A Life Apart Hasidism in America (1997)

A Life Apart Hasidism in America is the first indepth documentary about a distinctive traditional Eastern European religious community In an historic migration after World War II Hasidism found its most vital center in America Both challenging and embracing American values Hasidim seek those things which many Americans find most precious family community and a close relationship to God Integrating critical and analytical scholarship with a portrait of the daily life beliefs and history of contemporary Hasidic Jews in New York City the film focuses on the conflicts burdens and rewards of the Hasidic way of life