The Vow/ Tkies-kaf
Restored with new English subtitles by The National Center for Jewish Film
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Poland, 1937, 82 minutes B&W
Yiddish with English subtitles
Directed by Henryk Szaro

"What resonated most lastingly is the unforced authenticity with which the film renders the yeshiva and the domestic flavor of Eastern European Jewish life that was being buffeted by the winds of modernism." -The Boston Globe

Two friends make a sacred pact pledging their newborn children, Rachel and Mendel, in marriage. Years pass, Rachel's father dies, and the two children, knowing nothing of their fathers' pledge, meet for the first time and fall in love. But Mendel's father insists his son study at the Vilna Yeshiva, and Rachel's rich old landlord insists on marrying her.

Based on the same legend as S. Ansky's classic play The Dybbuk this spirited film offers the divine intervention of Elijah and a happy ending. Made in 1937 on the eve of the Holocaust, The Vow captures authentic scenes of Jewish shtetl life, Yiddish love songs, and the clash between tradition and modernity.

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