H eadlines
Local Orthodox Jews React to ‘My Unorthodox Life’
her Orthodox community.

Haas was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award and a
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
Primetime Emmy Award for
THE NETFLIX REALITY “Unorthodox.”
For the most part, Jews in the
series “My Unorthodox Life”
local Orthodox communities
has an entire section on its
who spoke
with the Exponent
Wikipedia page devoted to
didn’t criticize
the shows as
the critical response from the
antisemitic or
anti-Orthodox. Jewish community.

Among Orthodox Jews Rather, they said the shows
in the Philadelphia area, the are superficial and specific
sentiment about the show, to the experiences of the real
which premiered in July, isn’t characters behind their stories,
Haart and Deborah Feldman,
much different.

Rabbis and community the woman whose 2012
members alike denounced the autobiography, “Unorthodox:
series based on the story of The Scandalous Rejection of
Julia Haart, a woman who left My Hasidic Roots,” inspired
her Orthodox community to “Unorthodox.”
Sensational stories and
become a fashion designer,
as well as “Unorthodox,” exaggerated portrayals of
another recent Netflix show communities perceived as
starring Israeli actress Shira rejecting modern values, like
Haas, about a girl who escapes liberation and unbounded
ROOSEVELT L OCA L
self-actualization, are more Harav B’nai Jacob, is nonethe-
likely to stand out in a crowded less familiar with the shows
content space, according to and the conversations around
local Orthodox community them.

Leizerowski said that
members. Shows like these
confirm secular values and women like Haart are part
otherize people who aren’t of the “miniscule percentage
that go off the path of their
secular. “It’s a very sensational story, Orthodox upbringing.”
“Every religious
and so they can portray a certain
element of Jews as backward, social group has exceptions,”
outdated, restricted,” said Leizerowski said. “They do not
Rabbi Yehuda Shemtov, the represent the group.”
Jacob Oslick said portrayals of
The rabbi pointed to a May Orthodox
executive director of the
Jews in popular culture
Lubavitch of Bucks County. “It 2021 Pew report as evidence are too often stereotypical.

Courtesy of Jacob Oslick
just fits their narrative.”
that the Netflix shows didn’t
Several local rabbis said capture the story of modern
they didn’t watch either Netflix Orthodoxy. In the report, Pew to Haart. “We have been
show and don’t believe their found that 17% of Jews between increasing at a faster rate than
congregants have, either. Some the ages of 18 and 29 identified any Jewish group.”
added that they don’t even as Orthodox, a number that
Gevura Davis, a Bala
Bulletin rose
Print in the Ad past decade.

Cynwyd resident, grew up
watch television.

“The Orthodox community Reform but transitioned to
One rabbi who fits into that
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is not
about this this
lady,” ad Orthodox
group, Yitzchok Leizerowski
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Every Tuesday of the Month
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Despite the controversy, Gevura Davis is excited that Netflix viewers are
taking an interest in traditional Judaism. 
Courtesy of Gevura Davis
as caricatures. But she said the
public attraction to the recent
slate of shows focusing on the
Orthodox world reveals the
same conclusion as the Pew
report: There’s a growing
interest in traditional Judaism.

Davis views the audience’s
curiosity as genuine.

“We have to be open and
inviting if people are curious
about our lifestyle,” she said.

Davis chose to be Orthodox
in college about 20 years ago.

She married Rabbi Binyomin
Davis, and they have five
children and run Aish Chaim,
a Jewish outreach organization
that offers classes, programs,
events and trips for Jews to
pursue “Jewish living and
learning in meaningful ways,”
according to its website.

Like Haart, Davis has
self-actualized. Unlike Haart,
she has done so by choosing to
become part of the Orthodox
world, not by escaping from it.

“We’re all trying to live our
best lives,” Davis said.

There is, at the very least,
one Netflix portrayal that offers
a more nuanced window into
the Orthodox world, according
to Jacob Oslick, a congregant
at the Center City synagogue,
Mikveh Israel: It’s “Shtisel,”
a dramatic series, also on
Netflix and now three seasons
in, about a Jerusalem family
and its traditional community.

Haas plays a prominent role in
that show, as well.

“It’s more difficult to
narrate than to lecture. That’s
the difference with ‘Shtisel,’”
Oslick said. “They were trying
to narrate the lives of the
characters, rather than lecture
that religion is bad.”
Oslick would still like to
see more nuanced depictions
of Orthodox communities on
television and other streaming
platforms, but said too many
portrayals — of religion as
burdensome and oppressive —
are like those of “My Unorthodox
Life” and “Unorthodox.”
“They’re catering to an
audience that agrees with
them,” Oslick added.

Rather than watch, for those
who are genuinely interested,
Oslick recommends visiting
Orthodox communities. And not
as tourists or anthropologists.

“But as people seeking to
learn.” l
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