RE-EMERGE:

A 9-PART DOCUMENTARY SERIES

From award-winning filmmakers Dani Rotstein and Isaac Feder comes a poignant exploration of the struggles and triumphs of emerging Jewish communities in Latin America. Through intimate conversations with community members, Rotstein delves into the journey of discovering and reclaiming their Jewish faith and the challenges they face as they strive for acceptance and a sense of belonging.

| 9 Episodes | 40-Minutes Each |

Story

Our documentary series will visit pockets of Latin America, where people have been discovering their Jewish faith. Some of these individuals have unknowingly been following Jewish traditions for decades but are just now re-tracing their roots. Others are embracing Judaism anew, simply out of sheer conviction and love for the Torah.

However, the path is rocky and the journey turbulent, as these emerging communities are met with resistance, not just from people outside the Jewish faith but from those within it as well.

What’s truly remarkable is how they brave these challenges by taking matters into their own hands. In towns where there is no synagogue and no existing Jewish community, they create their own - educating themselves about the religion through YouTube, celebrating holidays in each other’s homes, finding rabbis online and building connections thread-by-thread. They have built their own strong, thriving Jewish communities literally from scratch.

We join New Jersey native, Spain-based filmmaker, and Jewish community leader Dani Rotstein as he immerses himself in Latin Jewish cultures and sees a side of the Jewish community that is starkly different from what he’s grown up with and always known.

Over one too many bowls of Mexican Matzo Ball Soup, Dani sits down with the locals and understands what drove them to fall in love with the faith enough to not only change their religion but also dedicate their lives to serving the community and learning about Judaism.

The series is both a love letter to these emerging communities, showing their dedication and faith, and a wake-up-call to the rest of the Jewish population.

Should we welcome them with open arms?

Themes

Delving into the rich and complex experiences of Jewish communities in Latin America,
Re-emerge offers a powerful and moving look at the human experience.

Acceptance

“All of us Jews have been through moments of discrimination. And now, we are making similar mistakes towards the converts.”

The struggle for acceptance within the emerging communities is a theme that is at the forefront of this series. What does it mean to be Jewish? Does DNA really matter, or is there such a thing as a Jewish soul which can come to love and respect the faith regardless of one’s background?

Community

“Being Jewish is not the same as practicing Judaism. To be Jewish is to be a part of a community. And you can be a part of a community by blood, or by conviction.”

Visiting these places, it is clear that the bonds within the emerging Jewish communities are sometimes stronger than those within more established Jewish communities. There is a heightened sense of family, and an eagerness to help and look out for one another.

Identity

“Some people are born with a Jewish soul, but not into a Jewish home or life.”

What does it mean to ‘belong’ to a community? Each individual has a different story of how they came to embrace Judaism. For some crypto-Jews, it came from rediscovering their roots, for others, it came from a sense of love and fascination for the Jewish way of life, and sometimes it was just an unknown gravitational force pulling them towards the faith.

But the core message that shines through when exploring these reasons is that none of them is “more” or “less” valid than the other. At the end of the day the only sense you’re left with after a conversation with any of the members of the emerging communities is one of pride and joy. One should witness how devoted they are to the Jewish faith.

Faith

“If you ask me to prove if I’m Jewish, I probably won’t be able to. But I can show you my heart.
My heart is 100% Jewish.”

The series explores the power of faith to unite people like few other things can. It celebrates the Jewish way of life and through the lens of the devotees helps viewers (Jewish and non-Jewish alike) see the purity and beauty in the religion and the profound impact faith can have on our lives.

Journey

Here is a road map of our journey
and some trailers from our first visit to some of the locations.

