Goines On: Curled sidelocks

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The Goineses had been watching the Israeli TV series Shtisel, a fictional story about a conservative (Haredi) Jewish family in Jerusalem who adhere strictly to their interpretation of Jewish law and values. The men wear religious vestments and curl their sidelocks. The Goineses found these people’s customs fascinating. But hardly anyone in the huge Shtisel family seems happy, and it was impossible to watch the series without sharing their sadness.

Michael Aloni as Akiva Shtisel

    The Goineses were listening to classical music on their drive to Costco the morning after the episode in which the drawing talent of the youngest Shtisel, twenty-something son Akiva, comes to the attention of a big-name Haredi artist. Akiva is invited to the artist’s studio, where he is dismayed to learn that the artist doesn’t do his own paintings but only signs works others do for hire. It turns out the artist invited Akiva because he wonders whether Akiva would like to try his hand….
    A sad-sounding composition started playing on the radio. “This music reminds me of the Shtisels,” Mrs. Goines said. “It’s so sad.” she said. “And the Shtisels remind me of what my acquaintance Hanna said when I asked how she felt about her daughter marrying someone she met in college who was going to become a rabbi. She said, ‘Well, it was a better alternative for her than getting hooked on drugs’. Can you imagine!”
    Goines snorted at the comparison, remembering that Hanna’s daughter, like the wives in Shtisel, was supposed to allow no one but her husband to see her hair, and had to wear a wig whenever she went out or had company.
    But that was Hanna’s daughter’s choice, Goines acknowledged, however unfair to women the practice might strike him and others not of their faith. Maybe the character Akiva Shtisel, anyway, could acquire some experience in the artist’s studio and overcome whatever social or religious strictures seemed to be preventing him from becoming an artist in his own right. Goines hoped he would.

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