A quite marvelous 2 season Israeli domestic series that takes a loving look at a close knit Orthodox Israeli family living in Jerusalem. There is plenty of gentle comedy mixed in with the pathos and drama and for someone like me, a lapsed Jew who wasn’t even bar mitzvahed this was a great chance to delve into this very secretive and much put upon community of Jews. I grew up in a middle class Jewish Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn and there were Orthodox Jews there but the number has grown substantially since I grew up and left the hood. In fact in my childhood apartment building there was a family of Orthodox Jews and I was play mates with the son. Ah Heshie I still sometimes think of you with your golden blonde payots hanging down the side of your face, and your tzitzits hanging out of your shirt knocking on our door to come in and watch Superman on our early and only tv set in the building. I always found the orthodox Jewish community to be strange and off-putting and when I saw this series listed on Netflix I gave it a shrug and passed on it, but I kept thinking about it, it had piqued my interest and I finally watched it. I loved it and can with a big kosher hug recommend it to everyone. At first I actually thought they had gotten members of the Orthodox community to be in it, but quickly realized that what I was seeing was a group of really terrific actors. Tops among them is the head of the large family Shulem Shtisel played by the great Israeli actor Doval’e Glickman and his youngest son Akiva played by the handsome Israeli actor Michael Aloni who is a big heartthrob in Israel and in my house. One of the main plot points of the series is getting Akiva married and his travails of dealing with the women the neighborhood matchmakers pick for him. The other big thing in his life is his inner battle to be an artist. This is what first drew (no pun intended) me to the series. Not good Akiva wanting to be an artist and he has constant battles with his father over this life passion of his. Better he should continue teaching at the local Yeshiva where his father is the principal than God forbid pick up a pencil and a pad. There are other members of the family who have conflicts with their religion and the strict life that they have to lead. One other brother longs to be a singer, and is accepted as the lead singer in a local band, he rocks but in the end he does not follow through with his dream. There are other headaches, a granddaughter who is only 16 falls in love with a young Yeshiva student and they marry which causes alarm and stress with her mother. Her father is understanding maybe because he had a crash in his beliefs and ran off to Argentina shedding all signs of his orthodoxy. There is more. If you are looking for politics and answers to the conflicts between Israeli and Palestine look elsewhere, the series “Fauda” also on Netflix is a good place to start, I’m still reeling from that one. The Holocaust is mentioned only once, but there’s lots of food, bubbies, dead relatives who come back to chat, age old traditions and love those hats that the men wear.
