Ok, when the nurse (?) brought out the pillows I couldn't stop laughing. As someone who watched A LOT of daytime soaps in my childhood this is exactly what they do when everyone wants to fake a pregnancy! I don't consider Shtisel a soap opera but they sure do employ the stereotypes
Surrogacy is VERY expensive in Israel, more than 300K, so Im not really sure how they would have them do it realistically.
Maybe Nechama will end up gifting money somehow, toward the surrogacy.
Surrogacy is VERY expensive in Israel, more than 300K, so Im not really sure how they would have them do it realistically.
Somehow this family never really seems short of money.
I'm not so sure I understood what was so dangerous about more standard infertility treatment for her. Why was it pikuach nefesh to allow surrogacy? She would die of pining for a child? Why can't she get pregnant through Ivf and then deliver via cesarean? That would be covered by the kupah.
Surrogacy is VERY expensive in Israel, more than 300K, so Im not really sure how they would have them do it realistically.
Somehow this family never really seems short of money.
I'm not so sure I understood what was so dangerous about more standard infertility treatment for her. Why was it pikuach nefesh to allow surrogacy? She would die of pining for a child? Why can't she get pregnant through Ivf and then deliver via cesarean? That would be covered by the kupah.
It seems the pregnancy itself is dangerous for her, so much so that her she has an IUD inserted for 5 years.
I thought it was awfully unethical of the doctor to call her husband to warn him that she is going to take the IUD out. That could get him fired.
Surrogacy is VERY expensive in Israel, more than 300K, so Im not really sure how they would have them do it realistically.
Maybe Nechama will end up gifting money somehow, toward the surrogacy.
I just looked online, and it seems surrogacy here is 250k nis if you don't need an egg donation (which it seems they wouldn't). And some places will allow you to pay over ten years.
That said, I agree that Nechama will probably end up being asked for some of the money. And it will be problematic, because to do so they will have to share the fact that Ruchami isn't the one who is going to be pregnant.
Well, I know zero about wigs of any sort but perhaps Libby's wig stands out b/c she is from chutz la'aretz, from Belgium, no? Maybe that is what the women wear there?
Dunno - we also disliked her sheitel!
They should've asked us imamothers first
I thought maybe the seller lied about Libby as a sales pitch (and so did my son, who watched it another time). I guess not I don't like it... find a different theme already.
I also assume there will be flashbacks.
Interesting it was kept so secret and didn't leak
Thanks to Rainbow Dash who posted the link for Sdarot. This way, us Americans can also watch it.
About the shidduch mixup:
I thought it was cute that Menucha said, "this is not a Chaim Walder story!" The first thing I thought of was that they copied the idea from one of Chaim Walder's stories.
There were a few hints during the date that foreshadowed that she was safardi. She called him Yossi, and he said "I'm usually called Yossela." Yossela is clearly not a sefardi pronunciation.
Also, "ochila," he pronounced it "Ochila" with the stress on the first syllable. And she said "oCHIla" with the stress on the second syllable. (Anyone else found Yossela's pronunciation weird? Yes, many words are pronounced differently between ashkenazi and sefardim, but I wouldn't think that Ochila is one of them.)
To the poster who thought it was weird that he sings that song, I dont agree. It doesnt mean that its sung in his shul. During davening they probably sing Ochila to a traditional niggun. But he is singing it as just a song. I dont think it's such a modern song. It was composed more than 10 years ago (I believe) by an Israeli ben Torah, Hillel Paley. I believe he is a mashgiach somewhere in Eretz Yisroel or rosh Yeshiva. And this song made its rounds all over the Yeshiva world. So not so weird that Yossela would know it.
On the other hand, Davenen is a very new song. That was interesting that they would sing it at the dinner.
Finally. The name Shira should have raised eyebrows. As far as I know, it is NOT a name that would be used in a community like the one the Shtissels belong to. It is not a traditional name at all and, in fact, Rav Chaim Kanieveski is known to be against people naming their child Shira. However it is very common in the sefardi circles. So Shira Levinson does not really make so much sense, though Shira Levi does.
Two more comments:
In the flashback of the wedding, Libby looked like a kalla. But Akiva should have gotten a haircut. He always looks very scruffy. At least for the wedding he should have looked neater.
I was very disturbed by the way the men from from the School board treated Shulem. Even if they have to let him go, there is a way to talk to a person. He is older than all of them. They should have dealt with him more tactfully.
Why would Racheli become a surrogate? She is steeped in money, so it wouldn't be for financial gain.
And it wouldn't solve her loneliness, only make it worse.
In any case, in Israel I believe it's illegal to be a surrogate if you don't have two children (or one?) of your own.
Love interest for Akiva - definitely.
I know two women who did it as a chessed.
One did take money, but not nearly as much as the sums that have been floated here, mainly as compensation for the hit that her business took due to the pregnancy and recovery after birth and for some expenses.
Maybe Racheli has children who are not living with her for some reason?
I know two women who did it as a chessed.
One did take money, but not nearly as much as the sums that have been floated here, mainly as compensation for the hit that her business took due to the pregnancy and recovery after birth and for some expenses.
Maybe Racheli has children who are not living with her for some reason?
Her hair isn’t covered so I don’t know how realistic that is
I know two women who did it as a chessed.
One did take money, but not nearly as much as the sums that have been floated here, mainly as compensation for the hit that her business took due to the pregnancy and recovery after birth and for some expenses.
Maybe Racheli has children who are not living with her for some reason?
Yes I know some women in Israel do it out of ideology. But Racheli doesn't look like the type.
I agree with all of babypink's comments and I enjoyed everyone else's too.
I didn't like how Libi looked in the wedding flashback. The wedding is when a woman is at her most beautiful and she looked disappointing. It made me wonder if Hadas Yaron moved on to star in a different film and they had another actress stand in for her. Her gown was awful too, stiff and fit her poorly, didn't show off her figure the way the clothes she wore in earlier episodes did. Both Libi as a kallah and her gown look better in the wedding portrait Akiva painted than in the post wedding scene.
I think Racheli will become the next pretty girl Akiva is interested in. When Akiva told her off and insulted her it reminded me of a lot of other romance plot lines where the couple start out fighting with each other and end up in love. I don't think she's going to be Ruchami's surrogate.
Some things are so authentic they could only have been written by insiders but there's the occasional gaffe, like Shira telling Yosse'le to write on her hand. Shulem Shtisel is the best actor ever and I don't think any of you will argue with me about that.
I don't like it... find a different theme already.
