Be Fruitful and Multiply

Director - Shosh Shlam          
                                             Additional Pictures

2005, 50 minutes, available format: Beta, DVD
Original Language: Yiddish, Hebrew & English
 

The most important biblical commandment in the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox community is "Be Fruitful and Multiply". The man is commanded to procreate, but it is the woman who is the instrument for fulfilling this purpose. This film provides a look into the life of the Ultra-Orthodox woman, which is a perpetual round of pregnancy, birth and constant nursing. She doesn't have the freedom to determine the course of her life; she serves God via the womb. The film follows the stories of four women, mainly the story of Yentle, who lives in the Me'a She'arim neighborhood in Jerusalem. Yentle expresses the pain of her oppressed friends, who are prisoners of their community's decrees, and whose voices are silenced. As the film progresses, obedient Yentle, turns into an independent woman, who rebels against her community's conventions.
 
Script – Shosh Shlam
Photography – Dan Barnea, Uri Akerman
Editing – Tor Ben Mayor
Music – Shem Tov Levy