Original subtitles

Generalissimo Francisco Franco

announced today that he would not allow the Jewish citizens of Spain

to return to Spain,

and commanded the exile of remaining Jews to European…

Thank you, God, for getting me out of there in time.

Franco added that Spain is the ideological partner

of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany…

…sent a division of volunteers to help in the…

Luna, come here.

-Not now. -…Allied forces.

Yes, now. Come here!

That girl is so badly behaved.

Yes?

It's for Gavriel Armoza.

It's for Abba.

I'll give it to him. He's not home. I'm his mother.

It's registered mail for Mr. Gavriel Armoza.

-He's the only one who can sign for it. -Can you tell me who it's from?

From the bank. I'll come back another day.

-Another day, okay? -Mm-hmm.

Looking for something?

Gavriel used to put the account books for the delicatessen here.

I never liked that he put them by the holy books, so…

I asked him to put them somewhere else.

Oh.

And lately, Gavriel does everything you want.

So he probably did. Do you know where, though?

Maybe at the delicatessen?

-You know what? I'll go there now. -Gavriel isn't there today.

He went to Yaffo to get some goods.

I don't need Gavriel. I need the books. Will you manage without me?

Of course, Mercada.

For ten years, I've managed very well without you.

Tss! A beast in the form of a human.

Shalom, Mercada.

Since you came back from Spain, you've barely come to visit us.

I can see there aren't many people.

Some days are better than others.

But the shop has been emptier than usual lately.

Mm-hmm.

Since the war in Europe began,

people haven't been in the mood for delicacies.

-The British don't come either? -A lot less.

Many of them were sent to fight in Europe and Africa

against the Nazis, may their names and their memories be erased.

I can see there are shortages in goods too.

It's hard to get good merchandise today.

It's hard to get bad stuff too. Times are hard.

Yes, well… Are the account books here?

-Yes. Gavriel left them in the drawer. -Please get them for me.

Here you go.

Mm-hmm.

No, no, no, no. This is recent.

I need last year's books and all the previous years, Lieto.

I think Gavriel took those home, Mercada.

You think or you're sure? I didn't find them at home.

I think.

I'm certain that they're not here.

Anything new?

Kidney pie? Pudding?

No. Sorry.

Tomorrow perhaps.

Maybe. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe next week. Try again.

I really do miss them.

I'll keep trying.

-Good day, sir. -Good day.

He misses what?

I sat in the delicatessen for an hour, not even a dog walked in. An hour!

Finally, some British soldier came in and asked for that shit your wife makes.

My wife takes care of this house.

She raises Luna, Rachelika, and Becky. She cooks and cleans for us.

Bravo! Let's get Ben-Gurion to give her an award.

Let's get the King of England

to make her a countess for taking care of the house.

So Rosa can teach you how to make that British shit, and you can make it!

-I'm your mother, Gavriel. -And Rosa is my wife.

And the wife of Gavriel Armoza will not work for a living.

Where are the shop's account books?

-What? -You usually keep them right up there.

-Now they're in the shop. -No, they aren't.

There's only the most recent book.

Where are those from all the years that I was abroad?

Things have changed a little since you left, Ima.

Now, the books must be balanced by a bookkeeper with a diploma.

He has all of them.

You just said they were at the delicatessen.

Fine, first I take them to the delicatessen,

then he comes there and takes them.

And who is this big bookkeeper with the diploma?

A guy.

An Iraqi. Sasson.

-I don't know any Iraqis in Jerusalem. -That doesn't mean there aren't any.

Sasson has a diploma in bookkeeping, from a university in Baghdad.

Where does this "Sasson" live?

-Here, in Jerusalem. -Where here?

What for? So you can go and embarrass me?

So that everyone in town can say

that Gavriel Armoza's mother checks her son's damn ledgers?

Fine! You go to that Sasson and bring the account books back here.

-I'll get them. -When will you get them?

-I said I will. -I asked when!

I'll get them!

Another week. Tell him another week.

Enough, Gavriel, enough.

That's what you said last week.

Not to mention, you missed your last four payments.

How much do I have left to pay?

More than what you've paid so far. That's for sure. Look.

You took your first loan approximately 11 years ago.

Six years ago, you took another loan.

You had big trouble reimbursing it, so to make matters worse,

you took another loan to pay off the previous one.

And then you took another one.

It's all written here. Why don't you keep a record?

You keep a record, don't you? No need to do it twice.

Gavriel, look…

I've already told you, I'm just the middleman.

The person you took the loans from is not someone you want to owe money to.

How many years left to pay off my loan?

Which loan are you talking about? You took many loans.

Maybe I can talk to him,

and ask him to take all these loans and redistribute them, for another ten or…

or 12 years, so it's easier for you to pay them off?

Yes, right. That's good.

