Original subtitles

Libbi wants to get engaged to you.

PREVIOUSLY ON

-She does? -But, we have some distinct conditions.

No more painting, ever.

Hello, Kaufman, I don't want to show my paintings.

-Mazel tov to the young couple. -Mazel tov, Mazel tov, Mazel tov.

But, Giti, she loves him, nd he loves her.

When you love someone, you don't get up and leave.

You will divorce Ruchami and be done with it.

-When did you schedule the court date? -The court set the date, not us.

-I'm afraid of seeing him. -Are you afraid he'll fly into a rage?

Just goes to show you've never met him.

Hello.

Who would have thought your wild artist would settle down.

-What do you mean? -Didn't he tell you about my conditions?

Finish what you started.

I promised Libbi I'm not doing it anymore.

So you promised.

-We can have the exhibition as planned. -That means we need one more painting.

When did you paint this?

Today.

I don't want to give up the exhibition.

But you'd give me up?

Abot Hameiri Barkai Productions

Talisma Productions

Created by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky

Dov Glickman

Michael Aloni

Sasson Gabai

Neta Riskin

Zohar Strauss

Shira Haas

Hadas Yaron

Casting Hila Yuval

Executive Producers Eitan Abot and Guy Hameiri

Line Producers Isca Gur-Luzon and Aviv Ben Shlush

Art Director Shimri Gal Novack

Music Avi Belleli

Cinematography Roey Roth

Editor Gilad Ariel

Screenplay Editor Sayed Kashua

Screenplay Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky

Executive Producer Dikla Barkai

Director Alon Zingman

SHTISEL

Yesterday, I couldn't remember what you look like.

I got so scared but then,

it came to me, I could see you...

so vividly.

I long for you.

It's sad and good at the same time.

Who established this custom,

with all the excitement of the week before the wedding,

that we are not allowed to meet?

If I could at least hear your voice over the phone.

I should stop complaining.

How are you getting on at your Aunt Esther's?

Can you get some studying in with all the preparations?

My dear Hanina, I hate to ask,

I know how much it pains you

but if you want to write me

and tell me why you and your father severed ties, I'd like that.

Sometimes I ask myself...

why the people we love the most

are the ones that hurt us the most.

But maybe we have...

to forgive.

Forgiveness is so powerful,

moving on, starting over.

I'm sure he'd be so happy if you'd invite him to our wedding.

I'd be happy too.

My bridal instructor said something that I think about often.

"A man and a woman are two halves waiting to come together as one,

but in order to be complete, the halves must first be complete."

Then pressure him, threaten him.

You threaten him...

if you want to.

How can I threaten him? He's like a dreidel.

He calls off matches as often as he changes his socks.

You asked me if you could smoke and what did I say?

Okay, okay, keep your hat on.

I could get a fine for dumping trash out the window.

-But you, what do you care? -You're right, we don't.

So, will you pressure him?

You're happy?

Not only does your son call off a match, now my daughter.

-You're happy? -Stop busting my chops.

No one asked you to call off the match.

We had distinct conditions, Shulem.

He said he wouldn't paint again and become a serious Jew.

We made an agreement and he just trampled on it.

Agreements, you make with your clients.

If you don't like my son the way he is,

that's your problem.

Who gives the groom conditions? What is this...

the Congo?

What's the Congo got to do with it? Damn evil people.

-Hold on. -What?

Do you have anything to do with this?

Me?

I'm asking, did he consult with you?

Consult with me?

We talked, you know, father and son.

I knew it, it was you.

You couldn't stand me making a serious man out of your son,

so you stuck your nose in the wheels?

Driver, pull over here.

-You said the cemetery. -I'm getting off here.

Nuchem, stop being so dramatic.

Pull over now.

I'm not waiting for you to say Kaddish.

If you're late, find yourself another quorum.

What did I say?

Indeed, we forgot, we apologize.

Who's we? It's only you.

Here, Mother, here.

"A woman of good deeds and kindness."

What more can we say?

What more can we say?

Then don't say.

I'll just say one thing, Mother...

Dvora's grave is right over there.

And in the middle, between you both,

this two-point five cubit of earth...

is mine, Mother.

Two point five cubits of earth in Jerusalem right between...

the two of you.

And I honestly feel...

like the luckiest Jew.

Mother, this is worth more than all the fortune in the world.

More than the buildings and offices,

more than the airplanes of the Americans,

the French and...

the Belgians.

Kive, don't be sad. Time heals, etc.

-Nuchem told you? -We talked.

If he wants to call it off, it's his problem.

No...

it's my problem.

I don't care about Nuchem...

it's Libbi I want.

What does she say?

