Filmmaker Tackles the Latest Glitch Associated With Absorption

Gilad Goldschmidt

Not that absorption was ever easy. Even before statehood, the in-gathering of exiles came with a price. During the War of Independence in 1948, sheer communication proved a dilemma: Jewish refugees from Europe were armed and fighting Arab nations without comprehending the Hebrew spoken by their commanders. And in the 1950s, immigrants from Iraq, Yemen, Morocco and other Mideast lands thrust their own varying cultures upon an already brewing melting pot.

But the largest wave of recent immigrants has brought with it not just sociological change, but ideological challenges as well. For in the case of Russians from the former Soviet Union, it's the non-Jewish issue that's become something of a sticking point - the fact that with "genuine" Jews have come many with no Jewish ties at all.

And that, according to filmmaker Gilad Goldschmidt, is a force to be reckoned with, and an issue the Israeli government has yet to deal with head-on. Does it push for conversion, or does it turn a blind eye to the problem?

Goldschmidt said that anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 Russians in Israel are not halachically Jewish - added to the roughly 500,000 Russian Jews who are - among a nation of 7 million. In fact, he says, every sixth Israeli is a Russian who's entered the country in the past 10 years.

The subject matter has been tackled directly in a 47-minute film by Goldschmidt called "A Green Chariot," presented by the Israel Film Festival of Greater Philadelphia; more than 100 people attended its screening Saturday night at Congregation Or Shalom in Berwyn.

The Past Comes Calling

The fictional story depicts the plight of Yair, a yeshiva bucher engaged to an observant sabra, Dafna. A Soviet émigré who's renounced his birthright to become a fully integrated Israeli, Yair one day receives a relative's package containing some personal items from his dead mother. Among her things, he finds a necklace with a dangling metal cross, which Yair learns from his father - who also lives in Israel, but who Yair treats like a pariah so as to complete his cultural immersion - belonged to his maternal grandmother.

In a heartbeat, the once "Jewish" student of Torah becomes an official "goy," in his mind and that of the rabbis who guide him.

How Yair - played by Vitaly Friedland, himself a Soviet émigré - handles the situation is the stuff film fests are made of.

Engaged couple Dafna (played by Daniela Wircer) and Yair (played by Vitaly Friedland) confront personal issues in "A Green Chariot."

To an engrossed audience, Goldschmidt explained in near-perfect English that the story focuses on "the personal identity of an immigrant as he tries to erase his former identity by becoming religious - not popular with Russians in Israel. He seeks the dream of becoming a full Israeli, but his past comes and knocks on his door, saying, 'I'm here.' He must meet that past."

The director is on a two-week tour of the United States while working on another film, about the NETA Hebrew learning and teaching program run in American Jewish day schools, as well as appearing on behalf of "A Green Chariot" as it makes the festival circuit. At Or Shalom, the movie was shown in conjunction with a 20-minute student film by Eliezer Shapiro titled "Eicha," about a teenage girl born on Tisha B'Av and named after the book of Lamentations - a name she seeks to change.

Howard Lurie, a member of Or Shalom, said that "Chariot" was "very good, and an understated approach to the problem. It didn't preach to the audience."

In a question-and-answer period after the previews, attendees spoke of a wish for the films to be longer, like feature-length productions. Goldschmidt - a graduate of the Ma'aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts in Jerusalem - noted that his work was typical of film-fest fare, and that his final product was headed to Channel 2 Israeli TV, and not the silver screen.

This is the 10th anniversary of the monthlong Israeli Film Festival, not to be confused with the six-month-long Jewish Film Festival held at the Gershman Y in Center City.

Organizers said the strong turnout for the event proved that a real interest for foreign film exists in the suburbs; two weeks ago, 300 people turned out for "The Syrian Bride," presented at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

Saturday's screenings were co-sponsored by Or Shalom and Hadassah, and supported by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, the Consulate General of Israel, the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia, The Collaborative and Festival Public Relations: Fleischman Gerber & Associates.

The closing film, "Metallic Blues," will be shown on Saturday, March 25, at 8 p.m.

Call 215-834-8493 or visit: www.iffphila.com.