Shtisel

Shtisel (Hebrew: שטיסל‎) is an Israeli television drama series about a fictional Haredi Jewish (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) family living in Geula, Jerusalem.[1] Created and written by Ori Elon and Yehonatan Indursky,[1] the series premiered on 29 June 2013 on yes Oh. It commenced distribution via the online streaming service Netflix in 2018.[2] The show runs at 12 episodes per season.

Shtisel
שטיסל
GenreDrama
Created by
Directed byAlon Zingman
Starring
Country of originIsrael
Original languagesModern Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew
Yiddish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes36
Production
Running time45 minutes
Production companyyes
Release
Original networkyes Oh
Channel 1
Kan 11
Netflix
Original releaseJune 29, 2013 (2013-06-29) –
present
External links
dead link] Website

In May 2019, the show was renewed for a third season.[3][4] On April 8, 2020 the third season, intended to begin in May 2020, was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.[5] Kveller stated in June 2020 that production of Season 3 has begun.[6] A trailer was released in September, revealing that Season 3 is set seven years after the death of Akiva's mother (six years after the events of the first episode).[7]

Overview

The series follows the lives of Shulem Shtisel (Dov Glickman), the Shtisel patriarch and a rabbi at the local cheder,[8] as well as those of the other members of his family. Shtisel is set in a Haredi, Internet-free neighborhood.[9] The community follows strict haredi customs and violating the norms often causes chaos within the family.[10] However, the characters who are more open to a secular lifestyle reflect Geula's moderation in comparison to their neighbors in Mea She'arim, the adjacent community known for religious extremism.[11]

Cast

Plot

Season 1

Akiva Shtisel is a 26-year-old, single Haredi man who lives with his father, Shulem Shtisel, a widower. Akiva starts working as a teacher in a cheder, and falls in love with Elisheva Rotstein, the mother of a student in his class, who has been widowed twice. He asks the matchmaker Königsberg to set up a meeting for them, much to the chagrin of his father, who wants Akiva to wed a never-married young woman. Elisheva and Akiva meet once at the insistence of Akiva, and she refuses to continue. Shulem urges Akiva to meet with 19-year-old Esti Gottlieb. On their second meeting, Akiva, still in love with Elisheva says he is not yet ready for marriage, and Esti starts to cry. Faced with guilt, Akiva proposes marriage to Esti, and they get engaged.

Giti Weiss, the daughter and the sister of the Shtisels, says goodbye to her husband Lippe Weiss, who flies to Argentina for six months as part of his job as a butcher. Lippe's boss tells Giti that he ran away with a gentile. Giti is disgraced and looks for work to provide for her 5 children. She works as a babysitter for a secular woman and then exchanges money at home. Though she still loves him, she confesses the hardship her husband has put them through to her eldest daughter Ruchami, who grows resentful of Lippe. Later feeling guilty, he decides to return home and struggles to find forgiveness from Ruchami.

Zvi Arye, the brother of Giti and Akiva, is competing for a teaching job at the kolel, where he studies hard but doesn't get the job. Zvi Arye's wife calls him away from the kolel to trap a mouse.

Grandmother Malka, Shulem's mother, lives in a nursing home and is exposed to television for the first time in her life, which Zvi Arye and Shulem find abhorrent and come up with many ways to sabotage her from viewing.

Akiva finds a job as a painter. He paints for Leib Fuchs, a well-known Haredi artist. Their agreement consists of Akiva painting for him, and Fuchs selling the paintings as if they were his own.

Shulem has a relationship (he eats her cooking at the cheder and in her home) with Aliza, a divorced Haredi who is the secretary at his cheder. However, his refusal to clarify his intentions with her motivates her to look elsewhere.

Akiva, still harboring doubt about his engagement, consults with his maternal uncle, Sucher, who cancelled a match and has remained single all his life. His uncle tells Akiva to ask Elisheva if she loves him. In an emotional conversation, she tells him that she is too old for him and refuses him once more. Despite this he informs Esti's father that he does not love Esti, and Esti's father angrily cancels the engagement. The enraged Shulem expels Kiva from his home. Kiva sleeps in different places, until Shulem and Akiva reconcile.

