This episode had a whole lot of Nati, which we LOVE. Here are some Nati thoughts.
- Nati, did you really answer the phone just then? Of course you did. +10
- We like that you tell all your secrets to Geveret Schwartzman, who is making a repeat (and unfortunately final) appearance.
old ladies, even though this is the SECOND time there has been a old lady who died the same episode. It tugs at our heartstrings. +25 - And of course you had to look at the name tag of the janitor. Oh Chaim. +5
- Amir has to to ask why Nati is at shul. +10.
- Nati tries to learn for like 15 minutes and gives up to ask Amir. Remember when he and Amir tried to have a chevrusa? That went well. Just give up on the whole Torah thing, your strengths are elsewhere. +10.
- At no point did you fess up to Reut and Azarya that you gave up on her and Azarya ever since Tehilla rebuffed you for the like fifth time. +20
- “Please stop coming here once a day.” Nati stalking for the win!! +10. Especially because Tehila still kinda likes you–why is she holding out? Resistance is futile.
- Gornist mit Gornisht! +15 for the Yiddish this episode.
- Also, we like that Nati showed Real Emotion when Geveret Schwartzman passed away, even though it may have been partially his fault. We like his breakdowns-even if its just if we pretend that Shayna’s Nati esque is feeling those some feelings and totally getting what he deserves. I mean, we like it for no reason at all. At least you got a locker for your broken heart.
Oh man, the twins and Amir is the best beit din we have have ever seen. ever. +30, and plus another 10 because Nati had to pay them to do it.
It is a universal truth that all bar or bat mitzvah tutoring is awfully painful to listen to. We had some flashbacks just there. Wow.. +5.
Fayge and Chani!!! We love you, super power super hot charedi ladies. Tichels and yoga pants, HOT. Also, you are so super successful and we cant wait till you poach Yifat from Nitzan. Yifat is so excited, it’s like when the cool girls ask you to join your lunch table. Hope to see more of you!! +100
Reut is reading Azarya’s poetry. Awww. +10.
Reut, listen to your boss. She knows what is up. Even though, as we say, that was way harsh tai. Don’t be a friarit.+50
Is having money in Rehovot like having money in the banana stand? No points, just an observation.
Yifat clearly thinks Hodaya is a huge slut who doesn’t deserve her millionaire archeologist fiance. +20 Clearly these are the rewards of dropping religion. Stop tempting us, Laizy.
Despite the judginess, Yifat is a good friend and knows if she doesn’t make Hodaya take that test, she never will. She uses a failproof defense–never say no to a pregnant woman who has to pee. Especially an Israeli one. +25
Azarya is a good poet. His dedication made us feel mushy, because we overly relate to Reut. +10.
Avri, break us off a piece of those toastim. Ahem. +20
Faker than Nati’s actual interest in matchmaking
Ughhhhhh, potential pregnancy plotlines are the worst. We spend the whole time with someone agonizing over whether they are pregnant or not when they could just take the stupid test. Of course Hodaya isn’t pregnant, but we needed to spend 45 minutes exploring how she would feel if she was. -30 But we kind of wish Hodaya was pregnant so Yifat could accuse her of upstaging her own pregnancy.
Although we do assume that every tichel wearing pharmacist is a judgy pants, it appears that Hodaya is a big bag of crazy and still has guilt about her secular ways. -10 for her weird freakout, but plus another 5 for the look of terror on that tichel lady’s face when she realized Hodaya could be teaching her children
Also Hodaya runs? Girl looks like she can barely get out of bed most days. Yifat should have seen through that lie right away. Although that ridiculous route that has her going around half the city is excellent- maybe we should use it next time we go for a run.
So Avri is a millionaire archaeologist? What? While it is great that he can reap the rewards of his family’s early settlement of the land something about this story doesn’t quote ring true. Who keeps their millions a secret from their finance? Why dies he still drive that car? Why doesn’t he endow an archaeological dig? Maybe he has the money because his family is head of the tzfat mafia– they keep pulling him back in! But of course, He is now even MORE PERFECT AND HE IS RICH AND AMAZING. Of course. But we hope his last minute house hunting regrets doesnt foreshadow anything bad…..
