18 February 21 • 2019
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continued on page 20

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER 
 
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

S

htisel, an engaging Israeli television 
drama about the life, loves and losses 
of a haredi Jewish family in Jerusalem, 
has captured the interest of viewers in 
Israel, Detroit and around the world. 
Detroit is important to note because two 
West Bloomfield women run a popular 
Facebook group about the series called 
“Shtisel — Let’
s Talk About It.
” 
The Shtisel group’
s co-administrators, 
Mimi Cohen Markofsky and Nancy 
Federman Kaplan, are amazed by the 
group’
s growth to more than 4,600 mem-
bers (at press time) since launching Jan. 3. 
Of those members, 93 percent are women 
and 7 percent are men, and they come 
from nine countries outside the U.S. 
“
And more are asking to join every day,
” 
said Kaplan, who has been involved in 
adult Jewish education for many years, 
most recently at Congregation Beth Ahm 

in West Bloomfield.
Articles in Haaretz and other Israeli 
media provided Kaplan’
s introduction 
to Shtisel. The family saga is focused on 
patriarch Rabbi Shulem Shtisel, a widowed 
Talmud Torah educator who lives with his 
bachelor son, Akiva “Kive” Shtisel, who 
is in his late 20s. The two-season series, 
shown in 2013 and 2015-16 on Israel’
s Yes 
cable channel, received eight Israeli Film 
Academy awards and three nominations. 
When Kaplan learned last year that 
Shtisel would be streaming on Netflix start-
ing Dec. 14, “I plotzed (nearly collapsed) 
with joy,
” she said. “I’
m very interested in 
the world depicted in Shtisel, and I always 
appreciate the opportunity to learn more 
about people with whom I would not ordi-
narily come into contact.
”
Markofsky, a dental practice manager, 
discovered the series when she was home 
sick in bed and looking for something 
worthwhile on television. 
“I heard there were some good Israeli 
shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime,
” she 
said. Thumbing through the Netflix offer-
ings, she stumbled upon Shtisel and was 
quickly hooked.
Meanwhile, Kaplan’
s several posts about 
the show before and after New Year’
s Day 
inspired several of her Facebook friends 
to check out Shtisel, which has English 

subtitles.
Kaplan said her acquaintance Markofsky 
suggested they host a Shtisel discussion 
group on Facebook and volunteered to 
create it. Markofsky, a semi-retired kosher 
caterer, already was administrator of 
“Mimi’
s Just Desserts,
” her Facebook page 
for posting recipes and cooking tips.
 
Twenty-four hours after going live, 200 
approved members were commenting and 
posing questions about every aspect of 
Shtisel. 
Viewers of all religions and observance 
levels are drawn to the Israeli series, whose 
director is Alon Zingman. Markofsky was 
particularly intrigued by a member request 
from a Japanese woman living outside 
Okinawa. Like other Shtisel group mem-
bers, the woman found the show on Netflix 
and then the Facebook discussion group. 
Markofsky explained that “when you get 
to a certain level of members — a critical 
mass — Facebook develops an algorithm, 
so when someone puts in the word ‘
Shtisel,
’
 
our group pops up.
” 

DEMANDING ACCURACY
One draw for viewers is that the characters 
in Shtisel don’
t seek to leave their austere 
and highly structured Jewish community. 
This is simply where they belong. 
“The normalcy of the characters’
 reli-

Appeal

Local pair start a 
Facebook group 
for an Israeli TV 
series about an
ultra-Orthodox 
family.

ABOVE: The major cast 

members of Shtisel, an 

Israeli series shown 

on Netflix. 

SCREENSHOT/NETFLIX/NY JEWISH WEEK

jews d
in 
the

Shtisel

