Ranking the Best Jewish TV Shows of the Past Two Years
By Aaron Gold
There is no doubt that we are in a new golden age of Jewish TV. From action and suspense to drama and comedy, the world of Jewish TV is captivating audiences all over the world in Hebrew, Yiddish, Spanish, French and English. Today, in no particular order, we are giving you our favorite must-watch, amazing, completely binge-able shows from the past two years.
Unorthodox
Unorthodox is the first fully Yiddish language tv show ever, and trust me, it lives up to the hype. This short four-episode miniseries is a deeply moving story of a young Haredi woman, Esther Shapiro, played by Shira Haas (Shitsel and Captain America: New World Order) who flees her arranged marriage to start a new life abroad in Germany. It not only follows her as she struggles to fit into her new secular life but her estranged husband as well, Yanky Shapiro played by Amit Rahav (Matchmaking and Dig), who also embarks on a journey of self-discovery of his own as he comes to terms with the disappearance of his wife.
Unorthodox bravely tackles Jewish topics of autonomy, inclusion and identity with equal doses of empathy and earnestness. Unorthodox also stars Jeff Wilbusch (The Little Drummer Girl and Oslo) as Lefkovitch, Alex Reid (The Descent, Misfits) as Leah Mandelbaum Schwartz, Ronit Asheri (Revivre) as Malka Schwartz and Delia Mayer (Tatort and The Last Touch) as Miriam Shapiro.
Valley of Tears
It is October 1973 on Erev Yom Kippur. Multiple Arab armies have just invaded on the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Valley of Tears follows a varied cast of heroic and sometimes unlikely IDF soldiers as they deal with their own problems and issues as they fight back against the incoming armies determined to end the State of Israel as we know it and drive the Jews into the sea.
In the 1970s, Israel is already facing tensions between different strands of Israeli society coupled with significant economic challenges. It is against this backdrop that we see the incredible odds Israel had to confront as it faced down once again the prospect of annihilation. Valley of Tears has an all-star Israeli cast beginning with Aviv Alush (Beauty and the Baker, Matir Agunot, An Israeli Love Story) as Yoav Mazuz, the brave and dutiful IDF officer who inspires his men in even the hardest of circumstances. Alush’s character is beautifully paired with Avinoam Shapira, a brilliant, but nerdy and squeamish intelligence soldier played by Shahar Tavoch (Sky and Runway). The two opposites must find a way to work together. They go to great lengths to survive and fight back. Their partnership is emblematic of Israel’s diversity, which finds its strength in the unity of purpose under enormous strain and pressure.
Valley of Tears also stars the famous Israeli actor Lior Ashkenazi (Traitor, Footnote, Hit & Run, 7 Days in Entebbe) as Meni Ben-Dror, an Israeli father who braves the battlefield in search of his lost son. Joy Rieger (Portrait of Victory, Past Life, The Other Story) stars as Dafna, a communications soldier who leaves behind her desk job to help in the field. Imri Biton (The Good City, Savoy, Baalat HaChalomot) as Jack Alush, Ofer Hayoun (Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, Fullmoon, Manayek) as Marco and Maor Schwitzer (Shtisel, Batel the Virgin, Matchmaking) as Malachi star as three friends on the frontlines of the battle. Valley of Tears is a must-watch.
The Plot Against America
If you want to watch something meaningful, insightful, thought-provoking, infuriating, challenging and just downright brilliant, this is it. The Plot Against America is the television adaptation of the famous novel by Philip Roth from David Simon, the creator of The Deuce and The Wire (Simon met and got permission from Roth to adapt his famous novel). It reimagines Roth’s childhood family during WWII. The famous aviator and American hero, Charles Lindbergh, challenges FDR on the Republican ticket for the presidency and beats him handily by promising the country that he will stay out of the war. “This election is not between Charles A. Lindbergh and Franklin Delanor Roosevelt. It is between Lindbergh and war,” he says.
Once Lindbergh, the notorious antisemite and personal friend of Adolf Hitler wins in a landslide, he signs a pact with Hitler to remain neutral and embarks on a campaign of government-sponsored antisemitic acts that marginalize the country’s Jewish population. The miniseries brings to life many of the core themes in Roth’s book from Jewish identity and assimilation in America to the rise of fascism to the interruption of an idyllic Jewish American childhood.
But, perhaps most notable is the theme of how different Jewish characters respond to the rise of antisemitism and American-style fascism. For example, the series stars Morgan Spector (Homeland and Boardwalk Empire) as Herman Levin, the outspoken proud Jewish father whose open resistance is as strong as his faith in American democratic institutions, and Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks and The Big Sick) as Bess Levin, the dutiful mother whose pessimistic realism clashes with her husband’s optimistic despair. Despite their opposite dispositions, they can at least be said to be on the same side of the Lindbergh coin.
