'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.

I thought it was spectacular, especially compared to a lot of the dross I’ve watched during lockdown!

I lived in Brooklyn in my 20’s for a few years next door to a family of Hasidic Jews. I was in my 20’s so didn’t pay too much attention but they were a massive mystery, wouldn’t speak to me, the men averted their eyes when you walked near them, but most of all I remember the frequent requests on a Friday to turn on something electrical for them. They’d knock on and ask us to come and turn a light on, which always struck me as hilariously pointless.

I also have someone very close to me who was brought up in a Christian sect in the UK and they escaped aged 16. When they watched this, it was pretty emotional. They saw similarities in how naive they were coming out, so the nightclub scene for example really resonated, but mostly how people put the religion before love and how Etsys mother had been cast as an evil witch. This person hasn’t seen their mum ever since leaving the religion so that is 32 years now. The mother says she cannot see them because they are “sinners” and “possessed” by the devil.

Imagine not seeing your child for 32 years because...God.

In Stamford Hill at least, there is a degree of poverty and heavy reliance on benefits & housing association properties. Overcrowding and illegal property extensions is a huge problem in the area and some of the local community has moved to Canvey Island in Essex for more spacious housing and established a community there in recent years.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8326339/Inside-the-private-world-of-Londons-ultra-Orthodox-Jews.html

Without wishing to raise a stereotype, a smaller number of Haredi families also have inter generational wealth from real estate and other businesses.

I saw Yanky cutting his hair off as saying he would leave the community too, to be with Esty and their child. Except she didn't want him to leave for her, she didn't want to be with him.

He had an interest in having a life outside the community too, but he was much more conflicted than Esty and didn't have her courage or conviction. He would leave with her and their baby, but not on his own.

I would love to see a follow up with a strong feature on Yanky and Moshe, they were both really interesting characters.

Yanky seemed to have never thought for himself. He did what his community and parents told him. By the end he wanted to follow Esty. To me he looked scared through the whole thing, someone out of his depth in life unless he was doing what somebody told him to do.

I'd like to see Moshe's wife and children and know what they thought of him, and of the Rabbi arranging for him to be with them again! Had he been excluded at the Rabbis' instruction? Or his wife wanted rid of him but had to take him back at the Rabbi's instruction?

I wondered what on Earth you were all talking about until I realised that there is another 'Unorthodox'. The one that I have seen, that I thought you were talking about is a documentary made by a young filmmaker. It's very good and those who have seen the docu-drama might enjoy it.

It's more about young people going to Jerusalem to find themselves. I thought it was excellent.

I found their justification interesting that they had tried to assimilate into other cultures but were punished for it so that’s why they keep to strict traditions and dress codes etc.

Really enjoyed it.

The making of revealed that the production was almost entirely women led. So many bits of detail, they said it was like making a period series with the adherence to costumes/props etc.

Anyone else think that Esty looks like Judy Garland?

It was a very big (if fruitless) gesture of Yanky to cut off his peyot, it is, as far as his community is concerned, part of what makes him a Jewish man, but as people have said, really he'd leave the community maybe for a child, but not for her. I think mostly he couldn't live with the shame of returning without her, but at the same time I think from the general impression we got of Yanky as well-meaning but not equipped to deal with any of this, he would probably be prepared to grant her a get (a divorce) so she would be free to remarry. Some orthodox men divorce but then do not grant the religious dispensation for their ex-wives to remarry - IIRC a judge in the UK last year actually used the threat of charging a husband with coercive control unless he granted it, which was awesome.

I think the series portrayed very well the incredible emphasis put on having children, and as many as possible. We have a friend from synagogue who left an ultra-orthodox community, and it's really quite scary. She is still in touch with some of the women in it and she described one friend who already had 5 or 6 kids telling her (in early 40s) 'I must be getting old, it's been over a year and no baby'

My parents aren’t particularly orthodox but come Passover, my mum will cover kitchen surfaces with foil and all cutlery/crockery/utensils will be changed for 8 days. Quite a big job when you also have 20 for the Passover “Seder” dinner on the first night..

I am not orthodox in the slightest but know their way of life.. the women (mostly) don’t feel hard done by, they are only too happy to focus on their families and community.

the women (mostly) don’t feel hard done by, they are only too happy to focus on their families and community this is interesting and while I don’t wholly disagree with this, it is worth noting that many Haredi don’t have a very extensive education. So there is much less choice for women in this community.

Sons of Perdition on Amazon is also good - it's about FLDS and young people leaving.

@MoseShrute thanks for the Shtisel recommendation. Just finished it and am so desperate for series three. The characters in it are so interesting.

I really enjoyed Unorthadox and Shira Haas is captivating in it. I think she's going to be a huge star.

I just hope she has time to film series three of Shtisel before she takes up the millions of other offers that will be coming her way.

the women (mostly) don’t feel hard done by, they are only too happy to focus on their families and community.

Like all women in orthodox religious communities, be it Jewish, Christian or Muslim, and no doubt others, it's a form of Stockholm Syndrome.

If I am reading correctly on FB and Instagram the guy who played Moishe did leave the Hassidic community after his Bar Mitzvah at 13.

One of the dynamics I found most interesting was that between Esty and the Israeli girl who I suspect could end up as a "frenemy" - not just because she was the one who was so forthright about her musical ability. She is Jewish as well but with a remarkably different outlook. I would have welcomed seeing how that developed between them.