I wrote here a while ago about three acquaintances of mine, Japanese (one woman and a married couple). They are here in Israel (the single woman works for the UN in Gaza and the married man works for some NGO that helps third world countries and he is here in Israel to help the Arabs who live in the disputed territories). All three of them are pro-Arab, but the single lady is really anti-Israel. I try to ignore that when I meet them or when they communicate with me and I give them a lot of love, just for being humans. G-d created them, just like He created me, and He loves them dearly, I'm sure. It is not hard to like them, they are very likable, I just ignore the political issues and that's it.
Anyway, the single lady came to my place in my previous neighborhood three years ago, and had a Shabbat meal with me and another friend. She met with me a few more times to her request, with another friend of hers who works in Gaza, because they had many questions to ask about Israel (most of them were political questions, but I managed to answer and stay friendly without feeling attacked).
Anyway, fast forward to our times now. Two months ago I got a surprise WhatsApp message on my phone from her. She is in Jerusalem, she said, and has been stuck here for a while due to the coronavirus (it was at the time of the lockdown here, which prevented her from going to Gaza or anywhere else). She said that she and two of her friends (the married couple) watched the successful Israeli TV series, Shtisel, on Netflix (it has Japanese subtitles, apparently, which is quite amazing to me), and they fell in love with the series and have millions of questions to ask about Judaism. Do I want to meet them? Of course I do - to talk about anything but politics. So we met, and they asked so many questions, and I could see in their eyes, especially in the man's eyes, how passionate they were about this series and how they glow when they talk about it. So I answered their questions to the best of my ability and later sent the woman some more info in writing by WhatsApp. She then created a group on WhatsApp for the four of us and named it "Shtisel". There we continued our discussion in group and it was sweet.
Last week I got a message from her on our Shtisel WhatsApp group saying that since she cannot go back to Gaza, she wants to leave for Japan and is it OK if all four of us meet to do a tour together in Me'ah She'arim and Ge'ulah, the areas in which the series is located? I said yes. We wore our masks and went there last Monday.
They had many questions, not all of which I could answer because I am not Haredi, and didn't grow up in such a culture. But I turned to the Haredi passers-by in Me'ah She'arim (women AND men), and asked them the questions that I didn't have an answer to (many questions regarding clothes, hats, robes, etc.). My Japanese friends were so surprised to see that everyone that I asked replied to me warmly and with a shy smile, yes, even men. They elaborated, gave a lot of information and some even suggested that I should show my friends this or that. It was evident that the Haredis enjoyed this attention, which is truly surprising, even to me. It was heart warming and nice, and my friends later commented about it and said that their image totally changed about who the Haredi were.
I took them to a restaurant in Ge'ula. The restaurant is called... Shtisel. This is the place where the creators of this TV series had a meeting to discuss the idea for a new TV series about the Haredi world, and when they sat there and ate, they decided to name that series after the restaurant, and this is how the name Shtisel was decided upon. It was in the Israeli media, but of course foreigners have no way of knowing it, so it was exciting for them to find out.
We went in, the person at the counter was very friendly, he just couldn't speak English, so I was the interpreter between them. We sat at a table (the restaurant looks similar to the restaurant Anshin in the series). We ordered a plate with selected dishes and ate. They were so moved and excited to be there and took many pictures. I was happy that I could give them this experience and I'm sure they will return there again some day on their own.
And then the single Japanese lady left Israel for Japan last weekend, while the husband and wife (both in their mid-thirties) stayed here and are going to stay here for a while. I was a bit surprised by the lady's leave for Japan and the way she put it ("If I can't go to Gaza, I'll go back to Japan", even though she can work in UNRWA in Jerusalem and she has nothing to do in Japan right now professionally). I felt it was like a little protest - she is so anti-Israeli, then why should she stay here if she cannot go to Gaza... But I didn't say anything. She left.
A few days after she left, a message was forwarded in another WhatsApp group that I'm a member of. It's a large group of people who live in Jerusalem and it is a general-purpose group. The message that was forwarded in the group by someone that I don't even know said that this coming Thursday, July 23rd (yesterday) there is going to be a filming of the TV series Shtisel somewhere near the Shuk and they are looking for "extras" (people to sit in the background of the scene, not professional actors). The scene is going to be taking place in a bar, and they are looking for young, secular Jerusalemites between the ages of 22-30 to sit in the background, with preference to people with piercings, tatoos, etc. There was a phone number to contact. I immediately thought of that Japanese married couple and how much they love Shtisel and how amazing it would be for them to participate as extras, but... they are not Jerusalemites and with their beautiful Asian faces they cannot fool anyone to think they are Israelis. Also, they are not in the age group, they're a bit older, and - they look like 'good kids', far from looking like the rough, wild type of people with tattoos etc. that the production was looking for. Still, I forwarded the message to them (translated, of course). They didn't think they fit the type-cast so they were not enthusiastic about contacting the number I gave them, but they were eager to be there and view the filming from the sidelines and can we go together? I told them I would love to see the filming too, but I don't know the exact location near the shuk or if they allow passersby to watch. Still, I suggested to them that they may be accepted as extras - perhaps as Japanese tourists who sit in the bar. So they cautiously contacted the person from the production, but there was no answer, until yesterday at 5 pm (the time that the filming was supposed to begin).
