He climbed on his platform Netflix and within a few days she managed, not only to be placed in the top-10 of the best series, but at the moment everyone is talking about her. The reason for unorthodox, the "quarantine series", as many call it, since its screening coincided with the days of confinement.
But Unorthodox is not just that. Another series, that is, that you will enjoy the days you stay at home, because of it coronavirus. Unorthodox is a series of food for plenty of thought. It worries you, it moves you, it makes you angry and in many places it makes you wonder if it is an exaggeration of the pen.
However, the story of Esti (or Ester) Sapiro, a 19-year-old Jew from the religious community of Hassidists, which erupted from Brooklyn, seeking her freedom in Berlin, is based on a true story. Specifically, in the story of Deborah Feldman, who followed the same path in her escape from the Hasidists, but her own path to freedom was not only easy and paved with rose petals.
Feldman wrote the book, "Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots", On which the series is based. And in this she describes her own story, while she also sheds light on the dark side of religion, when its role goes beyond the limits of faith and becomes authoritarian over man and in particular his religious feeling.
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Anyone who has seen the Netflix series has a lot of scenes to remember that impressed them. However, what everyone agrees on is that the scene where the young protagonist enters the Berlin Lake in her clothes and takes off her wig, revealing her shaved head, is without a doubt one of the strongest television moments. It is a punch in the stomach, a tightness in the heart, but also a relief for the conquest of freedom.
And this image without words, is in essence the summary of the emotions felt by the Unorthodox audience. From start to finish. From the beginning of the drama, its culmination to redemption. A redemption that the viewer feels, together with the 19-year-old "different" Ester.
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5 DAYS! 🖤 אִם אֵין לִי לִי, מִי לִי? לְעַצְמִי לְעַצְמִי, אֲנִי אֲנִי? עַכְשָׁיו לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתַי? #unorthodoxnetflix @netflix
5 DAYS! 🖤 אִם אֵין לִי לִי, מִי לִי? לְעַצְמִי לְעַצְמִי, אֲנִי אֲנִי? עַכְשָׁיו לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתַי? #unorthodoxnetflix @netflix
Esther "Esti" Sapiro (she is shockingly played by Shira Haas) no longer enduring the oppression of the Super-Orthodox Hasidic community in which she lives, she decides to leave Williamsburg in Brooklyn, as well as her marriage. With the help of her teacher, she decides to take the opposite path of her ancestors and seek her lost freedom in Berlin.
Her mother lives there with her partner, with whom Ester had no contact, since she too had escaped from the community years ago, gaining her freedom, but losing her daughter. In Berlin, Ester meets a group of young musicians who, although they do not know her, stand by her side.
But her husband (amazing interpretation by Amit Rahav), at the behest of the Hasidic community, namely the rabbi, arrives in Berlin with his cousin to bring her back, having learned that she is pregnant with his child. The series is intensely emotional in many places, introduces the viewer to the world of the Hasidists, super-orthodox Jews, with a continuous flashback that solves any questions that may arise.
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And… We're on! OR UNORTHODOX is out now on Netflix. Thank you so much for all the comments & love. לכם מה אני אגיד לכם, הלב שלי מתפוצץ מהתרגשות. בתוך תקופה באמת מטורפת וחסרת וודאות, שולחת אהבה לכולם ומזמינה אתכם לקצת אסקפיזם. 🤍 ״המורדת״ בנטפליקס 🤍
And… We're on! OR UNORTHODOX is out now on Netflix. Thank you so much for all the comments & love. לכם מה אני אגיד לכם, הלב שלי מתפוצץ מהתרגשות. בתוך תקופה באמת מטורפת וחסרת וודאות, שולחת אהבה לכולם ומזמינה אתכם לקצת אסקפיזם. 🤍 ״המורדת״ בנטפליקס 🤍
Although the series is based on Deborah Feldman's book, the stories of the two heroines are quite different. And one of the main ones is that Deborah never had the opportunity to stand up to her husband and tell him what was inside her during all these years of oppression. She claimed her own freedom with great difficulty and its conquest was painful, after she accepted war from her community. However, the Berlin, the land where their ancestors met a tragic death by the Nazis, became for them the land of promise!
