The B’nai Binge
SAN DIEGO — You’ve got more time on your hands than you have ever had, but also more anxiety about when the coronavirus pandemic will be over. I annually organize a Jewish Film series at my synagogue. Since it has been cancelled, here’s the first installment of Jewish programming you can stream in your home.
Chai Flicks: A subscription streaming service for Jewish films. www.ChaiFlicks.com
Family Business (Netflix): A French Jewish family converts their failing kosher butcher shop into a marijuana store.
Hunters (Amazon): A group of Nazi hunters stalks German war criminals living in the United States. If you like Quentin Tarantino movies, you’ll love this, but many Holocaust survivors and scholars have been offended by its over-the-top treatment of the Holocaust.
The Kominsky Method (Netflix): If you haven’t caught the comic chemistry between Alan Arkin and Michael Douglas navigating the vicissitudes of aging, get ready for some laughs and tears.
Maktub (Netflix): Two Israeli criminals survive a terrorist bombing and decide to repent by fulfilling the wishes contained in notes placed in the cracks of the Kotel.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon): A Jewish wife and mother gets divorced from her husband to pursue her career as a standup comedian in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Otherhood (Netflix) Played by Angela Bassett, Patricia Arquette, and Felicity Huffman, three mothers, one OF whom is Jewish, cope with their relationships with their sons who have left home.
The Plot Against America (HBO) Based on Philip Roth’s novel, this series traces how a Jewish family responds to Charles LindbergH becoming president and implementing fascist policies.
Russian Doll (Netflix): Natasha Lyonne plays a Jewish woman who dies every evening that her birthday party is held and returns the next day to celebrate at the same party.
Shtisel (Netflix): This Israeli soap opera about an ultra-Orthodox family surprisingly has attracted both Gentile and Jewish viewers.
The Spy (Netflix): Sacha Baron Cohen plays the Israeli spy Eli Cohen.
To Dust (Amazon): A Chasidic Cantor whose wife recently died obsesses over how her body will decompose.
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Lawrence Baron, Ph.D, is professor emeritus of history at San Diego State University and the author of Projecting the Holocaust into the Present. He may be contacted via lawrence.baron@sdjewishworld.com
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