Only four biographical details are known about Rabbi Shalom Shabazi and there are no drawings or descriptions of his physical features. Yet, over 400 years after his birth, Shabazi is still an extremely popular poet who keeps “living” in an entire community’s collective soul – the Jews of Yemen. Who was Shabazi? A poet who committed filicide? A wedding singer looking for handouts? Perhaps a fundamentalist Kabbalah scholar?

Directed by Israela Sha’ar
Produced by Yair Qedar
Israel, 2018
Documentary
Hebrew, Arabic (with English subtitles)
55 minutes