Second seasons

January 18, 2010 - 10:55 AM by Jessica · 4 Comments
Filed under: Art, General, Israeliness, coexistence, tv

Last week’s heavily anticipated start of the second season of “Srugim,” the Israeli TV show about religiously observant singles living in the Katamon neighborhood of Jerusalem hasn’t been without its own stops and starts.

Fans — myself included — had to wait many months to find out the fates of Yifat and Amir, Hodaya, Nati and Reut. It was hard. We were impatient. Would Yifat and Amir get married? Would Hodaya, the show’s datlash (acronym for dati leumi lesheavar, that is, a formerly religiously observant person), finally lose her virginity? Would Nati, the selfish med student, come to grips with his ego? Would Reut, the successful accountant, find herself in India? At this point, one show in, some questions have been answered and I’m eagerly awaiting last night’s second episode. (Didn’t get to it last night and non-Yes satellite TV subscribers can watch Srugim online at Walla!)

But what’s also been hilarious about this surprisingly popular show is how it has caught the attention of some unusual groupies. One Arab blogger, Mohamed, writes that he can identify with many of the show’s issues, from attempting to date someone from a different background to equating love and marriage. Surprisingly, Mohamed likes Srugim.

Of course, not everyone feels the same. A group of ultra Orthodox rabbis have complained about the Srugim billboards which have been plastered throughout the country, because they use religious scriptures as part of the advertising campaign, a play on words whose irony was lost on this particular special interest group. Supposedly the billboards are now going to have to be buried in a geniza, because they contain holy words.

To edify, the billboard says “Paamayim ki tov Srugim, back for a second season.” “Paamayim ki tov” is translated as “Twice, because it is good,” referring to the words spoken by God on the third day of creation. Clever, but not acceptable to some. Maybe they’re just afraid of the buzz generated from a television show about religious singles.

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Tags: datlash, geniza, Katamon, srugim, YES

Sex in the holy city

June 25, 2008 - 9:00 PM by Jessica · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Pop Culture

Well, actually, there’s no sex in Srugim (roughly translated as Knitted, for the crocheted yarmulkes worn by the mostly Modern Orthodox guys in this series), the new Yes satellite channel relationship drama about religious twenty- and thirtysomethings in Jerusalem. That’s because this is a show about the dating dilemmas, romances and friendships of this very particular crowd, who may kiss, but not necessarily, and generally don’t do boy-girl sleepovers either, except if they’ve had too much to drink and shouldn’t be driving.

And when they do sleep over, as one male character does in the first episode of the show, he asks if either of the two female roommates has tefillin that he can use, which, of course, they don’t. When they get him a pair from the next-door neighbor who is both female and American, he says he can’t use a “Reform lesbian’s tefillin.” At which point, the roommate with whom he had been on the date, tells him to leave.

It’s fairly ground-breaking stuff for Israeli television, given that Laizy Shapira, the creator of the series, takes a long, detailed look at the world of dati, religious Israelis, but with an honest lens. There’s nothing derogatory about the focus either, which may say something about how far Israeli society has come. There was a time, and not so long ago, when I don’t think Israeli television could support a show about the challenges and mores of modern, religious Israeli society.

But times seem to have changed, and here’s a drama that offers pathos, humor and some necessary sarcasm in looking at the lives of these singles and their search for love and truth. Judging by the comments on the YES website, viewers are ready for the next episode, although one did comment that a show without sex just isn’t a TV show. I guess they’ll have to wait and see.

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