Longing (1998)

Michal, Oded and their daughter Shir appear to be an average young secular Tel Aviv family. Oded, a musician, is about to depart for a six month concert tour of the United States. Rather than accompany him, Michal has decided to move with Shir to the devoutly religious Mea Shearim neighborhood in Jerusalem, in an effort to return to her original roots. In the course of researching a book she was writing about Hasidism, she is drawn to the community that was abandoned by her mother years before. This powerful film focuses on one woman's search for spiritual fulfillment, while at the same time highlighting one of the greatest rifts in modern day Israeli society -secularism vs. religion.