Cine Man: SHTISEL IN TIMES OF FAKE NEWS

"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