In 18th-century Ukraine, Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698-1760), known as the Ba’al Shem Tov, set the Jewish world on fire with his teachings of love and joy, acknowledging the inherent divinity in all life and people, from the highest to the lowest. Such teachings were at the heart of the Hasidic movement in Judaism, which swept across the Ukraine in the years to come, so that by the mid-20th-century, nearly all Jews of the region were Hasidic. Among them were many powerful and charismatic leaders, tzaddikim (righteous teachers), such as the Maggid of Mezritch, Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev, Nahman of Bratzlav, Nosson of Nemirov, Mordecai of Chernobyl, and Avraham Yehoshua Heschel of Apt, the successors of the Ba’al Shem Tov who continued to spread his message of love and hope.

In Treasure Under the Bridge (running time, 59:45, directed by Chuck Davis and Netanel Miles-Yépez), Rabbi Marc Soloway, Conservative rabbi from Boulder, Colorado, invites us on his personal journey to modern day Ukraine to visit the graves of these Hasidic Masters as he tries to establish a connection with the famous names that have so long occupied a place in his imagination. Along the way, he introduces us to the colorful characters he meets---including his Ukrainian driver, Yuri, his old friend Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny, now Chief Progressive Rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine, as well as Hasidic pop star, Lipa Shmeltzer---and we get to see for ourselves the burial places of these Hasidic masters in Uman, Bratzlav, Anipol, Berditchev, Gnatovka, and Mezhibozh, as Soloway tells us stories and anecdotes of each master. Also included are interviews with Rabbi Arthur Green, Dr. Susannah Heschel, Grand Rabbi Yitzhak Aharon Korff, and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the founder of the Jewish Renewal movement.

Featuring interviews with Rabbi Alexander Dukhovny, Rabbi Arthur Green, Dr. Susannah Heschel, Yuri Kadustin, Rabbi Yitzhak Aharon Korff, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, and Lipa Shmeltzer.

Produced by Throughline Productions (http://throughlineproductions.com) and Albion-Andalus Productions (www.albionandalus.com)

Directed and Edited by Chuck Davis and Netanel Miles-Yépez

Principal Videography by Antony Cooper

Written by Netanel Miles-Yépez

Music by Mark Oblinger

Hosted and Narrated by Marc Soloway

Copyright (C) 2015