Shekinah: The Intimate Life of Hasidic Women - Official Theatrical Trailer (2014) Documentary

http://www.ShekinahFilm.com
  / shekinahfilm  
Toronto Premiere: May 12, 2014 Bloor Hot Docs Cinema

Produced by: DLI Productions
Directed by: Abbey Jack Neidik and Irene Lilenheim Angelico
Executive Producer: Mushka Lightstone

Shekinah: The Intimate Life of Hasidic Women (2013) is a feature documentary that takes us into the rarefied world of young Hasidic women living what some consider an 18th-century way of life in 21st century Québec. The women are Chabad Lubavitch, a sect of Orthodox Hasidim, one of the more conservative branches of Judaism today.

With unprecedented access, Shekinah explores the perspectives of these young women from school age through courtship and marriage. Their relationships with men are based on the Kabbalah, the mystical aspect of Judaism. They see God as both masculine and feminine, and marriage as pre-ordained in heaven. The laws of Torah affect almost everything they do, and still their lives are filled with great passion. They explain why "kosher" sex, with all its complex divine commandments, is as intense and blissful as Eastern Tantric practices, and why they see themselves as more liberated than most women today. Their revelations break many long-standing stereotypes and unveil the secrets of this mysterious women's world.

Shekinah also explores the evolving relationships of these young women with the greater Jewish and French-Québecois communities -- from both perspectives. We see how tolerance develops and misconceptions dissolve, as both sides learn about each other and come to open their hearts and minds.

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Shekinah, la vie intime des femmes hassidiques nous fait pénétrer dans le monde inconnu de jeunes femmes hassidiques qui semblent avoir un mode de vie du XVIIIe siècle dans le Québec du XXIe siècle. Ces femmes appartiennent au mouvement Chabad Loubavitch, une secte du Hassidisme orthodoxe.

Grâce à un accès sans précédent, des jeunes femmes qui sont à la fin de leurs études religieuses à Sainte-Agathe-des-Mo nts partagent leur manière de voir les premières rencontres amoureuses et le mariage. Malgré le fait que les lois de la Torah règlent chacune de leurs actions, leur vie est remplie de passion.

Shekinah explore également l'évolution des relations de ces jeunes femmes avec les communautés qui les entourent, juive non-orthodoxe et québécoise.