She's been screening my calls.

That's that.

What can you do?

Drink up.

Apricot juice, it's good for you.

Let me tell you something you didn't know about your father.

Before I met your mother and we got married, etc,

I met another woman.

Her name's not important. Yocheved Gezundheit.

We met twice and talked,

we agreed to get engaged.

We were about to tell our parents...

that very night.

Yocheved Gezundheit was special,

from a very fine family...

descendants of the Chofetz Chaim or something like that.

-What happened? -That's just it.

We're about to tell her parents

and she says that after the wedding

she wants me to tuck my sidelocks behind my ears.

When...

I heard that I got up

and said, "Be well, Menukha--" I mean, "Yocheved..."

and I left.

You just...

-got up and left? -Just like that, absolutely.

A girl who gives you conditions doesn't really want you.

Your dear late mother

accepted me just the way I am.

Dad...

you may have forgotten...

but Mom was on your case about a lot of things.

Of course...

she encouraged me to study more...

to shower more...

to be nicer to people,

but she never...

tried to change me.

Do you understand?

I hear you.

That's all.

And now Nuchem won't be your father in law...

so no regrets.

I have...

to go.

Where to so late at night?

To the studio...

I have to finish something by morning.

Good for you.

Take care, Dad.

AKIVA

Well, what do you think?

Honestly...

I don't really care what you think.

It's my best work so far.

I know it is.

Hello, Natalie?

This is Izzi Kaufman.

Great.

I want to change the invitations for the exhibition.

We can still do that, right?

Good.

I want a different painting on them.

That's great, send the photographer over here.

Great, have a nice day. Bye, Natalie.

What is it you people say? Keep the faith.

-Yes, keep the faith. -Keep the faith, Akiva.

-Thank you, Kaufman. -Wonderful.

I talked to Yaron London this morning.

Do you know who he is?

He's a respected TV host

and he wants to do an item on your exhibition.

He asked me if he can interview you and I said no...

but then I got to think, "Why not?"

It's a fine platform, it will do wonders for your career.

But if you tell me you don't want to, I'll understand.

I know you people have this thing about the media.

-"You people?" -What?

I'm the only one here.

Right.

CO: HANINA TUNIK

FROM: RUCHAMI WEISS

Praise God, Ruchami, praise God.

Praise God for what we have, God willing for what is to come.

I am so excited it's hard to write.

I envision you in your wedding gown and I am virtually blinded.

Praise God, God willing.

You're right,

it pains me to talk about my father...

but maybe writing will be easier.

I'll try.

I was 13 when my mother died.

Everyone said he must remarry,

it would be too hard to raise me and my little sisters on his own.

He married four months after her funeral.

I couldn't stay after that.

I wandered for hours until I discovered where I belong.

Every synagogue has a small room with a Talmud, a lectern and silence.

Hanina...

come in, Ruchami's not here.

He was my father as long as my mother was alive

but when she passed,

it was as if I had passed with her.

I would invite him to the wedding if I thought he would come,

I'm afraid to try.

It's too painful.

Praise God, God willing.

Bitter by the delay,

the sky filled with clouds and rain

poured down on them.

Thus, they lost their way

and were filled with sorrow.

They traveled until they reached a village,

cold from the rain and wind.

They decided to sleep there.

They left their horses with a Gentile

and told him to bring them back in the morning.

We'll continue tomorrow,

-all right? -Yes.

Good.

Ruchami.

Yes?

What's the matter?

What are you thinking about?

I don't know.

What kind of world is this?

What happened?

Hanina's father...

won't be coming to the wedding.

Why not?

They haven't talked in years.

Not at all?

I thought that it's just because he remarried.

Yes.

-Why? What happened? -That's just...

the way it is.

He doesn't want anything to do with his children.

That can't be it.

All fathers want a relationship with their children.

All fathers dream of being at their children's weddings.

I never thought a father would leave either.

Not be at the wedding.

I don't understand.

I don't know.

Nevermind.

-Hello? -Rabbi Shtisel?

It's Zussman from the Burial Society.

We went to the cemetery yesterday.

I know, I know. That's not why I'm calling.

-Well? -I got a call from this Frenchman,

he wants to buy your plot.

-What plot? -Your burial plot.

It's available and he likes the view.

Don't joke about this, Zussman.

I'm not, God forbid, I'm serious.

Serious?

You think I'd sell my gravesite next to my late wife and late mother?

I knew that's what you would say but I thought I'd give it a try

It's eleven thousand dollars after all.

-Eleven thousand dollars? -That's what he's offering.

Nothing doing, not even for one million dollars.

-Take care, Rabbi Shulem. -Be well.

