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How Shtisel gave me an online happy place

There's a lot of antisemitism on social media...but none on the Facebook page for Netflix series Shtisel, says Miranda Levy

April 28, 2021 11:48
Giti (Neta Riskin) _ Lipa (Zohar Strauss) - Scene 119 (16) - credit - VERED ADIR
3 min read

A typical post: “We need to know if Kive and Rachaeli are together, if Yose’le married Shira, how Giti and Lippe are… If Shulem ever met someone .” Welcome to joys of the Shtisel Official Facebook group — a social media enterprise dedicated to the Israeli Netflix show.

As you must know Shtisel is the tale of patriarch and cheder headmaster Shulem and his family, set in the Charedi world of Geula, Jerusalem, kind of King Lear with cheesecake .The subtitled dialogue swings between Hebrew and Yiddish, and — not remarked upon enough — the subtitles capture the spirit of the original, perfectly.

What’s exciting (and gratifying) about Shtisel is that, since it first appeared in 2013, its appeal has started to spread outside its ‘heartland’ Jewish audience. Non Jews are starting to talk about it, and appreciate its many subtleties. “It is an unexpected combination,” says the BBC website, “a highbrow soap opera, with touches of humour… Like many rising international hits, Shtisel takes its cues from the Sopranos-led golden age of television playbook. It shows great attention to detail. Its success outside of Israel springs at least in part from its universal themes, particularly romantic longing. And it’s a hit.” Celebrity fans include Jamie Lee Curtis, Alan Alda, and Sam Neill who called it “close to the greatest thing ever made for television”.

Almost as entertaining is the Facebook group that celebrates the show. Towards the end of the dragging Covid ‘slogdowns’, The Shtisel Official Facebook page has become my happy place.