The journey kicks off with visiting Recife, Brazil - home to the first synagogue in the Americas!
The synagogue has been reconstructed and turned into a museum; a fact that some of the emerging community members are upset with.
The series delves into the history of the Jewish community in Lima, Peru, tracing its origins back to colonial times. It explores the challenges the community has faced and the efforts of community leaders and members to preserve their heritage and traditions in the face of these challenges.
In Ambato, Ecuador a handful of individuals seek to follow a Jewish way of life, but there is no access to a synagogue or formal education about the religion.
So, they take matters into their own hands: build a synagogue and create their own Jewish community from scratch.
For the past five years, a community called the Christian Church for the Family has become the Sephardic community of Antioquia. We learn more about what inspired them to make this shift and understand the motivations and challenges of similar Christian communities who are converting to Judaism en masse.
The series explores the history, culture, and current status of the Jewish community in San Jose, Costa Rica. The community, made up mostly of Ashkenazi Jews, has faced a number of challenges over the years. The series examines the efforts of the community to overcome these challenges and promote Jewish culture and heritage in Costa Rica.
The series explores the Jewish community in Guatemala City, which is small but growing. The community has faced challenges such as a lack of Jewish education and resources, but it has been able to overcome them with the help of dedicated leaders and members. The series examines the efforts of the community to promote Jewish culture and heritage and to establish a sense of belonging.
We visit a neighborhood outside Mexico City where the community is rediscovering their Jewish roots. We speak with a pastor who has performed over 100 adult circumcisions and learn about the Brit Milah process. The community here does not seek validation from other Jewish communities and prefers to practice Judaism without formal conversion.
The series explores the rich history of Jewish presence in New Mexico, dating back to the early 19th century. The community has faced challenges such as a lack of Jewish education and resources, but it has been able to overcome them. The series examines the efforts of the community to preserve their heritage and traditions and to establish a sense of belonging.
The series explores the rich history and culture of the Jewish community in Puerto Rico, which is small but has a deep sense of tradition and belonging. The community has been present on the island for over a century, and has faced a number of challenges throughout its history. The community is made up of Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, and it has a strong sense of belonging and tradition.

Brazil

The journey kicks off with visiting Recife, Brazil - home to the first synagogue in the Americas!

The synagogue has been reconstructed and turned into a museum; a fact that some of the emerging community members are upset with.

Ecuador

In Ambato, Ecuador a handful of individuals seek to follow a Jewish way of life, but there is no access to a synagogue or formal education about the religion.

So, they take matters into their own hands: build a synagogue and create their own Jewish community from scratch.

Colombia

For the past five years, a community called the Christian Church for the Family has become the Sephardic community of Antioquia. We learn more about what inspired them to make this shift and understand the motivations and challenges of similar Christian communities who are converting to Judaism en masse.

Mexico

We visit a neighborhood outside Mexico City where the community is rediscovering their Jewish roots. We speak with a pastor who has performed over 100 adult circumcisions and learn about the Brit Milah process. The community here does not seek validation from other Jewish communities and prefers to practice Judaism without formal conversion.

Vision

I believe that these emerging communities are the future of Judaism. And I find myself constantly inspired and in awe of their dedication, commitment and resilience. It’s fascinating how their version of “living a Jewish life” is so different from my own.

My intention is to capture the beauty I saw and the emotions I felt when interacting with these emerging communities and project them on screen for the world to witness.

There are a lot of misconceptions about new-converts and crypto-Jews, and I believe RE-EMERGE has the potential to shatter many of those.

This series will help bring awareness to these mass movements happening all over the world and get large parts of the Jewish community to see the traditions they’ve grown up with and taken for granted in a new light. It may encourage some viewers to expand their horizon and consider their own connection to faith, whichever faith that may be.

Treatment

We will combine a structured, cinematic approach with guerrilla filming techniques to achieve a result that is sleek and professional yet raw and authentic. Everything from the narrative style to the music and cinematography will be in service of showcasing the human side of this story. The film will capture the dynamic colors and rhythms of the Latin American communities through a vibrant visual style and energetic soundtrack.

It’s no secret that Latinos love busting out a guitar, so a lot of the music will be recorded on location, giving a wonderful layer of authenticity to the film. Animation and motion graphics, coupled with voice-over, will be used as a device to simplify historical context or provide social and political commentary wherever required, similar to the style of Vox. Overall, our goal is to convey the strong sense of community and tradition that exists within these vibrant and unique Jewish Latin American communities.