Jewish Culture, According to Television
I wrote the script below for OpenDor Media, as an entry point into better understanding the vast range of Jewish Culture.
For most American Jews, being Jewish is cultural. On the day to day, the biggest connections to it involves things like stressful mothers, being self deprecating, and bagels.
But there’s another parallel version of cultural Judaism that most Americans don’t know the first thing about. Namely, what’s happening in Israel. So, how has Israel started to morph the nature of how people interact with Judaism? Is it still fair to say this is all part of a single culture?
What do we even mean by “Jewish Culture?”
For those who are traditionally religious, religion and culture are so intermingled and overlapping that it would be hard to distinguish culture from traditions.
But for everyone else, you know, “secular” Jews, does culture refer to anything created by someone who happens to be Jewish? Or is it specifically things related to Judaism?
Because the line between these two, between things that are made by people who happen to be Jewish and things that are explicitly Jewish, is significantly less black and white once you start getting into it.
I could use all sorts of examples to demonstrate this: music, movies, books, poetry, etc. But this being a visual medium and the 21st century, let’s focus on a single cultural art form: Television.
There are certain shows that broadcast their Judaism, like Transparent.
PLAY CLIP:
“Hineni, what is that?”
“It means ‘Here I am’ in Biblical Hebrew”
‘I love Hebrew. That’s so great’
And then there are others that are more subtle, like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.
PLAY CLIP:
“I’m really not sure which one’s the bigger shonda”
Well, that clip was fairly overt, but the rest of the series toes the line.
The show’s lead actor and co-creator, Rachel Bloom, proudly identifies as Jewish. She was roommates with Ilana Glaser, creator of Broad City.
PLAY CLIP:
“Wait - what’s a moil?
“Honestly are you Jewish? You’re not supposed to be on this trip if you’re not.”
And she previously created a Chanukah Album. Nuff said. While this is not explicitly a Jewish show, elements weave in and integrate Jewish culture. In one interview, this is how she described her character’s motivation:
“I think it is still a basic experience for Jewish people. You are American, but you’re not, you’re a part of it, but you’re not.”
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is just one of so many examples that I could use.
I could do the same talking about Mrs. Maisel, which calls back everything from Joan Rivers to Lenny Bruce to the Catskills and more.
Or Schitt’s Creek
PLAY CLIP:
“You might wanna talk to half my birthright trip about that”
Curb your Enthusiasm
PLAY CLIP:
“What is this thing? A shofar! Why’s this on your desk?”
“People give me gifts. They’ll give me, like that for my desk or the Mezuzah that’s on the door”
“What are you by the way?”
“I’m Swedish”
“I got a Swede Lawyer!”
There’s a long list. And again, this is just talking TV shows that aren’t solely focused on Judaism, but still steeped and influenced by Jewish culture. Add in music, food, books, any art - the examples are near endless.
That’s not to say that just because the creator is Jewish, their work automatically reflects Jewish culture. Art is a relationship between the creator and the receiver.
So in looking at, “What is Jewish Culture?” it’s as much of a question of what the person who made each piece thinks, as it is a question of how those viewing it, internalize it.
There’s a gradation of what culture means for each individual. Most American Jews define themselves as cultural. Not ritually observant or community driven, but, rather, culturally Jewish. And that might mean the Deli, Chanukah, and...anxiety. Or it might mean a collection of how they perceive their own identity, and how they receive culture in what they choose to watch, read, and listen to.
And this hazy line of what’s meant by Jewish Culture in America, is shared with a hazy line of what’s meant by Jewish culture in Israel.
But for completely different reasons.
In Israel, Jewish culture is in the air. It's in the language you speak, the holidays, the music. In the states, you go to your families to experience the Jewish holiday. But in Israel, Sukkot is nationally observed. On Passover there is a law against displaying bread in public. Nearly all Jews fast on Yom Kippur.
There's a national identity that is Jewish. The symbols are all Jewish. The parliament. The currency. Americans on teen trips visit Israel and come back feeling stronger about their Jewish identity because there's an aspect in the public sphere that fosters this sense of a collective Jewish identity.
The fact that Judaism there feels different is no accident. In the 1930’s there was a push to create a “new Jew.” An ethos of an Israeli.
Berdichevsky, a major proponent of this idea, said:
“We [...] are faced with the collision of “to be” with “not to be.” We will either be the last Jews or the first Hebrews.”
It was a rejection of the shtetl Jew. Going back to a Hebrew culture. Not a Yiddish Culture. Not a Ladino Culture. Not an Arabic culture.
It’s not just Hebrew as a language, it’s Hebrew as a concept, saying “we’re going back to our roots. A time of kings and judges.” The rituals once again connected to the land. Shavuot was actually a harvest festival again. You could see pomegranates come into bloom at Rosh Hashanah. This connection to the land was most prominently seen in Kibbutzim, which had an outsized cultural impact, even if only a small percentage of Israelis actually lived on them.
As the decades passed, and with continuing waves of immigration, the exact throughline defining how Israeli culture was shaped got more complex. There’s now a major influence from Mizrachi and Sephardic Jews, who immigrated from these areas and now make up over half of the Jewish population there. 20% of Israel is not Jewish, so that plays into the culture too. And the influence of more traditional Jewish customs has started weaving into pop culture as well. These ideas are explored in all sorts of ways in the arts, but let’s stick with television.
The show The Beauty and the Baker confronts the idea of Ashkenazi vs. Mizrachi culture.
Fauda confronts the issue of Palestinians and Israelis.
Shtisel explores Haredi, Ultra Orthodox, culture.
We could keep going with examples, but there's no need, because the point is, every example of culture in Israel by Jews, is a cultural Jewish example. Israeli Jewish culture is Israeli culture. It’s in the air.
What’s important to look at is how these two cultural realities have grown in parallel, mostly separate from each other. Most American Jews don’t really know about Israeli culture these days. Similarly, most Israeli Jews don’t really know what American Culture is these days. But both of these, are part of the evolution of what Jewish Culture is right now and what it will become tomorrow. And in looking at these two very different realities, a larger tapestry of the cultural side of Judaism begins to emerge.
The majority of Jews interact with Judaism culturally, whether in Israel or America or abroad. This aspect of Judaism should not be disregarded by more traditionally observant Jews, as it is Judaism to so many. For them, it defines being a part of the Jewish people. You could argue one of the best ways to help Judaism is by continuing to encourage and support Jewish culture, in its many forms. In this way, Judaism can continue to thrive and grow and evolve.