What did the people without any connection to Israel or Judaisim think?

I guess everyone who saw it is Jewish or has some connection to Israel.

I just saw the movie last night (7/16)and as soon as I got to work this morning I typed the title into my address line to get more information and some questions answered. (Which I have) As to your post - I am Christian and have never been to Isreal. I watched the movie with a non-religous friend and I know I really enjoyed the movie....he said he did and I'll take his word for it. We didn't have our usual time for discussion afterward because of other things going on. Anyway I enjoyed watching what seemed to be an accurate depiction of an Orthodox Jewish family, understanding it was a fictitious story line, but still I watched it with the assumption that individuals, neighbors, and friends were acting as they might should this type of situation actually occur. So I was facinated by the philosophy, and by the dynamic between the main character and his wife, his Rabbi, his friends, and with G-d. I've known many Christians with similar devout faith in G-d and admire their total belief in G-d forming and shaping their lives. Although I don't agree with them to that extent I could certainly relate enough to share in their joy at the miracles that came into their lives. I have read other postings under other topics on this site and will use this reply (hope you don't mind) to voice an opinion on one of the Orthodox concepts in the movie that is shared by many Christian churches as well. It's the idea that the reason G-d has not answered a prayer is because of some short coming by the person praying. The prayer wasn't answered because you didn't pray often enough (in the movie), in Christian circles other short comings could be that their faith wasn't actually strong enough, or that there was something else in their life (not pleasing to G-d) that prevented G-d from saving the life of their loved one in the hospital, or that prevented them from getting a job to support their families. I'm not going to go on with this...it could take days....but I personally believe G-d loves us and if He was going to grant a prayer request one prayer would be enough - to saddle a person with guilt, that he or she was not worthy of G-ds love so their family suffers, on top of grief they are already going through, is terrible. Back to the point the movie was great and I felt I had seen a accure slice of Orthodox life and enjoyed getting some insite into a different culture. I struggled a little bit from time to time to understand what was going on because on not being familiar with Othodox culture, but I usually caught on to what was happening and really enjoyed the movie and feel I learned something from it as well.

I watched this movie last night and thoroughly enjoyed it and I am about as far away from a connection to Judaism or Israel as you can get. Being from the southwest we saw few if any Jewish believers where I grew up so I was not sure about many of the rituals I saw in the film. But enjoyed watching them nonetheless. I did find their strength in regards to faith moving and it made me question my own devotion to God. Many people say they love God with their lips but the characters in the movie lived that love. It also showed the struggles they faced just like the ones all of us face but so often give into sin. I am recommending this movie to all my friends. My only regret is that I can’t seem to locate a dubbed version of the film as most of the people I know will not watch subtitled films. If anyone knows where I can obtain dubbed version PLEASE let me know.

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I am not a Jew nor have I been to Israel although my church (a non-denominational Christian evangelical church) has strong ties to Israel and our Pastor leads trips at least twice a year. I loved the movie and have recommended it highly to others at our church.

I am a Christian and I thought that this was a beautiful movie. I am currently finishing my degree in Community Ministry and am in the Middle of an Old Testament study, so I found the depiction of the festivals and traditions very interesting. But besides that I thought that the movie in general was a wonderful story of love and faith that anyone could enjoy.

I loved this movie, I'm neither Jewish or Christian, though I follow the 7 laws of Noach. So I'm not really a stranger to the Torah or Jewish holidays. And this is indeed one of my favorite movies, I never get tired of seeing it.

Shuli Rand is awesome, at once a subtle and a powerhouse actor. Wish we could see more of him.

I found it absolutely fascinating, and the characters were great. On the one hand, it's educational for a non-Jew to learn the details of Orthodox culture and on the other, it's a delightful story that can be enjoyed by everyone.