After a long hiatus from watching Israeli movies (my Netflix account doesn’t see much action while I’m away at school), I finally decided to get back to my roots a bit and watch Ushpizin with my brother and his friends.
At first, the movie’s premise didn’t seem like anything extraordinary–a Jewish Orthodox couple in Jerusalem is struggling to make ends meet and prepare for Sukkot. However, it soon becomes much more interesting. After the husband, Moshe, and his wife, Mali, pray to God for a miracle that will let them celebrate the holiday properly, they unexpectedly receive a sukkah and enough money buy all the food they need.
But then, however, some unexpected guests show up at their door. Moshe and Mali’s faith is tested as they struggle to remain hospitable to the guests even though their behavior is unacceptably rude.
I can’t really describe much more of the plot without getting into spoilers (watch the movie; you won’t regret it), but anyway, it’s not the plot that makes this film so spectacular. It’s how real the characters seem. Throughout the movie, Moshe and Mali pray, cry, and rejoice to the God they love. When things go downhill, the agony and confusion Moshe expresses to God captures the essence of what it means to be Jewish. After all, the word “Israel” means “struggle with God.” What Jew hasn’t had an argument or two with God at some point?
Moshe and Mali’s struggle with their guests, too, feels familiar. Eliyahu and Yossef are not devout people, and Mali feels uncomfortable about welcoming them for the holiday. I definitely know how she feels–when I was in Israel two summers ago, I visited Meah Shearim, a Haredi neighborhood in Jerusalem, and I felt awkward and uncomfortable because up until then, I’d never met any Haredi people before.
But as Mali learns (and as I learned), we’re all Jews, regardless of what clothes we wear or which synagogues we worship at. That’s a message that pretty much everyone needs to be reminded of these days.
The movie itself is very typically Israeli–you’ll laugh even as you’re crying. Humor manifested itself in the strangest places throughout this movie. After all, you have to keep laughing somehow, even when life’s hard. There’s no other way to live, especially not in Israel.
I’m not a religious person, but I absolutely loved this movie. Though our beliefs are completely different, I felt a connection to Moshe and Mali. They make lots of mistakes, but their hearts are in the right place and they’re confident that God will show them the way to live. I make lots of mistakes, too, and I hope I’ll find guidance someday. There’s a little bit of Moshe and Mali in all of us.
