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"Awake Zion" is full of wacky statements by an assortment of curious characters, but none is stranger than this: The first plant to grow on King Solomon's grave was herb.
Monica Haim's cheerful documentary, which played last year's Jewish Film Festival, explores the connection between Jews and Rastafarians. Rastas, of course, are the black Jamaican followers of Haile Selassie famed for their reggae music and dreadlocks.
They're also known for their religious devotion to herb, which they consider a sacrament. You may know it as ganja, mon, or marijuana.
Opting for gentle irreverence rather than scholarly rigor, "Awake Zion" has a funky, homemade vibe. But the one-hour documentary turns out to be surprisingly ambitious, as the reggae-mad Haim shleps from Manhattan to Kingston to Tel Aviv.
And in its determination to narrow the distance between blacks and Jews, the film has a social conscience that lifts it...