My unorthodox life Season 2

[LisaJool]

Anyone else looking forward to this? I've followed them all on social media since the first season, it will be interesting to see what went on behind the scenes.

I also felt really sorry for Aron. At the end of the day his mum did leave them. She and the others are all being outrageous on tv, having gone completely the other way with the way they dress and live (squirting conversation, ew!) he’s trying to carve his own path and is probably embarrassed by his mum in a way. He’s not found the middle ground so he’s going the opposite way. I found it was so sad when he was crying at the end. He really just wanted her to hear him. It’s really sad but she’s just going to push him away.

Back to Raed - what a d*! No respect for Robert at all. I raised my eyebrow when I saw he’d suddenly decided he was in love with Robert after he got famous. He had absolutely no issue with Robert getting surgery. It was shocking what he did to his body - it was like he was recovering from a car crash. He doesn’t love him at all.

Miriam has a podcast called Faking It. She said she had an eating disorder too. She said she went off to San Francisco to live on her own at 16,I wonder how that was possible. I remember critics of season 1 said that Miriam went to a very high achieving Jewish high school, then made out she could barely write.

She was probably very behind in her secular education and had a lot of catching up to do. She’s clearly v smart though.

I suspect batsheva has very little education, although she will have had more than Shlomo who was off in yeshiva by 15.

they are all v emotionally immature as a result of their upbringing. They’re having their teenage years, apart perhaps from Miriam, as adults

@gruffalosbrother Shlomo is doing a law degree. Miriam went to Bais Yakov which is a high achieving (in secular education) modern orthodox high school. It's not uncommon in UK for modern orthodox families to send their sons to a yeshiva for several years after A levels and then they come back to UK for university. Julia herself was a school teacher. I'm not sure why they let on that they were practically illiterate, I don't believe Miriam's story about how she got accepted to Stamford at all (and if it's true it's very worrying!).

Thanks I’m more than aware of what Orthodox Jews do. It’s extremely different to go to yeshiva after A levels than to go before even starting GCSE’s which is what Aron wants to do. shlomo did go to yeshiva at 15 and most likely had to catch up on his education later on. They were not a modern orthodox family when the children were growing up. Their education, when in monsey, certainly for the older 2 were more akin to some of the ultra orthodox schools here which have been slated by Ofsted for offering poor secular education.

I could be wrong but I don’t think they ever pretended that. I don’t doubt that Julia sent her to the most secular school she could! It was their local community that they were talking about. Also they say they are lucky and talk about the other women in their community. I see it in the uk so not that surprising.

She had an Ed or her mum? She’s done very well regardless. Stanford is an incredible uni to get into! I know someone who got into Cambridge but not Stanford, if that’s any consolation.

I feel like we were deceived in season one when they presented Julia as this self made business woman who left the community with nothing and built this massive business.

Clearly she got with Silvio and he gave her the job because they were a couple. She doesn't even understand the business papers or how much of the business she legally owned.

It's disappointing because for all her faults I really admired how she escaped this patriarchal society and being reliant on a man to running her own empire. But she didn't, a man owned everything all along.

And almost immediately after they broke up, she was at a dating agency- before she even secured her business or her home.

100% this.

In fairness I think the shoe business she first started when she left the community predated Silvio. The shoe business was how they met. I would have been more impressed if she had started the shoe business and had moderate success from that on her own and the show was about her building that business. I have a feeling they will just become another version of the Kardashians now, making money from the show.

I am a bit confused about Batsheva’s apartment. I am sure the apartment she had with Ben in the first season was much bigger than the apartment they showed at the end with the mezzanine. Did she move to a smaller apartment?

Loving this thread. I binged watched Seasons 1 and 2 in the past few weeks.

Agree with many of the points made here. Aron needs to finish high school, get a secular education to the age of 18. Then he can decide.

Robert needs to leave Ra'ed please tell me he has. Ra'ed is so utterly fake.

