A Price Above Rubies :: essays research papers

" I’m going to question whatever I like", " I’m going to choose whatever side I want and if God happens to be on the other side then so be it." I believe these two quotes capture the essence of the film " A Price Above Rubies". The main character, Sonia Horowitz, a Hasidic Jew, embarked on a journey in which she sought to find herself through questioning her faith and the strict Jewish life.In doing so, she paid a heavy price. This, I believe, to be the message of the film. The movie starts off with a close up of a ring being crafted, incomplete. Then we see sonia’s brother, Yossi, telling her the story of the woman who broke free of the Jewish community. The woman’s father wanted her to marry a great scholar and lead a good spiritual life. After leaving, she wanders back years later, with child. The community shuns the child, and when she dies, heaven rejects her, so she goes to hell, but the devil cannot bear to see her suffer anymore because he recognizes her as his niece, so she wanders the earth for eternity. The woman is the daughter of a demon. Sonia tells Yossi - " I love you more than anything", when Yossi asks her if she loves him more than God. Yossi tells her she is a sinner and will end up just like the woman in the story, wandering the earth for eternity, like Cain. Yossi then gives her a fake ruby, which she immediately recognizes and rejects. Perhaps the jewel symbolizes her soul, what makes her complete, and she won’t accept a fraud, something in place of the real thing, even at that young age. The film goes forward a number of years, to when Sonia and her husband Mendel have just had their first child. Mendel is the perfect example of the devout Hasidic Jew. He is a scholar, and respected by everyone in the community. The Hasidic Jews believe that wisdom, not folly, and the studying of God’s word, knowledge, is the way to happiness and to God. " Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver, yields better return than gold. She is more precious than rubies. " Proverbs 3:13-15. They also believe that to fear God is the way to wisdom and understanding and a better spiritual life.