Let's do that. Twelve years would be great.

But that also means the interest will be much higher, and…

And what?

The collateral you gave from your shop is not enough. He'll want more.

Not a chance!

I gave him almost half the shop as collateral.

Then pay him what you owe him, and quickly.

Blessed are You Lord our God, King of the Universe

Who distinguishes the sacred From the earthly

Amen.

And He will forgive all of our sins

Between light and dark Israel and the nations

Between the seventh day And the six days of labor

Blessed are You, Lord

Who distinguishes the sacred From the earthly

Amen.

Have a blessed and good week, to our home and all of Israel. Amen.

-Have a good week. -Have a good week.

-Have a good week, Gavriel. -Amen.

-Good week. Enjoy. -Good week.

Good week. Have you brought the account books from Sasson?

Ima, the Shabbat isn't even out, and you're already talking about books?

It's out, Gavriel.

Just as I'll be worn out before I see those books.

Whenever I ask you, it's not the right time.

You're tired, or you're going out, or your head aches.

-What account books? -The delicatessen's.

I asked him to bring them to me earlier this week.

-Why are you involving her in this? -Maybe she can go to Sasson and get them.

Who's Sasson?

The great bookkeeper of the delicatessen.

An Iraqi. A smart Iraqi with a diploma.

-What's a diploma? -Rosa, do you know this Sasson?

-No, I don't know him. -Ima, if you don't stop right now--

What? What will you do to me, Gavriel, huh?

Banish me to Spain again?

What is he to you?

He's my fiancé.

Your fiancé, huh?

He has no mother or father?

-He has a mother. -Ah…

She's afraid to come here. Afraid you might tell her that her son…

She gave me…

This is him before he joined the army,

and this is… after.

Hmm.

No! I promised her I'd return the photo.

He's alive.

Then why doesn't he write?

I don't know.

He's dead.

What do I tell his mother?

Sometimes in war,

a man leaves as one person and comes back as someone else.

When will he return?

I don't know.

He will though?

-I don't know. -You said he's alive.

This one's alive, yes.

Should I wait for him?

Do you love him?

Yes.

You…

Someone's looking out for you from above.

Someone loves you.

Who is it?

Talk to me.

Talk to me!

He loves you. He loves you so much.

-Who? Who loves me? -He wanted you so much.

Ah, but the English, damn them all, hanged him.

-He's a hero. -Itamar.

Mm.

This one's alive.

Well?

What did she say?

She said that David loves me.

He's alive?

I'm sorry. I don't know.

It was me.

I sent him.

To get him away from you.

You might forgive me…

…but I will never forgive myself.

Never.

Holy God.

What happened?

They're looking for you, Gavriel.

They beat me up.

Who?

The banditos.

You told me they didn't know I was the debtor.

Well, now they know you are.

If I hadn't told them, they would have broken all my bones.

I told you a thousand times, you don't mess with these people!

Here. Here. I can give them this. Here.

Not here!

This is worth a lot of money, Avram.

I want you to take it to Davidoff the jeweler.

-This won't be enough. -What do you mean?

Do you even know how much you owe?

With all of the payments you've missed? And the interest? The compounded interest?

Listen carefully.

You're going to go away right now.

Don't go home. Find a place to hide for a few days.

-What are you talking about? -Look, I know what they are capable of!

This is not a man you want to deal with. You don't even--

No!

Enough.

The beating I got because of you left me crippled for life.

But if we all take an eye for an eye, well, the whole world would be blind.

Isn't that right, Gavriel Armoza?

I always prayed to God to make me your business partner, Gavriel.

Today, I'm going to the synagogue,

where I will give charity and say Psalms.

Mordoch?

Ugh… What a disaster.

What a disaster you brought upon us, Gavriel.

What a disaster!

From Mordoch?

-You took money from Mordoch? -I didn't know it was from him.

You didn't know, and you lied to your mother.

How could you lie to your mother like that? How?

You blessed me with only one son, God,

and he's a curse.

Gavriel is not a curse.

You gave half the shop as collateral, and to whom? To none other than Mordoch?

To Mordoch the Kurd.

May he rot in hell like all the damned for what he did to us. Amen!

What will we eat, Gavriel, huh?

What will we eat?

-And you, were you aware of this? -No.

No, Ima, no.

Rosa didn't know about it.

It will be all right, Gavriel. We have gold and jewels. We'll sell them.

We also have the necklace you bought me for our anniversary. It's very valuable.

Everything I've collected over the years, everything your father gave me,

I wanted to pass on to Luna and Rachelika.

-And Becky. -We don't have any gold, Ima.

What do you mean, we don't have any gold?

No jewels either. Mordoch.

He took it as a down payment.

Oh, my God.

Also what I got you for our anniversary, Rosa.

I'm sorry.