Akiva Shtisel?

You're on in two minutes.

Libbi...

I hope you'll listen to this message.

If you do...

I'm at the TV studio,

I'm going on at five.

It's strange, TV and all.

If you hear this message soon, turn on your TV.

You have a TV in your hotel room, right?

That's all.

I miss you...

very much.

That's all. Goodbye.

It's uncommon to find an artist who is so young,

so talented and Orthodox.

-Hello, Akiva Shtisel. -Hello.

RABBI ARTIST

This weekend you will have a solo exhibition.

-Your first solo exhibition. -Yes.

You'll tell us how one becomes an artist in the Orthodox community

that is commanded not to make a graven image or likeness.

But first I'd like to ask you about a particular painting

that we see here in the background.

A young mother nursing her baby

and the first thing that comes to mind

are the Christian images

of Mother Mary nursing her son Jesus.

A painting like this by an Orthodox Jew artist

-is an interesting statement-- -What? No,

forgive me for cutting you off.

There is nothing Christian about it.

Nor Jewish either.

It's...

simply a memory.

-A personal memory? -Yes.

Every painting...

is an attempt to turn the present into a memory.

This painting...

is a memory of a memory.

The baby is me...

-but he's also my son. -I don't understand.

The baby in the painting is you?

And the woman is your mother?

She is, and she isn't.

How does an Orthodox man from Meah Shearim

become a figurative artist about to have an exhibition

in the Israel Museum? That's...

First of all, I didn't grow up in Meah Shearim, I grew up in Geula.

They're close but they're not the same.

I started painting when I was a child, I painted for many years

but I gave it up one year ago.

I never thought...

I'd take up a paint brush again.

So, what happened?

-I met a woman. -I see.

She restored...

my desire to paint.

She restored my desire.

-Hello. -Yes.

-Is this the Tunik residence? -Yes.

-May I speak to Rabbi Tunik? -Speaking.

Hello, you don't know me...

maybe you heard about me.

My name is Ruchami.

-Ruchami Weiss. -Yes, hello.

I'm...

Hanina's intended bride.

Hanina, my son?

Yes.

We're getting married in three days.

I'm very excited to hear that.

I'm glad.

I've been praying for Hanina all these years three times a day.

Now I'll pray for you too.

Thank you so much. I'm calling because...

we want you to be at the wedding.

Did Hanina say that? Did he ask you to call me?

No.

But I know he'll be very happy too.

Of course, I want to be at your wedding.

Then you'll come?

Of course, I'll be there and so will Hanina's siblings.

So, how about we meet

and I'll give you an invitation?

Thank you so much. I pray for him three times a day.

Hello, Dad.

All of Geula.

All of Geula is talking about my son who paints his mother like...

a whore in the market.

Like a whore in the market!

-I didn't paint Mom like that. -And you go on TV and give an interview?

-Are you insane? -Who told you?

Shame on you.

What did your poor, righteous mother ever do to you?

Did you even see the painting? It's not a portrait of Mom.

-I said in the interview-- -Don't try to bamboozle me!

-I don't have to see it to understand! -Of course not, you know it all.

It's an invitation to the exhibition.

I didn't think I'd be giving it to you under these circumstances

but here it is. The painting is on it.

I'd like you to be there.

Please open it and take a look.

AKIVA SHTISEL, PORTRAITS

Well?

How can anyone even think that it's Mom?

It's a painting, Dad, not real life.

Kive, when will you get it?

Everything is life.

Everything is life and what we do with it!

Do you know...

that one time your mother cried...

an entire night...

because her head covering slipped slightly off her hair

when we had company?

I had to console her

and assure her that no one noticed.

She cried an entire night because of that.

You will take back that painting of your mother,

of blessed memory, you hear me?

It will not be shown in an exhibition.

No, Dad.

-What did you say? -I said no.

I'm not taking back the painting.

Nuchem was right.

I'm a fool for not realizing it.

When you paint...

you care about nothing.

You sold us, Kiva.

You sold me and your dead mother.

And for what?

-Is it the right gas station? -Yes.

But we're 30 minutes early.

He'll be here, Ruchami, don't worry.

Of course...

I know.

You want to drive?

-What? -Come on, I'll teach you.

-Let's go for a little ride. -Are you insane, Dad?

-What? -What if a policeman stops up?

That won't happen.

You know how many times I let your mother drive

when I still had a car?

-Really? -Yes.

-Mom? -Yes.

But don't tell her I told you.

She was a race car driver.

TUNIK FAMILY

You want to wait a little longer?

I don't know.

Maybe there's no point.

You want to call him again?

No.

Ruchami, it's disappointing but it's not what matters.

