In defense of the hot rabbi

Netflix’s latest chart-topper, Nobody wants thatis about a gorgeous sex podcaster who falls in love with a charming rabbi. What’s not to love? Here’s a very accessible story about Jews that isn’t about escaping an ultra-Orthodox island community to become a fashion mogul, or escaping an ultra-Orthodox island community and moving to Berlin, or even just the Holocaust.

Instead, we get a brilliant ten-episode season that could appeal to everyone – even if it touched a few nerves.

The drama arises from the fact that the podcaster Joanne, played by Kristen Bell, is one Shiksa– a non-Jewish woman. It is based on the life story of its creator Shiksa Erin Foster (she’s a convert!). In real life, Foster fell in love with a Jewish entertainment executive. In the show, Joanne is drawn into the LA Jewish scene through her sizzling relationship with Rabbi Noah, played by Adam Brody, to the chagrin of her family, his family, their listeners and his community. Hence the title, Nobody wants that.

But the two more or less successfully navigate the differences between their families, friends and jobs, as well as their difficulties in dating over 30. Joanne struggles to win over Noah’s immigrant mother (played by Broadway star Tovah Feldshuh), determined that her son will have one will marry Jews, and to whom Joanne mistakenly gives a charcuterie board filled with pork. Noah is forced to admit that he is hiding Joanne from important people in his life because he fears that her relationship could jeopardize his promotion to the synagogue’s chief rabbi. It’s a classic romantic comedy.

The show had nearly 16 million views as it rose to the top of the Netflix charts, and a second season was just announced. It’s not hard to see why: the plot moves along quickly and the dialogue hits the zeitgeist without sounding like it was written by ChatGPT. Bell and Brody have great chemistry. And perhaps most importantly, Joanne is relatively imperfect.

But not everyone feels comfortable No one. Time, The New York Times, The Sunday Timesand some Jewish publications accused the series of playing into stereotypes, particularly when it comes to the female characters. Esther Zuckerman accused the show of portraying Jewish women as “whiners” and “harpies.” Elizabeth Karpen thought the Jewish female characters were “judgmental, needy and mean.” Many others complained about the insinuation that the impeccable Rabbi Noah could not be blamed for reaching for the beautiful and, above all, blonde goddess Joanne.

However, in most cases the jokes are at Joanne’s expense. She’s insecure: In one episode, she’s curious about a box containing Noah’s ex’s things. In another, she’s put off by Noah trying too hard to make a good impression on her parents. She can be overzealous, sex-obsessed and reactive – traits that make her human and endearing as a character. They also mean that criticism of the show’s portrayal of Jewish women is ineffective. Unlike Joanne, the worst thing about the Jewish women in the series, namely Noah’s sister-in-law Esther (played by Jackie Tohn), is that they are loud and loyal. To that I say: No comment.

Plus, the premise of this series isn’t exactly new, and the fact is that about 72 percent of non-Orthodox Jews have married outside the faith as of 2010. The film existed in the 1920s Abies Irish Roseand a television series in the 1970s Bridget loves Bernie– both are about Jewish men who fall in love and marry outside the tribe. And then there is Keep the faiththe perfect 2000 New York interfaith romantic comedy in which Ed Norton plays a Catholic priest who encourages his best friend, a rabbi played by Ben Stiller, to date their mutual childhood friend, a blonde gentile (Jenna Elfman). to be. despite the complications it will bring.

What’s refreshing about that? Nobody wants that is that Noah, through Joanne, is not looking for a way out of his Judaism or the Jewish women in his life. Noah loves and respects his parents and enjoys his role as a rabbi. He’s a person trying to make it work.

That’s the biggest part of the show – that Joanne’s family wouldn’t want that. A charming, well-balanced, good working man in Los Angeles in 2024 with no criminal record who wants to marry your sister? There’s no one who wouldn’t force Joanne — who, at the start of the show, is burned out by LA’s ungodly dating scene — into an Uber and send her to dinner at a kosher sushi restaurant in Pico-Robertson to seal it the deal.

And yes, the series isn’t exactly Talmudic in its Jewish teachings. Judaism is more than the bat mitzvah party themes, delicacies, guilt and the specter of intermarriage. But it’s a real, fresh comedy that portrays Jews as funny, normal and loving. And after the year we’ve had, is it so bad to just unplug and watch a navy yarmulke balance on Adam Brody’s curls while you make out with Kristen Bell on the streets of LA? Isn’t that what we all want?

Suzy Weiss is a reporter at The Free Press. Read her article “The Professional Idiots Are in Trouble” and follow her on X @SnoozyWeiss.

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