Charming and warm, the Israeli comedy “The Women’s Balcony” entertains but also captures an appealing feeling of community –  and even family – that being part of a religious congregation can bring. It is no small feat.

That sense of a close, happy congregation was inspired by screenwriter Shlomit Nehama’s childhood in Jerusalem. She and director Emil Ben-Shimon bill “The Women’s Balcony” as a comedy, but dramedy might be a better description, although it has plenty of comic moments and comedians in the cast. However, at the story’s heart is a challenge to the existence of a close-knit, happy,  traditional congregation and its moderate ways.

This winning film opens with a moment of joy as the congregation marches down a narrow Jerusalem street, carrying food for a bar mitzvah at their shul. As they settle in at their old synagogue, the women make way for the rabbi’s wife in their balcony. Below, one of the men gently pranks another before the ceremony starts. When it is discovered some treat has been left at home, the rabbi gets a signal from his wife to stretch out his story while a child is sent to fetch it. 

It is the very picture of a small, close-knit congregation, like a family, led by the beloved older rabbi and his equally beloved wife. Like many families, they kid and tease and gossip, and there are spats, but everyone loves one another. More than that, they are all in agreement on how they observe their faith: Orthodox, but not so strict, and certainly not ultra-Orthodox. 

But then something happens that changes everything: The women’s balcony collapses during the bar mitzvah. The rebbetzin is seriously injured and is hospitalized in a coma. Her husband the rabbi is distraught and unable to cope. 

Their synagogue is destroyed, and they are left with nowhere to pray.  They are offered a temporary spot in a classroom, but without their rabbi, the small congregation struggles to put together a minyan. Too many are just choosing to pray at home.   

A solution seems to come in the form of a handsome young rabbi who agrees to step in temporarily and oversee the rebuilding of their synagogue. At first, he looks like a rescuer, but they find he has much stricter, more fundamentalist views than the old rabbi, different ideas that threaten to break the congregation and its members apart.

“The Women’s Balcony” debuted here in June at the St. Louis Jewish Film Festival and now returns for a longer theatrical run. It has been popular with audiences in Israel and has won awards. 

The feel-good story is perfectly executed, and the highly entertaining film is peppered with memorable characters portrayed by an appealing cast. But the real appeal of this film is its warm picture of harmony and faith within this religious community, and the loving affection among its members. 

It is faith on a human level, where common sense and the spirit behind the rules win out over extremism.