Akiva continues to contact Elisheva, and ultimately she does admit to loving him. Shulem helps them to become engaged, but Akiva ultimately chooses to call off the marriage himself after Elisheva tries to convince him to immediately move with her to England, and he realises they have very different priorities in life.

Suddenly the family is confronted with a crisis as Malka Shtisel suffers an accident by falling down a staircase. She incurs a serious life-threatening head injury, becoming unconscious and being admitted to the ICU. Concerned she might die, the family comes together to support her.

Reception

The series is considered innovative for its treatment of an irregular group of ultra-Orthodox Jews by stripping them of their political associations and depicting them as ordinary people.[13]

In April 2019, Maurice Yacowar (retired film studies professor and author of The Sopranos on the Couch, Continuum) published an episode by episode analysis of the [first] two Shtisel seasons, titled "Reading Shtisel: A TV Masterpiece from Israel".

In October 2016, it was announced that Amazon Studios was planning to remake Shtisel, set in Brooklyn, New York, under the title Emmis.[14]

In May 2019, Shtisel was renewed for a third season.[15] In May 2019, a dispute with the Israeli Actors’ Association delayed the signing of contracts for the third series.[16] In August 2019, producer Dikla Barkai said, “We cannot confirm Season 3 yet. There are many reasons. Let’s hope. We are thinking positively. I would say it will.”[4]

In April 2020, series producer Barkai confirmed that a third season of Shtisel had been due to begin filming in May 2020, but would have to be postponed on account of the coronavirus pandemic.[5] Production was resumed in June and a trailer was later released in September.[7]

An online world premier/online event for Season 3, Episode 1 is scheduled for 17 December 2020 and is hosted by the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center.[17]

See also

References
  1. Ghert-Zand, Renee (4 March 2016). "Why I Can't Stop Watching 'Shtisel'". The Forward. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  2. "Netflix picks up Shtisel from Dori". Rapid TV News. 18 December 2018.
  3. "Shtisel renewed for third series, hit show's writer confirms". www.jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  4. Cooper, Samantha (26 August 2019). "Here's What 'Shtisel' Stars Have Been up To". Jewish Exponent. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
  5. "Special Passover message to Jewish News readers from the cast of Shtisel!". www.jewishnews.timesofisrael.com. 8 April 2020. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  6. "'Shtisel' Season 3: Everything We Know So Far". www.kveller.com. 15 June 2020. Retrieved 15 June 2020.
  7. "Shtisel Season 3 Trailer". YouTube.
  8. Sarkar, Barnana (4 January 2019). "Netflix Top 10: From 'The Protector', and 'Sacred Games' to 'Money Heist', the top non-English shows on Netflix". Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  9. "Netflix adds a stream of new Israeli content - Israel News - Jerusalem Post". www.jpost.com. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  10. Kustanowitz, Esther D. (14 January 2019). "Hit Israeli TV show 'Shtisel' pushes Haredi community boundaries". J. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  11. "Shtisel's Ghosts: The Politics of Yiddish in Israeli Popular Culture". In geveb. Retrieved 17 January 2019.
  12. Zeitlin, Alan. "'Shtisel' Fever Heats Up New York". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  13. Peleg, Yaron (2016). Directed by God: Jewishness in Contemporary Israeli Film and Television. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 112. ISBN 9781477309506.
  14. Kamin, Debra (17 October 2016). "Israeli Drama About Ultra-Orthodox Brood Gets American Treatment". Variety. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  15. "Hit Orthodox Israeli show 'Shtisel' renewed for much-anticipated 3rd season - Israel News". Haaretz.com. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  16. Spiro, Amy (23 May 2019). "Is Shtisel season three in danger?". jpost.com. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
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