What does matter?

That Hanina loves you and you're getting married.

And everything will be fine, trust me.

Why should I trust you?

You're angry with me?

What did I do?

It's not you.

It's all of you.

How did it go?

-Mom. -Yes?

Did you forgive Dad?

Whole-heartedly?

Whole-heartedly?

I don't know if there is such...

a thing.

I had an awful dream.

I woke up.

I wanted to walk over to the railing of the women's section in the synagogue...

like our first nights together.

Sometimes I'd wake up in the middle of the night,

look at you,

listen to the melody you're studying...

and go back to bed.

But then I realized that I'm in my house,...

my bed...

alone.

Sometimes we forgive too fast, Hanina.

Everything is so fragile.

Suddenly you disappear from my thoughts.

I can't remember you.

I'm afraid you'll never come back.

You know how much you can get for an Agrippa these days?

A fortune.

I think you can get twice as much than the boat series.

It's a totally different ballpark.

Kaufman...

my name is Shtisel. I'm Akiva's father.

Yes, I remember you.

I don't want you to show that painting to anyone.

-But it's a painting, not-- -It's my dearly departed wife.

We were married for 40 years.

We have six children and 32 grandchildren

and I don't want her in this gallery or anywhere else.

Please sit down.

Mr. Shtisel, you must understand.

She was your wife and she was Akiva's mother.

Akiva is an artist, you must understand that.

Yes, an artist, I understand.

Is money...

all you care about? Money?

How much do you want?

It's not that, Rabbi Shtisel.

Stop jerking me around and don't call me Rabbi Shtisel.

-How much do you want for the painting? -Come on.

-Name your price. -I'm sorry, it's not for sale.

-You don't sell paintings here? -I do,

but this painting will be in your son's exhibition tonight.

-Don't say he didn't tell you. -He did.

He did.

He told all the people of Israel too.

The paintings are already there, Akiva is there,

I'm taking the painting with me when I go,

be proud of your son.

He said wonderful things in that TV interview.

I'll give you 1000 shekels.

It's not about the money and even if you bought the painting,

it would still be in the exhibition tonight.

Cut that out!

And stop smiling too.

Thank you.

Listen to me...

I won't have that painting hanging in any museum,

you hear me?

I do...

but as I said...

I'll pay you...

eleven thousand dollars.

No big deal, a gravesite is no big deal.

What matters is what matters.

Look at those beautiful buildings, damn evil people.

What's with the good mood, Dad?

Me? I'm always happy, sweetie.

No, you're not.

Fine...

I'll tell you.

-Can you keep a secret? -I guess so.

My big brother, your uncle,

he scoffed at me at your grandma's gravesite.

What did he say?

That all he needs is his two point five cubits

-next to Grandma and Dvora's graves. -And?

That they're worth more than all the buildings in Belgium,

-blah, blah, blah. -And?

He doesn't have...

two point five cubits anymore.

He's all talk. He sold them.

As soon as he was offered some money, he sold them.

-I don't understand. -What's to understand?

He talks the talk but when it comes down to it,

he's no better than me.

How...

do you know he sold the plot?

Because I know the anonymous man who bought it from him.

Hello, I'm from Paris, I'd like a plot on the Mount of Rest.

What? He deserved it.

But why did Kive deserve it?

-Why did I deserve it? -What are you talking about?

-Both of you with your stupid fights-- -What fights?

You ruined what we had with your stupid fights.

Libbi, what have I ever ruined for you?

I know...

you love me, Dad...

but...

I can't live like this

and I won't find what I want if...

You must be tired, confused, I don't understand.

I want to live with him, Dad.

With Kive, just the way he is.

He's good for me, I know it.

I trust him, I want him to paint, I don't mind, on the contrary.

Hello?

Lippe.

What happened? Where are you?

I need you, Lippe.

I need you.

I forgive you.

What?

I forgive you.

And I love you.

Ruchami.

What's with you? We can't meet before the wedding.

-I don't care. -Of course, you do.

I care more about the fact that you're afraid.

I promise you...

Ruchami...

I won't...

ever...

leave you.

Not you...

not our children...

ever.

God willing.

Praise God, God willing.

Praise God, God willing.

-See you tomorrow. -See you.

The Jewish Orthodox life in the 21st century

is uniquely expressed in the paintings of Akiva Shtisel.

I am pleased and proud to be here

to open his first exhibition.

He is a groundbreaking artist.

Not in terms of art in general,

rather paving his own path.

He looks at his unique world

with a realistic eye.

He idealizes nothing.

He doesn't have an exotic, external viewpoint.

Rather, he puts reality on canvas

and it's alive and vibrant,

painful and touching.