Be Fruitful and Multiply

Synopsis: How does it feel to have been pregnant or breastfeeding for 25 out of 26 years of your married life? This and other questions are posed openly and directly in this film exposing the consequences of the commandment "Be fruitful and multiply" for religious Jewish women. The film offers a sensitive insight into the life of women in ultra-orthodox society as it follows the stories of four women in Jerusalem and Brooklyn. Yentel from Mea Shearim in Jerusalem is the key figure in the film, and the personal stories of the three other women are interwoven into her story. Yentel expresses the pain of her oppressed friends. She is the dramatic figure in the film who turns from an obedient wife, internalising the strict social code of her society, into an independent woman who rebels against social conventions from within the traditional patriarchal society in which she lives.
Language: English
Country: Israel
Year of production: 2005
Subjects: Religious studies; Social welfare; Women’s studies
Keywords: Judaism; reproduction (biological); women’s health; Jewish women; orthodox jews; childbearing

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