Hodaya! Buy the house! Run to Cyprus to get married! You need to lock this down now before Avri realizes what a hot mess you are. -30
Also Yifat goes to the gym? We have never seen any of this before. But it is worth it to see the Haredi hotness. -20
Ok, Tehila is psychotic. She is the craziest of all of them. She made a Neder? Look it is always awkward to say you don’t want to go out with someone but it takes a lot to bring talmudic oaths into it. Maybe the guy from B’Tipul has an open session. -100
Reut is too smart to fall for Azarya’s tricks. It is so hard for us to see her being taken advantage of. But wash because she has a bad track record in the romantics department.
Amir, you are only getting 1.5 times your rate for twins? Friar. -30.
Amir thinks Jerusalem is the best place on earth. Even Dati Israelis don’t think that anymore. Jerusalem is reserved for rich Americans with second apartments. -1,0000
You’d think that after all those years of playa-hating, Nati would be better at straight up lying. Are you losing your game? -10.
Azarya, that’s an ugly sweater you wore on the date. And of course she thought you were coming! You INVITED HER! -25.
So this revelation about Avri blew our minds and we see some green eyed monsters in the form of Yifat/Amir in the future. And we are excited for more chic Haredis. Leave your comments!
Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Evacuation Day!
Srugim Recap 
Great re-cap!! I love srugim, but my Hebrew isn’t good enough to understand a lot of the dialogue (without waiting for the DVD to come out with English subtitles). Any suggestions on how to improve my Hebrew? Kol tuv.
Hey! Pausing and looking up words is a really good way to learn. Good luck!
Yeah – they speak so fast that I’d be trouble personally, without the Hebrew ktovet (subtitles). Even with it, I’m finding that I’m watching the ep two or three times to pick up the nuances. But if you go slow enough, you’ll find that you can sometimes fill in a lot of the blanks by implication. The trick is remembering them again in real life LOL.
Not to make a sales pitch, but if you don’t live in an area where they have an ulpan, you might to try eTeacher’s Modern Hebrew (www.hebrewonline.com), which has several levels of online Modern Hebrew you can do live over the Internet with a small class and a teacher. It’s good but expensive.
I actually thought this was the best episode so far this season. Great comments as well.
Loved Nati’s confusion on the phone with Reut, after Azarya called her to Nati’s surprise.
“Maybe he has the money because his family is head of the tzfat mafia– they keep pulling him back in!” was that a reference to Zohar Strauss’s role on Ehat Efes Efes?
Did you notice how little Amir got paid? Nati gave each kid 100 (Nati’s the friar there) and one of them gave it to Amir and asked for change – 90 shekel is 1.5 times the rate?! (for those non-math geniuses, that means he regularly would charge 60 shekel, if he even has other clients)
and, Amir was with those kids the entire episode, which is like a week (or at least a few hours) – Amir, you will not be able to support your family this way. Good thing Yifat will be paid x3
Good thing Yifat will be paid x3
Maybe that’s a setup for Yifat being the only breadwinner and Amir staying home with the baby!
Anyone know the origin of using ‘friar’ to mean a sucker?
Sarah–re: “Freier” it comes from the German “Freiherr”.
Here is a Hebrew wikipedia article article giving a history of the term:
http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A8
and something in English
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6970/is_5_35/ai_n58322314/
(Apparently the article originally appeared in “Moment” magazine, it misspells Ruvik Rosenthal’s name as “Ruvik Rosen-dial”)
Ruvik Rosenthal is the author of a Hebrew slang dictionary, which I’ve meant to buy….but it’s expensive
Here is the moment article
http://www.momentmag.com/moment/issues/2010/10/jewishword.html
I think the woman reut was talking to wasn’t her boss, but rather some mas hachnasa official that probably knows her because she works for a fancy firm.
why was this the second time an old lady died? when was the first?
Wasn’t there an all knowing old lady last season in hospital last season? Maybe she didn’t die…but there was def another old lady who bonded with Nati….
First of all, hi Shayna! I enjoy reading your blog, sometimes more than the show itself!
