Hanele

Presenting

Written by

Starring

Executive Producer

Director of Photography

Directed by

Hanele!

My grandfather Abram afar was the

richest man in the whole region.

The great Abram afar from Polana.

People said that he would one day

give his three granddaughters

a wedding to remember.

The grandest that ever was.

"Their children's children are the

crown of the elders",

Pinches Jakubovi, the Polana tailor,

would tell us.

He sewed little, but read much in the

learned books of the Cabbala.

Few could equal him in

matters of faith.

Grandfather owned half the land

and fertile herds in Polana.

We had a large house, a shop

and a tavern full of customers.

The silver menorahs inherited from

our ancestors added to the

splendor of our Sabbaths,

full of pious song, light and trust.

The years ran by like stags in the

meadows and our property melted away.

It slipped between our fingers and

no-one knows how it all began.

Perhaps circumstances and large taxes

were to blame for everything.

Grandfather himself was probably

to blame in some respect.

Here Fux and his son Salamon had the

worst of it on their conscience.

They were millstones around our necks,

they were like leeches.

We'll see who has more witnesses

in court this time.

Here Fux deceived grandfather.

He coaxed a large loan out of him, saying

that he'd buy an area of woodland.

But he bought a shop instead

with a tavern and lured away grandpas

clientele. He denied the loan.

There is no greater hatred in the world

than that between Jews.

The hatred between grandpa and Fux cost

grandpa a horrendous sum of money.

It dragged on for years, even beyond

the grave.

I'm going to Mukachevo.

I'll get the best lawyer.

I'll go alone. You don't have

a lucky hand.

Praise be to the Lord

our God, King of the World.

You who created the fruit of the vine!

Grandfather lost the case against Fux

again. And the next one.

He had to sell off his land.

Etelka received a dowry of 200,000,

and Blinka got enough at least

to marry a Mukachevo furrier.

There was nothing left for me.

Four people like the living dead:

Poor, blind, leprous and childless.

Customs inspection! Open up!

Well, well, what's your name, Jew?

- Well?

- Josef afar.

- So, where's your tobacco?

- What tobacco?

- Please, no! There's nothing here!

- Here, lieutenant!

The poor wretch didn't have time

to hide it in a safe place.

You're coming with us. Come out of there!

Esteemed sir, please accept

hospitality at our table.

- Let's go, Jew. Move it!

- At least some wine to refresh you.

- We're going to the command. Move it!

- No!

You cannot refuse a little refreshment.

Turn the key twice.

And bolt the door.

You could do well out of this, sir.

And I could also do well out of it.

- How much?

- Ten thousand.

- When?

- Now.

- That's not enough.

- Fifteen, then.

- Not enough, Jew.

- I haven't got any more here.

Three, four, five, six, seven, eight,

nine, ten. Fifteen thousand!

- There's nothing to do here. Boring!

- Do you play cards, sir?

No.

Would you like a glass

of something stronger, sir?

Yeah.

- For country! - For king!

- To the king!

Do a miracle, Lord, I beg You!

Our Father, have mercy on us.

What a beauty!

Such a beauty!

A beautiful girl in this house!

A wondrous beauty!

- Who are you hiding from us, Jew?

- You jest, sir.

- No! I saw her!

- Where? Who?

- There!

- There's no-one there, sir.

- Yes there is! - Believe me, sir!

- You're lying.

I must see her. I'll kiss her hand and

then we can have a little dance.

- Bring her here!

- There's no-one in there. - In there!

Kill me, but leave my daughter alone!

You want us to kill you, Jew?

I'll fulfill your wish,

but first you have to show me

your young lady. Let's go!

Lord, protect us from

dishonor and shame!

Open the door! Do you hear?

She's sick.

She's got small-pox. You'll die!

Shma Israel...

She's still a child!

I give thanks to You, O Lord,

for the miracle you have performed.

Come here, stinking Jew!

Get on the floor!

Long live the army! Long live the

military! Vivat! Long live the king!

To the homeland! Down in one!

Good girl...

Well I never!

You? Smuggling tobacco?

I know, a dowry for Hanele.

You meant well.

Mother!

Take this uniform to Pinches

and tell him to clean it.

It has to be like new tomorrow morning.

And I want to see my face in those boots!

Water which has passed through the

human body has much impurity.

A person thus tainted

ceases to be a human being.

He remains a wraith forever.

Praise be to the Lord,

Lord of all worlds.

A feather proved that

grandfather was indeed dead.

They covered his eyes and mouth

with shards of baked clay.

Then he was sprinkled with wine

and Jerusalem earth.

As spring water washes away

all impurity and abomination,

the Lord purifies his Hasidim,

casting out from His midst a dead,

impure body, now without its spirit

which has gone to its Creator.

Listen to what I'm about to tell you.

A rabbi was walking on the road when

a respected man drew up in a carriage.

The man was a goy, we know.

You've told us this before.

- I've told you already?

- At least a hundred times.

The man in the carriage asked

the rabbi to sit next to him.

- They rode together to the crossroads.

- And there they saw a Cross.

- The goy took no notice.

- Why did you ignore the Cross?

- Why? I don't believe in anything.

- Stop. I want to get down.

I would have traveled with someone

of another creed, but...

I'm afraid to travel with a man of no

faith - he is capable of anything.

Yes. A person like that is

capable of anything.

- You know that the world is round?

- Round?

Round like a ball.

Lejb Abrahamovich said so.

- Where did he get it from?

- Students in Mukachevo told him

when he was a cobbler there.

And the world turns according to Lejb.

- The world is round, lojme.

- And it turns.

The Fux girls are showing off

in front of the house. What happened?

- Dad...

- He lost.

He lost the most costly trial with Fux.

There can be no more appeals.

Everything will be all right.

Shut up!

Four people like the living dead:

Poor, blind, leprous and childless.

Won't I have died twice?

Who'll have me without a dowry?

With a tavern where no-one drinks,

a shop where there's nothing to buy,

and a debt burden for a house?

Dad became a poor wretch

in an empty house.

And I was left with all the chores.

Let me go, lojme! Stop!

I've got to get on with my work!

I need to buy some matches

and a bit of soap.

Lejb Abrahamovich was talking

nonsense at the river again.

What people discovered and

stuff like that.

Won't you come to the river tonight?

- No.

- Please!

Go and feed the chickens, Hanele.

I'll serve lojme myself.

- Soap and matches, was it?

- Yes.

Yeah, matches! He keeps hanging

round Hanele.

Oh, please!

lojme is quite nicely turned out.

Why wouldn't he be? His dad goes to

Brno or Bratislava in the summer

and begs in the marketplace. Ugh!

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