L ifestyle /C ulture
‘Shrink Next Door’ Looks for Breakthroughs
T E L EV ISION
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH is
a Greek text that every physician
and medical professional takes
when beginning their career. It’s
a promise to “do no harm” and
prioritize the patient above all else,
lest the doctor loses their license
and the patient their wellbeing.

Apple TV+’s limited series
“The Shrink Next Door,” which
premiered on Nov. 12, pushes
the meaning of the Hippocratic
Oath through the troubled and
troubling behavior of a charis-
matic and calculating therapist.

Adapted from the Wondery
and Bloomberg podcast of the
same name by Joe Nocera and
based on a true story, the series
shows the 30-year relation-
ship between psychiatrist Isaac
“Ike” Herschkopf (Paul Rudd)
and patient Marty Markowitz
(Will Ferrell), which skirts the
20 NOVEMBER 25, 2021
Katheryn Hahn as Phyllis Shapiro, Marty’s worried and opinionated sister
Courtesy of AppleTV+
line between comradery and
manipulation. Rudd — whose Jewish grand-
parents changed their name
from Rudnitsky — portrays Dr.

Ike as an easy-going, gregarious
man: He’s a smiling thera-
pist and active member of his
Modern Orthodox synagogue.

As a Jewish man himself, Rudd
captures the familiar New York
diction toned down by his
character’s affluent lifestyle.

Dr. Ike takes on new patient
Marty after Marty’s sister
(Kathryn Hahn, beloved shiksa)
witnesses Marty’s persistent
anxiety around his inherited
fabric business. Marty bears a
bit of a resemblance to Ferrell’s
character in the Saturday Night
Live sketch “More Cowbell,”
completed with bushy, curly
locks and thick beard, albeit with
less midriff and less cowbell.

He’s a bit schlubby and
pathetic, and Ferrell’s New York
accent tends to come and go,
perhaps exposing himself as a
Californian gentile.

The duo’s differences are
pointedly shown when Ike takes
Marty to a Korean restaurant
— which he describes as a deli
— to continue their session over
lunch. (Ike makes it clear to Marty
that he’ll still have to pay for the
session’s extra hour.) Ike sits down
and begins contentedly slurping
noodles with chopsticks. Marty
shyly orders a turkey sandwich
with nothing else on it.

During the series, Ike takes
advantage of Marty’s delicate state
and tendency to be taken advan-
tage of, first by building him up,
then by knocking him down.

The series doesn’t waste
any time testing Marty and his
relationship with his therapist,
who is a walking HIPAA viola-
tion, disclosing his patience’s
identity around his affluent
New York neighborhood. Local
JEWISH EXPONENT
From left: Will Ferrell plays patient Marty Markowitz and Paul Rudd plays
therapist Ike Herschkopf in “The Shrink Next Door.”
Courtesy of Apple TV +
park-goers, chess players and
rabbis alike know Marty as
Ike’s patient, which is perhaps
a product of antiquated thera-
peutic practices from the ’80s,
or an intentional exaggeration
of Ike’s “unconventional” (read:
unethical) practices.

With two well-known
comedic actors in these two
opposing roles, the audience
can expect some laughs to ensue
and, though the show is billed
as a drama, it doesn’t shy away
from putting Rudd and Ferrell
into preposterous situations.

But it’s difficult at times for the
audience to tell whether the show
is an earnest commentary on the
ability of doctor-patient relation-
ships to become abusive or if it’s a
dramatization of two people’s true
stories. Either way, the writing
strays into farcical territory.

“Shrink Next Door” raises
the stakes quickly — Ike’s
manipulation of Marty is laid
on thick rather than insidious
and slow to burn.

In the show’s second episode,
Ike suggests Marty have a second
bar mitzvah, though, as sister
Phyllis explains, Marty has
already had a bar mitzvah as a
13-year-old, complete with the
participation of his loving family
and prerequisite gastrointestinal
emergencies. The episode — spoilers ahead
— spotlights Marty practicing the
prayers for an aliyah, which Ferrell
manages to pull off with more
success than his New York accent,
and toward the end of the episode,
he ascends to the bimah to read
his Torah portion before freezing
up, only to be assisted by Ike, who
has been dutifully standing beside
him the entire time.

The two finish leyning Marty’s
Torah portion together before the
synagogue erupts with applause.

To a Jewish audience, the
discomfort of this moment is
palpable. It’s clear that even in the
sophomore episode of the show,
Ike has a stronghold over Marty.

But more disturbingly, Ike has
facilitated a pissing contest during
the most sacred part of a Shabbat
service — something clear to a
Jewish audience, but maybe not as
obvious to a gentile one.

