BY JUDY GRUEN
The Netflix show “Shtisel” is addictive to many viewers, as the phenomenally popular Israeli drama about a Charedi family living in the Geulah neighborhood of Jerusalem immediately draws you into the characters’ lives.
They include the 60-something Reb Shulem Shtisel, the widowed classroom rabbi; his daughter, Giti, whose nefarious husband has run off to Argentina, abandoning her and their five children; and Shulem’s youngest child, handsome 27-year-old Rabbi Akiva, or “Kive,” hiding the sketchbook filled with his outstanding illustrations, knowing that pursuing a career as an artist would be scandalous.
Developed by Abot Hameiri Productions for the Israeli satellite service yes, the show originally was broadcast in Israel in 2013. Over its two seasons, it racked up more than a dozen Israeli TV awards.
The success of the show that trains its camera on a little-known world is due, in part, to the show’s creators having lived this life. Yehonatan Indursky grew up in a Charedi family and attended the Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, while Ori Elon attended a yeshiva in Efrat.