Children of Jerusalem: Yehuda
Encyclopedia
Children of Jerusalem is a 1994
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...

 film, that is a selection from a now-seven part documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 series that shows the holy city of Jerusalem from the distinctive perception of the municipality’s children, who hail from various cultural, economic, social and religious backgrounds.

Summary

Children of Jerusalem: Yehuda, focuses on the country of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and its capital city from the point of view of a pre-teen Hasidic boy as he gets ready to observe the religious holiday of Sukkot
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...

.

At one point in the film the ten year old boy explains that his name ‘Yehuda’ stands for the lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

. The young boy sees the lion as unique for the reason that it is powerful and not fearful of anything.

The section of Jerusalem that Yehuda resides in is serene, but only quick stroll from noisy activity of the metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...

. His household is composed of his father, mother and ten siblings. With a cherubic-like face, this youth has a strong yearning to be a moral Jew and Yehuda has a sincere admiration towards his beliefs and complete, unconditional confidence in his religion. Shadowing the youngster in the course of his everyday life and taking note of the various stories he tells, the documentary uncovers a pre-pubescent existence focused completely on faith, portraying Yehuda as an example of Jerusalem’s substantial ultra-Orthodox society.

It’s obvious that after his religious convictions, his family unit and cultural customs have an important place in Yehuda’s world. While his younger brother rests alongside him, the main character browses from the beginning to the end of an old photograph album. It contains the pictures of his forefathers that arrived form Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. When looking at the photos the young title character speaks of his ancestors, as if met each one individually, when in reality they all have been deceased for many decades before his birth.

The predicament that Yehuda encounters are at times strictly connected to his religious beliefs, but in some instances they are common issues that many preteens face. Only a small proportion of children have to be anxious regarding being teased for possessing elongated peyot [side curls], but universally many children can associate with the frustration of discovering how to ride a bike without training wheels.

Every feature that uses a child as its main subject has the danger of portraying the subject very carefully. However Children of Jerusalem sustains a neutral space between its focal point, enabling the observer glances into the severe governmental implications of a guiltless kid’s perception.

See also

  • Children of Jerusalem: Gesho
    Children of Jerusalem: Gesho
    Children of Jerusalem: Gesho follows a thirteen-year-old Ethiopian boy who was one of 14,000 refugees to flee the warring African nation in hopes of finding a better life in the Jewish State of Israel. This 1996 documentary short is one of a five-part series directed by Beverly Shaffer...

  • History of the Jews in Poland
    History of the Jews in Poland
    The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...

  • History of the Jews in Russia
  • Hasidic Judaism
    Hasidic Judaism
    Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...


External links

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