Srugim
Srugim | |
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Yes Stars | |
Release | June 23, 2008 January 29, 2012 | –
Srugim (
It enjoyed high ratings, from both the religious and non-religious sects in Israel,[3] as well as with American Jews.[4] Many of the American Jews compared the issues of the characters in the show to those of the Upper West Side.[5] The show won five Israeli Academy of Film and Television Awards.
In 2012 it was announced that the show would not be picked up for a fourth season.[6]
Plot
Season 1
Yifat and Hodaya, who went to an all-girls school together, now share an apartment in Katamon, the hub of religious singles' social life in Jerusalem. Yifat meets Nati, a childhood friend who is now a doctor, and he introduces the two women to his roommate, Amir, a recently divorced teacher. Reut, an accountant who is also a religious feminist, joins their small band. The five are all Orthodox Jews, unmarried, and in their late twenties or early thirties; they must cope with a society that expects people to get married while young.
Yifat falls for Nati, who seems oblivious. When she confesses her feelings, he admits he knew it all along but does not reciprocate. Hodaya, who is becoming less pious, meets Avri, a secular archaeologist; they date, but Hodaya hides her religious lifestyle from him. Amir must deal with the stigma of being divorced, which hampers his chances to enter a new relationship; when he encounters his divorcée, Na'ama, their mutual loneliness leads them to have sex. They must
Reut begins to lose interest in Yochai. Although intending to consummate her relationship with Avri, Hodaya flinches at the last moment, and she decides to end their romance, stating that the differences between them are too great. Tired of Jerusalem, Yifat moves to a quiet
Season 2
Season 2 began approximately six months after the conclusion of season 1. Amir and Yifat get married, and now must cope with the new hardships, including fertility problems and the need to observe
Season 3
Yifat finally becomes pregnant. Roi has turned
Characters
Main
- Dr. Nethaniel "Nati" Brenner portrayed by Ohad Knoller
- Amir Yechezkel portrayed by Amos Tamam
- Yifat portrayed by Ya'el Sharoni
- Hodaya Baruchin portrayed by Tali Sharon
- Reut Rosen portrayed by Sharon Fauster
Recurring
- Chaya portrayed by Sara von Schwarze
- Dr. Avri Sagiv portrayed by Zohar Strauss
- Elisheva portrayed by Ma'ayan Weinstock
- Yochai portrayed by Moti Brecher
- Naama portrayed by Noa Kooler, Amir's ex-wife
- Roi Brenner portrayed by Uri Lachmi
- Ezra ben Atar portrayed by Yisrael Breit
- Tehila portrayed by Dikla Elkaslassy
- Asaf portrayed by Gal Pertziger
- Nati's father portrayed by Michael Warshaviak
- Nitzan portrayed by Yuval Scharf
- Dafna portrayed by Nati Kluger
- Shmuel portrayed by Uri Gavriel
- Vera portrayed by Raymonde Abecassis
- Chani portrayed by Shira Katzenelenbogen
- Faigi portrayed by Mali Levi
- Shani portrayed by Liat Harlev
- Stacy portrayed by Shira Katz
- Clumsy waitress portrayed by Alena Yiv
Episodes
Series | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 15 | 23 June 2008 | 6 October 2008 | |
2 | 15 | 10 January 2010 | 9 May 2010 | |
3 | 15 | 23 October 2011 | 29 January 2012 |
Production
Laizy Shapiro and Havvaah Deevon became acquainted while studying in the Ma'aleh School of Television, Film and the Arts.[7] In 2005, the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund announced its intention to create a picture about religious-secular relations and held a contest for a script. Shapiro and Deevon submitted a treatment for a romantic comedy about a relationship between a bachelor living in Ramat Gan and a young settler from Hebron. Shapiro told her he had a similar idea already in his second year in Ma'ale, in 2000. Their entry was rejected, but they met Jonathan Aroch, a veteran producer, who served as their mentor during the competition. Aroch suggested they write another outline. Their second script concerned a religious single from Jerusalem named Nati, who is frustrated with dating and has resolved to give it only another year and then marry the first woman he encounters. This second entry was also declined. Shapiro and Divon returned to their regular jobs.
A year later, Aroch contacted both again, suggesting they make a television series about the religious singles scene in Jerusalem, the so-called "Katamon swamp" or "marsh".
