And Thou Shalt Love

29 minutesCountryIsraelLanguageHebrew

And Thou Shalt Love (Hebrew: ואהבת, translit. V'ahavta) is an Israeli short film. It was directed by Chaim Elbaum. The film examines the difficulties of being both an Orthodox Jew and gay. The story is based on Elbaum's experiences with being gay.

It won the best drama award at the 2008 Jerusalem Film Festival.

Plot

Ohad, the protagonist, is serving in the Israel Defense Forces as a Hesder student. He has not told anyone that he is gay. He tries various ways of dealing with the conflict between his religious beliefs and his sexual orientation, including Atzat Nefesh. He is told to spend forty days fasting and repenting to help rid him of his homosexual inclinations. He does this and believes himself to be cured.

After this, his best friend, Nir, returns from leave. Ohed is torn between his homosexuality and his religion. The film deals with the struggles Ohed faces when it comes to loving God and loving Nir.

Cast

Actor	Role
Uri Lachmi [he]	Ohad
Omer Zonenshein	Nir
Yehonadav Perlman [he]	The Rabbi
Itzik Haikeh	Benni
Yariv Kook	The voice of Menachem
Sigalit Ya'akobi	The voice of the woman

See also

• Homosexuality and Judaism
• Trembling Before G-d (2001)
• Say Amen (2005) a documentary about a gay man coming out to his Orthodox family
• Paper Dolls (film)
• Yossi and Jagger (2002) an Israeli romantic drama film about two soldiers on the Israel – Lebanon border

References

• Jerusalem Film Festival
• Trailer on YouTube
• Behind the Scenes on YouTube
• Jerusalem Post article Archived 2012-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
• Haaretz article

External links

• Official site (in Hebrew and English)
• And Thou Shalt Love at IMDb