For a show that relies heavily
on non-Jewish cast members
to portray Jewish characters,
“The Shrink Next Door” has
no problem delving into Jewish
culture and religion. But with
Rudd and Ferrell not pulling any
punches with acting out their
clear power differential, is it
necessary to show the intimacy
of Jewish practices for the sake of
dramatic effect?
The show is generous with
letting the audience know that Ike
will cross boundaries. At times,
it makes it just as clear that it
will cross a boundary with the
audience as well.

Episode five of the show is
available to stream on Nov. 25. l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



T orah P ortion
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
Chanukah 5782
BY RABBI ELCHONON FRIEDMAN
Parshat Vayeshev
THIS COMING WEEK we
will be celebrating the holiday
of Chanukah, the holiday of
lights. We will celebrate many
miracles: the victory of the few
over the many, the victory of
the righteous over the wicked
and the victory of the weak
over the mighty.

These miracles provide great
life lessons in how to have faith
in oneself and face the greatest
obstacles and overcome them.

Yet all these miracles really
occurred in the days before
Chanukah, for when we light
the menorah in our homes we
will be celebrating a miracle
that occurred after the wars
were won and the battles had
ceased. So yes, we mention
these miracles in our prayers,
but the eight nights and days of
Chanukah, with the lighting of
the menorah and the associated
blessings, actually celebrate the
miracle of the oil.

It was after the Greeks
were defeated, and the Jewish
people returned to restore the
Holy Temple and its service
— including the lighting of
the holy menorah — that the
miracle of the oil happened.

When the Jewish people
arrived, the temple lay in ruins,
and no untampered oil was to
be found. They searched and
miraculously found one jug of
olive oil still intact and sealed
with the seal of the High Priest.

This jug only had enough oil
to last one day, but the Jewish
people lit the menorah and the
oil burned for eight days. In
celebration of this miracle, we
light a menorah for the eight
nights of Chanukah.

The lessons of this miracle
are plenty. One lesson is that a
pure heart and soul can always
burn miraculously beyond
one’s wildest dreams. If we just
tap into the very pure unadul-
terated good that is our very
essence, warmth, light and
miracles will be natural. No
darkness can stand in the way
of light, and since our hearts
and souls are G-dly light,
we just need fuel to burn. A
mitzvah or a good deed is the
Nov. 26
Dec. 3
fuel of our soul, and with our
G-dly essence we can trans-
form our inner darkness as
well as the dark outside that
threatens our Judaism, tradi-
tions and morals.

There is one more miracle
that we should not overlook:
The Jewish people at the time
of Chanukah, weary from war,
tired from battle, overcome
with grief at the ruins of the
Beit HaMikdash, and seeing
that the Greeks deliberately
defiled all that was holy, were
still certain that a pure flask
of oil remained. They saw
that every jug was broken, the
menorah itself destroyed, pigs
were brought onto the altar,
and yet they knew there was a
pure flask of oil with the seal
of the High Priest still intact
somewhere. These are the true miracles
of Chanukah: First, that each
one of us, man, woman and
child, always has a pure heart
and soul at his or her very
essence. Sometimes it may be
lost, but it is always there.

Second, that we never lose
hope or stop searching for
this very essential good. As in
the days of the Maccabees, we
continue our search, and with
G-d’s help we will find that
perfect good within.

Third, it is the very fact
that we believe in this essen-
tial good that allows the weak
to fight the mighty and the
righteous the wicked. We fight
for this good even when not
fully recognized or matured.

Fourth, just the belief that
one’s essential good exists will
cause the miracle that the weak
will overcome the mighty. Just
the belief in one’s inner good
will propel one to a state where
they will overcome the greatest
obstacles and adversaries.

Fifth, the light of one’s inner
goodness and G-dliness will
start shining a little — first
one flame on a dark night, and
then becoming two lights, and
three and four, and the light
will spread through the home,
and then to the neighborhood
and streets.

Our inner lights are eternal
miracles, eternal good that
has no boundaries and limits,
and once one discovers it and
4:20 p.m.

4:18 p.m.

fans its flames, darkness will
recede, ice will melt and people
will change for the better.

Discover your inner self,
take a look at that beautiful
menorah flame shining through
your window, and then look in
the mirror and see that flame
burning within. Let it shine
in your actions with another
mitzvah: a favor for another
person, lighting a Shabbat
candle or putting a mezuzah on
your door. Celebrate who you
are and your inner light will
shine ever brighter.

And never lose faith in the
fact that G-d and goodness is
always within, always perfect,
created and sealed by G-d
Himself. Look and you will
find, taste and you will enjoy,
open your eyes and you will
see, there is always a miracle
within. Have a good Shabbat and a
happy Chanukah. l
Rabbi Elchonon Friedman is the
spiritual leader of Bnai Emunoh
Chabad in Pittsburgh. This column
is a service of the Vaad Harabanim
of Greater Pittsburgh.

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