It's nothing. It's just a piece of jewelry.

Enough, please.

Don't say another word, Gavriel. Enough. Enough!

Every word you say breaks another piece of my heart.

David!

David!

Oh, my boy!

Mwah.

-Don't worry, Ima, I'm not going anywhere. -You're not leaving me now.

You won't leave me.

Shh, shh, shh… Shh.

How did you get away from your mother?

I slipped out.

She suffered a lot, you know.

It's strange, you two speak to each other again.

You don't hate each other.

We both waited for you.

We thought you'd been…

You suddenly disappeared. You stopped writing.

After Kalamata, I joined the Partisans,

fighting the Germans in the forest.

I couldn't write from there.

What happened in Kalamata?

Let's not. Let's talk about happy things.

Do you remember, before you left, we got engaged?

Oh, so that was you?

Do you still want to marry me?

Don't just nod your head. Say yes.

Yes.

Louder than that!

Yes, I want to marry you, Luna!

What about Victoria?

She'll agree to anything I want.

So will my abba. He thinks you're a hero.

So you came back but…

the war's not over yet, right?

The Germans are losing, but no, it's not really over.

So how did you get to come home?

You asked me to bring Luna.

Yes, yes.

Sit.

What…

David told me you're preparing for your wedding day.

We are.

Wait.

Um…

This is the dress…

It's yours.

I didn't have the chance…

to use it, but it's mine.

I remember, Victoria.

Now it's yours.

Thank you.

The mines, placed on the tracks near the city of Hadera,

exploded, forcing the train to stop.

The terrorists then took control of the train

and threatened the guards at gunpoint.

The guards were forced to hand over the money on board,

which was meant to pay the salaries of Mandatory government workers.

Approximately 35,000 Palestinian pounds was stolen.

It is presumed, the funds will be used to finance further terrorist activities.

There's just over 15,000 lira here.

The newspapers say the amount stolen was 35,000.

It says the British say that 35,000 was stolen.

Yes.

Since when do we believe the British?

Well done.

We are unknown soldiers

Uniforms, we have none

In death's shadow We march in its terror and death

Volunteering to serve To the end of our days

Only death from our duty can us sever…

Rosa.

Ephraim!

You're going to kill me one of these days.

I'm only sneaky so the British don't kill me.

No. God forbid. Don't say that.

-Are you all right? -I'm all right.

I've just come to give you this.

What is it?

The whole town is talking about that idiot husband of yours,

who owes money to criminals who broke his bones.

You put food in my mouth when I was a kid.

You protected me, worked your fingers to the bone.

And now, I'm giving back.

I love you, hermana.

Ephraim…

What are they doing here?

Lieto, the storeroom's almost empty.

We won't have anything to sell soon.

We're gonna have to go to Yaffo.

Oh! Good to see you.

How is Your Lordship?

Those two…

they get out.

Right now.

Even though more than half the shop is mine now,

your word is still respected.

You asked them to leave, they left.

Why don't we just sit down, have some coffee,

and talk about business, hmm?

Lieto, Matzliach…

I'm listening. No coffee.

Allow me, all right?

It's hard with a bum knee.

I took a lot from you, Gavriel.

Now I want to give back.

Here's a number I wrote.

It's what I'd like to give you for the remainder of the delicatessen.

Cash in hand.

You take this, and then you go, and never return.

Take it.

You know where I'm going now?

To order a sign.

Outside, it says "Delicatessen Armoza."

In a few days, the sign will read "Delicatessen Mordoch."

Have a good day.

Ay, Dios santo!

Wait. Is this for real, Rosa?

This money will cover all our debt, in full.

I haven't slept well in weeks, Rosa.

I've kept praying to Raphael to tell heaven to help us,

and it actually came true!

Here it is!

Thank you, Raphael, mi amor! Thank you!

It's not from Raphael. It's from Ephraim.

It's from Raphael.

And even if a demon gave it to you,

it's a demon who took from Raphael to give it to us.

And what will we tell Gavriel?

Gavriel?

What are you doing here?

I returned.

Aren't you happy to see me?

No.

You said you were going away. You…

You said your family didn't want you here. You left.

Well, they don't want me there either.

I'm the promiscuous daughter, the cursed, the exiled one.

These clothes are all I have.

I need your help.

I need you, Gavriel.

But I don't have anything.

I'm broke.

I have nothing to give you.

I have nothing.

I wish I did.

I'm not asking for myself.

It's for my son.

He's getting married this winter.

You have a son?

We have a son.

Shloimaleh.

I've sinned a lot in my life, but I would never tell you such a lie.

How old is he?

Do you remember when we met here 19 years ago?

-I couldn't tell anyone. -But me.

-Why didn't you tell me? -I was protecting him.

I was protecting our son from the shame.

-From our shame! -No, no, no. Go away.