Their main source of income will now be Netflix, but I doubt it will keep them all in the standard of life they are now accustomed to - chefs, butlers, second homes etc. The children will need to become self-supporting.

Sad that Batsheva can see no career other than as an influencer - that she escaped a patriarchal society to focus on something so shallow and empty and image-focused.

You're right, I'd forgotten about the shoe business. I guess that's something.

And I agree with you, that was a different apartment than the one they lived in in season one. Do you think they faked the scene?

I’ve just had a Google and it looks like they moved out of their old apartment at the end of season 1 which was much bigger. I wonder if the previous one was rented and they bought this one? Of course a change of location as well could have led to a much smaller apartment for their budget.

I'm just on episode 4, Aron seems so incredibly uncomfortable with the whole family.

I think Julia may suffer with an eating disorder they was trying to not put on air.

The way Miriam was getting worked up begging for her to eat saying it's not safe. They is something lying beneath the surface there, you can see it with her frame

Julia has said that she had an ED before she left Monsey, she's been interviewed about it. Clearly she's gone to have ongoing issues with eating, especially at times of stress. I don't think it was particularly hidden, and Julia always wears the most revealing clothes.

Definitely. Plus the fact she looks so unwell.

I thought this season was really disappointing. Far too much stuff with Robert and Ra'ed. They are counting on a season 3, it wouldn't surprise me if none of them have a proper job then either.

Just finished this. Loved every second.

Agree Ra'ed is fake and awful and that relationship won't last. I feel protective of Robert and want someone who doesn't make him feel he needs surgery by fucking strangers every five minutes.

Glad Nathalie has gone - she was really unlikeable and a massive sponger. Clearly out for all she can get. Miriam is a really nice girl, and like Julia said, she needs to enjoy her 20s.

Julia has a terrible, terrible eating disorder and my heart breaks for her children trying to get her to eat. She obviously thinks she looks nice so emaciated or she wouldn't dress like she does. It was painful to see her in some outfits eg the red shorts.

Batsheva was painted to be an unsympathetic cow with all the mindless massages etc but I did understand why she moved out when she did. It must have been so hard for her.

Aron is completely wrong about yeshiva and I'm glad Julia stood up to him. She was very impressive of her handling of that.

I think Shlomo is adorable and wonder if he is sure he's straight. I hope he finds happiness soon as I think he has a good heart.

Can't wait for season 3 - will have to follow them all to keep me going til then.

Shlomo was the most religious (excluding Aron) until recently (I am sure he kept kosher in the first season) so I wonder if he is still coming to terms with life outside the community.

I have to say I really don’t like Miriam. I find her irritating but I can’t really explain why. I do feel that getting out from under her mum would do her the world of good though.

Nathalie didn't seem to like Miriam at all, she would avert her eyes when Miriam gazed at her and was all lovey-dovey. I saw suggested on Reddit that she might have been an actress paid to make it all a bit more exciting. Otherwise, there was no storyline whatsoever apart from Julia's divorce.

I've just started reading her book Brazen (currently 99p on Kindle) - it's v long and wordy and not the best in how it's written, but fascinating to learn more about her early background and family.

She went to Bais Yaakov as a child but for high school she went to Ma'ayanot in New Jersey. It's an excellent school that sends multiple girls to the Ivy League every year. I don't know why Miriam acts as if she went to a Yiddish speaking Hasidic school. She didn't. Even Bais Yaakov sends girls to college. She skipped a grade, so she finished high school early, at 16. She didn't drop out.

BY isn't that modern; that's more strictly Orthodox.

It did feel like an actress or at least someone told to heavily exaggerate the relationship for the sake of a story line,

I felt the same way about Robert- I doubt they are that good friends, they just threw in someone with a big personality to be a sounding board for Julia and occasionally provide a B plot.

I don't know how else someone with a degree in Opera comes to be COO of a multi million dollar company.