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- Directed by: Marcia Jarmel
- Produced by: Marcia Jarmel
Released: 1997
Running Time: 60 min
The film begins with the filmmaker's own story. Although she never identified as a Jew, she finds herself drawn into the Orthodox Jewish world at a friend's wedding. There she meets women her own age who chose to live following the letter of the ancient Torah, seemingly ignoring the gains of feminism. And yet these women seem to have found something Marcia's felt missing in her own life: a sense of belonging and a clear sense of purpose. Intrigued yet skeptical, Marcia investigates further.
Her journey leads her to the center of Lubavitcher Chassidic life—Crown Heights, Brooklyn. There she meets Rus Devorah. Rus is an outspoken, energetic woman who lives following the 613 Torah-given laws of living. Rus takes us on a guided tour of Chassidic daily life. We go into her home to learn about the intricate details of the kosher kitchen, the peace of an observant sabbath. We accompany Rus to a bi-weekly appointment at the wig shop and on a tour of the mikvah—the ritual bath where women go to "cleanse" themselves after their monthly periods. And we attend synagogue behind the mehitzah—the barrier separating men and women. Rus seems to have no misgivings about her choice.
Marcia feels she isn't getting the whole story, so she turns to Myriam. A friend of Rus' who also joined the Lubavitchers as a young woman, Myriam has since left the community. Clearly a spiritual seeker, she recounts her "return to tradition"— the strong pull to study Torah, her pilgrimage to Israel. At first she is welcomed into the fold—but they don't know she's lesbian. Myriam longs to unite these two parts of her identity, but ultimately she learns she must conform if she wants to belong. As the film ends, Myriam has found a new home in Judaism, studying to become a rabbi—something forbidden to Orthodox women.
Throughout the film, Myriam and Rus's stories are interwoven with poetic, black and white interludes where we hear the filmmaker's critical commentary. What do women gain and lose by making these choices? In the end the filmmaking transforms the filmmaker. She must re-evaluate her connection to her own tradition.
Quotes
- “Warm and compelling...”
— Kevin Thomas, LA Times
- “Gives us neither stereotypes nor mush headed proselytizing … A very personal and generous film about the search for meaning.”
— San Francisco Weekly
- “Enlightening, engaging... Personalizes the often faceless tussle between secular and religious ways of life... Though very specific in its focus, Sarah's Daughters proves universal—it's not hard to imagine a similar film about women married to Promise Keepers.”
— LA Weekly
- “Not just for Jews or women. This thought-provoking film will appeal to most everyone, because it is about choices, community, and the search for home—universal themes and questions that resonate in all of us.”
— Women of Vision Journal
- “With intelligence, sympathy, nuance and grace, Sarah's Daughters raises provocative questions about the complexity of contemporary women's lives and options. This film will help us teach all of our daughters how to search for a meaningful life of their own.”
— Judith Stacey, Contemporary Gender Studies, USC
- “One of the most sensitive, judicious, and nuanced explorations of the women's relationships to Judaism... it raises questions, invites sympathy, and leaves open space for conversation.”
— Lori Lefkowitz, Center for Jewish Women's and Gender Studies
- “This is about real people with complicated lives—like all of us—who demonstrate that making religious choices hardly ever comes with total certainty and without regrets... to have the capacity to imagine what a different, but equally valid expression of Judaism feels like—Sarah's Daughters guides us in learning some of the necessary empathic skills which would make pluralism possible.”
— Vanessa L. Ochs, author, Words on Fire
- “A wonderful documentary about Judaism and women's lives today—and how the two fit and don't fit together... The film has a rich texture and tremendous warmth... I watched it with my wife and daughter and we all gave it two thumbs up.”
— Rodger Kamenetz, author, The Jew and the Lotus
- “Jarmel's provocative film suggests that contemporary Jewish women can't simply go home again, but most find ways to build new homes on traditional foundations.”
— Rabbi Sue Levi Elwell, Union of American Hebrew Congregations
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