Israeli documentary ‘Kosher Beach’ plays at JCC on March 29

BY LARRY KATZ

AS PART OF THE Israeli Culture Series, the documentary “Kosher Beach,” about a gender-segregated beach in Tel Aviv, will be screened at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center on March 29.

The “Kosher Beach” is a gated strip of sand on the Mediterranean coast that has dedicated days for women and men to bathe separately.

The beach is only a halfhour drive from Bnei-Brak, a closed Orthodox city, but for the “Brave Bunch,” a female Orthodox sisterhood from Bnei-Brak, it’s light years away. It’s their source of quiet sanity, their own private haven of freedom, where they can be themselves, take a deep ocean breath and open their hearts to the sea.

On the beach, an entire hidden world full of humor is exposed, one that only exists from the moment they get on the minibus that takes them to the beach to the moment they get off the bus and reenter their city. Viewers get a taste of this forbidden fruit, discovering the inner world of these ultra-Orthodox women.

But when the heads of their community threaten to close the beach, will the women give in or fight to save their island of freedom?

The free program will take place on Wednesday, March 29, at 7 p.m., in the boardroom of the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, 401 Elmgrove Ave., Providence. Israeli Culture Series’ programs are usually on the second Wednesday of each month, but the April program has been moved to March so it doesn’t interfere with Passover.

For more information about the program, contact Elihay Skital, Israeli shaliach, or emissary, at 401-864-3786 or eskital@ jewishallianceri.org. Registration for the program will be available shortly.

LARRY KATZ (lkatz@

jewishallianceri.org) is the director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

But wait – there’s more!

TWO MORE ISRAELI FILMS will be screened at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, in Providence, on March 26, as part of the Day-at-the-J. Preregistration is not required and there is no charge to attend.

The first film, scheduled for 10 a.m., will be “The Unorthodox.” The plot centers on an Orthodox single father whose daughter is expelled from school for no reason but her ethnic background. He decides to run for office, and almost single-handedly establishes the first ethnic political group in Israel. The film is based in Jerusalem in the 1980s and inspired by a true story.

At 1 p.m., “The Art of Waiting” will be screened. In the movie, Liran and Tali, a couple in their thirties who dream of having a child together, are told that they will need fertility treatments. What seems simple at first turns out to be very complex. They discover that in order to become parents, they will have to undergo a long journey full of hardships both physical and mental. Will their love survive?

– Larry Katz