Where Life Begins (Tu choisiras la vie)

Dad...

I'm writing you this letter because I wouldn't be able to tell you otherwise.

That's a pity.

And that's sad.

You taught me to follow my truth.

And it's not my fault if my truth is different than yours, today.

If my answers are different.

Your world is in black and white.

Today, mine is in color.

Dad, I will go in a very further direction than yours.

But I love you so much.

I don't want to lie to you. Lying is a sin.

I lost faith.

Forgive me.

See, I set before you today life and death, blessings and curses.

Now choose life, so that you and your children may live,

and that you may love the Lord your God, for the Lord is your life...

Deuteronomy 30, 15-20

I don't think this is kosher. Give me the measuring tape.

Indeed.

Half an inch extra.

This is good to make jam.

This stain won't go away even with wax.

It's too close to the stalk.

It's beautiful.

We could have sold it for 20 euros.

And thank God those two rows over there didn't get ruined by the cold.

Those are all grafted anyway. We don't need them.

- What time is the train coming? - 12:10 PM.

It's 12:20! For once, I wanted to be on time.

- I've been telling you! - Call the guys, let's go.

Leva, Otar, let's go.

It's late.

Have the rows behind the house been checked?

Not yet. Those haven't been affected anyway.

This year's harvest will be 40% less due to the bloody cold.

Elio, let me tell you,

we'll lose less if we graft instead of selling to Zelnik.

You're not religious, or Jewish. So what's the point?

Your Dad would've preferred grafting, too.

Otar, I told you to remove it this morning.

Sorry, I didn't understand.

But it's fine, there's enough room.

It's not about the room, this is St. Anthony's statue.

We'll have them sit next to it.

Yeah, sure, we'll have them sit next to St. Anthony.

The Orthodox Jews!

- Come on, jump on, help me. - Go, quick.

How could you even think about it?

I'm happy to see you again.

Me too.

Sorry for being late.

No worries, I studied in the meantime.

WHERE LIFE BEGINS

He's tired, isn't he?

Let's pray. Honey, you want some watermelon?

It's good to be here again, Elio.

And this time, alongside the whole family, more or less.

I remember when you were five or six, and you told me:

"Why bother to go on such a trip for a fruit we don't even eat."

God asked Moses to send messengers here in Italy,

to harvest lemons for the Sukkot celebration.

The Torah says it takes perfect and pure fruits,

like those that grow here, on your land.

That's why we keep on doing this little detour

to your house.

A change of direction.

Elio,

we don't argue the will of God.

So, about this detour...

L'Chaim !

- L'Chaim! - L'Chaim!

Ruben, where's your Kippah ?

Nina, can you check under the table?

Ouch, you kicked me.

No, it's not under the table.

Mom, Ruben hasn't his Kippah on anymore.

Caterina, leave it and go help Rosaria.

No problem, I'm done here.

Okay, darling, I'm going to make you one.

Do you like my dress? I'll let you try it on.

Ready?

Elio...

see, darling, for 50 years I spent my summers here with his father,

he was a friend, a good man, pure, like the lemons he grew.

He never grafted them, out of respect for me.

You stayed loyal to him,

and I'm very thankful for all you do.

Thank you.

Lih' L'cha .

Lech-L'cha . There's no dot on the letter.

Now close your book, honey, it's late.

What does it mean?

"Go for you".

Is it what God told Abraham?

And so he did? Leaving his parents like this?

Sister, will you leave the same way when you marry?

I'm not keen on marrying soon. Go, sleep, now.

Won't you pray the Shema?

Yes.

Guys, the master is back.

Come and unload the truck, come on!

Guys!

Yes, we are here!

- How did you do it? - A lemon tree thorn.

Let me see. We can disinfect it.

There's no need.

Do you have a computer?

- Yes. - I'm sorry to bother...

Not at all. Come in.

I can't.

Why?

I can't enter in a house of a man who's not my husband. I'm not married.

This changes nothing, I'm not allowed.

How could we do? It's charging in my office.

Let me grab a cable and I'll take it here.

No, it's OK, I'll come in.

As you wish. Please.

Here.

When you're done, leave everything like this.

- Thanks. - No problem.

It's so important to be able to write you...

I hoped, coming on this trip

with my Father to pick the fruit he'd bring me as a child,

I'd be able to calm down my anguish.

But I can't.

I feel like the lemon that becomes impure when it's grafted,

mixed with the rest, with the external world,

not kosher anymore,

not compliant to them.

Uhm... where is it?

It's not good. It's not kosher.

Oh, okay.

Guys, give me the good ones, come on.

I feel so far away from them. Every prayer burns my mouth.

I've never lived without God, but I can't breathe anymore.

The world I've always lived in is becoming more extraneous every day.

I don't know where I'm going.

And everything that made my life meaningful is falling to pieces.

Lunch's ready!

- Lunch's ready! - Let me try!

Wow, it works!

You were so cute when you were their age.

You used to push me on the swing for hours.

I liked it so much.

We were older than that, though.

Yes.

I'd push you in the swing because I wanted to peek under your skirt.

- Really? - You didn't know?

Claudia stopped by, with the kids.

They said they were going to Puglia.

- Won't she leave them with you? - No.

They didn't want to stay here anyway.

Are you surprised?

What could they do here, in August?

There's nothing to do, except wearing yourself out picking lemons.

When I was their age,

I'd wish they brought me elsewhere, too.

If I had the chance to go to Rome like you did,

I would have never come back.

Would you like a piece of fruit?

Zipporah?

During impurity days?

The beds are separated so that the covers don't touch,

it's allowed to talk, but not about...

there has to be no sexual connotation in the conversation.

He can't sit on my bed, neither can we dine at the same table.

And during this time he can't tell me "I love you".

Unless it implies a sexual connotation, it's fine.

It depends on how it's said.

You're so graceful.

- It's a waste. - Why?

No, it's...

- It's not decent to dance with other men. - You're not dancing naked!

I'll come dance at your place sometimes, okay?

I found Edoardo's check in the mail.

- Has it just arrived? - "Just"!

It has been sitting on a pile of envelopes for a month and a half.

You're nothing like your father. He replied to letters right away.

Help me, and watch out for this arm that's barely attached.

Wait.

-Okay. On the count of three: -Yes.

One... two... three... go!

I mean, what should we do?

Grafting the trees from below and sell them non-kosher lemons?

- I've never said that. - Place it down.

I only said Lucchetti did that to protect his trees from the cold.

Lucchetti is a bastard, and he should thank the Ginzburgs if he's surviving.

As we should the Zelniks.

- Now. - Okay...

If we manage to end the year in the green.

Andrea, please, watch out for the arm. If it doesn't break, it's a miracle.

Why haven't you sold that piece of land on the hill to Gianni?

We don't even cultivate it. He offered double its worth.

- We aren't cultivating it yet. - Okay.

We'll see.

- You're so stubborn. - Place it here.

- Bye, Andrea. Goodnight. - Goodnight.

"Esther, I'm telling you again, choose a nickname..

I understand your desperation. I used to be like you.