"Men like the opinions to which they have been accustomed from their youth; they defend them and shun contrary views: and this is one of the things that prevents men from finding truth, for they cling to the opinions of habit."
Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed 1:31
This commentary was written by the great Rabbi, philosopher
and Sultan Saladin personal physician, Moses Ben Maimon (1138-1204), commonly
known as Maimonides, aka Rambam. Had he not been one of the most prolific and
influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages, I would have sworn that
Maimonides, like me, watched SHTISEL latest season.
Despite the fact that when I lived in Jerusalem, I really
disliked the Haredim (ultra-orthodox) from Mea Shearim and Geula, in January
2019 I wrote about the series’ first two seasons, because it surprised and
pleased me a lot.
I enjoyed the series so much that I made a point of meeting
one of its creators, Ori Elom, in June 2019 when he and SHTISEL’ s actors
Michael Aloni, Dov Glickman, Neta Riskin and Ayelet Zurer were here in Los
Angeles talking to fans and local Jewish community members.
It was with happiness that after waiting for almost 2 years,
I finally could watch the third season of SHTISEL, recently aired by NETFLIX. I
liked what I saw, although it took me a few days to digest it.
A few days ago, in a zoom conference with my friend, Sergio
Zalis, he identified in this season’s scripts some influence by Bashevis Singer’s
writings and Marc Chagall’s paintings.
I fully agreed with him. In one of their episodes, the
characters even mention Bashevis Singer’s works. And the season’s final scene looked
like a Chagall’s painting, with the living and the dead characters getting
together in an imaginary supper.
Myself I noticed that in this season almost all the
characters, at one time or another, lied. They did that forced by old habits,
silly traditions, and idiotic community rules. Those lies generate problems and
difficulties to the characters.
On my previous review of the series, I observed that these old
habits, traditions, and rules kept the Haredim frozen in time. A group of people
living in todays’ Israel but following the same behavior of the Eastern European
“Shtetls” (Jewish villages) from the 18th and 19th centuries.
This season the writers showed us that the only effective
solution to the character’s problems, was to face and reveal the truth. Despite
being intelligent people, basically decent and with good intentions, they lie
to avoid conflict with these idiotic habits, traditions, and rules. Afraid of
the inevitable judgment of their peers.
The Haredim of Jerusalem microcosm in SHTISEL serves as a
mirror to us, modern citizens of the 21st century. Doesn’t matter our political
or social positions; if we are right or left; from classes A, B or C; men,
women or any other denomination - we all lie, all the time, to avoid
questioning idiotic habits, traditions and rules. Nobody wants to be catch
breaking the cannons of “accepted” behavior.
It’s symbolic that in a TV series about ultra-orthodox
Jews, the key to solve all the plots deadlocks is a Christian quote from John’s
gospel - "The truth will set you free". At least the phrase was
coined by a Galilean revolutionary Jew, who ended up crucified.
I end this piece by quoting another Christian who summarize
the importance of the truth:
"In times of falsehood, telling the truth is a
revolutionary act."
George Orwell
#SHTISEL #NETFLIX #Hollywood #WladimirWeltman
