Reunited! Shtisel brothers back together

A summer in Israel! There was no way I was going back to London without hugging my favourite Tv charedi family. They have remained in our hearts, with most of us longing for their return to a small screen. I would later discover that some of the cast are about to reappear. But I had to find them first.

Heartthrob Akiva wasn’t hard to find. There were posters of Michael Aloni at every bus stop in town as he’s the star of Lior Chefetz’s Yom Kippur War film, The Stronghold  Soon to be seen in the series We Were the Lucky Ones and now attached to Ori Elon’s drama about Theodor Herzl, along with Neta Riskin, (aka his Shtisel sister Giti) I realised there would be no response to emails. Or even a blue tick on his WhatsApp.

Giti’s spouse, Lippe Weiss, replied or at least Zohar Strauss did writing: “Hope you are well. I am in the middle of shooting a new series for Keshet 12. Let’s talk at the end of next week and try to find a way to meet. Zohar xx”

Sadly we didn’t meet, but, after many texts and missed calls, Shtisel’s producer Dikla Barkai set a date, as did Sasson Gabai and Dov Glickman. Just the thought of bringing Shulem and Nuchem back together sent me leaping round the room, but I held my breath until Sasson was in the lobby of The Elkonin hotel on Lillenblum Street.

Just back from the Jerusalem Film festival for the premiere of his movie My Daughter. My Love, only days before he was in the US shooting final scenes for Apple TV’s Tehran. “There was a week to go, but the actors’ strike stopped production,” he says. “So I can’t talk about it, but couldn’t anyway, as Tehran is a secret. But where’s Dovele?”

Dov Glickman was on his way after rehearsals for the stage production of cult Israeli TV show, Zehu Ze! A founder member of the irreverent series in 1978, which ran for ten years, he and the now significantly older cast were about to tour.

When he arrives an hour late, he is exhausted.“I’m doing 18-hour days and singing,” he says, and hugs me. Heads turn in the lobby, for Dov, who is famous in his hometown, but, without the bushy beard and peyot, only his eyes say Shulem.

He hugs Sasson, thrilled to see his screen brother as, despite both actors living in Tel Aviv, they’re too busy to meet.The same goes for Dikla when she rolls up, as she hasn’t seen them either. Committed to making a series about the life of Benjamin Netanyahu based on Ben Caspit’s biography, the diminutive producer has the American co-production on pause because of the writers’ strike.

“Bibi’s family stories are so interesting, really they are,” says Dikla to the intrigued actors for they, like so many creatives in Israel, attend the anti-government protests. “Yesterday they took my photo at the protest outside the American Embassy,” adds Dov. “I told the photographer, ‘Go on, take my picture, I don’t care.’” The actors and producer are worried about Israel’s future. “An increase in censorship, changes to the laws, the rights of Arab citizens – all these dangers are more tangible,” says Sasson. “It’s not imagination or fear or paranoia. It can happen.”

As we talk, Dov naturally slips into family patriarch mode, chairing such topics as the impact of artificial intelligence on actors and Sasson’s new film by Eitan Green. “If Sasson says it’s fine, that means he is great in it,” confirms Dov and we move on to the success of Shira Haas, who is playing Sabra in Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World. “She loved doing Marvel,” says Dikla, who is close to the star who played Shtisel’s Ruchami. “I don’t like Marvel,” says Dov emphatically. “I prefer James Bond. My favourite is Doc Martin. I am jealous of the cast who get to be in that beautiful Cornwall.”

Dov continues: “I have a wonderful idea for a TV show about an Israeli man of my age who relocates to England. Somewhere beautiful like the house swap my wife and I did.” Among the Shtisel cast, Dov was the keenest to travel. “He had idea for an episode about the sudden disappearance of Akiva, forcing Shulem to search the world for him,” recalls Dikla. Dov picks up the story. “He thinks Akiva is in London with the widow Elisheva, but he’s wrong, so keeps looking,” he says. “And never finds him, so you stay on location,” jokes Sasson.

“I like to be abroad,” Dov explains. “And now it’s more urgent because of what’s happening in Israel. But I don’t want the obligations of being a tourist. I want to live like a citizen. Jews have always gone from place to place – that’s our story, and travelling elongates time, so you live for thousands of years.” Everyone laughs at his philosophising, but he stops at the mention of Kugel, the spin-off prequel to Shtisel to be filmed in New York and Georgia, the former Soviet republic.

Written by Yehonatan Indursky and set around the life of Nuchem and his daughter Libbi (Hadas Yaron) the promised eight-part series does not have a role for Rabbi Shulem. “So you’re on location in New York?” repeats Dov, eyes glazing. “For outdoor locations and just a few days,” Dikla reassures him. “The writing is wonderful and we hope to start filming this year or early next.”

“I’ve received three episodes, but not read them yet,” says Sasson. “It’s exciting, but there’s also pressure because Shtisel was so popular.”“So it will be like Shtisel, but different,” says Dov, throwing an arm around Sasson. “He’s my brother.”

When Sasson’s wife, Dafna, arrives, we go up to The Elkonin rooftop bar for the view and to look up at the stars, but they are standing next to me.  Shtisel reunited. Job done.

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