Keepers of the Faith: Canadian Chasidim

Providing an interesting and intimate look at people who are often held at a distance, viewed as “other,” Keepers of the Faith reveals the ways in which Chasidim manage to retain their beliefs and traditions.

The majority of the subjects live in Montreal, the home of Canada’s largest Chasidic community, which continues to grow. This documentary also travels around the world to Thailand, where a Lubavitch rabbi and his wife were asked to work as shlichim, spiritual ambassadors or emissaries. “You can be a Jew anywhere,” the rabbi’s wife says, “the Torah fits into the world anywhere at anytime.”

Keepers of the Faith shows the variety of different personalities within the Chasidic community, and allows its subjects to explain in their own words why they live the way they do - and some of the explanations are rather poetic.

For example, why keep kosher? “Food is the medium that keeps the body and soul together,” a rabbi who works in kosher certification explains.

One of the most colourful characters in the film, Benny Kaplan, is a wiry, old Chasidic peddler who delights in delivering produce to the poor. “This car is going to Heaven!” he exclaims gleefully, as he slams shut the trunk full of bananas and tomatoes.