Movies blog, Whentheshipcomesin.com

Life Apart brings us a view into the life of the Hassidic Jews in the United States: how Hasidics arrived to America in the first place, how do they live their day-to-day life, interact with society and preserve their tribute. During the most antisemitic times in Europe, the Hasidim sought a place where they would be able to live peacefully and thrive as a community, far from persecution and pogroms. At first, and before World War II, the US did not strike them as a place where they could live freely on the one hand, and preserve their Jewish identity and heritage, as it was passed on from the old Eastern European Hasidic communities – on the other. This was, in their eyes, due to two main reasons: First, American freedom seemed too strong to cope and second, the American way of life expected a person to assimilate within it. And so, many of the Hasidic leaders that visited the US before the beginning of the WWII, advised not to relocate to America, for the strength of the required assimilation was impossible to overcome. Nevertheless, this documentary presents a post-Holocaust Hassidic community, formed by those who survived the Holocaust and their descendants, “making it” in America, the Hassidic way – recreating, reuniting their old communities that were left behind, after the attacks of the Cossacks, Slavs, Communists, Catholics and Protestants. Eventually, they find in the US a liberal land, that permits them to keep their faith and perform their rituals together as a group, without dreaming the American dream. They have no need for Harvard or Yale, they do not seek fortunes, they focus on studying, on their kids’ education, and on rehabilitation. After the passage of half a century, America has proven to be a good adoptive parent for European Hassidism. Score: 7