'Unorthodox' anyone watched it?

[Rubyupbeat]

I found it very emotional , based on a true story, up until she leaves America.
My cousins wife did the same thing, from the same community, but to Britain, her and her sister. My parents took them in and that's how they met my cousin, this was 25 years ago. We are all very close and things she told me were mirrored in the series. They also had people coming over trying to take them back. Her sister sadly committed suicide which I believe was due to her having her children taken away , at the time there was 3 under 2, all babies and she was only 19.
Also, if you do watch, make sure you watch the making of' it's just very interesting.

Wow, thanks for all the discussion points on here, my next watch will indeed be 'Shitsel'
I suppose I have always been fascinated by the hasidic community in general, as other than my relative part, I grew up in Stamford hill and ourselves and my best friend, next door, were the only non hasidic jews in our road, well, us bring catholic, her family being non practicing Jews, this all formed part of how my parents took the 2 girls in. But we always got on well with our neighbours. Yes they are insular, but also very respectful and very generous.

Following this.. I enjoyed the series but did worry about drawing too many conclusions from it given that it's only one person's experience, and has obviously been changed to make good viewing.

Will definitely watch "the making of" - thanks for the tip.

I haven’t watched this but definitely will. I remember reading an article years ago by a woman who followed the orthodox rules, I think she had married an Orthodox Jew and taken on many of the customs. She spoke about having to go through some special bathing ritual that involved having to shave of every bit of her body hair and scrub herself red raw. The reason was so she didn’t ‘contaminate’ her dh or something when they had sex.
I remember she was writing the article from a position of empowerment but it just felt really wrong to me.

Will take a look at the programme, thanks.

They mentioned something about the men not having an education and ‘reading the Torah all day’ and women being baby machines. So I was wondering how do they survive financially? A Wikipedia page tells me that much of the Hasidic population is among the poorest in the city, but they ,must have jobs right?

I watched it in a day a few weeks ago. I absolutely loved it, such a fascinating story. I'm going to start watching Shtisel this weekend.

Shtisel is fantastic (have just finished it and miss it!).

Thought Unorthodox was good too and it led me to Schtisel!

So yes, a lot of it seems very misogynistic but actually it is the women who wield a lot of the actual power in these communities, and make sure that the rules are enforced.

Patriarchy isn’t as simple as men being horrible to women. Both men and women suffer under the patriarchy, and some women can have more benefits than others, but ultimately you have a core of powerful, privileged men and women without equal opportunities.

Thank you for the for the explanation about the tin foil. We live and learn.

OP you are in for a treat with Shtisel (not Shitsel). As people have said the actress (Shira Haas) that plays Esty has a major role and she is brilliant.

It’s fantastic, similar ‘traditions’ in a way to the community I was subjected to as a child.

On another note, Amit who plays Yanky is extremely attractive.

As a TV show it was very good, but the fictionalised part was so over sensationalised. In real life she and her husband left the Haredi community together, and they stayed living in New York. She attended university in New York. So obviously it was perfectly safe for her to walk away from the community. I found it so silly and irresponsible to portray her as having to lie down inside the taxi so the gun-toting Haredi don’t come after her to drag her back by force. They treated it like she was trying to leave the Mafia or something.

@HavartiToSeeYou

I agree with you there, it was more interesting reading the book where she gradually departed from the community (first moving out of the ultra orthodox area of NY to a region with a more relaxed but still orthodox Jewish community, then beginning a college course and wearing jeans and eating meat while away from her community, then leaving entirely). It does sound like she did suffer a back lash and legal issues after leaving but definitely less dramatic than being followed abroad by men with guns.

Was reading an article about the woman in, 'One of Us,' who is now living openly as a lesbian, which wasn't mentioned at all during the documentary.

Maybe the producers of the show felt that focusing on her sexuality would detract from the misogyny of community, but have to say I was fairly at the status quo argument succeeding as far her husband who is still in the community, gaining full residence.

Am not Jewish, but have family who are orthodox and it always struck me that females seem to be very outspoken.

I watched it. I was interested in the lady that explained to Esty about sex. She seemed quite knowledgeable about estys problem. Do some women train as midwifes.

I really enjoyed it and will now go on to watch some of the other recommendations. Extreme religions fascinate me and like @Peonyonpoint have a slight obsession with American fundies (Peony - try Freejinger for good but not nasty snark)

@PEAPOD29, like you I wondered how people survive financially when reading the Torah all day is so highly valued. I assume some can make a living from being a religious official, but surely not all.

I loved Unorthodox, and I liked the surprise at the end about her musical ability. It is unusual for there to be a reveal like that in current storytelling. I look forward to shtisel.

I remember reading an article years ago by a woman who followed the orthodox rules, I think she had married an Orthodox Jew and taken on many of the customs. She spoke about having to go through some special bathing ritual that involved having to shave of every bit of her body hair and scrub herself red raw. The reason was so she didn’t ‘contaminate’ her dh or something when they had sex. I remember she was writing the article from a position of empowerment but it just felt really wrong to me.

@ANoiseAnnoys I have known and heard about a few secular people who join Ultra-Orthodox communities as they do sometimes "convert". They feel empowerment because they get to leave behind a lot of the pressures of the modern world, like Instagram pressure, having to look fashionable, keeping up with the neighbours, the pressure to have a career etc. When a secular person joins this type of community, they gain a close-knit community and a focus on family life, which in many ways is a much simpler way of life. I've even heard of a couple of people going Ultra-Orthodox because they wanted a partner and thought an arranged marriage was a way of achieving that.

Additionally, formerly-secular people will have an advantage because they're usually a lot more educated. If you have a masters degree and a good job then you're a lot less likely to worry about finances, so you can concentrate on family and community. There are similarities with big city executives who quit and do something else.

One of the problems I had with Shtisel is that there seems to be a tendency to splash cash around, but few enough of the characters actually work, so it's not clear how they can afford to.

What was the significance of Yanky cutting his hair off?

Loved it! And also binged watched it. Has anyone seen the making of the show? Interesting that mainly women hence esty being a brilliant character.
She's strong and courageous and not meek and mild which could have been the default.

Also apparently the music, especially for the last episode right at the end holds significance to estys future.

So the earlocks go back to the talmund and Torah refer to hair but actually I think it's more about identifying yourself as hasidic jew or a group of specific Jews.
Most orthodox men don't have earlocks but that probably obvious.

And cutting his hair off I'd say him wanting to cut himself out of the group. That's my interpretation. He sees Esty as forging the way and he both admires her for it and is jealous and he doesn't want the life he has. He's as miserable as her

I saw it as him cutting his hair off to show her he was willing to make some sacrifices too to save the marriage. Yanky was a very interesting character. I think it did really show him as a victim too of his overbearing and sheltered upbringing. I also wondered who the sex education lady was. Is it a particular role within the community?

Yes I also think he cut off his hair to show his committment to her and their child. She was obviously pulling away from their community which had been a source of tension between them and he was making a last ditch effort to win her back.

I loved Unorthodox, and I liked the surprise at the end about her musical ability. It is unusual for there to be a reveal like that in current storytelling.

I think it was her literally finding her voice and finding an audience that would listen. The comment from the Israeli student about having heard Yiddish songs before but not like that seemed pertinant.

Surely the sex education woman was the matchmaker? Isn't that all part of their role? Peapod29 watch a documentary called unorthodox, I found it on YouTube. It explains that many ultra Orthodox Jews rely on welfare.