Movie: Kadosh

Actors: Yael Abecassis, Meital Barda, Yoram Hattab
Director: Amos Gitai, Producer:

They could just as well have been orthodox Muslims. But they were Hasidic Jews from Israel. It is a community one doesn’t often hear about. But they account for roughly ten percent of Israel’s population today. Not to mention, the swing vote. A Hebrew film called Kadosh (meaning “sacred” in Hebrew) analyses their strict and primitive existence. After a career in documentaries, Amos Gitai, a Labour party leftist, challenges the ancient traditions of Jerusalem’s orthodox quarter. The similarity with strict Muslims is astounding. Not just in historical reference, but also in interpretation and attitudes towards women.

Meir (Yoram Hattab) is the Rabbi’s son. A prodigious scholar of the Talmud, he is in love with Rivka (Yael Abecassis), his elegant wife of nearly ten years, but alas, it is a childless union. The members of the Yeshiva insist that he must adhere strictly to the practice that if no child is born to them in a decade, he is to take on another wife. Meir, in his heart, is disgusted by the suggestion that he should forsake his beloved wife for another simply because they have been unable to produce offspring. Yet the inner circle is adamant and he is bound in spite of sound argument to the contrary, despite even his reference to Sarah, a revered woman in the Torah, who remained childless. The religious community is far more inclined to interpret narrowly, however, preferring to rely on ancient practice and diminishing the importance of any emancipating references in the scripture. Equally, they reject science. Artificial insemination is out of the question, as is a fertility test for the man. The result is heartbreaking, as Meir and Rivka are made to part ways. Rivka, an intelligent and devoted woman, is refined even in her sadness as she secludes herself from society. Meir too is miserable irrespective of the pretty young virgin assigned to him as wife number two.

Malka (Meital Barda), Rivka’s younger sister, is less conventional in her ways and certainly less understanding of the ultra-orthodox community to which they belong. Yet her fate is almost as sad. In love with Yakov, a secular jazz musician, Malka is betrothed to Yossef, a bearded Rabbi in the making. She is not attracted to Yossef but she cannot reveal her relationship with Yakov in a community that throws stones at bare-armed women. Malka has no option but to accept Yossef as her husband, shave her beautiful hair and take on the headdress required of women in the community. Yossef and Malka never relate to one another. He never appreciates her beauty or her intelligence. Malka is cloistered till she can take it no more. Her sister’s sadness further suffocates her, and by the end of the film it appears that she is about to make her escape from Mea Shearim to secular Jerusalem.

“Why be strict?” asks Meir of his Yeshiva community. Why follow discriminatory and primitive practices, often contrary to the spirit of the holy scriptures themselves? There is no logical answer to such reasonable questions. The answer is only in banishing the questioning member from the inner circle. As was done in Meir’s case till he conformed. The tragic turn the film takes presents all too realistically the grave danger posed by demanding faith without reason, as such attitudes almost inevitably result in religious demagoguery that is increasingly hard to counter.

Interestingly enough, the Hasidic community in Israel was against its creation. Yet they remain a political nuisance, uncompromising and unable to accept liberal-minded Jews, leave alone Arabs. In spite of that, they are appeased and entitled to concessionary status. Their sons are exempt from the otherwise mandatory military service required of all Israeli males. Ring a bell with some communities closer to home? When was the last time we heard of a mullah take the front lines in defence of Muslim populations? It is all too easy to have others fight their battles. And wait a minute, weren’t Maulana Maudoodi and the Jamaat also against the creation of Pakistan?

Kadosh certainly makes one think. Is the real danger in the world today inter-religious or intra-religious? Is it the Jews against the Muslims? Or the traditionalists against the modernists? Every religious community has its zealots. Wouldn’t it be a lot better if we stopped demonising each other’s religions and looked within our communities? Isn’t it essential to stop appeasing the religious right in every corner of the globe so that we may live in peace with one another? Secularism does not mean a rejection of religion but instead stands for freedom of religious practice.