The story of a great rivalry between a father and son, both eccentric professors in the Talmud department of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The father's lifetime of painstaking work was made superfluous by the discovery of the manuscript he was reconstructing. The son is a publicity seeking, recognition craving academic-celebrity. The Israel Prize, Israel's most prestigious national award, is the jewel that brings these two to a final, bitter confrontation.
Hearat Shulayim is a traditional film in more sense than one (at Cannes, the crew refused limousines and walked to the evening screening in the rain to observe the Shabbos)
But, really, a mainstream film about professors of Talmud! You can't make this stuff up.
There was also an article in Mishpacha this week about R. Ovadiah. One interesting side point, R. Ovadiah slaps visitors as a sign of affection. In the article, his son, Harav Dovid Yosef, says that he does not know where this comes from. He asked his father once but did not receive a response. Does anyone know?