Growing up in the strictly orthodox community of Brooklyn, New York, Deborah quickly realized that she did not conform to the principles of those around her, as she writes in the Guardian. Her escape was through English and American literature, but something that was forbidden in the community in which she lived.
"Because I read books in English, I knew I was a bad girl," she explains, and soon began a series of small riots, such as gently painting and making forbidden subway trips to see the city. Many would believe that "the devil seduced her", as she claims, something that her grandfather had predicted would happen.
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#fondmemories #differenttime
#fondmemories #differenttime
At the age of 17, Deborah's grandfather arranged to marry "a young Talmudic scholar with golden curls and a beard", something similar happens to her heroine, Esti. Deborah, now 33, became pregnant two years later and gave birth to a baby boy.
The birth of her son "gave birth" to the very desire to read and explore forbidden cultures, as she wanted to educate him, give him opportunities and above all to teach him to be in his life what he wants. Something that goes beyond the beliefs of the Hasidists. Shortly before her 23rd birthday, Deborah decides to leave the community with "nothing but my son and garbage bags full of clothes."
He did not go to Berlin immediately (unlike the TV heroine), but stayed in the US until 2014, when he moved to Germany.
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Some pics I took on set #unorthodoxnetflix @netflix
Some pics I took on set #unorthodoxnetflix @netflix
Having learned good English through the books she read, Deborah attended Sarah Lawrence University and became friends with many girls, who until now were a distant world to her. She had started doing all the things that were forbidden to her until then, such as flirting with boys, going out for a drink, smoking, dancing, dressing provocatively and getting painted. She enjoyed the feeling of thinking freely on her own, especially when it came time to vote.
"As a woman in the Hasidic community, my only contribution to society was based on my ability to marry and have children. "My role was special and sacred, but it was definitely the only role I could play," she explains. She could now do simple things, such as show her hair to the rest of the world, which in her community was forbidden for a married woman.
In a scene at series, when cousin Moses takes out his smartphone, Yankee scared asks him if this is allowed, while not knowing what the internet is, he asks the "smart" cell phone to tell him where his wife, Ester, is. Exaggeration; In our eyes yes. But in the world of the Williamsburg Hasidists in Brooklyn it is a part of their own reality.
In this New York neighborhood, overlooking Manhattan, live the most hardcore Jews who have built a ghetto for their families. They first came to New York after World War II and the main genders of the community are Romanians and Hungarians.
They speak only their language, the Yiddish (as in the series), while their daily life is defined by strict rules and prohibitions. The rabbi is more than their spiritual leader and his intervention even affects the daily life of the members of the community. His speech is unquestionable and no one dares to go against his wishes.
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This Thursday! @netflixde @netflix #unorthodoxNetflix #stayhome
This Thursday! @netflixde @netflix #unorthodoxNetflix #stayhome
What if we live in the 21st century? There, time has stopped centuries ago, while the rules that govern their lives, forbid the freedom of thought and individual will. Women, no, are only for them to have children, many children, as in this way they will make up for the 6 million souls lost in the Holocaust, as Ester is heard saying at Unorthodox.
The Williamsburg Hasidists live in New York, but are literally isolated from the modern world. Internet access and "smart" mobile phones are prohibited, as is education. Men and boys live almost separately from women and girls. They study the scriptures and participate in their own festivals where they learn songs and dance. They talk, eat, dress and behave like their ancestors in Europe 250 years ago.
Premarital relationships are prohibited, and members of the community must marry as soon as they reach the age of 17, but only as a member of their community. The woman must obey the man and the mother-in-law. Her daily routine is how to take care of the man of the house so that he feels "king". Each Williamsberg Hasidic family has an average of 8 children. As soon as they get married, the women cut their hair and go around with either wigs or scarves on their heads. They only wear long skirts and are not allowed to wear short sleeves.
As for those who dare to escape, the community itself makes sure that the "lost sheep" go through as difficult as possible.