The Ar El Group is not the typical ensemble of actors. For one, they are all religious, with beards and kippot, and they are all family men – some with five or more children, living in settlement communities across Judea and Samaria.“We look like the anti-heroes of the acting world,” says Assaf Pney-El, an Ar El actor, in a recent interview with The Jerusalem Post. “Not chiseled or handsome – some of us are a little chubby. And we live a different sort of lifestyle from actors in Tel Aviv.”“For us, faith and art come together,” stresses the 32- year-old husband and father of five, who lives in Shiloh.The Ar El group was formed five years ago, with the goal of bringing Jewish and Zionistic culture to the theatrical stage. The group also incorporates improvisation, psychodrama and other role-playing techniques to help others overcome traumatic experiences through theater.“We need a real Jewish Hollywood,” says Oshri Maimon, the director of the Ar El group, which functions as a nonprofit organization. “A stage for Jewish values and themes.” In this context, the Ar El group performs across Israel, putting on plays and skits about a variety of topics for different sectors of Israeli society, including haredim and the secular. When the script calls for it, the group is joined by actresses from the region.Maimon says he aims to unite artists, musicians and those engaged in the world of culture and theater across Judea and Samaria. “There are quite a number of us living here. Ar El is the forum for us to work creatively and produce together.“The wider Israeli public is not always so aware that there exists a rich arts and cultural scene in Judea and Samaria and Binyamin region. There are at least 10 different acting groups from different communities including Ofra, Shiloh, Psagot, Yitzhar, Aish Kodesh, Kochav Hashahar, Efrat and others,” explains Maimon.The acting troupes from the region go by religious names such as 70 Panim (70 Faces) and Lev Shamayim (Heart of the Heavens), indicative of their traditional religious backgrounds.“When I finished studying at the Otniel Yeshiva in the South Hebron Hills, I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to do when I finished,” says Pney-El. “I actually always wanted to study psychology.”As yeshiva students, both Pney-El and Maimon loved to act.“When I was younger, I would act all the time at school, and when I got older I would write scripts for high school plays,” says Maimon, who lives in Kfar Tapuah with his family.Eventually, Pney-El found himself studying acting at the Aspaklaria Theater School in Givat Shaul in Jerusalem, which caters to religious students, with separate classes for men and women. Maimon studied at the Aspaklaria as well. “We learned with secular teachers and religious teachers,” says Maimon. “But it was important for us to study theater in a school that taught according to Jewish values.”Sitting in their Ofra office two weeks ago, Maimon and Pney-El spoke about the Ar El Group with much pride, but also with some sadness.The acting troupe recently lost a popular actor, Evyatar Borovsky. The 31-year-old father of five was stabbed to death by a Palestinian as he was waiting for Maimon to pick him up for a theater rehearsal at the Tapuah junction on April 30. Before Maimon could get there, Borovsky had been murdered by Salam Zaghal from Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade, Fatah’s military wing.“We couldn’t comprehend his murder,” says Maimon. “It was shocking and horrifying for everyone in the theater group.” Maimon and Pney-El, who refers to Borovsky by his nickname Napo, describe Borovsky as a shy man who found acting as an outlet to express himself. “Acting as a profession is not an easy one, especially when you have a large family to support,” explains Pney- El.“Many times Evyatar had to cancel rehearsals because he had to bring his sick daughter to the hospital. Just recently the car he had bought broke down. It seemed that life was always throwing curveballs at him.“But he knew how to turn bad situations and describe them in a funny way. He knew how to smile at life,” recalls Pney-El. “And this is the side that most people saw of Napo – a happy, cheerful person, always joking no matter what.”“Children especially connected to Napo,” adds Maimon. “He knew how to act and speak in a language that they could understand.”“In order to really know Napo, you had to see him when he acted,” elaborates Maimon, referring to an Ar El play called How I Met Ahmed, in which Borovsky starred, which is available for viewing on YouTube. The play addresses the frustration of many in the settler community as they address their place in Israeli society and their relationship with neighboring Arabs.“In an ironic way, acting is a way to be honest and real about life – both about personal issues and political ones,” adds Maimon.“After Napo was murdered, we did some psychodrama sessions, trying to figure out God’s place in all this.”THE AR El Group is now working on carrying out their close friend’s legacy. “We want to open a foundation in Napo’s name that will help his family,” says Maimon.In the meantime, Borovsky’s friends and acting colleagues commemorate his name in a fashion close to his spirit.Borovsky always carried with him a toy – a pair of puppet eyes, or googly eyes, in his work bag – and would place them on his fingers to create a hand puppet in his theater work. “It was a kind of animated character that Evyatar would use in his work and his interaction with children, and also to express his own thoughts when he didn’t feel comfortable doing so himself,” explains Pney-El. “We talked about how this character would be his trademark.We ordered a bunch of these puppet eyes from the US and the first batch arrived on the day that he was stabbed.”On the day of this interview, the rest of the googly eyes had arrived. Pulling a pair out, Maimon explains that the Ar El Group plans to use them in their acting workshops with children and adults.“In this way, we will always remember Napo’s sense of humor and his way of expressing it,” Maimon says. “More importantly, others will be able to benefit from his legacy as well.”