Bess’s sister Evelyn Finkel played by Winona Rider (Little Women and Girl Interrupted) and her beau Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf played by John Turturro (Barton Fink and Thr Truce) define themselves not by opposition to America’s new antisemitic leader, but by sympathy, admiration and collaboration. The serious is told from the point of view of Phillip Levin, played by Azhy Robertson (Marriage Story and Invasion), who is the fictional Philip Roth. The Plot Against America also stars Anthony Boyle (Tolkien and Manhunt) and David Krumholtz (The Deuce and Living Biblically).
Shtisel
If you haven’t seen Shtisel yet, you are sorely missing out on one of the best shows, not only to come out of Israel, but on Netflix entirely. The show literally has a 100% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Yes, it is that good.
Shtisel tells the story of a Haredi family living in Jerusalem through all of their hopes and struggles in daily life. It centers on Rabbi Shulem Shtisel, a learned and well-meaning rabbi at a boys’ school played by Dov Glickman (Zehu Ze!, Big Bad Wolves, Stockholm, The Conductor) and his son Akiva Shtisel, a young, creative and bohemian artist played by Michael Aloni (Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, Plan A, Love You Charlie, Scenes From a Marriage).
Shulem, a widow, and Akiva, a bachelor, are both tasked with finding a suitable wife, a ubiquitous obligation in Haredi society. In the first season, Ayelet Zurer (Munich, Man of Steel, Losing Alice) is all heart as she plays Elisheva, Akiva’s love interest. Through their heartwarming and at times hilarious adventures in romance, we see the beauty of these characters and life in a Haredi community as an insider through their eyes.
The extraordinary thing about Shtisel is how interconnected the characters are and how their problems overlap and mimic each other. Shulem has a steady and respected job while Akiva struggles to find a “real” career as a portrait painter, and perhaps himself, yet to find a suitable wife, both must stop being selfish and grow up. It is difficult not to get attached to the characters in Shtitsel as we watch them grow in sometimes very surprising and deeply fulfilling character arks.
The stories with Shulem’s daughter, Giti, and her children are just as compelling. Giti Weiss and her husband Lipa Weiss played by Neta Riskin (The Spy, Damascus Cover, Shelter) and Zohar Strauss (PMTA, Srugim, The Well) respectively have their problems too. Giti desires nothing more than to keep her family together and maintain a respected name in the community, first by marrying her daughter to a good man and by stopping her husband from his own self-imposed mishaps and hijinks. Shira Haas (Unorthodox and Captain America: New World Order) plays Ruchama, Giti and Lipa’s impressionistic and impatient daughter who desires a life of her own.
Shtitsel gives us both Jewish and universal themes above love and lost, perseverance and redemption, adherence to tradition and its clash with modern life. If you want to watch something that is equal parts interesting, incredibly moving and through its characters will touch your soul, this is the show for you.
Tehran
Tehran is one of the best spy series we have ever seen. It is also the first television show to seriously tackle the ongoing war between the Iranian regime and Israel. The first two seasons have been absolutely amazing. Tehran starts Niv Sultan (Traitor, That Dirty Black Bag, She Has It) as Tamar Rabinyan, a highly skilled hacker and Mossad agent who must find a way to stop Iran from gaining the ability to build a nuclear bomb. To do this, she goes deep undercover in Tehran, but must evade the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) when plans go awry and she is stuck in an enemy country. Shaun Toub (who is Jewish; Homeland, The Kite Runner, Iron Man) plays Faraz, the main IRGC man in charge of tracking her down.
Tehran is not shy about showing the other side. It actively humanizes the Iranians that are otherwise seeking Israel’s destruction. We see this motif, for instance, in Shila Ommi’s (Little America, The Illegal, The Bold Type) Nahid, Faraz’s sickly wife. But on the other side, we see the Iranian opposition, fed up with the autocratic and dictatorial regime, that make common cause with Israel. Shervin Alenabi (The Bureau, Gangs of London, Baghdad in My Shadow) plays Milad, Tamar’s main Iranian contact and partner and Navid Negahban (Homeland, Alladin, 12 Strong) a selfless and fearless leader in the opposition.
What makes Tehran so important is that shines a light on the rich diversity of the Jewish people, the ongoing persecution of Jews in Iran today and the medieval lengths the Iranian regime will go to hurt and kill Jews as it seeks to export its Shia revolution. Tamar’s team are all Persian Jews whose family were expelled from Iran despite Iranian Jewry’s 2,500 existence.
Liraz Charhi (Acre Dreams, Where Do You Live?, A Late Quartet), the actress and popular singer plays Yael, one such team member. The national urgency and zero-sum Israeli mission is always present. Israel must succeed or there is no more Jewish state. We see these odds through jam-packed sequences and many twists and turns. Tehran is simply just an incredible show.
By Aaron Gold. Aaron Gold is a writer and the founder of The Hasmonean.
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