Saturday, December 25, 2010

"Ushpizin" the Israeli Movie

Once a week my husband and I try to spend a night watching a rented movie together after our children go to bed. We eat popcorn, candy, and sometimes drink Coke. Believe it or not, it's truly for the purpose of shalom bayis, although we both enjoy watching movies (I worked in Hollywood so it makes sense, right?) We feel that one of the best gifts a parent can give a child is a secure home with a stable marriage. This is perhaps the easiest way to spend together time and further improve our marriage.

We alternate each week between watching a movie of my husband's choosing and a movie of my choosing. We broaden each other's horizons this way since I'm not a fan of what he likes and vice versa. We both come out appreciating the differences and finding something to like about the other person's movie (most of the time).

With that said, tonight was my movie choice and we watched "Ushpizin". It's an almost agonizing story of a Chassidish couple in Israel who are struggling to stay afloat financially and to finally have a child after 5 years of marriage. They appear to be deeply in love. The movie charmed me, but also tortured me to see what this couple went through to be gracious hosts to escaped convicts who showed up as uninvited guests. The underlying theme, to me at least, was the bitachon (trust) this couple had in G-d. My husband and I even had a conversation in the middle of the movie about how ridiculous the storyline was becoming. How does one draw the line between being an appropriate host and realizing that they're being taken advantage of? Then we saw the outcome of the movie and although it's a fictional movie, it was one more example to me of why I became a religious Jew. Anything I have ever asked Hashem for that was practical and would help me grow as a person has been given to me. He is there and He is listening.

No comments:

Post a Comment