: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." -- Hebrews 13:2) Remember, too, that it was two angels who came to Abraham and Sarah to announce the coming birth of Isaac -- so who are those two annoying convicts REALLY? At the end of the film, when they peek around the door at the circumcision ceremony, you get the feeling -- just for a moment -- that they are more than just visitors from Moshe's past.
Of course, one can watch the film without knowing all of this. I just thought you might like to have a little more depth to it, because peeking into someone else's culture often requires more translation than just the subtitles. A lot of Hasidic culture is what anthropologists call "context-sensitive," which means it's not always explained in words, you have to get it from the non-verbal cues. So I thought you might like to know what some of those cues are. Shalom - peace.
And Oh -- one more thing: The men hugging and dancing together is NOT homosexuality. In Haredi culture, same-sex dancing and hugging, even kissing each other on the cheek, is normal behavior everyone does, it has no sexual connotations. Body language varies from culture to culture - think in terms of Russians or Frenchmen embracing. Same for the two convicts, there is nothing sexual between them, either.
Description of Ushpizin
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