Though this was our (J&S) second viewing, I certainly enjoyed it very nearly as much as the first. But the film might be mistitled. Oh, it is about hospitality especially during the Jewish Festival of Booths. And the two escaped convicts certainly push their hosts to the limits of their openness to receiving visitors during the holy days.
But I think it is more of a love story. Moshi (Moses) and wife Malli are both tender and very real with one another. After five years of marriage - subsequent to Moshi's apparent religious conversion - the couple is childless, however. That is a thing of pain for both of them and a constant matter of prayer. The couple's holiday preparations and life together are set in the ultra Orthodox community of Judaism. While faithful within the religious practices of that community, they are transparently in love, not only with one another but also with God. Their faith - in one another and in God - is signficantly tested not only by God's apparent silence to their pleas for a child but also by the deliberate attempts of their guests to challenge Moshi's spiritual devotion.
But we loved watching Malli lipsync with a contemporary "praise song" and agonized with Moshi as he cried to God to save him from exerting revenge on his guests. We appreciated their heartfelt example of loyalty to the God of their faith. I found my own faith in God - Father, Son, Spirit - elevated in their loyalty, a loyalty that is rewarded in unexpected and loving ways.
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