Redemption (Geula), by Joseph Madmony and Boaz Yehonatan Yacov; Hebrew language with English subtitles; 100 minutes; to be screened during the San Diego International Jewish Film Festival at 8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 14, at the Reading Cinemas Town Square, 4665 Clairemont Drive, San Diego, and at 4 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 17 also at the Reading Cinemas Town Square.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – Menachem (Moshe Folkenflik), a widowed father of 6-year-old Geula (Emily Goanin), works in a grocery store, where his pay is insufficient to afford his daughter’s cancer treatments. Having once given up his life as the vocalist for a rock band in order to become Haredi, Menny decides to get his group back together again to play at Orthodox weddings. His former colleagues are agreeable, but the foursome needs to navigate the differences between the free-wheeling secular lifestyle of three of them and his more restrictive Orthodox lifestyle.
The Orthodox weddings typically were held in the evenings, which meant that Menny (a nickname for Menachem) needed the babysitting services of his neighbor Sara’le (Avigayil Atara Koevary). One night, when he comes home, he finds Sara’le has fallen asleep on the couch. Subscribing to the Orthodox practice of not touching a woman other than his wife, Menny can’t gently shake her by the shoulder to wake her up. Instead, he purposely shatters a glass in his kitchen. The noise awakens her. Notwithstanding Menny’s utmost propriety, Sara’le’s continued contact with Menny causes Sara’le’s Orthodox mother concern. What would a matchmaker say if she knew how often Sara’le comes into contact with an unmarried man?
As this movie continues, we watch as Menny tries to weigh his Orthodoxy against the lures of the secular world. If he and his band mates (portrayed by Yonatan Galila, Sivan Shtivi, and Shahar Even-Tzur) return to performing at nightclubs, as they once did before Menny became baal teshuva, they can make far more money than they do at weddings. But knowing how young women throw themselves at rock stars (as they did in his former life), Menny is reticent. Should he give up his beliefs about proper behavior in order to pay for little Geula’s cancer treatments?
In contrast to the casual hookups of the rock n’ roll world is the Orthodox practice of having a matchmaker interview you, and then suggest meetings with possible spouses. Although movie-goers like Menny, especially seeing how kind and patient he is with his little daughter, he does not fulfill the expectations of some Orthodox women with whom the shadchan (matchmaker) has arranged an introduction. One woman, for instance, wants a Torah scholar and is suspicious of anyone who is Hasidic. When Menny says he is not a scholar, but is an observant Jew, she suggests that while he is not for her, perhaps her girlfriend might be interested.
Overall, Geula is a gentle depiction of the contradictions an observant Jew might face while trying to straddle the secular and Orthodox worlds. I rate this film highly.
*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com