The problem is that having this narrative repeated over and over again, with no context that many parts of the Orthodox world are in fact healthy and thriving, leads to a skewed belief that dysfunction and extremism is the way of all Orthodox Jews. Of course there are real life situations, as depicted in shows like Unorthodox and lived by many members of Makom where the bad guy wins and the only way to be around reasonable people is to get away from those causing harm. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen, but I believe it’s happening more and more. Additionally, there was a racist sentiment from a character in the episode, and again, other Haredi characters pushed back on this perspective. At the same, there is a growing trend of younger rabbis and community leaders being more educated on best practices for keeping kids safe and implementing those practices.
While the Haredi world has made numerous advances in the area of preventing abuse and confronting abusers, we are not there yet in terms of the ideal state. It showed an older Haredi character being abusive and some younger people in the show standing up to him. Additionally, for Orthodox Jews living a stifled life, this only confirms to them that this is Orthodoxy and they don’t get knowledge that more broad perspectives exist.) I also had a fear that with so many dysfunctional characters in the show at once (as soap operas must have), a viewer might believe this level of drama is normal for real people – again, pushing away less observant Jews, reinforcing what Orthodox Jews raised in abusive situations already believe to be the sole truth, and inciting antisemites.Įpisode 1 of Season 3 introduced something new and wonderful in the show. (This matters, because it makes an observant life seem less appealing and attainable for many Jews less connected to their heritage who might otherwise benefit from the wisdom and meaning in an observant life.
Twitter users have told me it only gets better! So excuse me, while I watch some television.Ī couple years ago, I wrote how Shtisel was great programming and humanized Haredi Jews more than any other TV show I’ve ever seen, but I had an issue with it in that it continued to publicize a very right wing and insular approach to Orthodoxy, perpetuating the falsehood that all Orthodox Jews live like this. I watched the first episode Monday night, and I was blown away on many levels. Netflix brought Israeli hit TV show Shtisel back for a third season, but inconveniently released it right before Pesach, so my Shtisel season 3 watching has only just begun.