Popular Turkish blogger and documentary filmmaker Ruhi Çenet has released a documentary about the Hasidic community of Brooklyn that quickly became a global sensation, attracting nearly 80 million views in just one month.
There is a striking irony at the heart of this story. The filmmaker is openly hostile toward Israel and has expressed support for the Palestinian side in the Gaza conflict. Yet when he entered the very heart of Brooklyn’s Hasidic community, he found himself presenting a reality that could not easily be ignored: Chabad Hasidim who stand unequivocally with the Land of Israel and its defenders.
The film contains numerous distortions, while many of the filmmaker’s conclusions bear little resemblance to the actual beliefs and reality of Chabad. Nevertheless, the documentary has accomplished something remarkable.
Millions of people who had never encountered authentic Jewish tradition were given their first glimpse inside the world-famous “770” — the central synagogue and headquarters of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Through their screens, millions of viewers around the world heard the words “Yechi Adoneinu” and were introduced to the Chabad belief in the imminent Redemption and in the belief that the Rebbe is Moshiach.
What was intended as a superficial and biased exploration of an unfamiliar community thus became something entirely different.
Even through the eyes of a filmmaker who approached the subject from a deeply prejudiced perspective, the Almighty directed events in such a way that a message about the imminent coming of Moshiach was heard around the world.
Sometimes, a message reaches its destination through the most unexpected messenger.