Second, just wanted to point out that Avri being a secret millionaire doesn’t come out of nowhere. Remember in the first season when Hodaya broke a really expensive vase and asked Avri to fix it for her, and he replaced it instead? Then when she called him on it he claimed that he picked it up in the shuk for thirty shekels? Which seemed really not convincing. So now we have a better explanation for that incident.
yes, good call channa! hope all is well. =)
-shayna
Shayna & Sarah –
This was one of your best re-caps EVER. you had good material to work with.. I watched the episode itself a couple times, but seriously – your rcap was laugh out loud funny and on point. It is good that i am the sole employee in my office today on this erev chag bc the lauging out loud at my PC prob looked weird. From previous recaps, your references to ulpana Tamar Ross are hilarious… (I went to Brovenders in the late ’80s….)
Thanks for re-capping.. I got nervous when it wasn’t up by last night but i can now breathe again….
Chag Sameach
Anyone catch the symmetry (?) of Yifat formerly doing Bar Mitzvah invitations & now Amir is doing Bar Mitzvah tutoring?
Also, HOW are those cute boys planning to do hatarat nedarim in if they’re not bar mitzvah yet?
And how did 20 million in Rechovot turn into 60 million in Caesaria? Is she confused or exaggerating or what?
Does Nati think that Geveret Schwartzman’s death is punishment for his greedy manipulation with the locker?
Oh, and who caught the poetry reader last episode as my fave: Elchanana from Latma TV?
to Tzachi G: pull up Google translate, choose Hebrew to English, it brings up a keyboard where you can type the word!
“Anyone catch the symmetry (?) of Yifat formerly doing Bar Mitzvah invitations & now Amir is doing Bar Mitzvah tutoring?”
Nice call.
BTW, I did not think that lady was Reut’s boss. I think she was from Meches.
Meches is Customs/Import Duties. This was Mas Hachnasah/Income Tax.
our mistake! we missed that. sorry. even better that its a random woman giving reut life advice…
I meant to say, mas hachnasa…
By the way, did anyone catch how Yifat exaggerated Avri’s windfall when she was talking to Amir about it? She turned the family’s sale of the land in Rehovot for 20 million into Caesarea (a lot more prestigious) and 30 million? And extended it to Hodaya being a millionaire with that “now you understand”? Wonder how much of that she looked at as fool’s luck, and how much was to make Amir feel insecure (not that he really cares, apparently, with that J’lem comment, but he’s definitely taking a back seat to Yifat—he’s looking at being Mr. Mom as his future).
Season 1 was excellent,season 2 a big waste with the Reut-Roi nonsense and Amir- Yifat cognitive dissonance and I think season 3 may need to be examined by Dr. Nati Brenner for signs of impending doom as well.Reut-Azaryah is almost as” likely” as Nati-Tehilla.Maybe it’s just a set-up so Nati goes after Reut.Anyway the best line was Azaryah telling Nati that if he ever gets sick he wants Nati to diagnose him.Of course,Nati is soon suspended for a seemingly faulty diagnosis of Gveret Shvartzman.The only relationship that is emotinally “believable” is Hodaya-Avery.The previews indicate that Tehilla will be calling Nati for a date in episode 6.I’ll have plenty of nausea medication on hand.
Guys, I am like seriously desperate to download Season 1, but everywhere I go it tells me this site is not trusted etc. Does anyone know where you can safely download it?
Almost forgot: Does the absent minded poet [Azarya]have to actually look like a creation of Dr. Frankenstein?Just wondering.
I also checked for your guys’ recap and was happy to find it!
I actually think it’s possible Hodaya is pregnant and doesn’t want to tell Yifat that. Also, why doesn’t Reut ever meet a good guy- one who will actually appreciate her and not take advantage! Azarya seems to totally be using her, he even told Nati he isn’t the least bit attracted to her. And Tehila thinks too highly of herself- she knows Nati will come back for her and she seems to be playing him!
Shayna, I’m suprised at you! it’s the same old lady from season 2. Mrs Shvartsman
mea culpa! i will fix that now.
Did you find that ” ‘shkoiach” (Faigie or Chani, I forget which) kind of forced? I mean, that is what makes her ‘chareid’, right?
i thought it was realistic. i have found with israeli haredim they speak hebrew perfectly except occasionally when they slip into frum speak, and its a bit odd and bit jarring, but its totally how they speak.
Well, I’m not an authority on the matter, but in US yeshivishe circles, the context would be off. I mean, ‘kol hakovod’ is appropriate, but what’s the ‘shkoiach’ about?