I then contacted that person myself and asked if there are any people who didn't show up in the last minute, perhaps my friends can come in their place. I said that for them it would be a dream they haven't even dared dreaming and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do something like that. I stressed that they are very passionate about the series and it would make them very happy to participate, and I sent them a picture of the couple from our visit to the Shtisel restaurant. I suggested that they could pass in that scene as tourists sitting in the Shtisel restaurant. I didn't expect to get any answer, but after 30 minutes or so I did... The person said that he cannot promise anything, but he will ask the other members of the production team if it is anything that could work. I asked him to not give the answer directly to me, but to them, so that it would make them happy and they would not know I was pulling the strings behind the curtain, so to speak. He wrote to me in reply (and also wrote to them) that they should keep their expectations very low, because this was not part of the original plan, etc.
In the meantime I prayed for them to get this opportunity, and I also prayed that no harm will be done to anyone as a result (still, these are corona days...), and only if HaShem wants it may it happen, etc. At around 7 pm I already lost hope (the filming was scheduled to be from 5 pm to 11 pm, and it was already 7...). I thought it would have been nice if at least we could go there and see the filming from the outside but I didn't know the exact location (plus, they usually close such arenas so that outside people won't get in). At around 8 pm a picture from the Japanese man landed in our Shtisel WhatsApp group. It was a picture of the technical team of the Shtisel production dealing with the equipment. My acquaintance took it and wrote: "We are here and we will most probably participate as Japanese tourists in the scene". I just couldn't believe it. Just the fact that the production gave them the location's address and allowed them to be there and see the filming - that in itself was very very exciting, and now they were saying that they may be able to participate, even though it wasn't planned and wasn't part of the script because it was supposed to be a local Israeli bar, etc. A few more hours passed and our WhatsApp group was quiet. Then, the next thing we heard from them was when they sent us two pictures of themselves, each one with one famous actor, a star, of the Shtisel cast (the actress who plays Ghittie and the actor who plays her husband. It was a scene with both of these characters that was filmed in the bar). My friends were sitting close to the actors, and smiling so excitedly in the pictures, a dream came true for them and I was so so happy and thankful for being able to be a channel for something like this for them. They also said that the actress who plays Ghittie (Neta Riskin) took a short video with them on her smartphone and wants to post it on social media. Quite amazing.
Needless to say, I was so grateful and I kept thanking HaShem for this amazing thing that He did, and still kept praying that no one would be harmed with Corona due to this - that no one will get contaminate or contaminate others which may be dangerous for people down the line. I hope my prayer was answered. I went out for a 3 hour walk in the hilly neighborhoods of Jerusalem because I felt so much energy and excitement following that, I couldn't stay put in one place. It was a very happy day.
And now for the spiritual dimension of this whole event:
A couple of years ago I did something nice for somebody I didn't know, a complete stranger. As a direct result of that, a few months later I was invited to join a certain WhatsApp group of Jerusalemite people, a general purpose group in which people help each other in different ways. I joined, and now, fast-forward two or three years, I got this message about Shtisel through this group. That is, one little act of kindness caused the next big act of kindness - through it I could help the Japanese couple find their way to being extras in their favorite TV series (yes, they participated as extras finally and will probably appear in the series in that scene when season 3 comes out to Netflix).
One more thing: when I got their pictures from the filming arena and saw their excitement I told them that G-d loves them. The husband then said, "Yes, it was truly a miracle". So even though they don't believe in G-d, because they were not raised this way, G-d knows them and loves them and He orchestrated this whole thing for them. I hope it would help to open their eyes and hearts to G-d. Why do I think G-d orchestrated this for them? Because this is the first time in my life to get any message that any production is looking for extras in TV shows, and of all possible TV series and movies out there, it was specifically for Shtisel, their favorite series, that extras were needed. Not only that, the scene was to be filmed in Jerusalem. Not only that, it came a week after we went together to Ge'ulah and ate at the Shtisel restaurant there. Not only that - the scene they were filming was at a bar. Where else would a Japanese extra find a place in a TV series like Shtisel? It had to be something like a bar or a beach or something. All the extras in Shtisel in the previous two seasons were true Haredi people who were recruited by a Haredi recruiter. This is the only scene I can think of that could have had some use for foreigners (and foreigner that look like foreigners!). I wish they would film a chapter about converts, and then yes, of course there is room for foreign looking actors. Maybe I can suggest that to the Shtisel people one day.
Anyway, so it was all perfect and in perfect timing (except for the corona, of course), but I felt that perhaps G-d wants this for them, so I intervened and contacted the person in the ad to give them a chance to be there and get in (at the very last minute). So it was another proof of G-d loving them and wanting good for them.
Lastly, their other friend (the lady who returned defiantly to Japan because she couldn't go back to Gaza) is still with us on that WhatsApp group, and she said she was sorry for leaving. I'm sure she was full of regrets for leaving. Had she not left, she would have enjoyed that experience too. But she is so anti-Israel, that she decided to leave. And she lost. "Those who will bless you, I will bless..." She did something to show her dislike of Israel, and lost a once in a life time opportunity to experience something like this in her favorite show. I like her, and I'm sure G-d loves her, but I think here is a lesson for her to learn. I just don't think she's the type of person who would be willing to understand or learn such a lesson.
Anyway, this is my exciting story for this week.
Wishing you Shabbat Shalom!
R.
I want to put their pictures with the actors here, I know for them it would be OK, but I'm not sure it is ethically OK to do it after telling the whole story, so I will avoid it for now, but here is the picture from behind-the-scenes that they sent me. Anyway, you will probably see them in that episode when season 3 comes out:
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