Has anyone watched Unorthodox on Netflix?

[ihatethecold]

I loved it. Really fascinating and interesting to see inside the traditions and customs of Hasidic Jews.
It sent me down a rabbit hole googling questions afterwards.
The men’s hats are incredible.

In the real life story she had to move to a different area and become educated and went to college before she felt able to properly leave and go to Berlin. The Netflix series changed that part of the story probably to make better TV.

I loved it. I want to know what happened to Esty next.

I absolutely loved it.

I’m watching it right now. It’s heartbreaking and so so strange. I don’t ‘get’ organised religion in general, but the very strict sects like this are even more baffling.

I did come here by way of Moishe (Jeff Wilbusch) IMDB page

Think I might download the book.

I want to watch it again. I really hope they do another season.

I'm so glad I stumbled on this thread. DD and I watched it based on this , so thank you.

They coerced the piano teacher by threatening to kick her out of her apartment if she didn't tell them.

DD and I kept googling the traditions as well. It's good to hear from those who know that this series is realistic.

Where can I find Shtisel and the other series listed on here? Netflix?

I did a Hasidic walking tour in crown heights nyc a couple of years ago.really fascinating learning about why women wore wigs, traditions involved in making hats and other things. How they have their own ambulances

I would love to do that fia101

Sounds facinating. Who did the tour? Was it someone from the Hasidic community?
If so, was it a man or woman?

Hi ihatethecold

Yes a man from the Hasidic community. It meant we got to see places which wouldn't have been open to us. He also took us to a Hasidic library and explained their faith and beliefs - it was about 4 hours long and included a meal but was really interesting and the man was open to all questions. Didn't feel exploitative. Would definitely recommend it.

I thought it was brilliant too.

I think Moishe was not going to return to Williamsburg either, now he has his winnings.

Can’t decide if I can face watching this or not.

I have some frum Jewish relatives and some Hasidic, have been ostracised / fallen out after I married out.

I lived in Williamsburg for many years not within the orthodox community though. What I found interesting was the deep distrust between them and the Puerto Rican community which I lived amongst. I was always advised not to even bother going through their part of the neighbourhood as j will be followed until I leave not that I know if this was true as I didn’t really have any reason to go there anyway. There were years of rent disputes between the communities which I guess caused a lot of friction. I did find it interesting how the area clearly had boundaries and was it’s own world.
Also, When I used to get off the train there would often be orthodox men asking commuters if they were Jewish. My husbands dad is and had been one of the families that fled during the war but when he told them his mother wasn’t Jewish they just waved him on. It’s all about the bloodline on the mothers side.

Fascinating fudgefeet. thanks

have been ostracised / fallen out after I married out.

That's so sad zozozoe. It's no wonder that we are a nation of mostly atheists.

I would love to hear of any more personal experiences from posters.

When I used to get off the train there would often be orthodox men asking commuters if they were Jewish.

Why were they asking @fudgefeet?

I enjoyed the Williamsburg bits and some of the Berlin bits like the iconic scene in the lake where she chucks her wig. However I thought the acting of the friends in Berlin was terrible and the story was too far- fetched. The Esty actress was great though.

I read the book afterwards, thoroughly recommend it.

I've just finished it. Googled the whole way through about Hasidic oractice. Thought it was bloody brilliant.

She is an amazing actress

Loved it. The most powerful portrayal of bad sex! I liked the ambiguity of the end. There wasn't going to be a fairy tale solution but she was going to work it out.

I watched this during the week. What an amazing production. I have no idea how accurate it was in relation to the reality of life in that community but it was a really touching programme regardless. Heartbreaking and horrifying in some parts. The clinical aspect of having sex was just abhorrent and downright cruel IMO. (Without wishing to be offensive) also, I thought, it is at odds with the purported purpose which was to create as many babies as possible. A woman has her period, then must be “clean” for 7 whole days before she can have sex with her husband. Meaning it could be after ovulation before they are having sex every month! I’m sure that causes a lot of unnecessary upset when children aren’t conceived month after month.

I personally was very glad they didn’t conclude any of the plot lines and left them all as unanswered questions because they weren’t what the show was about. It wasn’t about getting into the music school, or whether she kept the baby, or dated the man she met. It was about her finding the strength and courage to live the life she wanted and that was answered when she was able to tell Yanky their marriage was over despite the pain it caused him to hear it and her to say it, despite knowing it meant potentially choosing to be a single mother with no qualifications and very little modern/liberal life experience in a foreign country. A really hard thing to actually do when it would have been much easier to go back to the life she knew.

Also a member of the Moishe fan club

Btw I have no German at all but I got a really strong sense of German in the Yiddish. Was Yiddish derived from German?

I would've liked more than 4 episodes! Watched it all this morning on a friend's recommendation. Wanted to know about the other women, Moishe's backgroundbof course, what happened next. I've ordered the book in which it was based, has anyone else read it?

Sorry @mrsmuddlepies, didn't see your comment. Worth reading then?

I remember reading somewhere that there are often problems with conception in the Hasidic communities because the process of becoming 'clean' for the woman is so strict.

Like others I have now disappeared down a Hasidic rabbit hole...

I live very near Stamford Hill, which is the London equivalent of Williamsburg. They have a mobile Mikvah tank that I often see driving around, it’s like a camper van with a logo on the side. I don’t know where it parks up as, in the book, Deborah Feldman explains that women would usually go to the mikvah under cover of darkness as men were not supposed to see them go. So I don’t think the mobile one comes to the house like a mobile hairdresser!

Wow so women have to go and shower and scrub themselves and then go into a tank of water on a van!

Aah, actually scratch that. I have just googled and it’s not a mikveh tank, it’s a miTZVAH tank, which is like a mobile synagogue, all explained here

mitzvahtank.org.uk/about-us/

I saw the word “tank” on the sidewalk, thought it was referring to water, put two and two together and made five .

Not sidewalk, side.