I am more frequently in MO circles, but I feel like in charedi circles, men use “shkoyach” more than women do. Am I just imagining that?
Oh, and I’ve never heard “kol hakavod” with a heavy ashkenazi/yeshivish accent, so can’t really picture that.
Miriam – but I feel like in charedi circles, men use “shkoyach” more than women do. Am I just imagining that?
Not imagining. Men use it far more often than women. Probably because one of its main uses is in shul after someone gets an aliyah or other kivud.
I thought it ironic that Nati made fun of Azarya who was “making a fool” of himself running after Tehilla….and that is exactly what Nati does the next episode (or two ago), AND he gets told off by Tehilla herself to stop showing up every day…
I think it makes sense that Tehilla is someone he falls for. She is like the young mitnachelet in spirituality, she is pretty and she is very confident. The clown was mature and experienced and pretty as well and he liked her alot. Being attracted to confident strong non-conventional women makes sense in light of what Nati said about his Mom not being into cooking and being a math teacher. I don’t know why it makes sense in my mind that it comes out that way. And don’t forget the smoking…it gives me the image of being nurturing enough but not too mutcky putchky…like many of the women that Nati likes and gets involved with.
The redhead was an exaggeration of that so that even Nati couldn’t go along with her masterplan of “love will follow, let’s get on with our lives and get married.” But that sensibility to women is also why Yifat and he ultimately didn’t work out, and that Yifat’s looks are not for him. But mostly that she is an in your kishka’s kind of person.and that is not what is good for Nati given his background.
I’m hoping that Tehilla is “it” for Nati.
Speaking of the Brenner family, does anyone else have their doubts about Roi and his very very innocent bride and their chances of staying together?
love the blog! Thanks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRZspbyPJF8 nati reacts to his
malpractice
hodaya can’t handle a good thing…
On the Hebrew FB page, it says that scene was filmed, but not included in the final ep or “any remaining episode” (my translation of “v’lo l’af perek aher”). But your comment about her personality is dead-on. More to say when the Srugettes do their review later this week.
What’s the link for the rest of the episode
http://srugim.site11.com/s03e06.html
Thanks but It won’t connect for me – it says “connection problem”. Any ideas?
Thanks
want to see how many points nati loses for emotions , and amir for job performance….
When I go to srugim.site11.com & try to click through to the first season, it takes me to Walla but then nothing happens. Anyone know why? Is it just no longer available?
D’you think Leizy reads our comments? I would love to know…
Did anyone get what was with ‘he can’t put the ring on my finger’ way back at the wedding? Not that I know of….
She got her period and, according to Jewish law, is considered a “niddah” and she and Amir can’t have sex until @ 2 weeks later when she immerses in the mikvah. During that time there is no physical contact, either, hence, he should not be putting the ring on her finger.
I believe that is incorrect. He is allowed to put the ring on her finger, very carefully, without touching her. Have you ever been at a wedding where the chatan did not put the ring on the kallah’s finger?
Moreover, she says they can’t be alone in the Yichud room, true, but then how are they alone for the next 12-odd days? In those cases the couple usually stay with family & keep their door ajar or have a young child stay with them. Inconsistent? Or someone is handing out interesting heterim?
am sooooooooo sad – i dont know why but i cant seem to download this episode or the next one. is there some other site i can find this episode on???? am BUSTING to see it!!! everytime i use the srugim website it shows me season 1 episode 3 instead! 😦
Mich MP:
Ep. 6
http://www.myvod.tv/%D7%A1%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%92%D7%99%D7%9D-%D7%A2%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%94-3-%D7%A4%D7%A8%D7%A7-6.html
And Ep 7 I found here
http://www.vodisrael.me/2011/12/3-7.html
kudos for referencing both Arrested Development and In Treatment in your review…. Niiiiicceee!!!
Nice to see Nati at the hospital. Lately, he seemed to have a lot of time on his hands for a doctor. In the first season he worked way more.
I’m trying to find the poem recited at some point in season 3 about things always moving, moving… I no longer have access to the DVDs so I cant go back and check but it was beautiful and I’m desperate to find it (I do remember that it was not part of the radio show readings)… can you please help?! Thanks!