Sometimes g-d things come in big packages. Gay, Jewish filmmaker Sandi Simcha DuBowski doesn’t skimp on the extras in New Yorker Films’ phenomenal two-disc release of his internationally acclaimed documentary, an unprecedented, dignified, and universally moving glimpse into the lives and emotional tumult of gay Orthodox and Hasidic Jews.

Jewish law reads: “A man who lies with a man as one lies with a woman… shall be put to death.... For women to rub against each other in the position of sexual intercourse is forbidden… it is fitting for the court to administer lashes for this transgression.”

Living by such harsh, forbidding laws, queer Orthodox and Hasidic Jews struggle mightily to ends including suicide, sham marriages, loss of children, and expulsion from circles of friends, family, and faith.

DuBowski, a sensitive, talented, and patient soul, spent six years getting to the heart of their plight. Traversing many locations around the world — Jerusalem, London, New York, Los Angeles amongst them — DuBowski cast a wide net for his compelling, intelligent subjects.

Mark, a gay, HIV-positive Orthodox Jew, was expelled from numerous Yeshivas (religious schools) for being queer. Now, years after losing contact with his faith, he decides to re-immerse himself in Orthodoxy and schooling, possibly his greatest love. Equally devoted to his Judaism, handsome Orthodox David tried many aversion techniques — eating figs, snapping a rubber band against his wrist — in hopes of purging his homosexuality, but to no avail. Today finds him still struggling to find an answer.

50-something Israel has had a lover for 25 years, but the one man he most pines for in life, his father, hasn’t spoken to Israel in 20 years. And happy lesbian couple Malka and Leah, whose faces are obscured, also suffer painful familial rejection because of their forbidden love.

Peppered amongst these people’s stories are encounters with Jewish authorities — including the warm, hopeful Steven Greenberg, an openly gay Orthodox Rabbi — psychotherapists, and numerous silhouetted individuals fearful of incurring their communities’ wrath.

Expertly structured and edited (with creative collaborator Susan Korda), DuBowski’s intensive labor of love is complimented by John Zorn’s moody, klezmer-tinged score, thoughtful visual tableaus, and handy italicized English subtitles whenever Hebrew/Yiddish terms are used. DuBowski spent over two further years traveling around the world with Trembling, and a whole new documentary produced for the DVD, Trembling On The Road, follows the film’s groundbreaking effects at international film festivals, theaters, and religious events. Highlights include learning that the term “trembling” has been adopted by Jews to insinuate someone’s gay, and revisiting a subject who’s turned her life around and come out since the film’s release. But wait — there’s more! A lengthy, deep interview with DuBowski; a moving montage of songs by Mark; a deleted scene; making of the silhouette sequences; short film Tomboychik; and plenty of other extras.

DuBowski’s intention was for Trembling to “move through the world with meaning.” It has. Let that include your household.