A Tale of a Woman and a Robe

  • Israel
  • Documentary
  • 2015
  • 27 min.
  • Director(s): Nurit Jacobs-Yinon
  • Producer(s): Nurit Jacobs-Yinon

Synopsis

The Mikveh ritual is the final step in the process of joining the Jewish people. The converts, both men and women, are required to immerse themselves in the Mikveh in the presence of three rabbinical judges, while the women wear nothing but a
robe. This ceremony served as the basis for the “‘A Tale of a Woman and a Robe’ Ritual Immersion of Female Converts”, video art performance and exhibit at Tel Aviv Artist’s House in 2013.

The film follows the creation process of the performance and exhibit, and presents
female voices surrounding this issue. As an artist and a woman who, according to
religious law cannot offer testimony, and certainly cannot serve as a rabbinical judge, I wish to offer an artistic cinematic testament that exposes and examines the role of the woman, who is both present and absent in the ritual.

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Credits

Director(s)

Nurit Jacobs-Yinon

Producer(s)

Nurit Jacobs-Yinon

Cinematography

Roni Katzenelson

Editor

Bracha Zisman-Cohen

Original Music

Didi Erez, Ruth Wieder-Magen

Original Language

Hebrew

Subtitles

English

Photo credits

Aluma Films

Sound Design

Rotem Dror

Festival Highlights

  • Winner

    Israeli Free-Style Documentary Forum Award
    2013

Reviews

  • "Jacobs-Yinon has taken what seems like an obscure legal matter and has made it resonate for all of us, men or women, Jewish or gentile, religious or secular."
    - Emily D. Bilski, curator and scholar specializing in modern and contemporary art. A two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award