After Yes bought the rights, Aroch hired a group of screenwriters, many of them Ma'ale alumni and residents of the "swamp" themselves. Divon, Shapiro and their team wrote a full screenplay for a first season of fifteen episodes. Shapiro was also chosen to direct it. Auditions were held in September and October 2007. Towards the end of the second month, Aroch himself selected the final name of the show, Srugim – alluding to the crocheted skullcaps worn by national religious men, which distinguish them from other sectors.[10] Principal photography was held in the winter of 2008. All studio filming was carried out in Tel-Aviv, but external photography occurred in Jerusalem and in Nofei Prat, which served as the fictional settlement to which Yifat moves.
The second season was shot in the summer of 2009. Principal photography for the third season began on 21 February 2010. In early May 2012, though the last season was considered the most successful so far, Shapiro and Divon announced they would not produce a fourth one, and the show was terminated.[11]
In February 2010, the series began to air on The Jewish Channel in the United States.[12]
As of 2017, all of the series is available on Amazon Prime.
Reception
Awards
Year | Association | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Israeli Academy of Film and Television | Best drama series | Won | |
Best script | Won | |||
Best actress | Ya'el Sharoni | Won | ||
Tali Sharon | Nominated | |||
Best costume design | Seri Sobol | Won | ||
Best director | Laizy Shapiro | Nominated | ||
Best actor | Ohad Knoler | Nominated | ||
2010 | Best drama | Nominated | ||
Best script | Nominated | |||
Best director | Nominated | |||
Best actor | Amos Tamam | Nominated | ||
Ohad Knoller | Nominated | |||
Best actress | Ya'el Sharoni | Nominated | ||
Tali Sharon | Nominated | |||
2012 | Best drama series | Nominated |
Source:[13]
Reviews
Jeffrey Woolf, a Bar-Ilan University expert on Orthodox Jewish portrayals in the media, explains why this series has become popular not only with the secular "TV-watching" community, but also with many members of modern orthodoxy:
It's really the first time that the religious community has been represented in a non-stereotyped way on television.... Religious characters are usually cartoon-like in their superficiality, either because of malice or because of ignorance....
He claims that the show is important for both the religious and secular elements, because while many of the modern orthodox viewers can finally see characters with whom they identify, it offers secular viewers access to "an entire [religious] world that is normally inaccessible”.[14]
A number of writers note that the phenomenon of a growing number of Jewish singles in the religious community is one factor in the show's popularity, because it is unprecedented in Jewish history, where marriages between religiously observant men and women traditionally occurred while both partners were young.[15] Many reasons contribute to this change, including the financial ability of women to live on their own, rather than under the "protection" of their husband, but whatever the reasons, this change has created many new questions and challenges in their lives.[16]
Yair Rosenberg writes in the Jewish Review of Books that the program has become an "Israeli pop culture phenomenon."[17] However, while he agrees that the show has become extremely popular among members of both the religious and non-religious communities, there have been some detractors, including Rabbi Shlomo Aviner:[18]
One prominent rabbi went so far as to place the show under a religious ban, citing the questionable conduct of various dati characters on the show. "There is bad language and licentiousness. It is not enough to be 'shomer negiah' [to observe the prohibition against touching someone of the opposite sex], and this is also not always followed [on the show]—one needs purity and modesty," he wrote.[17]
References
- ^ No Sex in the City: On Srugim
- ^ The Best TV Show of 2014 Is From 2008
- ^ An Unexpected Orthodox Television Hit: Long May Srugim Run
- ^ Fans fret over fate of popular TV show
- ^ The Women of Israel's Hit TV Show 'Srugim'
- ^ As 'Srugim' ends, yarmulkes disappear from prime-time TV
- ^ "This School Makes Film a Kosher Career Course," The Wall Street Journal, Dec 17, 2008.
- ^ Reina Rutlinger-Reiner. "Drowning in the Marsh": Israeli Orthodox Theatrical Representations of the Singles Scene. Israel Studies, Volume 16, Number 3, Fall 2011, pp. 73-96.
- ^ Danny Spector. Sex and the holy city. YNET, 25 June 2008.
- ISBN 978-1611680799. p. 45.
- ^ Yitzhak Tessler. As 'Srugim' ends, yarmulkes disappear from prime-time TV. YNET, 7 May 2012.
- ^ The Jewish Channel information on Srugim.
- ^ Srugim
- ^ Frum Friends Storm Israeli TV, The Jewish Chronicle Online, Jan 21, 2010.
- ^ "Swamped with Singles," Jerusalem Post, Jan 19, 2010.
- ^ "A Modern Orthodox Friends," JewCentral.com, Nov 4, 2009.
- ^ a b No Sex in the City: On Srugim, Yair Rosenberg, Jewish Review of Books, Spring 2010, [1]
- ^ Rabbi: It's okay to multi-date if you're old. YNET, 14 August 2008.