Get out of here.

Get out of here!

Get out of here now! Go away!

Get out of here now! Get outta here!

Go away! Get outta here!

Go away!

Rochel…

Rochel! Rochel!

Rochel!

Rochel!

Where is this from?

This comes from God.

Rosa prayed to her mother and father in heaven to give us a miracle. Tell him.

I went to the mikvah, and…

I found the sack.

And…

Aren't you ashamed to lie to your husband?

Listen, Gavriel.

There's enough money here to repay Mordoch

and leave some for a nice wedding for Luna.

This is dirty money, Ima.

I won't pay for my daughter's wedding with it!

Why dirty money?

Your brother, the fascist bandit thief!

Don't you hear what they say? Don't you listen to the radio?

He and his Revisionist friends robbed a train.

This? This is money to pay wages for people who work!

That bastard. I'll kill him.

He's a beast in… in the form of a human.

-I will kill him. Bastard. -Gavriel… Gavriel!

-Gavriel! -May the Devil take you.

God give you the plagues of Egypt. Son of a mutt.

Let the evil haunt you for the rest of your days.

May you leave, never to return, you accursed bandit.

May you burn yourself, Ephraim Siton.

May you burn.

-What are you doing? Why? -No!

What are you doing, Gavriel?! What are you doing?! It's all your fault!

You've ruined the delicatessen!

You've ruined the family! It's all because of you!

You've ruined the family!

It's Victoria's dress.

She gave it to me.

It's very pretty.

I wish you good health and happiness.

Thanks.

David!

-What are you looking for? -My blue pajamas.

What blue pajamas?

-The blue pajamas. The blue ones! -You don't have to get angry, David.

Could you have thrown them away?

I haven't thrown anything away. Wear something else.

For two years, rats walked over me while I slept in the mud.

And you know what I'd dream of, Ima? Of my blue pajamas.

That I'd wear in bed. So where are they, dammit?!

-Where are they?! -I'll look! Why are you yelling?

I've looked a thousand times!

I've looked everywhere!

-So tell me, where are my blue pajamas?! -Stop shouting!

-The neighbors can hear you! -I don't care!

You probably gave my blue pajamas to somebody else's laundry.

-I didn't give away anything! -Tell me where they are!

-Tell me! -Can you calm down? Please!

-Not until you tell me where! -Stop! You're hurting me!

Stop! Stop! Enough, David! David… David…

So where are they, you damn whore?!

What has gotten into you, David? I will look for them!

What's wrong with you?!

I've looked all over the place! I've looked everywhere!

-Oh, David… -Where are they?!

David!

Tell me where my blue pajamas are!

Stop! Calm down!

-Gavriel, why don't you go there? -No. Gavriel has no business going there.

Why would you give my pajamas to someone with their laundry?

David!

Stop crying. You're driving me crazy. Stop it! It drives me even crazier!

Stop crying!

Stop! Stop! Enough!

Calm down! Enough!

I'll find them for you.

Stop. Stop.

Enough, enough. Enough, my boy.

Enough.

You heard what happened last night?

Yes, I heard, like the whole neighborhood--

Thank God, I've never been off to war,

but I've seen the men come back from the Great War.

And the atrocities they saw… God help me.

When they returned home, they were different.

It's not too late, Luna.

-For what? -Luna…

It's true, I didn't want David Franco to be part of our family.

But after he went off to war and I saw how much you cared,

how you waited for him,

I thought maybe I'd been wrong.

Maybe he was your perfect match.

This morning, I saw Victoria, and there's a bruise on her face.

David didn't only yell at her hysterically.

He hit his own mother. God help us.

I can talk to David.

I can talk to Victoria too, but you decide.

Think very carefully about whether you want to marry him.

My dear…

there are moments in life…

where the decisions that you make…

…can change your entire life.

David came back from the war with a lot of pain.

But he came back to me.

You once told me, there's no pain that can't be healed by love, Abba.

I love him.

Hear, everyone

L'chaim!

Blessed art thou, Lord

Our God, King of the Universe

Who creates the fruit of the vine

Amen.

Blessed art thou, Lord

Our God, King of the Universe

Who has graced us with His command

And prohibited forbidden unions

And forbidden us from the betrothed

And allowed us to marry

By means of a canopy and consecration

Blessed art thou, Lord

Who sanctifies the people of Israel

By means of a canopy

And consecration

Amen.

-Amen! -Amen.

Say, Gavriel…

who is that Ashkenazi Hasid over there?

He keeps looking at you.

-You are now… -You are now…

-…sanctified to me… -…sanctified to me…

-…with this ring… -…with this ring…

-…by the law of Moses and Israel. -…by the law of Moses and Israel.

-Amen. -Amen.

Sanctified! Sanctified! Sanctified!

Yay! Mazel tov!