Israeli Film "The Women's Balcony" is Filled with Tenderness, Joy & Strength

"The Women's Balcony" is a Hebrew film set in the present in Israel.  We're introduced to a close knit community all belonging to an Orthodox synagogue.   The movie begins with a joyous promenade in the streets on the way to a celebration.  The celebration is bar mitzvah at the synagogue.  Inside men & women are seated separately as is the custom in Orthodox Judaism.  The women in the balcony crash to the floor as a large section caves in, decimating the synagogue & seriously injuring the rabbi's wife.  Nonetheless, the movie is mainly about love, tenderness, kindness, respect and tradition.  At the heart of the story is a devoted married couple, Zion & Esther.  The movie has an ironic twist with the film "Fiddler on the Roof."  The members of the Orthodox synagogue consider themselves devout.  The women are fine with the segregated seating.  But, their religious observances are pushed to the edge when a younger, charismatic Rabbi David heroically steps in and provides male congregants to constitute a minyan for prayer.  While the temple's own beloved rabbi is incapacitated following the havoc & his wife's coma from the fall, Rabbi David ingratiates himself.  He steps in to help reconstruct the damaged temple & provide for a new Scroll but flagrantly oversteps his position with his ultra-Orthodox regulations.  His ultra-Orthodox rules subjugate women by placing restraints on their dress & liberties.  Rabbi David also pushes the religious customs of everyone by enforcing stricter religious observances.  It's the women who possess the strength & resolve to push back against the handsome & silver-tongued Rabbi David. "Do not consider it proof just because it is written in books, for a liar who will deceive with his tongue will not hesitate to do the same with his pen." (Maimonides)  In "Fiddler" the progressive thinker Tevye, maintained an ongoing dialogue with God about tradition.  Zion like Tevya is willing to adapt but not bend so far he'll break or alienate his wife.  The film also has a Lysistrata storyline.  The women align in defiance of their husbands until they permit an appropriate reconstruction of their balcony for which they've raised the funds & hired workers.   There's a tender love story that goes against Rabbi David's misguided directives & illicit dealings.  This delightful & charming film has a surprisingly irreverent view of ultra-religious sects within the Orthodox Jewish community.  "The Women's Balcony" is warm & thoughtful and rich with "the sounds of joy and goodness."  "All the great evils which men cause to each other because of certain intentions, desires, opinions or religious principles, are likewise due to non-existence which is absence of wisdom."  (Maimonides)