AICE ISRAELI FILM FESTIVAL: Ron Ofer and Yohai Hakak’s documentary explores the deep divisions within Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, between those who passionately support the Zionist state and those who regard the world outside their enclave as 'Sodom and Gomorrah."
The seemingly intractable struggle is personified by two men, arch enemies, who speak candidly to the filmmakers. Looking deceptively like a benign pixie, Shmuel Chaim Pappenheim is an anti-Zionistic radical who organises violent protests against the State and urges his followers not to vote.
Avraham Ravitz, a former freedom fighter who was the head of the Degel HaTorah political party and served for 20 years in the Israeli Knesset, believed in working within the system to advance his constituency’s religious agenda. He died in January 2009.
The co-directors of Gevald! take an even-handed approach to the issue of how much ultra-Orthodox Jews, or Haredi, should engage with the broader community, while exposing the tensions between the two factions.
Much of the doco is static, with two talking heads from opposite ends of the spectrum, but the filmmakers do open it out by filming demonstrations run by Pappenheim, where men bear placards proclaiming 'Zionists are not Jews" and chant 'Gevald!" (Disaster!). Police who break up the protest when it turns violent are branded as Nazis, which must be deeply offensive to any Jew.
Addressing his followers, Pappenheim declares, 'Every one of you must feel (you are) a soldier in this war for the survival of ultra-Orthodox Judaism itself." According to the doco’s narrator, Pappenheim fervently believes the State’s very existence is a 'rebellion against God."
During the interview, he is clearly uncomfortable at times, refusing to discuss his personal life or allow his family to be shown. 'We’re separated from the world," he says. 'I don’t need this (publicity)."
By contrast, Ravitz welcomes the cameras to his home and often nods and comments as his wife chats animatedly. It was love at first sight when they first met. They had 12 children and 80 grandkids. A milder man than his opponent, he shows some respect for contrary views but questions why those who oppose the Jewish State do not offer a concrete alternative.
The film follows Ravitz conferring with his party colleagues in the lead-up to the 2006 election, suggesting the political machinations in Israel aren’t so different from those in Australia or anywhere else.
A footnote indicates that after filming was finished, Pappenheim lost his major platform: He was fired as editor of his sect’s newsletter after being charged with 'excessive openness," which is a touch ironic given his efforts here to shield much of his life from the cameras.
Co-director Hakak made the film as part of his PhD and post-doctoral work as a senior lecturer in the School of Health Studies and Social Work. Gevald! is part of the Haredim trilogy, which examines the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community's differing relationships with the state of Israel.
