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

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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 half-hour 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 Board Room 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. Register here.

LARRY KATZ (lkatz@jewishallianceri.org) is the director of Jewish life and learning at the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Israeli films, Israeli Culture Series, Alliance